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Cambodian Refugee Poetry and Smot

The book and tour I mentioned previously also has a wonderful website: http://www.cambodianrefugeepoetry.org

Included on the site are four beautiful video performances of smot and traditional instrumental music featuring the great Phoeun Srey Peou and Nhok Sinat: http://www.cambodianrefugeepoetry.org/press_smot.html

I have been reading from the book and am impressed by the depth and art of Ven. Ly Van's words as well as Samkhann Khoeun's lucid English translations. The book is available from the website. I hope that Mr. Khoeun's labor of love will lead a greater appreciation for this powerful form of performance.

In Memory of Prum Ut

Click on the image to read the poem in English and Khmer.

"O! Maha Mount Dangrek" US Tour

A wonderful poetry and smot project involving my friends from Cambodian Living Arts, Samkhann Khoeun, Srey Peov Phoeun and Sinat Nhok:

http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2010/02/cambodian-refugee-poetry-chanting-smot.html

See also the tour dates below:

Article on Film about Smot

My friend Neang Kavich has produced a short film on smot that has already shown in Cambodia. Here's a link to an article about it in the Phnom Penh Post:

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010022432594/Lifestyle/filmmaker-overcomes-childhood-fear-to-document-eerie-khmer-funerary-chanting.html

While he was making the film, Kavich asked me two questions: What is smot and why it is important? I responded in brief:

Smot is a style of sung recitation of poetry and prose in Khmer and Pali with complex and expressive melodies. Smot is closely associated with Buddhist rituals, including funerals, but may be used in a wide variety of sacred and secular settings.

Smot is important because it is a uniquely Cambodian vocal style with a long cultural history, tremendous emotional force and rich musical complexity. The tradition may lose its relevance in the coming decades if the next generation does not take interest in it and make it their own.

I would add that smot also often serves as a colloquial name to refer to the Dharma song genre; i.e. not merely a vocal style but also a textual genre.

Radio Program on Smot and Dharma Songs

On May 26th, 2008, a radio program on smot I produced, called "Healing Sounds," aired on KZSU 90.1 FM. (Stanford, CA).

Here's the twenty-minute program on smot:



Click here for the whole show, called "Epiphony," three programs on "the life-changing, transformative power of sound." My program starts about a third of the way through.

(Note: I believe I have cleared up the earlier glitch that prevented sound files from playing on my blog)

The Last Testament of the Buddha

My translation (in non-rhyming "brahmagiti" meter) and smot performance in English of the Cambodian Dharma Song, "The Last Testament of the Buddha" (បច្ឆិមពុទ្ធវចនៈ).

YO VO ANANDA,
Come here now. Don't delay!
The Realized One will
Die—you'll be left behind.

Please, friend, be happy.
Don't suffer needlessly.
I now must leave you.
Don't you grieve, Ananda!

This old body will
Be dissolved in all ways.
Stay, stay, Ananda!
Contemplate your body.

These days your body
Is like a fragile dish
Not lasting for long,
It will soon break in pieces.

So you, Ananda,
Must practice—think deeply.
When I pass away,
You must bear my teaching.

Truly this teaching
Will remain with the one
Whose faith shines clear and
Practices as I teach.

Now the Realized One
Will end in nirvana.
Old age violently
Crushes life breath by breath.

Original Text, Author unknown:

យោវោអានន្ទអើយ
នែ​បា​រើយ​មក​អាយ​រ៉ា
តថាគត​នឹង​មរណា
ចាក​ចោល​បា​មិន​ខាន​ឡើយ ។

ចូរបា​នៅ​ឲ្យ​សុខ
កុំ​ជា​ទុក្ខ​ណា​បា​រើយ
តថាគត​លា​បា​ហើយ
កុំ​សោក​ឡើយណា​អានន្ទ ។

អង្គអញ​តថាគត
នឹង​រំលត់​អស់​បញ្ចក្ខន្ធ
នៅ​ចុះ​ណា​អានន្ទ
ខំ​គ្នេគ្នាន់​ក្នុង​អង្គ​ប្រាណ ។

ខ្លួន​អ្នក​នៅ​សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​
មាឧបមេយ្យ​ដូច​ជា​ចាន
មិន​ស្ថិត​ស្ថេរ​បុ៉ន្មាន
គង់​នឹង​បាន​វិនាស​ទៅ ។

ហេតុ​នេះ​បាន​អានន្ទ
ចូរ​គ្នេ​គ្នាន់​គិត​ឲ្យ​ជ្រៅ
ឥត​ពី​តថាគត​ទៅ
អ្នក​ឯង​នៅ​ថែ​សាសនា ។

សាសនា​តថាគត
ស្ថិត​ប្រាកដ​នឹង​អ្នក​ណា
ដែល​មាន​ចិត្តជ្រះ​ថ្លា
ប្រព្រឹត្ត​ត្រូវ​តាម​លំអាន ។​

គ្រា​នេះ​តថាគត
នឹង​រំលត់​ខន្ធ​និព្វាន
ដោយ​ជរា​ចូល​រុក​រាន
ទន្ទ្រាន​មក​ផ្តាច់​សង្ខារ ។

Funereal "Victory Drum Music"

One of the most evocative forms of Khmer funeral music is known as "victory drum music," or ភ្លេងស្គរជ័យ. It is equally know in Cambodian by its Thai name, กลองแขก, meaning "Indian (or Malay) drum."

Here is an old public domain recording of "victory drum music" as would be played in a funeral. The oboe (ស្រឡៃ) player must use circular breathing in order to produce the unbroken long phrases characteristic of Khmer music.

The poor quality of the audio actually takes on a mysterious, even spooky, effect here, as one could easily imagine this song being broadcast on inexpensive loudspeakers at a funeral in Cambodia. Indeed, given the rarity of live performances of this genre of music, it is more common to here such recordings as this being played at a funeral than hearing a version by live musicians.

This recording comes from an old cassette of Dharma songs, likely a copy of an earlier vinyl recording from the 1960's. This funeral music is literally sandwiched in between two Dharma songs on the cassette, showing how closely woven together "victory drum music" and Dharma songs are at some Cambodian funerals.

Palat Un, "Lotus Flower Offering"

First in a series of old Dharma song recordings in the public domain I am uploading here to share.





A young novice monk, no older than 15, mischievously began to climb up the sacred cetiya at Vatt Unnalom, Phnom Penh, home of a relic of the Buddha’s eyebrow. He had, in fact, already been kicked out of the temple the night before for misbehavior, but he climbed up the sacred monument in one last act of defiance. Standing still for a moment, he gazed out on to the monastery compound and began to chant a sacred text in the smot style. His magnificent voice — shrill, yet full of rich vibrato and ornamentation — rang out over the whole temple in the early morning air.

My teacher, Prum Ut, who told, me this story, recalled that after that fateful morning climb, the young novice (named Palat Un បាឡាត់ អ៊ុន) was asked to stay in the monastery, so beautiful was his voice and so astonishing his talent for smot chanting. The mischievous boy grew up to be the most famous Dharma song master of the 20th century, and despite his early transgressions of the monastic discipline, remains celebrated in Cambodian Buddhist circles to this day.

Although few people survive today that remember hearing his voice live, Palat Un's reputation lives on through the cassette tapes that proliferated after his death in the mid-20th century. He was not known to have written any texts himself, but his powerful tenor voice and creative re-interpretation of Dharma songs exerted a significant influence on those who came after him. Certain Dharma songs, including the one embedded in this post, “Lotus Flower Offering”(បទុមថ្វាយផ្កា ហៅ បូទុំថ្វាយផ្កា), were popularized by his beautiful interpretations of their melodies. In the 1990's, Palat Un's reputation began to grow again as audio cassettes of his recitations began to surface in the markets of Phnom Penh and in networks of Dharma song teachers and students. The recordings were apparently copied from old French vinyl records, and their quality is correspondingly poor. But for most Dharma song teachers and students today, such cassettes are the only access they have to Palat Un's vocal technique and artistry.

The Power and Influence of Music

Yesterday I attended a memorial service for the beloved music teacher at my elementary school, Dr. Genevieve Glen ("G.G.") Baker-Fitzmaurice. G.G. turned hundreds of kids on to the power of Western classical music through her engaging teaching, encyclopedic knowledge, and belief in the musical capacities of every student.

At the service, a friend read out this quote G.G. had singled out in her files. Although the language of the author is steeped in the Christian tradition, the meaning equally captures the omnipresence and aesthetic force of music, including Dharma songs, in Khmer life-cycles.


Servant and master am I; servant of those dead, and master of those living. Through me spirits immortal speak the message that makes the world weep, and laugh, and wonder, and worship.

I tell the story of love, and the story of hate; the story that saves, and the story that damns. I am the incense upon which prayers float to Heaven. I am the smoke which palls over the field of battle where men lie dying with me on their lips.

I am close to the marriage altar, and when the grave opens, I stand nearby. I call the wanderer home, I rescue the soul from the depths, I open the lips of lovers, and through me the dead whisper to the living.

One I serve as I serve all; and the king I make my slave as easily as I subject his slave. I speak through the birds of the air, the insects of the field, the crash of waters on rock-ribbed shores, the sighing of wind in the trees, and I am even heard by the soul that knows me in the clatter of wheels on city streets.

I know no brother, yet all men are my brothers; I am the father of the best that is in them, and they are fathers of the best that is in me; I am of them, and they are of me; for I am the instrument of God. I Am Music.

(Anonymous, as found in Cynthia Pearl Maus, Christ and the Fine Arts, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1938), pp. 19-20)

Lecture/Performance on Cambodian Dharma Songs (Smot)

On April 18th, 2009, I gave a lecture and performance of Cambodian Buddhist Dharma Songs (colloquially known as "thor bot" ធម៌បទ or "smot" ស្មូត្រ) at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach as part of the Khmer Arts Salon series, curated by Prumsodun Ok. I've studied Dharma songs with Cambodian Living Arts masters Prum Ut (ព្រំ អុ៊ត) and Koet Ran (កើត រ៉ាន) since 2005. For media coverage on the event, see this article.

I dedicate the lecture to the memory of my teacher លោកគ្រូព្រឹទ្ធាចារ្យ Prum Ut (1943-2009), who passed away this summer in the loving company of family, friends and students.

In the lecture, I perform this Dharma song in English I wrote for him, composed in the ពាក្យប្រាំពីរ (peak prampi) meter:

I raise these hands up to you,
Teacher, guru, of this song,
This melody, sung so long
Ago, before the Bo tree.

In your kind home you taught me
To chant Pali reverently,
Treat books with care, so gently,
And to daily humbly pray

To the Three Jewels, our teachers
And all creatures, 'til the day
You and I must fade away,
Die and decay, chasing peace.


Click here to watch it on YouTube.

I have also posted the complete video below (in nine parts):

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



Part 5:



Part 6:



Part 7:



Part 8:




Part 9: