Music release

Cambodia: Traditional Music, Vol. 1

Cambodia: Traditional Music, Vol. 1 is an album of Cambodian instrumental and vocal pieces recorded in Phnom Penh in 1970 and issued by Folkways Records.[1][2] Chinary Ung compiled the album and wrote its notes. It holds solo pieces, village ensembles and the music of the Royal Palace.[2]

About the recording

A team led by Kim Say collected the recordings in 1970 at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh.[2] Chinary Ung edited the tape, wrote the liner notes with Charles D. Adkins as editor, and produced the album. Maurice Liebot took the photographs and is thanked for his extensive documents. The Ford Foundation gave a research grant for the Cambodian music project.[2]

Folkways Records issued the album as FE 4081. It is the first of two volumes; the second is FE 4082.[2][3] Sources give two dates for the release. Streaming listings date it to 1975, while the Folkways record jacket carries a 1978 copyright.[4][2] The album is dedicated to the Cambodian people who suffered persecution and lost their lives in war.[2]

The music

The album opens with two solo instruments. The khse diev, also called khse huoy ("string single"), is a plucked single-string instrument held like a lute. Its resonator is made from the shell of the kloak, a large round fruit. The khse diev also plays in the wedding ensemble and in the ensemble for magical rites. The phlom slek ("blow leaf") is a leaf. The player curls one long edge over and places the arch between the lips.[2]

The Khmer ensemble (krom phleng khmer) generally includes the pai-ar, a double-reed bamboo flute, along with a leaf instrument, a three-string fiddle, single-string and two-string lutes, cymbals and a small drum.[2][3] The singers improvise words and vocables around a set structure. The players follow one another to build layers of rhythm.[3] The piece "Hom Rong" is the overture to a wedding ceremony, which traditionally lasts three days.[2]

The chhayam percussion ensemble has four long drums, a suspended hand gong and a pair of hand cymbals. It is part of the Buddhist festivals Bon Kathhen and Bon Phka.[2] The Pinpeat ensemble plays on feast days in the pagodas. In the palace, it accompanies classical dance and the Khmer version of the Ramayana (Reamker). The Pinpeat is mostly percussion: bamboo xylophones, tuned gongs, drums, cymbals and claves. Its wind instrument is the sralay.[2] The Pinpeat and Mahori pieces on side two are played by musicians of the Royal Palace.[2][1] The liner notes call bamplei ("to ornament") perhaps the most essential practice among Cambodian musicians.[2]

Track list

The digital edition lists nine tracks.[1][5]

  1. "Khse Diev," khse diev player (3:11)
  2. "Phlom Slek," phlom slek player (3:32)
  3. "Krom Phleng Khmer," Krom phleng khmer ensemble (5:15)
  4. "Krom Phleng Khmer: Hom Rong," Krom phleng kar ensemble (2:52)
  5. "Chhayam," Chhayam percussion ensemble (6:22)
  6. "Krom Phleng Pinpeat (1)," Pinpeat ensemble of the Royal Palace (2:07)
  7. "Mohori," Mahori ensemble of the Royal Palace (5:19)
  8. "Krom Phleng Pinpeat (2)," Pinpeat ensemble of the Royal Palace (4:11)
  9. "Krom Phleng Pinpeat (3)," Pinpeat ensemble of the Royal Palace (6:56)

Access

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Smithsonian Folkways, Cambodia: Traditional Music, Vol. 1
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Smithsonian Folkways, Cambodia: Traditional Music #1 liner notes (PDF)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Nothin' Sez Somethin', Cambodia (August 11, 2013)
  4. ↑ JioSaavn, Krom Phleng Khmer
  5. ↑ Apple Music
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:39.