Filed under: Thailand
The various musics of Thailand were widely recorded during the 78 era, but there are many excellent recordings from the 60’s released on 45 rpm 7 inch records as well. Often these 45’s contain great traditional music and include some styles that were not recorded on 78.
Such is the case with this 7 inch record on the Rabbit label. One side is some rather uninteresting pop music in the Ramwong style. But the side we’re listening to here is Muay Thai music, that is, music played during Thai kickboxing matches. Muay Thai is a popular fighting sport that exists in different versions all across southeast Asia and is hundreds of years old. The music is used to accompany the fighting. It begins slowly while the boxers pay their respects to their teachers and then increases in intensity as the fight escalates. I suppose there were many sports that used ritualistic musical accompaniment in the past, but this is one of the last, as far as I know.
The main instrument is the Pi, the Thai “oboe”, which is related to many shawm-like instruments across Asia. The percussion instruments consist of , a pair of drums called Klong Kaak, the tiny finger cymbals called Ching, and the gong called Kong Mong.
The 45’s hold about twice as much music per side as a 78, so this is a nice long track. I wonder if it was recorded during an actual match?
Filed under: Thailand
Phleng Sansoen Phra Barami (เพลงสรรเสริญพระบารมี) is the Thai Royal Anthem. The music, composed by the Russian composer Pyotr Schurovsky, was the national anthem of Siam until 1932, when it was replaced by Phleng Chat. Most versions I’ve heard include the lyrics that were composed by Prince Narisaranuvadtivongs, around 1913, and were later revised by King Rama VI.
This record has two different versions of the royal anthem.
Side one (6082) is performed by พิณพาทย์ พระยาประสานดุริยศัพท์ (phinphat phraya prasanduriyasap). Phraya Prasanduriyasap is a famous maestro. He was teacher to thailand’s most famous thai classical composer Luang Pradit Phairoh (on whose life the film “The Overture” is based).
Here’s a pic of Phraya Prasanduriyasap:
Side two (6093) is by แตรวงกรมทหารมหาดเล็ก (traewong krom thahan mahat lek) a branch of the Thai Royal Army.
There are many recordings of this anthem, but this is the first I’ve heard played by a phinphat ensemble.The royal anthem is ubiquitous in Thailand, being played before official functions, films and on television.
Thanks again to Peter Doolan, from MONRAKPLENGTHAI, for translation and general info!
Filed under: Thailand
Thailand has an amazingly rich, diverse musical culture. It ranges from classical xylophone based ensembles (piphat) to funky rural genres like luk thung and molam.
This recording is of ระบำดาวดึงษ์ (rabam daowadueng), from the famous lakhon “sang thong”, a dance-drama written during the reign of king Rama II (1809-1824) and derived from the Jataka tales (a collection of folktales about the births of Buddha). The lyrics to this dance describe the second level of heaven; the abode of the god indra, who lends much assistance to the play’s protagonist, phra sang, the conch-shell prince. The story has many magical elements, such as an ogres who dies of a broken heart. There’s a brief plot summary here.
The performers are a phiphat ensemble คณะดุริยะปราณีต (khana duriya pranit), along with a group of singers. originally this would have been an all-male production, at least in terms of the actors.
Piphat is the ensemble used for classical Thai music. There are several forms of piphat ensemble with different instrumental configurations, the basic form consists of the pi nai (oboe), ranat (xylophone), khong wong wai (gong circle) and various percussion instruments. The Cambodian version is called pinpeat.
Thanks to Peter Doolan for translation and general info, he’ll be pitching in here while we explore some Thai records. Be sure to check out his amazing and informative Thai cassette blog MONRAKPLENGTHAI.
