The requiem begins in the heavens, with celestial music and an invocation to the gods to listen to the “words of the sage” – the Buddha’s teachings. Moving down to Earth and witnessing a funeral in the Cambodian countryside, it is soon interrupted by traumatic memories of the Khmer Rouge and the appearance of ‘hungry ghosts’ wandering the lands in the second movement. In the third movement, we experience the acceptance of impermanence and the path to peace, as the bangsokol ceremony itself gives solace to the dead and helps the living to heal. Prologue and epilogue ornately frame this journey by recalling the presence of the wandering spirits and marking a sense of joy and hope for a peaceful future respectively.

The work itself, from conception to creation to presentation, is an act of cultural renewal; it aims to return the arts to their place at the heart of Cambodian society. While the world continues to witness new acts of genocide, war, and destruction, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia urges us to remember the scars of the past so that we can learn how to forge a new path in the present. It will stand as a firm and visible memorial for peace honoring all victims of violent conflict and act as a medium for societal dialogue and peace education.

The libretto for Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia follows the Western classical tradition of putting liturgical texts for the dead to music. Unlike the received European convention of using the Catholic Requiem Mass for the main text, however, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia is based on the Khmer Buddhist bangsokol liturgy for the dead. This collection of texts in the sacred Pali language used in Cambodia for funerals and memorial rites is similar to those used in other Theravāda Buddhist countries. In addition to these common Buddhist texts, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia incorporates uniquely Cambodian texts in the Khmer language to create a complete, five-movement liturgical narrative that invokes a countryside funeral, extends into a remembrance of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge period, and culminates with the central rite for the Buddhist dead and prayers for all beings.

The Khmer word bangsokol derives from the Pali paṃsukūla. This term originally referred to the pieces of cloth recovered from corpses by Buddhist monastics to make their patchwork robes. Numerous ritual practices mimicking this early Indian Buddhist practice have persisted in Cambodia. At a Cambodian Buddhist funeral, a white cloth is placed over the deceased; this cloth is then slowly removed by a monk at the height of the ritual. The bangsokol is more than just a cloth; it stands in for the skin of the dead and ultimately represents the womb that leads to new life. The removal of the bangsokol cloth represents the final gift of the dead to those who remain in this world and the formation of their new body for the next life. For Cambodian Buddhists, it is the bangsokol ritual that gives rest (Latin requiem) to the dead.

The six Pali texts used in Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia can be found in numerous Cambodian publications along with their translations into Khmer. “Lullaby for a Funeral” is transcribed from a kong skor (a form of funeral music) performance, while “Stirring Teachings” and the “The Three Marks of Life” are common in Cambodian smot (a form of melodic chant) performances. Finally, “Victorious April 17th” and “Khmer Rouge Slogans” can be found in the work of Henri Locard. The Pali and Khmer sources have been selected, edited, and translated into English by Trent Walker.

Dr. Him Sophy was born into a musical family in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia in 1963. He started learning the piano in 1972 in Phnom Penh, but was forced out of the city in 1975 for the duration of the Khmer Rouge regime. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, he returned to his musical studies, at Cambodia’s Secondary School of Fine Arts. In 1985, he won a scholarship to the Moscow Conservatory of Music, where he studied and gained his PhD. He returned to Cambodia in 1998, and opened the Him Sophy School of Music in 2013. His previous works, including the acclaimed rock opera Where Elephants Weep, have demonstrated an unparalleled facility for bringing Western and Khmer musical worlds into intimate conversation. This time, Sophy combines a Western chamber orchestra and chorus with Khmer instrumentalists and vocalists. These traditional musical forms are crucial for honoring the dead; unfortunately, live performances are seldom heard in the capital and rapidly disappearing in the countryside.