Thai Classical Music Composition Pleng Ruang Puja Nakhon Nan

Abstract

Pleng Ruang Puja Nakhon Nan is a new composition for Piphat ensemble that is based upon the sacred Puja drumming of the northern province of Nan. It was composed as the results of an ethnographic research project with fieldwork conducted during fifteen months in Nan province. The study aims to understand Nan musicians, beliefs, rituals, and performance practices of Puja drums. Master Yan Songmuangkean served as a key informant as well as nine monks who were highly respected in Nan for their Puja drumming. According to interviews with Puja drummers, the Buddhist teaching was transferred to drumming patterns as a teaching strategy to Buddhist laymen to be reminded of mankind’s illusion (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch). Thus, the Pleng Ruang Puja Nakhon Nan composition, which combines traditional Nan music with Central Thai musical practice was inspired by the Buddhist concept of reality that is encoded in Puja drumming patterns found in Nan province