Sim-bongsa

The story of Simcheong-ga 심청가 is one of the few surviving p’ansori 판소리, or traditional Korean folktales with song. The tale describes a deep relationship between a poor, blind father, Sim-bongsa, and a beautiful daughter, Simcheong. Widowered and struggling, the father feels immensely guilty for not being able to care for her. Noticing his trouble, Simcheong makes sacrifice after sacrifice to try and get her father enough money to cure his blindness, eventually selling herself for a few bushels of rice. The two of them believe that they have forever lost each other, although they both continue to search. Don’t worry, the story has a very happy ending—the turning point in the tale comes after an emotional reunion years later—Sim-bongsa’s eyesight is magically restored, and the two of them are overwhelmed with a mix of joy, disbelief, and deep guilt. For this piece, I decided to focus on specific aspects of the tale that felt quite visceral—the synchronicity of the pair’s emotions, the restless middle of the story where one thinks the other is dead, and the cyclical nature of the tale, which constantly shifts between themes of happiness and sadness, and life and death. Pay attention to the deep harmonic and rhythmic simultaneity between the two instruments as they converse.

Performed in Ford Hall at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music on April 6th, 2025