Recordings of Sounds from 100 Years Ago

Edison introduced the cylinder phonograph in 1888, and the phonograph later made its way to Korea. In 1896, recordings of Korean folk songs sung by Korean students in the United States were made on wax cylinders, and in 1899, Korean government officials recorded Korean vocal music including Chunhyang-ga (“Song of Chunhyang”), gasa(poetry) and japga(“miscellaneous songs”) using a phonograph at Gameunjeong Pavilion in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

The 1920s saw the beginning of electric recording, leading to the establishment of many record companies and a booming market for phonograph records. The Japanese Victor Company(JVC) produced Korea’s first record. In 1928, under contract with the Music Institute of Royal Yi Family, the predecessor of the National Gugak Center(NGC), JVC recorded Korean court music.  

Joseon Aak, released by the JVC in 1928, is the first electrical recording of court music by use of a microphone. The series contains 26 tracks of ritual and ceremonial court music from the Joseon dynasty. All of the phonograph records bear red labeling, indicating the highest quality of sound possible at the time. 

After Victor released Joseon Aak in 1928, Korean court music began to be introduced to the public by radio broadcasts and stage performances, driving court music into the realm of popular music. Original transcriptions of scores, including 11 pieces of old transcripts and 200 pieces of five-staff-note transcripts produced at that time, are currently preserved at the National Gugak Center (NGC).

In 1943, Victor selected 12 out of the 26 tracks from Joseon Aak (1928) and re-released them as a new series titled Joseon Aak Jeongsu (The Essence of Korean Court Music). The new series was composed of six phonograph records and included a booklet Joseon Eumak Sogo (A Study on Joseon Music) authored by Ham Hwa-jin, then the 5^th Dean of the Music Institute of Royal Yi Family.

Joseon Eumak Sogo enclosed in Joseon Aak Jeongsu is a listening guide to court music. This booklet was essential for the inheritance of traditional music by the National Gugak Center after national liberation. It was a valuable resource for faithfully preserving and passing down court music at that time. 

Pungnyu means ‘appreciation of arts and entertainment’, and eumak means ‘music.’ It refers to music comfortably enjoyed by the Joseon literati in everyday life. While Victor’s Joseon Aak series contained Joseon court music, the album featuring Joseon Jeongakdan (Performing Group of Korean Classical Music) released by Columbia Records, included Yeongsan-hoisang, one of the most frequently performed instrumental pieces from the Joseon period to the present day. 

Yeongsan-hoisang featuring the Joseon Jeongakdan group was released by Columbia Records and has 11 out of all 13 pieces of Yeongsan-hoisang. This ensemble is precious musical heritage: it preserves the music of Joseon literati, which had nearly become forgotten amidst the upheavals of the Japanese occupation and the tumultuous changes in society.

With the mass-production and mass sales of phonograph records ongoing since the 1930s, folk music genres such as pansori (musical storytelling), japga (“miscellaneous songs”) and instrumental solos also became very popular.

Gayageum byeongchang is a performance where one musician sings a pansori and plays gayageum at the same time. Sim Sang-geon and Oh Tae-seok were the most popular stars whose voices were recorded on gramophone records.