Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia is an extraordinary production that combines music, voice, movement, and film. It is the first major symphonic work to address the traumas of the late 1970s in Cambodia. Blending elements of the Western requiem with traditional Khmer music and cultural rites, it tells a universal and urgent story: that of a society confronting moral devastation and reclaiming its humanity through spiritual ritual. The work is directed by internationally decorated film director Rithy Panh, who recently became Cambodia’s first Oscar nominee, in his first foray directing for the stage. Pahn’s stunning projections mix archival footage with surreal imagery to capture the very essence of his nation’s history. Composer Him Sophy, another artist at the forefront of Cambodia’s cultural renaissance, has created a score that celebrates the musical traditions of past while looking hopefully forward to a peaceful future. Mellifluous Buddhist smot chanting and other all-but-extinct Khmer musical forms are woven throughout a procession that moves from the heavens to the killing fields, culminating in a plea to recognize impermanence as the only path to peace. Both principle creatives are survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide; in their first collaboration they bring us a deeply felt and vital work that encapsulates their nation’s experience of grief, anger, ritual, and, ultimately, rebirth.

Bangsokol hopes to serve as an inspiration for post-conflict societies around the world–to rebuild, transmit and innovate through the arts. The piece offers a space for healing for those who have suffered violent conflict and forced migration, and honors those who have passed away. Bangsokol is a rare and essential work: both a beautifully realized and performed production, and an essential act of memory, reconciliation, and peace.

Bangsokol website

LIBRETTO

1. wandering souls / utterly alone Alas, my souls, still you wander, ever and always drifting, floating, back and forth, here and there, aimlessly dreaming, walking like ghosts in search of rebirth. My dear souls, come here with grace and build this bridge to cross over the worlds. Your last life was miserable, completely undeserved, dying apart from your siblings, utterly alone.

2. please come listen / the roots of wars Deities of all directions! Please come listen to the great teachings of the Buddha, which analyze the realms and beings of the three worlds so as to illuminate how the minds of humans are filled with greed, along with anger and delusion, the roots of wars and vicious conflicts, dropping all bombs of annihilation.

3. my dearest, my child / they’ve snatched you away Oh, that time, that time in the past! I shall always remember, and never forget when I left my home to walk far away, and shovel and haul earth in a faraway land, far from my child. I search for you, little one, but can’t find you anywhere. I’m cleft from you, child, separated from my family. I search for you, love. In what realm are you now? My dearest, my child! They’ve snatched you away. You cry in longing, split from your kin. You’ve gone far away to a silent place.

4. keeping you is no gain / losing you is no loss Oh, that time, that time in the past! Soldiers and troops threatened and menaced both us and those around us, nearly ruining our ears with thundering voices and deafening sounds, barking like dogs: “Keep your neck up high, if you want to survive! The Khmer Rouge has eyes everywhere, like a pineapple! Keeping you is no gain, losing you is no loss! To dig up the grass, we must dig up the roots!”

5. in the silence of the forest / you’ll be thrown away In the silence of the forest, with none to trust, you’ll be alone, with wild beasts who grunt and groan—there you’ll be thrown away too. Your wealth, the worst poverty; you can’t take anything with you. You’ll lie there like an old shoe— the body’s truly empty. Your merit gone in your wake, they will come take your carcass to the woods cloaked in darkness. You’ll lie useless; they’ll go home.

6. awaiting ambrosia / for all the souls Oh, that time, that time in the past! It was as if we were hungry spirits, lacking food, lacking satisfaction, hungry and near death, with no proper farming taking place in our realm, as we searched and scoured for the nourishment necessary for life, hoping only that friends and relatives would toss out morsels to us who suffered in the realm of the shadows, awaiting ambrosia from lovely worlds above that would stream out everywhere, for all the souls.

7. the white bangsokol shroud / once this skin is shed, bliss arises The white bangsokol shroud lays upon everyone’s body. A monastic of virtue may roll it up to make it into a robe, intoning thus: “How transient the elements of life! Their nature is just to arise and pass away. Having emerged, they soon disappear. Their complete cessation is peace.” Once this skin is shed, bliss arises, relieving all pain and pollution, taking you far away from misfortune to tread the path towards happiness.

8. this body is pain / let it all go This body is pain! Oh pain, great pain, beyond measure. Small pain, great pain, pain boils within. Without relief, pain leads to death. Impermanent! Not long, not long at all, how transient! Once dead, just your foul corpse remains. Flesh, bone, sinew turn into earth. No self ! Nothing, no form, no name, no consciousness, no fame, no rank, no splendor or vitality, all wealth destroyed. So reflect well; care for your heart, calm your anger, your heart soft like mother and child. Calm your anger, let it all go.

9. wandering souls / coming back to life Alas, my souls, stop your wandering! Let go of this sadness and strife. Walk forward, come here, follow the sounds, the sounds of music, to take rebirth. My dear souls, come here with grace and build this bridge to cross over the worlds. Your next birth will be fortunate, completely just, dancing with your siblings, coming back to life.

[Banner photo: Zan Wimberly]