Celebrating Thailand and Vietnam's 30 years of friendship, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra flew to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi last week to perform His Majesty the King's compositions, a tribute to the royal anniversary this year.

The 30-member orchestra was conducted by Rear Admiral ML Usni Pramoj, a Privy Councillor and National Artist.

"The songs of His Majesty are like jewels that shine from every perspective," Usni said.

With the King's permission, his jazz melodies were adapted into classical form and 16 of his tunes were amalgamated into a single medley.

"Jazz is made for fun and social gatherings, but His Majesty feels that classical music is more popular internationally and more appropriate to formal occasions," Usni explained.

Among those treated to the selections were ambassadors, government officials and many Thai expatriates and other foreigners involved in the culture of Vietnam.

Usni arranged the royal compositions to emphasise the beauty of the melodies rather than lyrics.

"I varied the range of the song, mixing fast and slower beats together," he said.

At the Opera House in Hanoi and the Ho Chi Minh City Municipal Theatre, the audiences listened in rapt silence and applauded enthusiastically at the end.

The performances began with "Alexandra", an uplifting patriotic tune composed in honour of Britain's Princess Alexandra of Kent on her visit to Thailand.

Next came "Blue Day," a baroque tune about bittersweet yearning, and "Sweet Words", a lovely aria for violins, viola, cello and double bass.

After that, a celebration of nature in "Twilight", then an oboe solo in "Lullaby" and the slow rhythm of "Near Dawn".

The tranquillity of nature yielded to the stirring "Royal Marines March" - dedicated to Thailand's Marines but played for the first time when US Marines visited the Kingdom in 1959.

More emotions of the heart were enlivened with "Love in Spring" and "No Moon", bridged by the melodic  "Echo".

Another oboe solo was just as evocative in "Still on My Mind", and a clarinet prodded the Hawaiian tempo of "Dream Island", which turned out to be a hit among the Vietnamese women.

Next came "A Love Story", "Old-fashioned Melody", "Magic Beams" and "Can't You Ever See", finishing on a fun note to amuse the crowd.

The encore was  "Porn Pee Mai", a celebration of New Year's.

"Thai melodies can be felt more deeply in the heart," said Phan Than Tien, a Vietnamese violinist who works with symphony orchestras. "Vietnamese song have words but not a lot of emotion."

His favourite of the evening was "Twilight", which reminded him of the sun rising over the Chao Phya River.

"It was inspiring," said Ronnie Chern, the wife of America's deputy counsel general in Vietnam, Kenneth S Chern.

"There was such a range of music from patriotic to whimsical in the last piece. The King is a romantic at heart, a sensitive person able to capture so many emotions in the range of music."

ML Usni and the orchestra also performed in Jakarta, Singapore and Manila and plan to tour Thailand.

A CD from the overseas tour is being produced and will soon be available at branches of Siam Commercial Bank.

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation