(b Seoul, 31 May 1936). Korean composer and performer of the kayagŭm, a 12-string long zither. After learning the kayagŭm with Kim Yŏngyun, Kim Yundŏk and Shim Sanggŏn, he became an instructor at Seoul National University and the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. In 1974 he joined the music faculty at Ewha Women’s University. He has won national prizes as both a performer and composer, and has been influential as a board member of the Cultural Properties Management Committee. He led South Korean performance troupes sent to North Korea. Abroad, he has been artist-in-residence at the universities of Hawaii and Washington, and a visiting scholar at Harvard. He has established his own school of the traditional genre sanjo, publishing a related score and CD in 1998.
He claims, with some justification, to have composed the first contemporary music for a Korean instrument in 1963. This was Sup, four programmatic movements blending court music and folk music with ostinati imitating rain and cuckoos. His mature style emerged in his most popular work Ch'imhyangmu (1974), which is built in three sections linked through the common tonal centres of A and E. The kayagŭm uses a special tuning derived from Buddhist chants, and Hwang claims to have been inspired by ancient sacred art. The first section utilises characteristic rhythmic cycles reminiscent of sanjo. The second introduces arpeggios, microtonal shading (similar pitches sounded on two adjacent strings) and left-hand melodies, while in the third the melody is supported by arpeggiated chords. Traditionally only the right hand plucked kayagŭm strings and there was no harmony. Migung (1975), a theatrical piece for kayagŭm and voice, is more progressive, notated graphically on a single sheet. This, however, remains an isolated experiment, and Hwang has since continued to consolidate but only gradually expand the language of Ch'imhyangmu. His compositions are always linked to the language of traditional Korean music. One later piece, the lyric song Pyŏgŭl nŏmŏsŏ, commissioned for a martial arts demonstration at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is suggestive of a more meditative and reflective approach.
mostly for Korean instruments
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Orch: Mandaeyŏp haet'an, 1974; Unhak [Crane in the Clouds], 1978; Saebom [Early Spring], 17-str kayagŭm, orch, 1992 |
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Solo inst: Sup [The Forest], kayagŭm, 1963; Kaŭl [Autumn], kayagŭm, 1963; Sŏngnyujip [The Pomegranate House], kayagŭm, 1964; Pom [Spring], kayagŭm, 1967; Karado [Kara Town], kayagŭm, 1967; Mansangman hwanip [Slow–Fast–Slow], taegŭm, 1971; P'ungyo [Fertility], p'iri, 1972; Ch'imhyangmu [Dance in the Perfume of Aloes], kayagŭm, 1974; Pidan'gil [The Silk Road], kayagŭm, 1977; Chashi [Midnight], taegŭm, 1978; Chŏnsŏl [The Legend], kayagŭm, 1979; Yŏngmok [The Haunted Tree], kayagŭm, 1979; Harimsŏng [Harim Castle], taegŭm, 1982; Pam ŭi sori [Sounds of the Night], kayagŭm, 1984; Namdo hwansanggok [Southern Fantasy], kayagŭm, 1988; Soyŏp sanbang [The Hermit’s Pavilion], kŏmun'go, 1990; Ch'unsŏl [Spring Snow], 17-str kayagŭm, 1991; Talha nop'igom [A Prayer to the Moon], kayagŭm, 1996 |
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2–4 insts: Aibogae [Children’s Games], 2 kayagŭm, taegŭm, changgo, 1978; Sanun [Mountain Rhyme], kŏmun'go, taegŭm, 1984 |
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Vocal: Kukhwa yŏp'esŏ [Beside a Chrysanthemum], 1v, kayagŭm, taegŭm, changgo, 1962; Ch'ŏngsando, SATB, 1974; Migung [The Labyrinth], 1v, kayagŭm, 1975; Kanggangsullae, SATB, 1974; Chŏnyŏk songju [Evening Chant], male chorus, perc, 1983; Pyŏgŭl nŏmŏsŏ [Beyond All Barriers], 1v, 1988; Kohyang ŭi tal [Moon of My Hometown], 1v, kayagŭm, changgo, 1990; Urinŭn hana [We are one], 1v, org, perc, 1990; Confucius, 1v, taegŭm, changgo, 1992; Alsu ŏpsŏyo [Who knows?], 1v, orch, 1996; Taeju [Offering of Wine], 1v, ens, 1998; Ch'ihyangije [2 Themes for Tea Fragrance], 1v, 17-str kayagŭm, 1998 |
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Dramatic: Kayagum (film score), 1964; Sujŏl [Faithfulness] (film score), 1973; Pari kongju [Princess Pari] (music for dance), 1978; Yŏne pult'a olla [Flaming up in Karma] (music for dance), 1983; Eternal Empire (film score), 1994 |
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Principal publisher: Ehwa Women’s University Press |
‘Kayagŭm chakkokpŏbe taehan yŏn'gu’ [Composing for the zither], Yesul nonmunjip, xvii (1975)
‘The Aesthetic Characteristics of Korean Music in Theory and Practice’, Asian Music, ix/2 (1978), 29–40
‘Chŏnt'ong ŭmakkwa hyŏndae ŭmak’ [Traditional and contemporary music], Han'guk ŭi minjok munhwa (Sŏngnam, 1979)
‘Ŭmakchŏk shigan'gwa ridŭm’ [Time and rhythm in music], Wŏlgan ŭmak, iii (1983)
‘Some Notes on Korean Music and Aspects of its Aesthetics’, World of Music, xxvii/2 (1985), 32–48
‘The Influence of Asian Music on Western Composition’, Nonch'ong, lvii (1987)
Kip'ŭn pam, kŭ kayagŭm sori [Deep-rooted night, the sounds of the zither] (Seoul, 1994)
CC1 (K. Howard)
A.C. Heyman: ‘Hwang Byung-ki kayagŭm Masterpieces’, Korea Journal, xxv/5 (1985), 58–60
Yun Chunggang: ‘Sup'eso chŏnsŏlkkaji: kayagŭmgogŭl t'onghae pon Hwang Pyŏnggiŭi ŭumakkwa sasang’ [The music and influence of Hwang from The Forest to The Legend], Kaeksŏk, iii (1985)
Kang Sŏkkyŏng: ‘Kayagŭm chakkokka Hwang Pyŏnggi’ [Zither composer Hwang Byung-ki], Ilhanŭn yesulgadŭl (1986)
Pak Yonggu: ‘Ojik han saram: Hwang Pyŏnggi’ [Only one man: Hwang], Onŭl ŭi ch'osang (Seoul, 1989)
A. Killick: New Music for Korean Instruments (diss., U. of Hawaii, 1990)
KEITH HOWARD