CULTURE: ART
According to 3rjewelry, Cambodia is a country in Asia. Located between Viet Nam, Laos and Thailand, the Indianized state of Cambodia assumes importance in the mature period of the art of Fu-nan, in the first half of the century. VI, following the expansion of the Kingdom of Chen-la, which developed at the same time as that of Cambodia in the highlands of middle Indochina. From the fusion of these two artistic civilizations, the Khmer art of Angkor will mature. In the testimonies of the funanese art of the century. VI, alongside local production, inspired by models of Indian Gupta art (especially in the architectural documentation of Oc-Eo and in the findings of Buddhist and Brahmanical statuary), extra-Asian links are found, confirmed by examples of medallion and glyptic of Roman origin (II century). Crucial for the development of the future style of Khmer statuary was the emancipation achieved by the flowering sculpture in the lower Mekong valley through the fusion of the Indian aesthetics of Fu-nan and Chen-la, the land of the Kambuja, the ancient Khmer, whose art develops, right in the century. VI, from the so-called pre-Angkorian style (VI-IX century) to the Angkorian one that reaches up to the century. XV.
CULTURE: DANCE
Until the early 1970s, this century flourished in Phnom Penh, near the royal palace, the ancient Khmer choreo-dramatic tradition, influenced by Indian and Thai and rich in its own refined grammar of symbolic gestures. With the coming to power of the Pol Pot regime, the National Company was dismembered and most of its members deported and killed. Even the very rich written documentation of the music and dances, as well as the immense patrimony of precious costumes and sets were entirely destroyed. Starting from 1981 a surviving dancer, Chea Samy (1919-1994), resumed teaching and reconstituted the company.
CULTURE: MUSIC
The Cambodian musical culture, despite the strong influence of Indian civilization on the Khmer peoples, denounces scarce loans from the music of India, while the affinity with the ways and forms of the Chinese tradition appears to be relevant from the not many documents studied so far. In the field of scales, the most common are those with a pentaphonic base (with hexaphonic and heptaphonic variants) and also as regards the instruments, many are variants of Chinese models. Several researches have shown the vast diffusion throughout the country of a rich repertoire of folkloric songs, many of which, very ancient, show a tetrachordal structure. However, the most important element of the Cambodian musical tradition is instrumental music. 21 types of instruments are known: 2 varieties of xylophones; a carillon with 21 bronze plates; 2 gong chimes tuned at an octave distance from each other; 3 plucked lutes and 3 bow lutes; a strings-struck psalter with resonator consisting of a pumpkin; oboe, flute, cymbals, 4 types of drum and wooden rattles. These instruments (with the exception of the psalter) enter the composition of the court orchestras. There are two varieties, one male and one female. Today’s panorama of Cambodian music has expanded thanks to Western influences, which have penetrated since the French colonial rule. If the study and production of classical music, like theatrical works, have found fertile ground, chamber and orchestral music are still at a rather embryonic stage: only in 2002 was the first national ensemble formed, the Today’s panorama of Cambodian music has expanded thanks to Western influences, which have penetrated since the French colonial rule. If the study and production of classical music, like theatrical works, have found fertile ground, chamber and orchestral music are still at a rather embryonic stage: only in 2002 was the first national ensemble formed, the Today’s panorama of Cambodian music has expanded thanks to Western influences, which have penetrated since the French colonial rule. If the study and production of classical music, like theatrical works, have found fertile ground, chamber and orchestral music are still at a rather embryonic stage: only in 2002 was the first national ensemble formed, the Chaktomuk Consort, composed of four elements and author of performances also abroad. Popular music has evolved by accepting “foreign” elements and adapting them to the melodic and harmonic systems of the Khmer tradition (for example French lyrics with Khmer lyrics). Around the 1960s, one of the most popular songwriters, as well as director and choreographer, was King Norodom Sihanouk (b. 1922), but the real star of Cambodian music was Sin Sisamouth (1932-1975), defined the “king of Khmer music ”. Often paired with singers Ros Sereysothear and Pan Ron, Sisamouth also wrote many soundtracks for films. In the most recent period, after the fall of the Pol Pot regime, the most popular singers were Preab Sovath and Hem Sivorn, while the rock and rap scene also expressed successful representatives such as the rock band MKS and DJ Sdei.
