Thai songwriters create winning score, lyrics
Bangkok Post, KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI and THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL, 28/02/2009 at 12:00 AM
It could take a long time before the Southeast Asian nations achieve all the ambitious goals they have laid out for themselves in the Asean Charter.
But at least one of their missions has already been completed.
That mission, demanded under Article 40 of the charter, stipulates that "Asean shall have an anthem".
It is the first official anthem in Asean's 42-year history. Composed by Thai songwriters, The Asean Way will be played by the Royal Thai Navy Symphony Orchestra and sung by a 52-member choir at the opening ceremony of the 14th Asean summit today.
It will be played before the 10 Asean leaders. This summit is the first since the Asean Charter came into force last December.
The Asean Way was co-composed by Payom Valaiphatchra (lyricist), Sampao Triudom and Kittikhun Sodprasert.
It was adopted by a panel of judges at the Asean Composers Forum in Bangkok last November. The panel consisted of one prominent composer from each member country, plus three prominent musical experts from a neutral country.
The Thai-composed anthem beat the other 99 entries in the contest from the 10 Asean countries and the composers received a US$20,000 (713,000 baht) cash prize.
The 60-second song consists of a heart-rending melody and inspiring lyrics that fit the criteria of "reflecting Asean cooperation and solidarity and Asean's diverse culture and ethnicity."
"I imagined that I am standing in a grand hall where all Asean leaders are convening, then the music comes to my head," explained music composer Sampao when asked how he had created the melody for the anthem. Mr Sampao, a former oboist at the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, is now a lecturer at Silpakorn University's faculty of music.
The melody was forwarded to Mr Kittikhun, a veteran music composer and conductor, who arranged the music for the competition.
Composing the Asean anthem was one of his most challenging tasks as the criteria states that the song must not be more than one minute long, said Mr Sampao.
"We had to make sure the song would convey its core message to the audience in one minute," Mr Sampao said. "It's like you have to make a love confession right after the first knock on the door. You have no time to beat about the bush."
Mrs Payom said she completed the lyrics in two days after receiving the music score.
The 60-word lyrics were gleaned from her work experiences as a former journalist, having covered many international events and Asean activities.
Mrs Payom is a former editor of the Bangkok Post's Outlook section. She is currently an executive of Syllable, a public relations company.
The three composers will also attend today's inauguration of the Asean anthem in Phetchaburi. "I feel overwhelmed," she said.
"I would like the Thai people, especially the generations to come, to be proud and confident that we too are capable of making history."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.