#4627, Sounds of Southeast Asia Meet Western Forms

Hear music with ties to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia - perhaps deployed in western musical forms, as in Him Sophy’s Requiem for Cambodia, music by Lou Harrison, and more.

Listen to a work by composer and survivor of the Khmer Rouge, Him Sophy, and his work, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia, a collaboration with filmmaker Rithy Panh. At its heart is the musical ritual of a Bangsokol – a traditional Khmer ceremony that accompanies Cambodian Buddhist funeral rites – which he reframes within a requiem mass, using traditional Khmer vocalists and instruments—ancient harps, flutes, and the xylophone-like roneat pluah—to mourn the victims of the Cambodian genocide in the late 1970’s, (Entertain Impact press release, and BAM program notes.)

Also, hear Vietnamese zither (dan tranh) player Tri Nguyen and oud player Qaïs Saadi merging traditional melodies of Vietnam with the modes of the Arabic classical music. Plus, music from Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutro, where chiming Indonesian-like gamelan instruments and a western chorus singing the Esperanto translation of the Buddhist Heart Sutra, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4627, SE Asia Meets West (First aired 5/24/22)

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 1. wandering souls/utterly alone [1:00]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 1. wandering souls/utterly alone [6:46]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 2. please come listen / the roots of war [11:40]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia

ARTIST: Tri Nguyen (feat. Qaïs Saadi)
WORK: Golden Skies [7:42]
RECORDING: A Journey Between Worlds
SOURCE: ARC Music
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon.com 

ARTIST: Bruce Gaston et al
WORK: I've Lost My Chance To Be Your Husband [3:44]
RECORDING:  Fong Naam: Ancient Contemporary Music From Thailand
SOURCE: Celestial Harmonies
INFO: harmonies.com/releases/14098.htm

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 1. wandering souls/utterly alone [1:00]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 6. - awaiting ambrosia  for all the souls [4:56]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia

ARTIST: UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, cond. Philip Brett; American Gamelan 
WORK: Lou Harrison: La Koro Sutro - Strofo 7 [5:11]
RECORDING: La Koro Sutro
SOURCE: New Albion #015 
INFO: Try Amazon.com

ARTIST: Metropolis Ensemble, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrew Cyr, cond.
WORK: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia 9. wandering souls / coming back to life [4:44]
RECORDING: Him Sophy: Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia
SOURCE: Entertain Impact
INFO: bangsokol.cambodianlivingarts.org | beatroot.ffm.to/bangsokol-arequiemforcambodia