As a study on musical activities of foreign missionaries in Korea, this paper traces music educational contents, context and influences focusing on Pyongyang in 1920-30s.
After the Great Revival Movement(1907), Pyongyang became an important stronghold and the main arena of the foreign missionaries. As a result, rapid expansion of congregations triggered a change in local culture, which implies western music activities also occurred actively in this city.
Among the stations that Foreign Missionary Union set up at 7 major cities in Korea, Pyongyang station was known as the largest and most convenient that is why the structure and size of space. In the station up to 120 acres, there were many kinds of schools, hospitals, churches, houses of missionaries as well. As a result, great and small meetings, retreats, assembly and bible conferences were held in the station as well as a lot of concerts and performances on western musical sound. Pyongyang mission station as new sound space was driven craving Korean to modernization. Especially, music education was crucial power for leading change of sound culture.
Since the churches in Pyongyang grew rapidly, demand for school also increased steeply compared to other city. Various schools erected consequentially with higher demand for missionaries. In Pyongyang, there were not only foreign school for missionary kids but also a lot of Christian mission schools such as Soongsil, Soongeui, Soongsil college(presbyterian) where missionaries taught music to children and students under various programs. Among the missionaries in Pyongyang, there were professional music teachers, like Mr. and Mrs. Malsbary, D. N. Luts, F. S. Boots, Mrs. D. L. Soltau in the 1920∼30s. These missionaries contributed to be rooted western music with more systematic method. Consequently, this indicates their curriculum might have been a critical model for music education in Korea.
Thus, this paper intends to depict situation of music education at the time and how to transit from Feudal Koreans to Modern People through new sound space by foreign missionaries. I draw this argument based on the primary sources included ministry reports, private diaries of missionaries, news papers as well as school documents.