Trent Walker: An American mastering Khmer Smot

As part of his senior thesis, Religious Studies major Trent Walker produced the first ever full-scale study of the Cambodian dharma song tradition.

During the course of his research, Trent learned how to sing religious texts in the complex musical style called smutr.
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Bilingual Dharma Song in Memory of Prum Ut (1945-2009)
Written and performed in Khmer and English by Trent Walker


This song in the seven-syllable meter was written in memory of my master Prum Ut, with whom I studied Cambodian Dharma songs from 2005 until his death in 2009.

ខ្ញុំលើកទសករដាក់សិរសី
ចំពោះគ្រូនៃបទនេះអាយ
ដែលគេស្មូត្រតាំងពីព្រេងនាយ
មុននឹងសម័យព្រះគង់នៅ ។

ក្នុងផ្ទះលោកគ្រូបានបង្ហាត់
ខ្ញុំឲ្យចេះស្ទាត់បាលីត្រូវ
ឲ្យចេះថ្នាក់ថ្នំក្រាំងសៀវភៅ
ចេះសព្វថ្ងៃទៅថ្វាយវន្ទា ។

ចំពោះព្រះរ័ត្នត្រៃទាំងបី
ទាំងគ្រូប្រុសស្រីសព្វសត្តា
រហូតដល់យើងដាច់សង្ខារ
សោះសូន្យកាយាស្វែងធម៌ស្ងប់ ។

I raise these hands up to you,
Teacher, guru, of this song,
This melody, sung so long
Ago, before the Bo tree.

In your kind home you taught me
To chant Pali reverently,
Treat books with care, so gently,
And to daily humbly pray.


To the Three Jewels, our teachers
And all creatures, till the day
You and I must fade away,
Die and decay, chasing peace.

To read the Stanford U. article about Trent's senior thesis, go to:

http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/trentwalker

To read about Trent's work, go to: http://www.trentwalker.org

Pheuan Srey Peu: The master of "smot"

A year and a half ago I was lucky enough to attend a class of "smot", (an integral and extremely complicated form of singing unique to Khmer mourning) in the picturesque village of Tropaeng Po in Kampong Speu Village, about 40 minutes drive from Phnom Penh. The class takes place twice a week and as I sat watching the students sing I couldn't help but notice the focus and enthusiasm of one student. That day she had a sore throat but it was still clear that she was the most accomplished of her classmates.

Her name is Srey Peu and her story is quite fascinating. She's lived in the village all her life, and when she discovered that a famous smot master (the extraordinary Prom Uth) taught in the village she was keen to learn from him. Smot is a particularly difficult form of music for young Cambodians because the melodies and vocal style are unlike any other form, and the words use Pali and other cryptic vocabulary highly removed from everyday Khmer. Nevertheless, the form is deeply integral to Khmer culture andespecially Khmer Buddhism (over 90% of Cambodians are Buddhist). Cambodians believe that chanting smot is needed in order to pass the soul into the next life.

When Srey Peu heard of auditions for Cambodian Living Art’s (CLA's) smot class, she was very excited and joined the class immediately. After just two years, Srey Peu had excelled in her studies and was identified as one of the most promising students, especially due to her well-developed voice and amazing capacity to commit songs to memory. Srey Peu's beautiful voice is known throughout the region now and she's frequently asked to perform smot at local wats, much to the appreciation of older members of the community.

A friend who was visiting the class with me that day, was similarly impressed by what he saw and asked if he could help. After speaking to Prom Uth we discovered that Srey Peu was keen to move to Phnom Penh where she could study from other venerable Masters as well as improve her skills. CLA's staff identified her as one of the top students among CLA's 300 children, and agreed she should become one of three students receiving a scholarship for advanced study. Just like that a scholarship was funded for the year and Srey Peu moved to Phnom Penh.

A year on, and it's more than fair to say that Srey Peu has blossomed. She has enrolled and flourished at Sisowat High School (one of the best in Phnom Penh), excelled at her English class at Panasastra University, and is studying poetry and mohaory songs with Professor Yan Borin. Srey Peu's dreams on one day becoming a teacher and ambassador of one of Cambodian's oldest art forms doesn't seem so distant now.

WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

2008 has been a brutal year in the financial world and unfortunately Srey Peu's original sponsor is unable to continue supporting her education. As a result we have decided to approach the broader blogosphere to see if we can continue to support Srey Peu. As a result we are launching an appeal for the $3500 we need to support a full year for Srey Peu (this will include all her studies and living expenses in Phnom Penh for the full year 2009).

I believe we can raise this money if we send this to enough people and they chip-in (as per the application!) Any excess funds (hopefully a scenario) will be used towards Srey Peu's next year of study.