11 - New voices in ancient lands: choral music in South and Southeast Asia

Summary

Context and origins

The continent of Asia has always been something of a mystery to those in the West. Even by knowledgeable people, it is perceived as exotic and far too complex to be understood completely. With choral music it is no different. Questions that are often asked concern the types of choir that exist, what repertoire these choirs sing, in which contexts they function, what the composers write, and so on. These questions are partly being answered by the increasing global presence of South and Southeast Asian choirs, many of them participating in international festivals and competitions. The ones that travel are, however, representative of only a small number of choirs with the aspirations and resources to undertake such ambitious endeavors. The subcontinent of South Asia (where over one-fifth of the world's population lives) along with the Southeast Asian region encompasses twenty-one countries and a population of well over 2.5 billion. Group singing traditions were rich and varied well before the onset of Western contact. Even part-singing, not in the way that we understand Western choral music, but in various forms of antiphonal, call and response, and parallel intervallic singing, predates the colonial period. One only needs to examine Yampolsky's treasure trove collection of Indonesian field recordings, some of which he describes as “choral”, the bodu beru group singing with drum ensembles in the Maldives, or the Buddhist temple chants in Laos and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, to begin to appreciate this rich landscape.