Gypsy Camp Blog

One of the most beautiful contributions of the Khmer Empire to Cambodian cultural heritage is its music. The country’s rich musical heritage supports several ethnic forms of music, but Khmer music is at the center of it all.

Khmer music attained its bloom during the Angkorskaya period. No religious, temple celebration or a wedding is complete without it. The walls of the ancient temples of Angkor showcase the beautifully carved celestial dancers and the different musical instruments used in those times, standing as witness to the centuries old past of the music.

Khmer music was initially used to communicate with God and to summon the spirits. The sound that came out from all the instruments was believed to have this capacity.

Khmer music is five-tone or pentatonic with a rhythm determining the structure. This is the reason the shock instruments, such as the drums, double kettle-drums and gongs hold the main place in an orchestra. To the westerner, it may seem to lack harmony, as the music from one musician may give a different tune from that of the others.

The three categories of classical Khmer music are: Pinpeat, music belonging to the royal courts of the past; Phleng kar, songs sung during weddings; and Mahori, music for entertainment which also belonged to the royal courts and uses string instruments. Pinpeat is the most famous and uses both string and percussion instruments. Any classical performance or religious ceremony is incomplete without Pinpeat. Dating back to the Angkor era, it has come to be known as the strongest ensemble of all Khmer music ensembles. Each and every one of the theme melodies of the Pinpeat ensemble are related to stage performances. This particular music, with its melodious and beautiful sounds, is said to have the power of eliciting immense happiness in people.

Several other ensembles owe their birth to the Pinpeat; such as the phlaeng mahaori, khlang chnak and phlaeng. Most music ensembles found today in the villages are derivatives and similar to the ensembles from the past. In these villages, actors perform plays wearing masks and Cambodian women dance to the Pinpeat percussive ensemble even today.

In the absence of any notation for Khmer music, it has always been passed down from the master to the disciple. This led to improvisation and slowly American influences began to be noticed. Western musical instruments such as the flute, guitar and organ are used in the modern version of Mahori/Mahori Samai.

Khmer musicians are adept at playing all the instruments in an ensemble, while achieving perfection in one. This leads to a better understanding of the musical instruments by all the musicians and brings to fore their musicianship.

Cambodia has gone through the worst nightmare of all with the Khmer rouge, which brought to the ground most of the cultural heritage of Cambodia. In spite of that, Khmer music retained its strength, bringing Cambodians out of their misery with its rich and soothing tones. Khmer music is at the very center of Cambodian culture.

Check out Khmer music and Khmer songs at KhmerPortal.com.

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