Khmer Folk Music

Khmer folk music is the village music of Cambodia, distinct from the pinpeat and mahori ensembles of the royal court: the solo narrative singing of the chapei dang veng, a two-stringed long-necked lute whose masters improvise sung tales; phleng kar wedding bands; areak spirit-medium music; and the songs and dances of rice-growing life. Performed by hereditary and village musicians rather than court professionals, it carries news, satire, moral teaching and courtship in the Khmer language, and it nearly vanished with its makers under the Khmer Rouge.