The Art of the Ajaeng Sanjo

The Yueshu, a 12th-century Chinese encyclopedia of music, refers to the Chinese ajaeng as being a zither that ‘creaks’. The Koreans have made this amazing instrument their own, developing a wonderful and rich sound-world. The ajaeng is a long zither with eight thick silk strings stretched over noisy bridges and played by a bow. Its tone sounds rather like a hoarse pansori singer. Early in the 20th century, the ajaeng was a favoured instrument of theatre orchestras because it mixed lyricism with, well, noise that could be manipulated to create sound effects.

One player who found his work in the theatres was Ch’ae Kyeman (1915-2002). Ch'ae was a hereditary shaman ritualist from Chindo island, celebrated for its artistic life. Kim Young-gil learnt his skill from Ch'ae and other ritualists before making his career as an orchestral player and soloist in Seoul. Here, Kim plays a four-movement sanjo (which translates as ‘scattered melodies’) accompanied by the changgo (hourglass drum), and an improvisatory piece known as a shinawi. Normally, shinawi would be played by an ensemble and would accompany a shaman dance, but here it is performed solo. Once you get used to the remarkable sound, this is a CD to play to amaze your friends. Kim's brief harmonic arpeggios decorate jazz-like melodies that span several octaves and fizz with massive vibrato.