Sounds of Angkor
Khmer musical and dance traditions, their pre-Angkorian and Angkorian origins.
Published: 1998
"Dedicated to the Angkorian and traditional Khmer music and dance of Cambodia, Sounds of Angkor is also an invitation to discover one thousand and five hundred years of religious and popular Khmer music, some already disappeared and others endangered. This is the result of a research French ethnomusicologist Patrick Kersalé started in 1998 and carries on nowadays"(from the site homepage).
Patrick Kersalé has also reconstructed ancient musical instruments such as Khmer harps and zithers.
In 2019, his creation of an imaginary instrument combining different historical Khmer one, "When Shiva was dancing at Angkor", won the Grand Prize at the first Arts&Crafts Excellence Awards in Siem Reap.
(Artisans: Leng Pohy, Thean Nga, Sat Sim, Patrick Kersalé, Philippe Brousseau. Medium: hand-sculpted wood, buffalo horn, hides, bottle gourds; palm tree fiber and pleated nylon strings; double-layered acrylic lacquer, 24-carat gold leaf gilding.)
Watch the video presenting Patrick Kersalé's research and exhibitions
Tags: music, musicology, Khmer musical instruments