Phra Chenduriyang (Piti Vādyakara[1]) (Thai: พระเจนดุริยางค์ (ปิติ วาทยะกร), RTGS: Piti Wathayakon; born as Peter Feit, (July 13, 1883 – December 25, 1968) was a Thai composer, conductor, music professor, collector and arranger. He was the son of a German American immigrant, Jacob Feit,[2] and a Mon mother.[3] However, he never left Thailand and identified himself solely as Thai. He composed the Thai National Anthem.[4]
Feit's father Jacob, who was also a musician, had arrived in Siam (the former name of Thailand) during the reign of King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) and became a trumpet teacher at the royal court. Feit studied piano and western string instruments with his father and at the Assumption College, Bangkok. In 1917, he joined the Royal Entertainment Department and formed the first western-style orchestra in Siam.[4][5] King Rama VI (Vajiravudh) appointed him deputy director,[6] later director of the "Royal Western string orchestra" and granted him the feudal title and name of Phra Chenduriyang (translating to "skilled with musical instruments"). Phra Chenduriyang was primarily responsible for the spread of Western classical music in Siam,[7] teaching many young Thais.[4] On the other hand, he also collected and notated Thai folk music which had only been passed down orally until that time.
^David Horn; Dave Laing; John Shepherd (eds.). Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Part 2: Locations. Vol. V. p. 220.
^Lamnao Eamsa-ard (2006). Thai Popular Music: The Representation of National Identities and Ideologies Within a Culture in Transition (Ph.D. thesis). Edith Cowan University. pp. 81–82.
