The Music of Wai Kru Ceremony in Chonburi Province

Abstract

The present study is a qualitative research aims to investigate Thai Classical Music's Wai Kru ceremony of Pipat troupes, the transmission of Wai Kru ceremony ritual book and music played in the ceremony in Chonburi province. It is found that 8 ritual books of old Wai Kru ceremony have been transmitted to 4 Thai music masters in Chonburi.

The Songs played in the ceremonies in Chonburi consist of 59 Napat songs. They can be categorized into 1) Tra song - 18 songs are found and the most frequently played are Tra Sannibat, Tra Pra Parakontap; 2) Sa Mer song - 10 songs are played and the most frequently played songs are Sa Mer Tera, Sa Mer Marn; 3)Brahman song - three of which are found and the songs most frequently played are Brahman Kao and Brahman Aok; and 4) Napat song - 28 songs are found and songs i.e. Nang Kin, Sen Lao, Cherd, and Grao Ram are played in all of the ceremonies. It can be inferred from these Napat songs found that Napat songs are chosen in Thai Classical Music's Wai Kru ceremony as in other Thai Classical Music's Wai Kru ceremonies.