Pansori: South Korea’s Authentic Musical Storytelling

They say that the finest work of pansori can make your heart stop beating. Pansori is a traditional South Korean form of storytelling, operatic in style, that relies on the authenticity, intensity and power of the singer’s voice to express stories of love, death, tradition, honor. A perfect performance does not strive for purity or perfection of voice; rather it embraces all sides of the human experience. One of pansori’s virtuosos is Ahn Sook Sun, a living legend in Korea’s cultural history. For Ahn, the only way of mastering the ancient art is for each singer to build her own authentic sound.
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[@kino166]

I can feel shivers, I wonder how it feels to watch it in person, I would be overwhelmed. This woman is very good at what she does

[@meggieyuu]

my first time ever hearing it was live, and I think that definitely affected my perception. A video or a recording doesn't do justice to how the voice jumps through you and shakes your bones. I cried. even though I couldn't understand it at all at the time- the tears just jumped from my eyes and the emotion of the voice overwhelmed me

[@coily.hijabii3142]

@@eleanorwayland1440 you should listen to the sad history of korea and how the surrounding countries oppressed them so much to the point that only 5 of the 12 types of pansori remain

[@eleanorwayland1440]

@@coily.hijabii3142 suddenly I feel really bad for what I said and I think I was pretty disrespectful wasn't I? Anyway I'll delete that comment

[@andreslogghe4920]

Kino bruh this shit sucks

[@ryelydude]

@@andreslogghe4920 ...disrespectful.

[@Sandy-he9uo]

I wish I could understand Korean so I could better appreciate this work of art!! It's still mesmerizing to listen to though.

[@kat_hj2128]

Sandy Yang this is exactly why I am learning/going to learn multiple languages. You can get a deeper understanding of the culture and art if you know the language

[@eps3154]

Even if you spoke fluently it's kind of hard to understand with the enunciation, etc. It's like poetry. I imagine you would have to be very familiar with the craft itself to understand. Personally I wish they had subtitles like in opera.

[@brokenuterus2675]

I am korean but i don't understand many words .because there are a lot of dialects and even if some are similar you can't understand fully. Also she is a storyteller which means she is doing poem which is really hard to understand

[@tea_books728]

lol I’m struggling to learn Korean, I wish I could take actual classes instead of Duolingo

[@letssee8397]

She's repeating a lot of the same at points, (Sah-rahng is Love, Love them, Love Her etc.)

[@skyclintliquit7814]

I'm a foreigner and learning korean by singing pansori. I'm currently practicing Sugungga, one of the Pansori Stories.

[@revolversmoke]

Power to you for doing that.

[@googelle7555]

That's like learning to read music by playing Chopin. What a hell of a starting point. Respect! ❤

[@mr6943]

판소리는 고대 한국어로 현대한국어와 많이 다릅니다. 셰익스피어를 읽고 영어를 공부하는 것과 같습니다

[@HannahHinze]

I had the privilege of seeing this once. It's truly an amazing experience.

[@Melissa-pv3nz]

je t'envie ! je n'ai jamais pu voir une seule représentation de Pansori en live T.T

[@user-cn3fd6sf2h]

Eli Hinze 피호ㅓ

[@user-cn3fd6sf2h]

피호섭01079415357

[@user-cn3fd6sf2h]

피호섭고희지

[@cyberaloy]

this makes me happy to be a human. learning about culture and music. this is beautiful

[@VinchVolt]

As someone who's half-Korean on my mom's side, it's always interesting seeing videos like these that help explain elements of Korean culture that my mom probably wouldn't have talked about without being asked about it first. Most of the stories she's told me about life in Korea were about what it was like growing up under the Chung-Hee Park regime; they're pretty neat to listen to in their own right, though.

[@VinchVolt]

@이무영 Polish

[@Concetta20]

“Even if you can’t understand the language you feel he emotion of the pansori”, so true!

[@lalalili6576]

Pansori is from korean,not just south korea,north korea and south korea have same traditional culture

[@lionellynnkim4077]

lala lili In north korea, pansori almost disappeared. There are some Minyo(old folksongs) adapted from pansori but it sounds quite different, which is tragic as a Korean myself.

[@user-be8iy9sf6m]

@이무영 shut up

[@user-pe9xw9xi2z]

@tlqkf idiot..

[@dynastiummappinganimationp4046]

@@user-pe9xw9xi2z 닉넴이 tlqkf인걸 보면 국까인거 같은데

[@dynastiummappinganimationp4046]

@최소율 선넘고 드립친 찐이거나 평범한 국까 둘 중 하나일듯

[@user-vj3ym5br2m]

This clip is not enough to understand Pansori. Simply say, Pansori is a part of traditional musical of korea. The most different thing is that it's hard to distinguish if they're singing or saying. Since they sing like saying and talk like singing. So it's more emotional.

[@Concetta20]

Is this lady a national treasure yet? She should be.

[@Bmmlove1]

She is already national treasure.

[@penand_paper6661]

As Korean has its origins in pre ice-age cultures and lands, it is interesting how much this reminds me of Siberian epics or Ainu Yukar. Very nice.

[@haesung2148]

Every east asian except for china has almost same origin from beyond prehistory age. Or at least their origin was mixed in a long time.

[@danielchun431]

Haesung Song for that matter every race has a common origin. But Chinese were from the Yellow River civilization. Korea was from the Steppes People of Northeast Asia and Siberia. The Japanese are a mix of Korean peninsular migrants (Yayoi) and the indigenous Ainu. In terms of SEAsia. I’m not very educated. All I know is that they’re extremely mixed due to frequent territorial changes hundreds of years of European colonialism

[@ILOVESAMULNORI]

The theory that pansori originated from shamanic epics is based primarily on the fact that the original performers of this genre were shamans. Gwangdae with their roots in shamanic practice, were known to perform pansori.

[@user-mr5yw7mx4g]

@@ILOVESAMULNORI 일인이야? 거짓말 좀 퍼트리지마. 판소리는 그냥 평민들이 즐기는 노래였음.

[@Nogu3]

@@ILOVESAMULNORI pansori actually originated as folk music for the commonfolk, but its possible that the musical styles that gave birth to pansori could be reflected in shamanism .3.

[@user-wp6np9pm1k]

선생님 오래오래 건강하시고 좋은 소리 많이 들려 주세요ㅠㅠ 존경합니다ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[@yujinnah7035]

한국인! 이게 너무 아름답긴하죠! ㅠㅠㅠ

[@erward268]

Amazing beautiful queen hello how are you?

[@dani_dazed]

Pansori is the most beautiful, mesmorizing and spiritual music i have ever encountered. i get so emotionel everytime i listen. cant wait to someday experience a peformance in rea life.

[@coily.hijabii3142]

Agreed

[@gon9684]

Check out siberian shaman music, or maybe Japanese gagaku, Gagaku is like being on heaven, feels really bright and clear headed... Btw, I'm not saying they are better or anything like that, that would be really wrong, just sharing music you may or may not be familiar with.

[@MayaA-wq2ce]

I didn't understand anything of what she was reciting, but I still felt something. I'd love to go to one of her show someday!!

[@jeungy706]

범 내려온다 무한 반복하다 여기까지..ㄷㄷ 촤르르르르 홍앵홍앵 계속 귀에 맴돌아요. 판소리 뭐죸ㅋㅋㅋ

[@fayeyang260]

Did anyone else get shivers down their backs when listening to her sing so emotionally?

[@bernadetterocha3693]

This just showed up as an advertisement. I usually click out right away as they pop up, but something made me stop and watch the entire thing. It is so beautiful and I am glad I took a moment to listen. 💜

[@erward268]

Hello pretty how are you?

[@mariamhassen3171]

Shivers are running up my body! Holy snap!

[@Armoredarthur]

Next time I'm in Korea definitely gonna go to a pansori concert

[@yujinnah7035]

As a korean that has done pansori as a school test, yes.

[@user-qj1mi5cj3i]

So Have you come?

[@evesword4270]

I started crying while listening to her peformance, I don't know why but it's beautiful

[@nicolasgoldring7128]

I've heard this style of singing a few times before, but I didn't know the name of the style until now. As a cultural enthusiast, especially an East Asian cultural enthusiast, Korea's traditional cultural heritage is truly beautiful and amazing, especially its traditional musical heritage. I hope to visit this beautiful country someday. 나는 너를 사랑해, 한국. 🇰🇷

[@Mazuahaa]

I seen her in concert a few days ago here in Los Angeles, her voice and rendition was out of this world. Unforgettable!

[@BeepBopyoureaHeepHop]

I saw this in a ad and fell in love. Watching this again, is probably the best move I made in 2017

[@charliecastillo2011]

Who would dare dislike this?

[@lalalili6576]

Charlie Castillo japanese,because japanese always hate korean

[@BumblingFool912]

Not necessarily from what I've experienced... If anything, the older generations of both countries are bitter rivals while the more recent bunch don't really give a fuck and those that do are typically just gosiping away their lives out of lacking ambition, purpose or security in themselves. tbh I've seen more public hate from Korea than anything else though, I haven't cared much about this topic for a good couple of years as those that hate for the past in the present are either tired old farts or really...REALLY boring. (I'm sure there's exceptions of course, but TL;DR: not a lotta negative nationalistic cells these days)

[@grace-df1ol]

Public hate? From what I know, the Japanese government was the one who claimed Dokdo as their land and what Koreans are doing is defending their land and their culture. I agree that they shouldn't degrade the Japanese people and their culture, but I don't see how standing up for their land is called public hate.

[@user-ex4ry2fe3t]

lala lili also Chinese

[@dawie910]

I cannot understand the lyrics without subtitles but Pansori has become my new passion. Much appreciation to the ones who are reaching out to us through it.

[@aleksandra7508]

I remember hearing it live at the theatre , I had to hold my tears 💖

[@armanihoughtonhala2119]

This is very reminiscent of Polynesian chanting and most notably Hawaiian Oli, Its interesting to hear the Sori means sound in Korean, as in Hawai'i the chanting is Oli and in Aotearoa, in Maori, there is a chanting called Oriori.

[@phanswatch]

Shivers…. Her words are the heartbeat… ugh amazing

[@choibuchgaming3801]

This is nice. In Philippines there is also called "Dasang" by the tribesmen, Manobo and Higaonon.

[@kristengriffin3943]

True expression of Korean soul❤️🙏

[@alcialuv2518]

Truly beautiful and deeply moving! The intonations are really soulful. I would love to experience this in person.

[@page.seongstar1117]

I saw this lady on I can see your voice, Korea. If u watch one of the videos, she a grandma of Two. Her granddaughters were on I can see your voice.

[@snowflakeperv]

요즘으로 따지면 디즈니 무비정도 되는거지.. 노래와 감정과. 이야기가 담긴 판소리. . 오래 오래 건강하세요.

[@Allenda100]

This is very beautiful!

[@chanelc.8034]

God I love everything about this channel

[@sebastiank9175]

even without understanding korean , I could feel the immense energies of this beautiful ancient art. wish I could go korea someday to experience it live.

[@violetkumarina3699]

That is so true, I always feel like I’m in the story , I am from NZ but I love the Korean language, culture and food, also the people.

[@abrrrl]

this lovely woman is a literal SORIKUN! She's a thunderous one. ⚡

[@imageez]

It would be cool if they project the translation of the narration on the background. Understanding them would make it more immersive I think :)

[@abrrrl]

changbin's thunderous verse brought me here! glad i did! what a rich and interesting art form!

[@armwrestlingfan6804]

Now this is authentic! 😊

[@davesterchele2679]

Incredible emotions! Thank you for sharing.

[@tatheanh1991]

So beautiful!

[@resonathan]

The solo performance with a drummer sometimes last for 2, 3 or even up to 6 hours. It is incredible enough that they memorize all the verses and intonations.

[@afwanbarry5187]

Appreciate the videographic team and of course the lady. Awesome! Super duper authentic!!!!!!

[@mulantisreunitingall888]

Wow, very impressive, soulful, uplifting, empowering, and inspiring channel of Spirit/creative artist/beautiful and powerful singer, and her profound story and heartfelt performance. Thank you so much for sharing this precious and invaluable gem-like experience.

[@mimimer88soul53]

this and Tibetan throat singing gives me goosebumps

[@kyon5323]

All I can under stand in this video is the word with love in it

[@JMTM]

could listen to this whole day

[@cindyperezramos4013]

This is really amazing, it has a lot of feeling

[@silverjane8580]

this is so ethereal and beautiful

[@filipinoamericanhomeschool5446]

Beautiful! I came here because of a comment from Learn Korean in Kculture!

[@Paktoy_100]

my heart started slowing down listening to this :0

[@juliafried4756]

Excellent. Quel performance et harmonie. Félicitations.

[@TheYavy]

I d love to watch this live

[@sebastiank9175]

one dont need to understand Korean to appreciate pansori , the vibration, energy and voice penetrate any soul!

[@louiedc2343]

Impressive! I came here to learn more after watching a movie called "my punch drunk boxer". It's about a boxer who uses pansori fighting style.

[@mateiaprozianu3289]

Very fascinating.

[@MeanBodyMami]

I would love to see something like this live one day.

[@ernie.chan.]

This is special

[@wongfrancis]

She's the best pansori singer of Korea, attaining Diva status, like Maria Callas, for the opera.

[@alenbino]

You guys might think Korean can understand the lyrics but same ad you guys we can't understand most of the words. It contains a lot of old words and sentences. So don't feel uncomfortable hearing Korean song's It's same that we can't understand them too😀 hope you guys enjoy!

[@hepianesti5451]

Whereabout in Korea is that magnificent waterfall?

[@Noirfromandromeda]

maybe... "suok" waterfall.. Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea 대한민국 충청북도 괴산군 "수옥폭포" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 몇몇 한국 사극 드라마에 나오기도 했어~

[@sasufreqchann]

this voice is realy likeable .

[@iosj2001]

So proud.

[@muchsoso8468]

She is the grand master Ms. Ahn, Sooksun.

[@luce6764]

I'm kinda surprised there are more non-Koreans in the comments then actual Korean comments... Not complaining, reaction from others about Pansori is interesting...

[@jule1354]

Because of KZbin algorism. English is prefered than korean.

[@luce6764]

@@jule1354 Yeah i've seen a dual language channel have more english comments even tho their audience is mostly korean. They've explained it's youtube's algorithm and they probs haven't fixed it yet.

[@user-be3ni1yu1r]

Love Korean Pansori

[@the-birbo]

I love that my favorite Korean artists seem greatly influenced from this style

[@bubbalee5305]

I haven't listen to pansori since 1980 when I left Korea as a child. my great aunt was Park No-ju. I tried to search for her sound but cannot find it on the internet. she was a single lady who never got married and wore cat eye sunglasses in doors in the 70's to 80's until her passing. lol. I find pansori sound so soothing and it made me cry from deep within this Saturday morning. such a beautiful sound. if anyone can find Park No-Ju sound on the internet, please kindly let me know.

[@possiblyijt7400]

Is there any chance that her name was Park Nok-Ju (박록주, 1905-1979) instead?? I couldn't find a Park No-Ju but Park Nok-Ju doesn't appear to have been married and her photos mostly show her wearing sunglasses (see:www.hearkorea.com/gododata/gododata.html?g_id=8&g_no=16282). Here are some of the videos/recordings of her singing if it is her: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2OcYZ-clq2UfMU This one's of her actually performing a pansori piece (It's called something like 'Journey of the Swallow' from 'Heungbuga'): kzbin.info/www/bejne/joHKiYNjpZeDjrs

[@bubbalee5305]

@@possiblyijt7400 omg thank you! I just realize I did a misspelling! I will share this with my mom and aunts. They will be thrilled!!

[@bubbalee5305]

@@possiblyijt7400 hi Issac. I just want to thank you so deeply for helping me find this on KZbin. you rock! I just realized that I misspelled her name so thank you for catching that. my mom and aunts will be thrilled!

[@possiblyijt7400]

@@bubbalee5305 It's okay! You really didn't have to thank me haha. I have a bit of an interest in Pansori and Korean folk music in general do it wasn't hard for me to find out who your great aunt was. I'm happy that you and your family can once again enjoy the singing of Park Nok-Ju!

[@bubbalee5305]

@@possiblyijt7400 absolutely not! I have to thank you over and over again. :)

[@hpytz_3878]

BEUTIFUL

[@thesecrowsaintloyal2923]

Well, damn…I don’t know how I how got here but I’m damn glad I did.

[@christinelim8828]

Damn. I would love to watch a live someday.

[@Rayniel80]

This video is so nice it's in a paper/module for the subject Music

[@rrhondell]

I saw a Korean band called Second Moon recently. Musically they were playing jazz, blues, Irish. The music sounded contemporary and there was nothing in terms of melody or arrangements that distinguished it as Korean music. But the singer's style sounded just like pansori. He was telling stories with both his voice and his fan. So the band mixed an older vocal style with contemporary music.

[@lolaawosika8672]

I came here after seeing this on the BtS world game. It mentioned pansori and I was intrigued

[@sahanasamanta1040]

Same🤣

[@maromlevi1732]

Wow she me shivers she osome singer

[@dltmdwnfkdldjs]

amazing

[@hinatahyuga-uzumaki2266]

Hello guys, could you please help me out. I have a Pansori song that I want to know the title of. I have placed it as the only video on my KZbin channel.

[@redglue4518]

She's performing "Sarang-ga"... it's the most well known of all the 5 Classical Repertoir of Pansori... it's about two lovers who are trying to know each other... the story's really cute... 🤣🤣🤣

[@possiblyijt7400]

She is performing Sarang-ga but but what you're talking about (most well known of the 5 classical repertoire of Pansori) is Chunhyangga. Sarangga is a part of (and the most famous) and part of Chunhyangga though, so you are still correct.

[@redglue4518]

@@possiblyijt7400 uggghhh... my bad... yeah, sorry... got some pretty limited knowledge on this... 🤣🤣🤣

[@yujinnah7035]

Saddly, some of the songs of pansori are still unknown :(

[@avereforza2329]

I recommend to watch Dorihwaga korean film it's interesting the first female pansori singer.

[@gohnuowee6213]

the art of the Korea!

[@deusexmachina1421]

in my own culture, we have something that I guess is the equivalent of Pansori called 'Magambaon'. Sadly, people associate it with paganism & demonic rituals & only a few old people know it today. 😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@lalalili6576]

Peter Petrus samein here,in java island,most of urban people in here assumtic javanese culture as demonic ritual,also we have "sinden",it's have beautifull sound but urban scare of sinden's sound because they see sinden as demonic ritual

[@ILOVESAMULNORI]

So sad, pansori also originated from Shamanic epic

[@Poplar632]

Very similar to a waiata. I like it

[@beatnix99]

This is Korean soul, jazz, and blues before there was soul, jazz and blues…

[@mookie52099]

I asked Google what music she listened to and she told me this

[@erward268]

The smile on your is unbelievable. I admire your smile with so much passion. Hello to you how are you doing I hope you good 🌹?

[@anastasiaalex6658]

Mr Queen

[@RoyalPT]

Korean Pansori and portuguese Fado have so much in common! I like both very much!

[@RoyalPT]

@@davidjacobs8558 definitelly :)

[@maromlevi1732]

😍

[@cryptojack4933]

It is Vocal K-Drama, I can truly feel the emotions and everything wow!

[@jean-pascalbourdier9966]

Merveilleuse culture, merveilleux peuple, joyeux, dynamique, compétitif, les italiens de l Asie

[@daisydaisy9397]

Came here after Call 2. 💗

[@rosiofficial22]

❤️

[@hershjoshi]

👍

[@juliafried4756]

❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍

[@whushaw]

💜

[@mayainactiveemail3986]

She's a modern Bard!

[@QueennieMapula2000]

I came here because of Ravi's new song Bum

[@lollipop7458]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️