Quote of the Day

Wash the plate not because its dirty nor you are told to wash it but because you love the person who will use it.
– Mother Teresa

East and West

"Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet..."
- Rudyard Kipling

Before, I had the notion that traditional Asian music can never meld with that of the Classical West with all their violins and French horns. Sure there were composers who tried to make operas with an oriental flair like Puccini (of Madame Butterfly & Turandot fame) and that of Arthur & Sullivan (The Mikado), but all of these were still patterned after Western tastes. Even the instruments used were all traditional orchestral pieces- the piano, the trombones, and timpani. Never was there the lute, the ranad-ek, the gongs, or the koto and shamisen in these works. Yes, the themes were of Asia, but the flavor remains Occidental.

It is fortunate that through Youtube, I had come across a couple of arrangements by conductor and composer, Shardad Rohani. Enjoy. The sheer bliss and syncopation of eastern melodies with western harmonies is exhilarating. It makes me want to immediately fly to my beloved Thailand.

Enjoy.

1.LAOPAN RANAD CONCERTO ลาวแพน ระนาดคอนแชร์โต
Ranad Solo by Chaiphak Phattharachinda
เดี่ยวระนาด โดย ชัยภัค ภัทรจินดา (นิก กอไผ่)
Conducted by Shardad Rohani
BSO - Bangkok Symphony Orchestra
Bangkok : 23 July 1999


2. "Thai Children Choir" & The Closing Ceremony Theme Song of the 13th Asian Games Bangkok '98 "Light of Asia"
Composed by Thai composer "Dnu Huntrakul"
[ทำนองโดย ดนู ฮุนตระกูล]
Lyric : Khunying Sasima Srivikorn
[คำร้องโดย คุณหญิงศศิมา ศรีวิกรม์]
BSO - Bangkok Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Shardad Rohani
Bangkok : 23 July 1999

A Mother's Day Tribute

*this was one of my earlier works.... just a tribute for Mother's Day. Cheers!

A Midsummer's Night Lullaby
by: Julsitos

Now rest your eyes, my dearest child,
lay upon your mother's breast,
and feel the warmth, so sweet and mild,
your peaceful face gently pressed.

Hush little one, the day is done,
for you are in my keeping.
The ills of yesterday now begone
its secrets now asleeping.

Can you hear the crickets playing,
hidden 'mong the grasses there?
Can you feel the wind whisp'ring
blowing through the midnight air?

And when you yawn, your face alights
without a care or worry.
To dream in splendid perfumed nights,
is paradise and glory.

In the darkness of midsummer
not a stirring, child and I,
for in sleep we sleep together,
and dream beneath a moonlit sky.