The Music Of Cambodia, Volume 3 – Solo Instrumental Music

The solo instrumental music heard in The Music of Cambodia, Volume 3 includes examples of most of the major wind instruments and several string instruments, both plucked and bowed. In fact, both the oldest and rarest instruments still prominent in Cambodia are represented here.

Although many of these solo performances have a courtly air to them and might remind listeners of the court music of China or Japan, in fact, most of them were originally associated with weddings or ritual healing ceremonies. Some are actually quite buoyant while others are more contemplative. Three of the songs are from one of the wandering minstrels who are so popular throughout Cambodia. All present Western listeners with a rare opportunity to hear echoes of music from ten centuries ago, in a setting that is as accessible as it is exotic.

the artists

Prach Chhuon appears on The Music of Cambodia, Volume 3 as both singer and player of the Khmer lute. He is the most popular folk singer in the country; his style of song, involving satirical, often improvised lyrics about daily life and current events, is distant cousin to the medieval troubadour and to the folk singers of the American West.

Sok Duch and Yon Khien are fiddlers who appear with the royal pinpeat and mahori ensembles of the royal court on the second volume of this series; both are respected soloists.

Khan Heuan is the last surviving virtuoso of the kse diev, a strangely built string instrument that uses the player’s chest as a resonator. With its almost percussive sound, the kse diev provides some of this volume’s most striking moments.

Label: Celestial Harmonies – 13076-2
Series: The Music Of Cambodia – Volume 3
Format: CD, Album, Remastered
Released: 1994
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Cambodian Classical

Tracklist