Content area
Full Text
Music of Myanmar: Buddhist Chant in the Pali Tradition. 2008. Celestial Harmonies 14219-2. Recorded, annotated, and produced by Gretel SchwörerKohl. 90 pp. of notes in English, with Pali and Burmese song texts and their English translations. 7 colour photographs. 2 compact discs, 3 tracks (73:07) and 4 tracks (69:22).
This well-recorded and thoughtfully annotated CD set helps to fill a significant gap in our recorded documentation of Burmese (Myanmar) Buddhism. Up to this point, most Burmese recordings in circulation have been of classical and popular music. There are more than ninety minutes of Burmese Buddhist chant in this set, making it an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Theravada Buddhism or Burmese musical culture; the set also includes two classical songs by laypeople. Gretel Schwörer-Kohl made the recordings in Burma. Recording quality is clear throughout.
The set opens with Burmese auspicious instrumental music performed on a conch trumpet, gong, and "percussion plaque" (p. 7)....