Music of Cambodia
The music of Cambodia is derived from a mesh of cultural traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire, India, China and the original indigenous tribes living in the area before the arrival of Indian and Chinese travelers.
Classical Khmer music usually is divided into three parts: pin peat, phleng kar, and mahori, all of which are associated with their religious dances.
Each movement the dancer makes refers to a specific idea, including abstract concepts like today (pointing a finger upwards).
During their reign, an estimated "90% of Cambodia's musicians, dancers, teachers, and instrument makers" were killed, interrupting the transmission of cultural knowledge to following generations.
[3] Traditional music still exists today, but its survival is the result of formal government efforts (both the UNESCO and Cambodian) as well as academics.
The latter includes music made by people living in Rattanakiri and Mundulkiri and provinces, the Koulen and Cardamom ranges, and the vicinity "around the great lake (Tonle Sap)."
Other ethnic groups include Cham, Chinese, Vietnamese who all potentially could have music from their home cultures, but which is "unknown.
The royal orchestra would accompany the classical ballets, both male (Lokhon Khol) and female (Apsara), as well as the Grand Theater of Shadows, the Sbek Thom.
[7] It's important to note that the term mahori has connection with Thai music, and instrumentation is closely related, but the songs are not.
Starting in the late 1950s, Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, a musician himself, encouraged the development of popular music in Cambodia.
Initially, pop records from France and Latin America were imported into the country and became popular, inspiring a flourishing music scene based in Phnom Penh and led by singers like Ros Serey Sothea, Pen Ran or Sinn Sisamouth, with hits such as "Violon Sneha".
[9][10] By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the scene was further influenced by Western rock and roll and soul music via U.S. armed forces radio that had been broadcast into nearby South Vietnam.
During and after the Khmer Rouges and the People's Republic of Kampuchea, most of the music emerged from the refugee camps such as Khao-I-Dang on the Thai border, with artists such as Keo Sarath or Barnabas Mam.
Notable artists signed under these companies include Preap Sovath, Aok Sokunkanha, Sokun Nisa, Khemarak Sereymun and Meas Soksophea.
It began largely as a result of the creation of a venue in Phnom Penh called Show Box, a cross-cultural community hub created exclusively to promote original Khmer alternative art and music,[16] and an amalgamation of various unique contemporary artists and musicians who were encouraged by music and art platforms like Cambodia's first alternative label Yab Moung Records.
Show Box only hosted original performances from both Khmer and international musicians and acted as a community hub for innovative ideas.
[16][17] This movement is described by some as their response to a copycat music culture, where many modern Khmer-language songs copy the melodies and lyrical themes from nearly identical Chinese, Thai, Korean, American and Vietnam works.
[28] Yab Moung Records provides an ongoing platform for Khmer alternative music and art and actively encourages creative expression within a uniquely Cambodian context.
