In the footsteps of Emile Gsell - The musicians of King Norodom

Émile Gsell offers us the first photographs of the musical instruments at the court of King Norodom 1st around 1871 in Phnom Penh. He made an overview of the mahori orchestra and then photographed each musician individually (minus one) with her instrument. We have restored and colored these images (©) and then put the musicians back in the same order as on the overall photograph, in a purely artistic gesture.
The names of the instruments mentioned on the screen are those used at the royal court of King Norodom in the 19th century and mentioned by Jean Moura in his 1883 book "Le royaume du Cambodge".
The song Preah Thong ព្រះថោង accompanying this video is one of the oldest in the Khmer classical repertoire. It is performed by the singer Pich Chakrya ពេជ្រ ចរិយា, accompanied by an orchestra similar to the one photographed by Gsell, plus a two-stringed fiddle, which existed at that time.
Patrick Kersalé
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Original de la chanson : • ភ្លេងការបូរាណ បទ ព្រះថ...