Traditional Wedding Music of the Khmer
Though there has been much change in the wedding
customs of the Khmer, traditional wedding music has been well preserved by its
people. Researchers have collected some ten ceremonial songs and folk songs
which used to be sung at wedding receptions. The traditional songs sang at the
wedding are expressions of the feelings and characteristics of the people's
lives in the Khmer community.
Each song is equivalent to a specific rite in the
wedding, such as leading the bridegroom to the bride's house, asking for the
breaking of the fence to get into the house, and the beginning of the ceremony.
The ceremony incorporates the rituals of the hair cut, the pounding solution
for dying teeth, the cutting of betel flowers into pieces in order to scatter
them on heads of the young couple, the drawing of a sword out of its sheath,
the binding of thread around the wrist, the kowtowing of the sun god, the act
of entering into the wedding room, the sweeping of the wedding mat, and the
greeting of parents and relatives. The reception lasts until the young couple
see off their wedding guests.
