Literary Nonfiction. Northeast Asia Studies. Music has played and continues to play a vital role in Korean society, providing a rich vein of material as a dynamic part of the nation's culture. Korean music's history reflects active engagement with surrounding cultures, as well as indigenous creativity and innovation. Korea is heir to one of the world's oldest repertoires of notated music. Over the past several hundred years, virtuosic instrumental genres based upon the music of shamanist rituals and agricultural ceremonies developed into highly sophisticated art forms. This book examines the development of Korean traditional music, looking at what makes it unique, surveying its wide variety of genres, and reviewing its dramatic history as an art form.