Gayageum performer Shin Jeong-ha. Photo by Greener.
The Solhyangjae Gayageum Hanok Concert places the spirit of “pungnyu” at the center of the experience. Inside a traditional hanok house beneath rising moonlight, the clear resonance of the gayageum unfolds quietly through the night. Audiences encounter not only music but also the textures of the season itself. The performance does not remain confined to listening alone. Minhwa folk paintings spread before the eyes, while teacups and traditional liquor cups rest in the hands. The stillness of the hanok, the outline of Bukhansan Mountain, and the resonance of the gayageum together shape the density of a calm evening.
At the center of the stage stands gayageum performer Shin Jeong-ha. Shin teaches students at Chugye University for the Arts and serves as principal gayageum member of the youth education division of the National Orchestra of Korea. She first began studying gayageum at the age of ten before continuing through the Korean traditional music program at the National Gugak High School, Chugye University’s Department of Korean Music, and graduate studies in musicology. Her work includes recordings of Kim Byeong-ho-style gayageum sanjo, duets for 25-string gayageum and daegeum flute, and projects with the gayageum ensemble 3’sonic.
Shin’s music emerges from years spent in close dialogue with the instrument itself. Korean traditional music first entered her life through an after-school class during childhood, but the gayageum gradually became an instrument that accompanied the long trajectory of her life. She once attempted to place her entire life into music, yet through continued performance she says she often found herself learning about life through music instead. The concentration and tension of the stage, along with the comfort shared with audiences, remain the forces sustaining her performances.
The emotion she hopes audiences experience is not dazzling admiration but rest. A moment in which anxiety and tension briefly settle and the mind becomes calm. Shin hopes the sound of the gayageum can offer someone a small form of consolation. She also speaks of wanting audiences to rediscover a sense of pride in Korean identity through traditional music.
Solhyangjae. Photo by Greener.
The first half of the concert combines traditional tea with gayageum sanjo performance. The program includes Choi Oksam-style gayageum sanjo and the piece “Drifting Above the Clouds.” Choi Oksam-style sanjo traces a musical lineage from master Choi Oksam to Ham Dong-jeongwol. Within the larger sanjo structure that gradually accelerates from slow to fast rhythms, the breathing of jinyangjo, jungmori, jungjungmori, neutgeun jajinmori, jajinmori, and hwimori unfolds in sequence.
The Choi Oksam style is known for its tightly organized and logically structured melodic progression. Rather than exposing emotion immediately, it builds depth through restraint and gradual development.
The qualities of sanjo become especially vivid within the hanok setting. As a single gayageum string trembles through the space and the janggu drum establishes rhythmic breathing, audiences physically experience the shifts between slowness and speed. The long phrases of jinyangjo harmonize with the stillness of the moonlit hanok, while the atmosphere gradually becomes more animated as the music moves toward jajinmori and hwimori. Positioned after the depth of sanjo, “Drifting Above the Clouds” functions as a piece that expands space for imagination and reflection. The warmth of tea and the resonance of the gayageum overlap, turning the first half into a quiet moment of immersion.
The second half expands into a stage shaped by traditional liquor and song-centered emotion. The program introduces “As Flowers Bloom and Fade,” “Flower Taryeong,” “Hanobaeknyeon,” “Love Song,” “By My Love’s Side,” and “My Country, Korea.” If the first half presents the deep breathing of sanjo, the second offers audiences more familiar melodies and lyrical emotions.
“Flower Taryeong” evokes both floral imagery and lively excitement, naturally aligning with the concert’s seasonal atmosphere. The sense of flowers blooming and fading between spring and summer connects directly with Solhyangjae’s emphasis on seasonal aesthetics.
“Hanobaeknyeon” belongs to the category of modern folk songs rooted in the emotional tradition of Gangwon Province. According to the National Gugak Center’s gugak dictionary, it is structured around triple-meter rhythm and the melodic framework of menaritori. Widely recognized through the refrain “Of course it is, indeed it is,” the song carries emotions of sorrow, resignation, and generous acceptance that resonate deeply within the atmosphere of a hanok night.
“Love Song” adds the approachable sentiment of traditional Korean vocal music to the stage. Its lyrical text and rhythm create a softer emotional transition following the weight of sanjo. The inclusion of widely familiar songs such as “By My Love’s Side” also lowers the barrier between traditional music and contemporary audiences by placing traditional melody and modern emotional sensibility on the same stage.
“My Country, Korea” functions near the concert’s conclusion as a work evoking pride in Korean music and cultural identity.
Gayageum performer Shin Jeong-ha. Photo by Greener.
The gayageum itself begins with paulownia wood and silk strings. Materials provided by nature become an instrument, and the vibration of its strings changes the air within the space itself. The persuasive power of Solhyangjae’s hanok concert emerges from this relationship. Sound, architecture, and seasonal atmosphere do not move separately but reach audiences together within a single breath.
Solhyangjae, whose name means “a house filled with the scent of pine trees,” is a hanok cultural space located in Seoul’s Eunpyeong Hanok Village. Windows facing Bukhansan Mountain, exposed rafters, pine trees, and fresh flowers shape the atmosphere of the venue. Even the decision to avoid large signage and instead hang a lantern-style nameplate reflects an effort to preserve the atmosphere of the hanok. Tiered seating designed so audiences can view the stage clearly from the back rows also reveals careful attention to performance functionality.
Listening to gayageum music inside a hanok creates a different texture from hearing it inside a modern concert hall. Wooden pillars, floors, eaves, and courtyards expand the resonance and silence surrounding the sound. Audiences encounter performers in a space where the boundary between stage and seating softens. The movement of breath, fingers, and instrument reaches listeners from close range. In moments like these, the meaning of “pungnyu” as both artistic enjoyment and everyday rest becomes fully visible.
The Solhyangjae Gayageum Hanok Concert runs through August 29 at Solhyangjae in Seoul’s Eunpyeong Hanok Village.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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