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Billeri, Francesca (2019) Interrelations among genres in Khmer traditional music and theatre : Phleng Kar, Phleng Arak, Lkhaon Yiikee and Lkhaon Bassac. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30988 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. INTERRELATIONS AMONG GENRES IN KHMER TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND THEATRE: PHLENG KAR, PHLENG ARAK, LKHAON YIIKEE AND LKHAON BASSAC FRANCESCA BILLERI Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2019 Department of Music SOAS, University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood Regulation 21 of the General and Admissions Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 Abstract This dissertation focuses on the interrelation and adaptation of musical and extramusical song features among the Cambodian genres of phleng kar, phleng arak, lkhaon yiikee and lkhaon bassac. My research starts from my master’s study on phleng kar, the traditional wedding music. Through my MA research, it appeared that selected songs from the phleng kar repertoire share and exchange musical and ritual features. In this study I considered how these songs were used in other genres and what this could tell us about the social and musical interrelationship of these musics. My research aims to discuss the concept of genre classification from the emic perspective of the Cambodian pratictioners showing how they talk and think about their music; and to explore the kinds of culture-specific markers employed by Khmer musicians to distinguish their genres. Cambodian music traditions outside the iconic genre of classical dance have received little attention in scholarship. This study provides the first systematic analysis of the genres in question whose repertoire and musical features, to my knowledge, have never been studied. Ethnographic research carried out over ten months in different provinces of Cambodia and Phnom Penh using a combination of audiovisual recording, interviews, and participant- observation provided me with three case studies which illustrate: songs sharing the same title with different tunes; songs with same title and similar tunes; and songs with a different title but similar tunes. To these case studies I then applied transcriptions, using staff notation, and analysed musical and extramusical parameters to consider the exchange of musical features and performance analysis following some scholar’s model (Marett 2009; McKinley 2002; Seeger 1987) to consider the ritual context. This study shows how classification and categorization of genres, even when genres overlap, reflect sociocultural aspects and are attached to a set of musical and extramusical components. 3 Contents Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... 7 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 9 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. 12 List of Transcriptions ..................................................................................................................... 13 Guide to Khmer Transliteration, Pronunciation and Translations ................................................ 15 DVD Contents ................................................................................................................................ 17 Audio CD Contents ........................................................................................................................ 18 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 19 1. Aims of the Dissertation .............................................................................................. 19 2. Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 21 3. Literature Review: Studies on Phleng Kmae Music and Popular Theatre Genres ....... 21 4. About the Concept of Genre in Ethnomusicology ....................................................... 24 5. Fieldwork: Methodology and Approach ...................................................................... 27 6. Structure of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 32 Chapter 1: The Interactive Communication between Arak Spirits, Medium and Musicians in Coul Ruup Rituals ..................................................................................................................... 36 1. Coul Ruup Ceremony in Context .................................................................................. 37 1.1 Khmer Religious Life and the Animistic Spirits Beliefs .................................. 37 1.2 The Arak Spirit............................................................................................... 40 2. The Coul Ruup Ceremony ............................................................................................. 42 2.1 Participants ................................................................................................... 42 2.2 Purposes, Places and Structure of the Ceremony ........................................ 48 3. The Repertoire ............................................................................................................. 56 4. The Main Features of Phleng Arak Music .................................................................... 62 4.1 Lɨǝn Skɔɔ (Fast Drum) .................................................................................... 62 4.2 The “Heavy” Timbre of Phleng Arak “Roads” ............................................... 66 5. “The Interactive System” ............................................................................................. 70 6. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 72 4 Chapter 2: Lkhaon Bassac Opera: Creative Ways of Interrelation and Adaptation of Characters, Scenes and Songs ...................................................................................................... 75 1. The Origin of Lkhaon Bassac ........................................................................................ 76 2. Occasions of Performance ........................................................................................... 79 3. The Theatre Troupes .................................................................................................... 80 4. The Ensemble ............................................................................................................... 81 5. Bouraan and Samay ..................................................................................................... 85 6. The Script and the “Creative Process” in Lkhaon Bassac Opera .................................. 90 6.1. Interrelation and Adaptation: Characters, Scenes, Titles and Songs .......... 91 6.2. Lyrics, Voice and “The Art of Improvisation” ............................................... 95 7. Religious Syncretism and the Co-existence of Genres ............................................... 98 8. Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 103 Chapter 3: The Interrelations of Lkhaon Yiikee Theatre and Rɔbam Yiikee Dance Repertoires ..................................................................................................................................................... 105 1. The Origins .................................................................................................................. 106 2. Occasions of Performance .......................................................................................... 107 3. Theatre Troupes .......................................................................................................... 109 4. The Skɔɔ Yiikee and the Ensemble’s Evolution ............................................................ 110 5. Yiikee Bouraan and Yiikee Samay ............................................................................... 111 6. The Performance Structure ........................................................................................ 116 6.1