Prince Sisowath Kulachad អ្នកអង្គម្ចាស់ក្សត្រា ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ កុលឆ័ត, 29 September 1943 - 14 June 2024

HH Prince Sisowath Kulachad អ្នកអង្គម្ចាស់ក្សត្រា ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ កុលឆ័ត (1943−2024), architect, educator (Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Royal University of Fine Arts, 1998 – 2001), researcher in Cambodian history (and the history of the Royal Family of Cambodia) with Cedoreck in France and as independent researcher in Cambodia, statesman (Vice-Minister of Culture and Fine Arts 2001 – 2009, Advisor to the Royal Council of Cambodia, 2009 – 2024), music composer and songwriter, was a generous man of culture who would absorb himself in Buddhist meditation on the banks of his beloved Mekong River, and enchant his friends and relatives with his melodious voice during social gatherings.

A great-grandson of King Sisowath ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ (1840−1927), he often evoked the cultural and emotional nurturing of his parents HRH Prince Sisowath Watchayavong ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ វឌ្ឍឆាយាវង្ស (13 September 1891 – 30 January 1972) — who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1947 to 1948 — and HRH Princess Norodom Siddharangsey ព្រះអង្គម្ចាស់ក្សត្រី ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ ស៊ីដារង្សី (18 Feb 1920 — 13 Sep 2004), a daughter of HRH Norodom Chanthalekha, then a direct descendant of King Norodom I នរោត្តម. After studying and practising architecture in France, Prince Kulachad combined his career with his musical and poetic talents, befriending in the 1950s famous musiciens and writers such as Mondul Chin, Peou Sipho, Phuong Bopha and legendary Sin Sisamouth.

When Prince Kulachad’s second spouse [1] Neak Moneang Men Chandevy អ្នកម្នាង ម៉ែន ច័ន្ទទេវី joined our project of an augmented republication of HRH Princess Norodom Rasmi Sobbhana’s The Culinary Art of Cambodia in 2019, ​‘Kula’, as his friends called him, quietly helped us with his recollections of the life at the Royal Palace before the war, and his profound knowledge of the Cambodian culture. Along with Chandevy’s sisters, Men Sodany ម៉ែន សុដានី and Men Sotheavy ម៉ែន សុទ្ធាវី, he enriched the process with precious insights, and made this foray in Cambodian history a pleasant, cheerful journey.

Courtesy of Men Chandevy, we are reproducing here two texts published in the program of a ​“Soirée artistique” held in Paris in April 1985, where Prince Kulachad, along with other artists, performed his own work. The presentation was penned by renowned philologist Saveros Pou, who also translated from Khmer to French one of Prince Kulachad’s songs, ​‘Le grand vent du Cambodge ខ្យល់ ជំនោរ ស្រុកខ្មែរ’, composed in September 1964. 

Sisowath Kulachad, by Saveros Pou

C’est un chanteur, au premier abord très différent du précédent. Sa voix est plus grave et plus puissante, parfois marquée d’aspérités, moins travaillée — les circonstances sont totalement différentes — mais d’une richesse semblable en sonorités et en impressions. Originaire du centre, son accent est plat, ce qui contribue à mettre davantage en relief la beauté de sa diction. Il sait mettre à profit les belles ressources de sa voix. La quantité des syllabes n’est qu’un jouet dans ses mains les longues peuvent se couper brusquement, brutalement selon l’humeur du chanteur, tandis que d’autres peuvent s’étirer en cascades mélodiques brillantes, et en même temps, les latérales et les liquides décuplent de sonorité…

Kulachad excelle dans la récitation des chants lyriques. C’est un fait, il les récite doucement sur leurs mélodies respectives sans heurt, accompagné à la guitare par lui-même ou d’autres musiciens De cette manière, il laisse voguer sa voix sur l’onde des poèmes, une voix identifiée à celle de ses per sonnages qui se meuvent en ombres fugaces, une voix parfois teintée de détachement qui tempère les élans les plus passionnés contenus dans les textes.

Kulachad cultive aussi tous les genres, et partout avec bonheur. La Berceuse classique (Pambe) modulée par lui devient une complainte déchirante. Il descend vers les strates du baryton pour exécuter le classique et immortel Trambamn bav, dans un style qu’on entendrait jamais courir à travers la campagne cambodgienne, marqué par un je né sais quoi d’évanescent et de grand. De même, quand Kulachad entonne le premier vers de Phgar lan’ ou «Le tonnerre gronde », on en entend le roulement aux notes ascendantes qui annonce le tumulte de la séparation.

Kulachad a beaucoup contribué à revaloriser les chants Ramvan [Romveng] par sa conviction et son style travaillé. Il les chante en grand seigneur, manifestant autant d’entrain et de verve que d’esprit et d’élégance. Sa diction impeccable combinée aux traits précédents, par contraste avec certains passages loufoques des textes, provoque des envolées de douce ironie ineffable.

Mais Kulachad s’exprime d’une autre façon qu’on n’a pas rencontrée chez ses prédécesseurs, On a vu plus haut qu’il ” récite” volontiers au son de sa propre guitare aux tonalités très variées. Cela l’amène à composer des chants (musique et paroles) chargés de message qu’il exécute seul pour son auditoire. N’a-t-on pas là l’image d’un troubadour?

Il est l’auteur de poèmes lyriques de grande beauté. Il crée et façonne ses propres morceaux par un besoin naturel de cultiver sa sensibilité, d’accroître son expression et de communiquer. Homme ins- truit, de solide éducation, il a acquis par là une connaissance large et intime de la Tradition (យោពណ៌, prabaiņi) qu’il a davantage élargie par ses contacts avec d’autres artistes et avec l’Occdent. Cela explique son champ d’inspiration plus vaste que vu précédemment, pratiquement sans limite, d’où il façonne ses techniques et dessine des motifs pour célébrer ses deux themes favoris: l’amour et la nature. Dans la forme, il est fidèle aux principes de l’école nouvelle. Il retourne au cam- bodgien de tous les Cambodgiens. Tout comme Sipho, au lieu de reprendre des types d’expression lyrique courants, voire des fadaises, ce poète fait usage de son propre langage, crée ses expressions qu’il enchasse dans les flots de ses mélodies. Il pratique la versification libre (cf. Peou Sipho); mais un œil vif, ou mieux une oreille sensible, perçoit vite une organisation basée sur le symbolisme du son, autre- ment dit sur l’étroite interaction de la phonétique (musique) et de la sémantique (lyrisme).

N’est-ce pas le propre du trouvère de trouver ses combinaisons ? Mais, il faudrait l’écouter! En attendant, nous glissons ci-après un spécimen de ses plus belles compositions pour introduire les lecteurs-auditeurs à son art.

Saveros POU ((D’après un article à paraître dans Seksa Khmer)

[He is a singer apparently very different from the previous one. His voice is deeper and more powerful, sometimes marked with rough edges, less worked-on — the context is totally different — but of a similar richness in sounds and impressions. A native of the Center Region [of Cambodia], his accent is flat, which helps to further highlight the beauty of his diction. He knows how to take advantage of the beautiful resources of his voice. The quantity of syllables is just a toy in his hands. The long ones can cut off abruptly, brutally depending on the singer’s mood, while others can stretch into brilliant melodic cascades, and at the same time, lateral and liquid consonants increase their sound tenfold…

Kulachad excels in reciting lyrical songs. It is a fact, he recites them gently on their respective melodies without clash, accompanied on the guitar by himself or other musicians. In this way, he lets his voice sail on the wave of the poems, a voice identified with that of his characters who move in fleeting shadows, a voice sometimes tinged with detachment which tempers the most passionate impulses contained in the texts.

Kulachad also explores all genres, and every and each one successfully so. The classic Lullaby ( Pambe) modulated by him becomes a heartbreaking lament. He descends to the strata of the baritone to perform the classic and immortal Trabmamn bav, in a style that one would never hear blowing across the Cambodian countryside, marked by a je né sais quoi of evanescent and grand. Similarly, when Kulachad intones the first verse of and Phgar lan’ (​“The thunder roars”), we hear the rolling of ascending notes which announces the tumultuous break-up.

Kulachad notably contributed to reasserting the worth of Ramvan [Romveng] songs through his conviction and his elaborate style. He sings them gracefully, displaying as much enthusiasm and verve as wit and elegance. His impeccable diction combined with the preceding features, in contrast with certain zany passages in the texts, induces flights of a sweet, ineffable irony.

But Kulachad expresses himself in another way that we have not encountered among his predecessors. We saw above that he willingly ​“recites” to the sound of his own guitar with very varied tones. This leads him to compose songs (music and words) loaded with messages which he performs alone for his audience. Don’t we have here the true image of a troubadour?

He is the author of lyrical poems of great beauty. He creates and shapes his own pieces out of a natural need to cultivate his sensitivity, increase his expression, and communicate. An educated man with a solid education, he thereby acquired a broad and intimate knowledge of the Tradition (យោពណ៌, prabaiņi) which he further broadened through his contacts with other artists and with the West. This explains his wider field of inspiration than previously seen, practically limitless, from where he shapes his techniques and draws patterns to celebrate his two favorite themes: love and nature. In form, it is faithful to the principles of the new school. It returns to the Cambodian language of all Cambodians. Just like Sipho, instead of using common types of lyrical expression, or even canards, this poet uses his own language, creates his own expression which he embeds in the waves of his melodies. He practices free versification (cf. PEOU Sipho), but a keen eye, or better a sensitive ear, quickly perceives an organization based on the symbolism of sound, in other words on the close interaction of phonetics (music) and semantics (lyricism).

Isn’t it the trait of the trouvère to find his own combinations? But, you should listen to it! In the meantime, we include below a specimen of his most beautiful compositions to introduce reader-listeners to his art.

Saveros POU (from an article to appear in Seksa Khmer)

Le Grand Vent du Cambodge ខ្យល់ ជំនោរ ស្រុកខ្មែរ

Refrain: O ma belle, belle aimée, ma Nuon, ma Nuon sri !

1.1 La voix du Vent de montagne gémit mélodieusement, pleure de déchirement et captive mon cœur; elle converse avec moi, remplissant l’écho de ses réponses, et tresse ce poème pour ma belle aimée.

1.2. O Montagnes et Forêts, à ce même instant, je vous charge de mon message d’amitié pour ma belle aimée, qui est au loin, à qui je pense sans un moment de paix.

2.1 Le Vent du Fleuve | me soutient en me berçant, et partage mes sentiments de nostalgie et de douleur. Alors je vois ton précieux visage miroiter dans la surface de l’eau qui ondule sous la lune décroissante.

2.2. O Vent divin, | viens à mon aide pour prendre une part de mes sentiments et la transporter vers l’eau qui ondule, arrosée de lumière qui embrasse toute l’étendue du Grand Fleuve.

3.1. Le Vent frais | descend et enveloppe, puis traverse la grande Plaine, la douce et immense Plaine. O Plaine de grandes herbes, quand donc pourrai-je revoir ton visage aimé ?

3.2. Plaine étendue, | grande dans ta solitude, qui déchire le cœur, et que je né peux toucher! Je me souviens de toi, Aimée, je me souviens de ton étendue de flammes rouges de grandes herbes flétries!

lyrics and song by Sisowath Kulachad (September 1964), translated by Saveros Pou (April 1985)

Visual Art

Prince Kulachad also loved to paint and draw since his childhood. Here beloware two illustrations from Mr Basket Knife and Other Khmer Folktales, translated from the Khmer by A.R. Milne, illustrations by Sisowath Kulachad, Allen & Unwin, London, 1972:

[1] From his first marriage, Prince Kulachad is survived by Sisowath Fany, Kolaneth, and Oravath.