Phra Chenduriyang

Phra Chenduriyang (Piti Wathayakon) ( Thai พระ เจน ดุริยางค์ (ปิติ วาท ยะ กร) ; * July 13, 1883 in Bangkok as Peter Veit ; † December 25, 1968 ibid) was a Thai composer, conductor, music teacher, collector and arranger of German descent on the paternal side. He is the composer of the Thai national anthem Phleng Chat , which has been played since 1932.

Life

Peter Vitus's father Jacob - also a musician - was born in Trier , emigrated to the United States, where he fought on the side of the northern states in the civil war , and later traveled to Asia. He settled in Siam (as Thailand was then still called) during the reign of King Ramas V (Chulalongkorn) and became a trumpet teacher at the royal court. Peter's mother was the Mon Tongyoo.

Phra Chenduriyang attended the Assumption School in Bangkok and learned piano and string instruments. In 1917 he was hired by the Royal Entertainment Bureau and founded the first western orchestra in Siam. King Rama VI. (Vajiravudh) made him deputy director, later director of the "Royal Western String Orchestra" and gave him the feudal honorary name Phra Chenduriyang (translated roughly: "versed in musical instruments") by which he was known from then on. He was one of the main people responsible for the spread of Western music in Siam during this time and taught numerous young Siamese on Western instruments. On the other hand, he also collected and noted Thai folk music, which until then had only been transmitted orally.

A concert tour u. a. to Japan, as well as a study visit to Europe in the 1930s, during which he also researched his German ancestors.

After the coup d'état in Siam in 1932 (the "Siamese Revolution"), the new rulers, who called themselves the " People's Party " (Khana Ratsadon) , commissioned the previous royal adviser for music to compose a hymn for the now constitutional nation (served in absolutist Siam the royal anthem Phleng Sanrasoen Phra Barami at the same time as the national anthem). Phra Chenduriyang initially wanted to refuse, as he was a loyal follower of the king, but gave in. Allegedly, the melody inspired by Brahms' 1st symphony should have occurred to him during a tram ride. His western orchestra became a core part of the Fine Arts Department , a government agency set up by the revolutionaries. In 1939, during the government's Thaiization campaign , he adopted the Thai name Piti Wathayakon (also written Vādyakara ). Between 1940 and 1950 he was a professor at Silpakorn University in Bangkok. His students included the future King Bhumibol Adulyadej , Eua Sunthornsanan, Wet Sunthonjamon, Sa-nga Arampir and Saman Kanchanaphalin.

Piti Wathayakon died on December 25, 1968 at the age of 85 in Bangkok. He left six children and 20 grandchildren.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chen Duriyang, anthem composer. In Nicholas Grossman: Chronicle of Thailand. Headline News since 1946. Editions Didier Millet, Singapore 2009, p. 163.
2. ↑ Mandy Radics: The Emigrant Son and the Hymn. In: Trierischer Volksfreund , July 18, 2009.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Gustaf Dietrich: The Thai national anthem - its roots go to Trier.
4. ^ ^{A b} Ellen London: Thailand Condensed. 2000 years of history and culture. Marshall Cavendish, Singapore 2008, p. 110.
5. ↑ Mattani Mojdara Rutnin: Dance, Drama, and Theater in Thailand. The Process of Development and Modernization. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1996, p. 271.
6. ↑ Arne Kislenko: Culture and Customs of Thailand. Greenwood, Westport CT 2004, p. 67.
7. ↑ Rachawadi: A Tale of Two Anthems. In: Thaiways , Volume 23, No. 19, January 10, 2007.
8. ↑ David Horn, Dave Laing, John Shepherd (Eds.): Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Part 2: Locations. Volume V, Continuum, London / New York 2005, p. 220.
9. ↑ Lamnao Eamsa-ard: Thai Popular Music. The Representation of National Identities and Ideologies Within a Culture in Transition. Dissertation, Edith Cowan University, Perth 2006, pp. 81-82.