SamulNori

de Keith Howard

SamulNori is a percussion quartet which has given rise to a genre, of the same name, that is arguably Korea’s most successful ‘traditional’ music of recent times. Today, there are dozens of amateur and professional samulnori groups. There is a canon of samulnori pieces, closely associated with the first founding quartet but played by all, and many creative evolutions on the basic themes, made by the rapidly growing number of virtuosic percussionists. And the genre is the focus of an abundance of workshops, festivals and contests. Samulnori is taught in primary and middle schools; it is part of Korea’s national education curriculum. It has dedicated institutes, and there are a number of workbooks devoted to helping wannabe ‘samulnorians’. It is a familiar part of Korean performance culture, at home and abroad, in concerts but also in films and theatre productions.