Bangladesh

The Murung are people living beyond the Chittagong plain in the hills of West Bangladesh, near the Burmese (Myanmar) border. Consisting of a population of around 50,000, they have their own language & have been able to avoid being converted to the neighboring religions.

Their main musical instrument is the plung, a mouth-organ whose origin is from the region of Burma & Cambodia. It is made of a wind-chest made of a calabash gourd, several bamboo pipes between three to five, & a bamboo mouth piece. Each pipe has a hole & contains a free reed which vibrates when the hole is closed by the fingers of the players. The reed will vibrate either when inhaling or exhaling.

A plung ensemble can contain between ten to twenty instruments of different sizes. The music is repetitive & rhythmic. It creates more tone-color melodies than real melodies. It is heard during particular events such as weddings, funerals, or other public celebrations & ceremonies. There is also another version of the plung, called the rina plung. It accompanies litanies, lists of names of ancestors, or love poems, which are half-sung & half-murmured. These songs are accompanied by ecstatic dances.

This record was produced in France during the Festival de l'Imaginaire. This Murung music was heard for the first time outside of their native hills of Bangladesh.

On Bangladesh: Ritual Mouth Organs of the Murung, the performers are: Long Ngan; Man Yam; Mong Poy; Thing Ngook; Reng Ning; Pa Ya; Sak Sing; Chik Tu; Pa Lay; Rang Lai, Pai Ngee, & Tang Poy – all on plung.

Chimbuck Murung - Bangladesh:Ritual Mouth Organs of the Murung, Inedit W 260084, 2001.

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Tracklist –

Piece for Plung Orchestra

Song & Rina Plung

      Part a – Man’s Song: Village Chronicle; Nostalgic Poem

      Part b – Young Women’s Song: Prayer to the Forest Spirits

Dance for the Sacrifice of the Cow, Accompanied by the Plung Orchestra

Enjoy,

NØ