Jun 04 2007

Khmer National Anthem

Published by Toe at 4:53 pm under Cambodia, Music, Work

Every year, one of the ways we celebrate the Declaration of Philippine Independence is by hosting a reception where we toast for the friendship and prosperity of both the Philippines and Cambodia. My choir, the Koro Filipino, is always tasked to sing the national anthems of the two countries. This year, we will jazz it up a bit by playing a slideshow featuring photographs of beautiful sites from the Philippines and Cambodia. This is the slideshow for the Khmer National Anthem.

Sung by the Koro Filipino
SATB arrangement by myself
Photos by Bobby Viceral, former President of the Samahan ng mga Pilipino sa Cambodia

The Khmer, of course, have their own sophisticated writing in Khmer characters. But since we couldn’t read Khmer, here are the lyrics in Latin writing:

Som pouk tepda rak sa moha khsath yeung
Oy ben roung roeung doy chey monkol srey soursdey
Yeung Khnom preah ang som chrok Krom molup preah Baromey
Ney preah Noropdey vong Khsattra del sang preah sat thm­r
Kroup Kraung den Khmer borann thkoeung thkann.

This is the English version:

Heaven protects our King
And gives him happiness and glory
To reign over our souls and our destinies,
The one being, heir of the Sovereign builders,
Guiding the proud old Kingdom.

Technorati tags:

Similar posts: Print This Post Print This Post

29 responses so far

29 Responses to “Khmer National Anthem”

  1. # Sidneyon 04 Jun 2007 at 8:48 pm

    Happy Independence Day !

  2. # snglguyon 04 Jun 2007 at 10:46 pm

    Wow! Did you put together that slideshow? Galing mo naman…. :-)

  3. # dangkinon 05 Jun 2007 at 7:00 am

    wow! kkaiba ang boses pinoy!

    happy independence day! :)

  4. # Toeon 05 Jun 2007 at 8:18 am

    Thanks Sidney. Independence Day is next week but we are in the thick of preparations right now. :)

    Snglguy, I used iMovie. It had to be compressed for youtube though so the quality suffered a lot. I hope that the slideshow for the real thing would be much better. :)

    Dangkin, anywhere in the world, you could always form a Filipino choir. :)

  5. # Noypeteson 05 Jun 2007 at 9:15 am

    Toe Mey Toe Productions presents! Wow! galing ng slideshow mo! maganda rin yung lyrics ng Khmer national anthem at higit sa lahat magaling yung Koro!!…Na-aalala ko pa ang kaunting inglis bersiyon ng Lupang Hinirang or Bayang Magiliw…”Land of the morning, child of the sun returning”…paki tanong mo na lang sa mommy or daddy mo ang iba at nakalimutan ko na!….”Sa dagat at bundok maraming huk kasama si Taruc” ito ang nag-pahamak sa akin nuong tinagalog na ang flag ceremony sa UST Elem. School at pinakanta sa akin ng solo! muntik ng mahimatay ang titser ko at mabilis akong hinablot sa entablado para dalhin sa principal’s office. Si Father Garcia pa nuon ang dean of discipline at ang nagdala sa akin sa opisina niya habang umi-iyak ako ay yung mestisong guardia nuon sa UST Hospital sa tapat ng elem. school building. At na-gugunita ko pa yung bisikleta ng guwardia na may fairing(parang windsheild) at may malaking imahen ng Sacred Heart of Jesus na nakatitig sa akin habang hinihila ako ng guwardiya para harapin ang palo ng sinturon sa ilalim ng abito ng pari at pagdasalin ng nakaluhod at humingi ng tawad sa titser ko at principal.

  6. # waketrexon 05 Jun 2007 at 11:00 am

    pretty slideshow, and a simple and direct national antherm

  7. # nicehearton 05 Jun 2007 at 11:37 am

    Wow, nice!

    Happy Independence Day, Toe.

  8. # vernson 05 Jun 2007 at 11:43 am

    Happy Independence Day jan my friend :)

    Ang lalim pala ng Khmer national anthem …:)

  9. # raytson 05 Jun 2007 at 5:54 pm

    napaka-solemn ng national anthem nila. ang ganda. Does the Koro Filipino perform in other shows? or basta may Filipino gatherings lang?

    dito sa atin, malalaman mong malapit na ang Independence Day kapag marami nang nagtitinda ng bandila sa kalsada. June 12, may pasok dito…minove na naman ni GMA ang holiday sa June 11. galing talaga.

  10. # annon 05 Jun 2007 at 6:52 pm

    Parang kelan lang yung independence day post mo dito last year..ang bilis talaga ng isang taon.

  11. # Ferdzon 05 Jun 2007 at 8:46 pm

    You know what? I didn’t chance on hearing their anthem when I was there. Hehe. Ang galing talaga ng choral group nyo.

  12. # Belleon 05 Jun 2007 at 8:52 pm

    Toe, this is the first time i heared the Khmer National Anthem. Maganda rin pala. And the Koro did a good job. Mahirap bang ipronounce ang words?

  13. # Toeon 06 Jun 2007 at 8:29 am

    Noypetes, if I remember correctly… “with fervor burning, thee do our souls adore.” :) OMG… ikaw pala yung Filipino version ni Weird Al Yankovic… pero Lupang Hinirang pa ang tinira mo…. hahahahaha! :) Grabe, nanininturon pa mga pari non? At may gwardiya pa nanagdadala sa’yo!!! :)

    Thanks waketrex. The photographer really took good shots. :)

    Happy Independence Day Niceheart. :)

  14. # Toeon 06 Jun 2007 at 8:33 am

    Verns, haha… ganyan talaga yung mga awit at tula nila… tungkol sa kanilang mga hari. :)

    Rayts, the Koro Filipino are all amateur singers and sing for free. We practice after work. It’s mostly just for Filipino gatherings because we don’t have time for more stuff. I think the holiday was moved to June 11 to accommodate those going to the provinces. But all celebrations, like those in Luneta, will still be in Luneta. :)

    Ann, ang bilis talaga ng panahon. Feeling ko baguhan pa rin ako sa pag-blog. :)

  15. # Toeon 06 Jun 2007 at 8:35 am

    Thanks Ferdz. They don’t usually sing it naman. In fact, few people here know their anthem… probably, only the students. Ferdz, I’ve already done the slideshow of your photos for Lupang Hinirang too. Could I also put it up in this blog? :)

    Thanks Belle. Sobrang hirap mag-pronounce… the Khmer language has 50 vowels. :)

  16. # Monon 06 Jun 2007 at 8:58 am

    galeng ng video production ah. talo mo yun GMA production ng Philippine National Anthem.

  17. # SexyMomon 06 Jun 2007 at 11:13 am

    good rendition, Filipinos just can sing anything.

    i wonder, Toe, have the Cambodians sang the our Lupang Hinirang yet?

  18. # Leahon 07 Jun 2007 at 12:03 am

    Hi Toe,
    So are you making a video for Bayang Magiliw in time for Phil Indepence?
    Koro sounds real good.

  19. # Toeon 07 Jun 2007 at 9:03 am

    Mon, thanks. Labor of love. :)

    SexyMom, the foreign minister loves our rendition. Everyone says that we sing the Khmer National Anthem better than the official version. :)

    Thanks Leah. I’m about to post Lupang Hinirang. :)

  20. # Zherwinon 07 Jun 2007 at 10:15 am

    wow, putting a slideshow like that is real hard work, ang ganda!

    the philippine’s slideshow naman (waiting, waiting…) :D

  21. # tutubion 07 Jun 2007 at 6:13 pm

    someday talaga makapunta ako dyan cambodia
    and hear ko that song :)

  22. # Linguist-in-Waitingon 08 Jun 2007 at 7:01 am

    Why is it that national anthems (kahit mula sa anong bansa) give me goosebumps? Tapos nilagyan mo pa ng superb jaw-dropping pictures!

  23. # Toeon 08 Jun 2007 at 11:07 am

    Thanks Zherwin… posted na. :) With such beautiful photos… it’s really a labor of love.

    Tutubi, promise… mas maganda ang pag-awit namin kaysa sa local na version… hehe! :) Pag-bisita mo sa’kin… you will see. :)

    LIW, I have a bone to pick with your blog… parati nagc-crash browser ko. I wanted to read pa naman your Quito adventures. :( But thanks. Cambodia is a beautiful country. You should visit me here sometime. :)

  24. # chaseon 08 Jun 2007 at 4:53 pm

    It sounds nice! I think it is quite nice to visit Cambodia

  25. # Toeon 08 Jun 2007 at 7:45 pm

    Hi Chase! Cambodia is a wonderful exotic place to visit. Do tell me when you plan to come over.

  26. # bugsybeeon 08 Jun 2007 at 11:40 pm

    Wow, this is the first time I have heard the Khmer national anthem. Ang galing ng Koro, Toe! Congratulations!

    I also noticed that the lyrics of the Khmer national anthem consist of only a few lines … yung sa atin ang haba-haba (kasi nga galing ng dagat hanggang bundok!). Sana kung ganun lang kaiksi ang Lupang Hinirang, we wouldn’t have had so much difficulty each time a teacher asked us to write down the lyrics of Lupang Hinirang.

  27. # Toeon 09 Jun 2007 at 8:54 am

    Thanks Bugsybee. This is the short version though. The long version is six stanzas long. I don’t know how the kids could write them all down… in Khmer characters pa. :)

  28. # Linguist-in-Waitingon 09 Jun 2007 at 7:53 pm

    Toe,

    Lagi bang nag-ca-crash? Bakit naman? Dahil ba sa dami ng pictures? Or dahil sa background music? Sige, patayin ko muna yung music, and let me know. Email me in case you can’t access it yet.

    LIW

  29. # AmFiLaon 03 Oct 2007 at 8:46 pm

    Galing!!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply