Chudharatanabhorn Building :
Art of Music 3 Silapa Rattanakosin
Resource Center
“...All kinds
of music are essential arts. Most people
appreciate and are acquainted with
music. People begin to be familiar with
music since their youths. A profound
knowledge depends on individual
intelligence and performing ability.
Thus, it can be said that among all
kinds of art, music is more well-known
and plays a very important role in the
education of the people in every
countries."
A speech by His
Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in
recognition of the Certificate and
Honorary Membership No. 23 bestowed by
the Academy for Music and Performing
Arts of Vienna, on October 5,
1964 The
Supreme Artist
(1955-2016)
“His Majesty
the King was very fond of Phra Chen
Duriyang, a music expertise of the Fine
Arts Department. He gave a royal command
to print all of the music books created
by Khun Pra. During the printing and
proof reading process, he gained a lot
of knowledge. If he had a doubt, he
would inquire Khun Phra directly. Though
His Majesty did not keen in theory, he
could always hit the right note",
Khun Phra said. Her Royal
Highness Crown Princess
Sirinthorn
King Bhumibhol
Adulyadej's ingeniousness in music
was recognized internationally. His
Majesty was a world-class musician and a
composer. He had composed and played in
different kind of music bands. The
Academy for Music and Performing Arts of
Vienna had presented him a Certificate
and Honorary Membership No. 23 on
October 5,
1964
As for Thai music,
His Majesty the King determined to
reserve Thai music as a national
heritage. He gave a royal command to the
Fine Arts Department to publish a book
called Keynote of Thai Music Bookt as a
standard for Thai musician in the next
generation. The King also supported a
research on Thai music scale and
conducted experiments on mixing
international instrument with Thai
Krueng Sai (string instruments). Through
the eyes of all Thai people, He
evidentially earned the name
'Supreme Artist.
Her Royal Highness
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
graciously presided over the opening
ceremony of Suan Sunandha Cultural
Center on January, 4th 1990. On that
auspicious occasion H.R.H. joined the
Thai music band which was the great
honor of Suan Sunandha
community. "Her
Majesty the Queen wanted to listen to
“ Lao Duang Duan ” which was
her favorite song. The queen said to the
her kids that “ Chai will you sing
Lao DuangDuan for me, sing the way I
like, Noi play the music and Lek do the
dancing ..." Professor Emeritus Dr.
Poonpis
Amatayakul H.R.H. Princess
Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is a talented
musician, especially in Thai music,
since her childhood. In addition to her
ability to play different types of
instruments, such as Ranad Aek (alto
Xylophone), Saw Duang (treble friddle),
and Ja-kae (Thai Zither), she also
composed many Thai songs and could sing
beautifully. She gracefully accepted
Thai music teachers under her patronage
and urges educational institutes,
secondary schools, and universities to
set up musical activities which help
promote and conserve Thai music.
"Thai music will prevail because of
her devotion" Seree
Wangnaitam
Thai music has been
considered as an aesthetic art form that
gradually developed, for a certain
period of time, according to to the way
of life and the diversity of the
culture. Finally, it has resulted in the
unique characteristic of Thai
music. The
Origin of Rattanakosin Music
(1782A.D.-1809A.D.) Golden
Age of Literature.
(1809A.D.-1824A.D.) The
sound of music
(1824A.D.-1851A.D.) The Era
of Mixed Culture King Rama IV (1851 A.D.
- 1868
A.D.) Integration of Music
(1858 A.D.-191O
A.D.) Glory
of Music and Drama in the Royal Palace
(1910 A.D. – 1925
A.D.) The
Siam of Music Modification (1925 A.D.
– 1934
A.D.) Thai
Music in Democracy Period (1934 A.D.
– 1946
A.D.) The nationalism
policy by the government of General
Plaek Piboonsongkram, the prime minister
of Thailand, required all musicians to
hold a professional music license. That
led to the deterioration of Thai music
at that time. However, the prime
minister had established the school of
music which is now the College of
Dramatic Arts, in order to support and
develop Thai music and drama.
Suntraraporm band, which harmonized Thai
lyrics together with international
music, was set-up and the songs still
enjoy immense popularity even to this
day. Music
in Royal
Ceremony
“...the royal
ceremony, either conducts by the king or
by his representatives, cannot be
performed without Mahoree Phi Pat (Thai
traditional music) because the sound of
music will enhance and inspire
people's spirit and strengthen their
concentration in that ceremony. Once the
playing of music in royal ceremony
became successful we inherit it as our
tradition."
Music in the Royal
Ceremony is a unique kind of music due
to its superior quality and exclusively
performed only by skillful artists to
reflect the supremacy of the Royal
institution. Aside from enhancing the
dignity of the monarch, it is also an
important component of classical drama
such as khon, a genre of Thai dance
drama solely performed in the royal
court, and lakorn-duk-dambนn (opera
oriented dance
drama). Coronation
Ceremony
"He scattered
the golden and silver bullet wood
flowers, poured the ceremonial water,
made a prayer and a wish. The Brahmin
blew the Maha Sang-a rare right coiled
conchcreating the sound of Music, after
that the king went into the royal
houseto offer alms. Daily routing
archives of King Rama V,
1868
Music in royal
ceremony was viewed as a medium between
human's minds and supernatural
power. The holy ceremony stipulated in
the monarch law and was strictly
conducted by the King since Sukhothai
period. The music was characterized into
2 types: Krueng Phrakome and Krueng
Banleng. Krueng
Phrakom
The word
"Krueng Phrakom” is not the
name of the music band but indicate the
function of the music which performs on
the auspicious occasion according to
Brahmin's belief. It consists of
Wong Trae Sang and Wong Kratang Trae
Mahoratuek, and is performed in honor of
the King and the members of the royal
family. Krueng
Banleng Under the
Patronage
Under the patronage
of the monarch, Thai traditional music
reached its golden age. Each palace and
wealthy household had a musical band of
their own. They searched for
professional musicians to join their
bands; during this time, many important
pieces of music were
composed. During the
reign of King Rama V through King Rama
V, the aforementioned patronage was
practiced among the members of the
monarch such as the music band in the
palace of King Pinklao which had Pra
Phradit Pairor (Mee Duriyangkul or Kru
Mee Kaek) as a mentor and in the palace
of Princess Sudaratanarajaprayun which
had Kru Choi Soontornwatin as a
mentor. “ The man
that hath no music in himself, Nor is
not moved with Concord of Sweet Sounds,
Is fit treasons, stratagems and
spoils.” “Merchant of
Venice” by Shakespeare translated
by King Rama
6 Music
band
competition “...Bhurapa Bhiromya came
with a full scale Phi Pat band with only
young players while Samut Songkram came
with a smaller band and the musicians
were elderly players, no less than 50
years of age. After the competition was
finished, all the audiences agreed that
the Samutr Songkram was much better than
Bhurapa Bhiromya. I had known later that
they all were famous music
teachers...” Prince
Damrong
Rajanubhab
Thai music
continued to be prosperous throughout
the reign of King Rama V and Rama VI.
The royal grand palace and other palaces
had their own music bands. Listening to
music was a popular aesthetic leisure;
it was the tradition of the royal
families to accept famous musicians
under their patrons. At that time, the
famous music teachers were Jang Wang Tua
Pattayakosol of Bangkhunphrom palace,
Jang Wang Son Silpabanleng of Bhurapa
Bhiromya palace, Phraya Sanor Duriyang
(Cham Soontornvatin) of Chao Praya
Dhrammadhikornadhibordi's band.
Music competitions, at that time,
motivated musicians to find new
techniques and composed new pieces of
music which continues to contribute
great benefit to the musical society to
this day. Her
Royal Highness Princess
Adorndibyanibha Mixed
String Female
Band Her Royal
Highness Princess Adorndibyanibha had
shown a particular interest in music
from her early age and was well-known as
‘Ja kae' player (Jake - a
three-stringed musical
instrument). She also encouraged her
family members andcourtiers to practice
music, and capable to form a
mixed-stringfemale band in Suan
Sunandha. Usually the
band performed mainly in the palace
area, but would be performing in
different palace for special occasions
such as the birthday ceremony. At that
time, her band was one of the full
stringed-instrument bands in Suan
Sunandha. The band was mentored by a
famous music teacher, Chao Thepkunya (Na
Chiang Mai) Buranapim who was an expert
in all kinds of string instruments. The
musicians in the band consisted of Khun
Supattra Singholaga - violin and saw
duang; Khun Boonpong - saw samsai; Khun
Sae - saw au; Khun Saengkae - saw duang;
Khun Sangkai and Khun Chalerm Boonnak
played flutes. The band was considered
the most modern musical mixture at the
time. Her
Highness Princess Saisavali Bhiromya,
Princess
Suddhasininart Thai
Music
Patronage
Her Highness
Princess Saisavali Bhiromya, the
princess consort of King Rama V,
encouraged her courtiers to practice
music by inviting professional teachers
to teach them in the palace compound.
The Princess's musicians was on duty
when the king was in his sleeping
chamber or during the leisure
time.
When King Rama V
was afflicted with Malaria, he composed
a play called "Ngor Pa”. The
king narrated the poem while H.R.H
Princess Nibha Nobhadol, his daughter
wrote it down accordingly. After the
music was composed and handed down to
Her Highness Princess Saisavali
Bhiromya, she had the performance and
was impressed enormously by the
King.
During her
stay at Suan Sunandha, music practicing
became common among her attendants. On
some special occasions, when Princess
Dara Rasmi visited Suan Sunandha, her
former courtiers would gather and
entertain her with music at the mansion
of Her Highness Princess Saisavali
Bhiromya. Her
Royal Highness Princess Chudharatana
Rajakumari Female
Angklung
Band
Her Royal
Highness Princess Chudharatana
Rajakumari had a passion for music, both
singing or Lakorn (Thai drama). She had
established a female Angklung band in
Suan Sunandha. At that time, the
Angklung
The reign of
King Rama I was the period of cultural
restoration in all aspects. In order to
boost the morale of the Thai people who
suffered a great lost from the last war
of Ayutthaya, the King passed a royal
command to collect and revise many
famous literatures such as Ramakien
(Ramayana) and -nao (the story of a Java
king), Additionally, the command
included the restoration of music used
in dance drama or Lakom in Thai. During
his reign, one of the most important
literatures in early Rattanakosin era
named “Kaki” was composed by
Chao Praya Pra Klang (a high ranking
civil officer in charge of the
treasury).
The harmonious
atmosphere during the reign of King Rama
II fostered all kinds of art form. One
of the significant sign of this was the
origin of “Sor Sam Sar”
(Three-singed fiddler), Because it was
the King's favorite musical
instrument and could be wonderfully
played, thus it was elaborately
developed until it reached the pinnacle
of its beauty. He also composed a very
famous song named Bulan Loy Loen”
or “Praise of the Moon. The first
Phi Pat band which played with special
type of lyric called Sepa was formed.
Lakorn Nai, a solely female dance troop
which played exclusively in the royal
court, was also popular. Chao Chom Manda
(The Royal Mother) Sila was the original
musician of the royal court of
Rattanakosin.
During the
reign of King Rama III, the Royal
Performance Department was repealed by
the Royal Command. Many royal members
took the musicians and other artists
under their patronages in order to
compete amongst each other, this
practice inspired the creation and
modification of new genres of Thai
music. One of the most important and
influential musicians at the time was
Kru Mee
Kaek.
In the reign of
King Rama IV, the royal enactment that
"Prohibited other compounds apart
from the Royal Palace to own a female
dance theater" was repealed. This
encouraged music and theater to flourish
among the monarchs and courtiers,
especially in the palace of King Pinklao
(King Rama V's younger brother and
the second King of Siam) who appreciated
Phi Pat (a type of Thai musical ensemble
comprised mainly of string
instruments”) and organized the
Kaen musical band (Kaen is a music
instrument widely played in the
north-eastern part of Thailand and Laos
LPD). His band was well-known and
appreciated among the elites. During
this period, the Phi Pat band was
expanded to a larger scale by
introducing extra musical instruments;
also, western music instrument was first
introduced to Thai music during this
time
period.
After a state
visit to Europe, King Rama V had a
strong determination to make Siam
equivalent to western civilizations. The
beginning of Lakorn Duk Dam Ban was
created using western Opera as the
paradigm. Wong Phi Pat was fine-tuned
making its sound more subtle according
to the concept of western music. By the
end of his reign, he wrote one of his
outstanding plays named Ngor Pa”
which was a famous and well-known
literature to this
date
After the reign
of his father, King Rama VI who had his
education in England, had a particular
interest in Arts including music and
drama. He composed several musical plays
and dramas. The civil officer in the
Division of Entertainment was granted
the tile of Praya” which was the
second highest rank in the office.
During his reign, music and plays were
highly popular among the royalty,
nobility and people of wealth, each
palace and household had its own ban to
compete with one another. The
combination of Thai string ensemble and
foreign music instruments originated
from this
reign.
King Rama VII
had composed three significant songs;
Ratree Pradab Dao Tao, Khmer La-or Ong
Tao and Hom Rong Kluen Kratop Fang. He
passed a royal command to Prince Damrong
Rajanubhab and the Royal Academy to
record Thai music using international
key notes. A radio station was
established. Many people composed new
songs in order to be broadcasted on the
radio.
Krueng Banleng is
the musical band which is played both in
auspicious and inauspicious occasions in
order to produce melodiousness. This
band consists of Wong Kabmai, Wong
Klongchana, Wong Phi Jawa Klongkaek and
Wong Phi Phat. Krueng Banleng which is
performed in the royal ceremony
demonstrates the music tradition in the
royal Court.
