Public Daw Amar - Myanmar Great Music

The ancient legacy of great music

A discussion on Burmese literature and culture organized by the Pyin Oo Lwin Township Literary Association was held on 9-5-81 at the Buddhist Kalyana Yuwa Institute in Pyin Oo Lwin. Journalists and writers Sayar Zawan, Lu U Hla, and I were asked and discussed many questions about literature and art by book lovers. The discussion was very interesting. The people who asked asked and discussed many problems that are emerging in the field of Burmese literature and art today. For example,

- What is your opinion about comics?

Let me know the pros and cons.

- Tell me about the rhymeless poem.

- Old songs, old melodies, sung with disco music

How do you feel about playing?

- I want to know about the author Shadow.

- What kind of letters should I write today?

- Journalist and writer, proud of what name?

In addition to the questions, there are also questions about the college student novel about Sayar Zawana, about the short story literature about Luth U Hla, about art books about me, and about personal stories. It's a lot.

Among the questions was “What do you think about the music lovers singing and playing disco music?” I said that I would like to answer, so I said let me answer it in Pyin Oo Lwin. Although the discussion started at 1 pm and ended at 5 pm, the audience in the room did not move or get up, but it should not have lasted longer, so they answered in a limited way. This is a topic that should be discussed in detail.

Our great songs, called Maha Geeta, are the national cultural heritage (Classics) written by great musicians such as Myawaddy King U Sa (1766-1853), Pyin Si Min Thar, Hlaing Thek Thar, the Queen Mother of the West, and Ming Gyi Taw Thin Son. We must preserve these with great respect and love. Some young people would say that the disco music of today is “reviving old songs that have been left behind and are gathering dust.” This kind of revival in this way is not acceptable to anyone who knows that it is a national cultural heritage. In Europe, there are music composed by great musicians such as Beethoven, Chopin, and Mozart. These are not only beautifully arranged, but also played by the people. Listen to them. Modern music, called pop music, has its own way. We don't even touch or listen to the great music, called classical music.

When I arrived in Germany, one day, the female hosts told me that they had bought tickets to a concert, so I went to a big theater in Berlin to listen to it.

If we were to listen to the show, we would sit on the street, smoking a cigarette, and wearing our slippers, right? They don't have a car on the side of the road like that. My hosts bought tickets 2 days in advance, so they put us in the theater.

It was only in the middle. I couldn't get it from the front, so I had to pay 2 kyats to buy a program sheet. The audience that came in to watch the concert was of all ages, from young men and women to big men. About half of the audience was carrying thick music books. Music students were also there. The band was a large orchestra of no less than 150 people, and as soon as it was announced that the band would play the music from the Maha Gita, everyone with big music books turned the pages. If you turn them over and listen carefully, you can also follow the book with a pencil

I have to listen carefully to the song so that I don't fall asleep, but they are very focused. The educated people are listening. The people who are not hungry are listening with their eyes closed and fully focused.

I didn't understand how sophisticated the music the orchestra played was, but the people they respected and loved were so great that I felt like I was stepping on their shadow.

In our country, if we do not preserve our national cultural heritage in this way and let the people of the past modify it as they please, everything will be destroyed. Do what you like. If you are “just” around, play, knock, blow. If you think it is pleasant in your time, then it is over. However, we should not touch the national heritage and national values ​​that have existed since ancient times.

I remember thinking how my uncle U Khin Maung Dway and others would feel about this issue. In Mandalay, the people who played and sang the great old songs with great love and respect, and who preserved them, have become very few due to the erosion of time. One day, a member of the committee who wanted to preserve and develop the great music was aware of this possibility. So one day, my uncle U Khin Maung Dway called me and said, “My dear sister, you write. Try it. Let me tell you what is in your heart.” For almost a month in September 1967, he spent at his house telling me about the ancient past of the great music, how he felt, and the principles he wanted to see disappear. I carefully wrote down everything he said. But I couldn’t write it as he wanted.

When contemporary bands perform great songs from contemporary music with modern instruments, singing, playing, and blowing as they please, the problem arises as to whether this should be done or not. That's why I want to present my story to you.

Uncle U Khin Maung Dway was a prominent figure in Mandalay. He was not only a member of the Maha Gita Association, but also the one-time husband of “May,” who had been a harp teacher at the Mandalay Panchayat.

He was the grandson of King Shwe Pyi, also known as U Bo Hlaing, the secretary of the Yaw. He was born to King Shwe Pyi Khin Khin, daughter of King Shwe Pyi, and Prince Maung Maung, a deputy of the Nyaung Wun government, and his uncle U Khin Maung Dwey (1893-1980).

So, since my uncle was young, on Sundays, the former Burmese chief, the former Mart Min Swe Min Soe, and the like would gather at my uncle's parents' house to gossip in English, play great music, and listen to the sound of the flute. The chief of staff, the chief of staff, and the secretary of the goldsmith's shop would also always come. The singer in this group was Deva Indra.

The harp, the monk sings. Sometimes the harpist Saya Thein Gyi and his daughter Daw Thuzar play together. When the King of Shwe Pyi was king, he taught his daughters to play the harp from Saya Thein's daughter Daw Thuzar. Later, during the British era, he also taught the piano from a piano teacher at the convent school. So, my uncle U Khin Maung Dway was exposed to great music and Burmese music from a young age. When he grew up,

I continued to study the harp with Devindra. I also played other instruments and was in a music club, so I think it's worth considering Uncle Seung Mi Nog Mi's views on the composition of great songs.