Tradition and Creativity in Korean Taegŭm Flute Performance describes the taegŭm as a representation of Korean culture in the contemporary world. Through the development and performance of creative works, this horizontal bamboo flute reflects both tradition and contemporary creativity. The first part of the book outlines the historical background of the taegŭm. The author illuminates the potential future of the Korean flute in a globalised world through the analyses of three musical works for taegŭm. The second part of the book draws on approaches of Practice Research within ethnomusicology and sociology to examine the ways in which the taegŭm tradition interacts with, and responds to, different genres in performance. Documenting collaborative encounters with musicians from three musical cultures: jazz, Western art and electroacoustic music, the result is an innovative exploration of the musical and social relationships between composers, performers and audiences in intercultural performances, contrasting traditional uses of the taegŭm with perspectives on its use today.

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. SamulNori uses four instruments: kkwaenggwari and ching small and large gongs, and changgo and puk drums. These are the instruments of local percussion bands and itinerant troupes that trace back many centuries, but samulnori is a recent development of these older traditions: it was first performed in February 1978. This volume explores this vibrant percussion genre, charting its origins and development, the formation of the canon of pieces, teaching and learning strategies, new evolutions and current questions relating to maintaining, developing, and sustaining samulnori in the future.

In the first study of the global dimensions of musical modernism, Björn Heile proposes a novel theory according to which musical modernism is constituted by a global diasporic network of composers, musicians and institutions. In a series of historical and analytical case studies from different parts of the world, this book overcomes the respective limitations of both Eurocentric and postcolonial, revisionist accounts, focusing instead on the transnational entanglements between the West and other world regions. Key topics include migration, the transnational reception and transfer of musical works and ideas, institutions such as the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and composers who are rarely discussed in Western academia, such as the Nigerian-born Akin Euba and the Korean-German Younghi Pagh-Paan. Influenced by the interdisciplinary notion of 'entangled histories', Heile critiques established dichotomies, all the while highlighting the unequal power relations on which the existing global order is founded.

This volume asks what Koreans consider makes music Korean, and how meaning is ascribed to musical creation. Keith Howard explores specific aspects of creativity that are designed to appeal to a new audience that is increasingly westernized yet proud of its indigenous heritage--updates of tradition, compositions, and collaborative fusions. He charts the development of the Korean music scene over the last 25 years and interprets the debates, claims and statistics by incorporating the voices of musicians, composers, scholars and critics.

"Tradition and Creativity in Korean Taegŭm Flute Performance describes the taegŭm as a representation of Korean culture in the contemporary world. Through the development and performance of creative works, this horizontal bamboo flute reflects both tradition and contemporary creativity. The first part of the book outlines the historical background of the taegŭm. The author illuminates the potential future of the Korean flute in a globalised world through the analyses of three musical works for taegŭm. The second part of the book draws on approaches of Practice Research within ethnomusicology and sociology to examine the ways in which the taegŭm tradition interacts with, and responds to, different genres in performance. Documenting collaborative encounters with musicians from three musical cultures: jazz, Western art and electroacoustic music, the result is an innovative exploration of the musical and social relationships between composers, performers and audiences in intercultural performances, contrasting traditional uses of the taegŭm with perspectives on its use today"--

Made in Korea: Studies in Popular Music serves as a comprehensive and thorough introduction to the history, sociology, and musicology of contemporary Korean popular music. Each essay covers the major figures, styles, and social contexts of pop music in Korea, first presenting a general description of the history and background of popular music in Korea, followed by essays, written by leading scholars of Korean music, that are organized into thematic sections: History, Institution, Ideology; Genres and Styles; Artists; and Issues.