MAE LUANG SONG: THE CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF NORTHERN THAI LITERATURE “KHAW” INTO A SONG “KHAWSAW”

Abstract

     Mae Fah Luang or Tuay Hug song was the first song composed by Rakkiat Panyayot, back in 1984 when he was a government officer of the Chiang Mai College of Dramatic. It was by Nakorn Pongnoi’s request, who was, at that time, the director of the Mae Fah Luang Art & Culture Park (Rai Mae Fah Luang) in Chiang Rai province, to compose a background music for a dance performance: Fon Wai Sa Mae Fah Luang. The music included 2 sections, while in each section contained 6 melodic lines. Later on, Nokorn Pongnoi had brought Rakkiat a Northern Thai literature, Phraya Promwoharn’s Khaw Nang Jom, to be crafted it into the song’s lyrics. Rakkiat had adjusted the original background music by shorten the length of a song down to 1 section containing only 4 lines, in order to make it fits better with the lyrics. In details, Rakkiat had cut off the whole section 2 and line 4-6 of section 1. Then he recomposed 1 new ending melodic line, which made the song had in total of 4 lines. This edited vocal music was called Mae Fa Luang song and has been using to this day. The development of Mae Fa Luang song could be divided into 4 stages: stage1 – the writing of the full original background music stage, stage2 – the being edited / cut off stage, stage3 – the lyrics writing stage, and stage4 –the stage of completion / the single section version. Thereafter, Mae Fa Luang song has broadly been modified, used for Lanna traditional dance performances, and played in different types of musical bands such as Salor Saw Seung (traditional northern Thai music), Piphat (a kind of ensemble in the classical music of Thailand), and Wong Pasom (a distinct contemporary blend of northern Thai and Western influenced music such as folksong Kham Mueang). The highest accomplishment of the song was that it was used in the royal musical performance, ‘Somdej Ya Phe Chit Doi Inthanon’. The performance script was written by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn for the 120th birthday anniversary of Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra of Thailand. Mae Fa Luang song, therefore, has become a source of historical learning and musical composition for the new generations who are interested in music composition and preserving this precious national treasure.