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Lully in Siam: Music and Diplomacy in French–Siamese Cultural Exchanges, 1680–1690 Downloaded From David R. M. Irving Lully in Siam: music and diplomacy in French–Siamese cultural exchanges, 1680–1690 Downloaded from ean-Baptiste Lully no more went to Siam (the cross-cultural reception of French opera, we must Jname for Thailand before 1939) than Arcangelo bear in mind that this seemingly innocuous perfor- Corelli to South America, Niccolò Piccinni to China mance for the entertainment of the Siamese court http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ or Joseph Haydn to India. Yet the reception of the in fact masked a deep desire of the French crown to works and reputations of canonic composers in seize control of two Southeast Asian ports, to convert distant lands during or shortly after their lifetimes a Buddhist king to Christianity and to institute trad- remains an irresistible trope in musicology.1 The ing monopolies. impetus for this study came from an encounter with The present article proposes to bring together and an intriguing sentence in a 17th-century French reassess the many disparate details of music’s role book: Simon de La Loubère’s Du royaume de Siam in diplomatic and intercultural exchanges between (Paris, 1691)—published in English as A new histori- France and Siam in the 1680s. By examining this at The Australian National University on September 4, 2014 cal relation of the kingdom of Siam (London, 1693)— remarkable story, it aims to contribute to broader which is still considered one of the most authoritative narratives of worldwide intercultural interaction and detailed early modern European descriptions through music in the early modern period. After of Siam.2 The sentence in question describes how setting out some social and historical contexts, the Siamese king Phra Narai (r.1656–88) listened to it discusses the musical elements of diplomatic extracts of French opera during a visit of a French contact and evaluates several different types of embassy in 1687, before succinctly pronouncing his sources produced in the aftermath of these contacts. assessment of the music: ‘The king of Siam, without Since intercultural diplomacy was not restricted shewing himself, heard several Airs of our Opera on to audiences with monarchs but also involved the Violin, and it was told us that he did not think engagement with everyday customs in a host society, them of a movement grave enough’ (‘Le Roy de this article will argue that French and Siamese Siam entendit sans se montrer plusieurs airs de vio- visitors to each other’s countries were equally lon de nos Opera [sic], et l’on nous dit qu’il ne les interested in each other’s musical traditions, even avoit pas trouvez d’un mouvement assez grave’).3 though French observers often wrote disparagingly Although La Loubère does not identify which works of Siamese music. Finally, it will briefly consider were performed, it can be assumed quite safely that the role of music in Christian missions to Siam they were instrumental movements from works by and evaluate forms of cultural reflexivity found Lully, whose royal appointment and monopoly on in writings by Voltaire and Dufresny, in which opera would have influenced the musical choices of fictional Siamese characters comment on French Louis XIV’s ambassadors to the East. At once fasci- music and society. nating and elusive, this brief anecdote raises a mul- Before proceeding, it is worth making some pref- titude of questions about the role of music in early atory comments about previously published work in modern intercultural diplomacy. And yet, while relevant areas. In an article of 1984, ethnomusicolo- on the surface it recounts an interesting tale of the gist Terry E. Miller used historical documents dating Early Music, Vol. xl, No. 3 © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. 393 doi: 10.1093/em/cas061, available online at www.em.oup.com Advance Access publication September 20, 2012 from 1548 to 1932 to explore different perspectives synthesis in the sending and receiving of embas- on Siamese musical performances.4 Several years sies by both France and Siam.9 Historical musicolo- later, the Norwegian musicologist Kjell Skyllstad gists including Robert Isherwood, David Ledbetter, published a brief article entitled ‘Barokken—Et uni- Caroline Wood, Graham Sadler, Lionel Sawkins verselt fenomen?’ (‘The Baroque: a universal phe- and Alexander Silbiger have made brief passing nomenon?’), in which he compared French Baroque references to the presence of Siamese ambassadors opera to Siamese music-drama, using the visits at particular performances in France in the 1680s.10 of French and Siamese diplomats to each other’s These tantalizing glimpses of visitors from Siam countries as a connecting thread, and focusing on invite more detailed exploration, since the ambas- the idea of universality in musical aesthetics and sadors aroused great public curiosity; they were 5 expression. In 1994, the topic of French–Siamese arguably amongst the most fêted official visitors to Downloaded from relations came again to the attention of ethnomusi- early modern France, thus setting precedents for cologists, this time in a book-length article by Terry later ceremonies held in honour of foreign ambas- E. Miller and Jarernchai Choupairot, who unearthed sadors. As far as I am aware, this is the first article and critiqued Western sources dating back to 1505 in the field of historical musicology to make a full 6 in order to fill in the gaps in Thai music history. assessment, analysis and critique of the specifically http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ These gaps exist mainly because all Siamese archives musical dimensions of French–Siamese cultural at the old capital of Ayutthaya (illus.1) perished links in the late 17th century. It is hoped that the when the city was sacked and destroyed during the present work will spawn further interest in this fas- Burmese invasion of 1767, an event that marked the cinating area, and that more sources and interpreta- fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom. (Following a transi- tions will emerge. tional period, Bangkok was established in 1782 as the new Siamese capital and the seat of the current royal dynasty—whose rulership was reformed in 1932.) The beginnings of French–Siamese interactions at The Australian National University on September 4, 2014 Consequently, textual sources from elsewhere The kingdom of Thailand (the name of Siam since become valuable windows onto the Siamese past.7 1939) is the only Southeast Asian country never to They are cloudy and problematic windows, however, have been colonized; significantly, the name given for early modern Western observations of Asian cul- to the country in 1939 means ‘Land of the Free’.11 tures are riven through with value judgements and Certain nations—especially Portugal, France, the ideological biases, and of course must be read with Dutch Republic and England—developed trade great caution and critical awareness. In their work, relationships with Siam in the early modern period Miller and Choupairot had to deconstruct and eval- and engaged in intense diplomatic negotiation, uate many different layers of interpretation. but never achieved any colonialist ambitions of Numerous historical studies of social, politi- political hegemony. A period of sustained French cal and economic exchanges between France and exchange with Siam over several decades began Siam in the 17th century—by scholars including with missionary activity in 1662, when Bishop Ronald S. Love, Dirk van der Cruysse, Michael Pierre Lambert de la Motte (one of the founders Smithies, David K. Wyatt, Michel Jacq-Hergoualc’h of the Société des Missions Étrangères) arrived and Tara Alberts—have provided fascinating inter- in Ayutthaya. In 1664, the foundation of the pretations of how these two nations engaged in Compagnie Royale des Indes Orientales (French intercultural interaction during the early modern East India Company) by Jean-Baptiste Colbert period, often dubbed the first historical phase of spurred on the desire for French trade with Asia. globalization.8 Yet there has been relatively lit- Several years later, suggestions were made regarding tle consideration of the sonic dimension of dip- the opening of diplomatic relations between France lomatic interactions between France and Siam, and Siam, and in 1673 letters from Pope Clement with the exception of the work of the late Ronald IX and Louis XIV were solemnly received by King S. Love (1955–2008), who wrote many articles Phra Narai.12 In 1680, the Compagnie Royale des exploring issues of cross-cultural emulation and Indes Orientales founded a factory (trading post) 394 Early Music August 2012 Early Music Early August 2012 August 1 View of Ayutthaya (spelt here ‘Judea’), Siam, painted c.1662/3. Johannes Vinckboons (1616/7–70), Gezicht op Judea, de oude hoofdstad van Siam (Reproduced by kind permission of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) 395 Downloaded from from Downloaded http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ at The Australian National University on September 4, 2014 4, September on University National Australian The at at Ayutthaya.13 The Greek-born chief minister of send an ambassador to Siam. The Siamese envoys Siam, Constance Phaulkon (1647–88), influenced on this mission, Phichai Walit and Phichit Maitri, the Siamese government’s attitudes towards arrived in late 1684 (having travelled via London), European nations, and on behalf of Siam he and were guided by the Jesuit Bénigne Vachet. The brokered a number of international agreements. first attempt to introduce the visitors to the most Many nations made trade representations to Siam complex genre of performing arts in France seems in the late 17th century, especially France, and to have been a failure: Phichai Walit and Phichit these were reciprocated by Siam. French scholars Maitri were taken to see a performance of Lully focused a great deal of attention on the geographic, and Philippe Quinault’s Roland in early 1685, but commercial and ethnographic study of the country, were so furious at being seated at the lowest part with maps (for example, illus.2), travel accounts, of the tiered seats (at the front of the theatre) that Downloaded from histories and descriptions of Siam being produced they stormed out before the performances began, in abundance.
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