(b Samut Songkhram, Thailand, 1881; d 1954). One of the two most highly-regarded central Thai musicians during the reigns of Rama V, VI and VII (see also Phatayakosol, Cangwang Thua). Born as Sorn, the young musician was discovered by Prince Woradet (a member of the Thai royal family) during a music competition and was taken to the capital and made a royal page; he eventually attained the title ‘Cangwang’ (one of the highest ranks for the royal pages). He quickly became the best ranāt ēk (xylophone) player in the palace, which effectively made him the leader of the palace pī phāt ensemble. He served the prince for several decades, living in Burapha Palace and making the prince's household famous for its music. He accompanied the prince to Java in 1915 and King Rama VII to Cambodia in 1929–30, bringing back instruments as well Javanese and Khmer musical repertory that he adapted to Thai music. In 1925 King Rama VI recognized Sorn's talents and contributions by conferring on him the honorific name Luang (an aristocratic title) Pradit (‘invent’, ‘make’ or ‘devise’) Phairau (‘beautiful sound’) and giving his family the hereditary surname Silapabanleng (‘the art of musical performance’). He is considered the originator of many musical techniques and concepts now central to the practice of central Thai court music, including the technique of sustaining pitches on the xylophone by trilling or rolling the mallets (kro) and developing the compositional practice known as thao that involves expanding or contracting pre-existing melodies. He is also considered the first composer to write in a programmatic fashion, imitating the sounds of nature, and he extended the most expansive metrical framework, three chan, to six chan (see Thailand, §I, 2(ii)). Two of his children, Prasidh Silapabanleng (b 1915) and Chin Silapabanleng (1906–88), became famous in their own rights as musicians; Prasidh is a composer in the Western art music tradition and Chin was involved in bringing Thai classical music into the public school curriculum. The Luang Pradit Phairau Foundation, a school for traditional Thai music and dance, was established by his children and is now overseen by his grandchildren.
DEBORAH WONG