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Phe Vo ceremonial music instruments
Vietnam
(southern tradition)
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Video Excerpt
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In several regions of Vietnam, religious rites are performed
at funerals, and during celebrations in honour of guardian spirits or the spirits
of the Earth or agriculture, to ensure that the souls of the deceased are purified
or rest in peace. In this context, music acts as an intermediary between the living
and the dead in ceremonies that pay tribute to the departed. At the same time, the
divinities are thanked for their gifts.
This set of instruments consists of a pair of ceremonial drums, an hourglass-shaped
drum, a percussion instrument made of buffalo horn, a small gong, two small cymbals
and three oboes. It is also called the "oboe group". These instruments are heard at
specific moments in the ceremonies: when the officiants burn incense, when people
prostrate themselves before the coffin of the deceased or the altar of the spirits,
during the ceremony in which wines or rice alcohol are offered, during processions
and when the coffin is removed. On other occasions, they are played for entertainment.
The ceremonial drum player takes the lead.
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