Appendix 4 - Western Music with Burmese Themes, 1824–1948

Summary

Compiling a list of songs and tunes with Myanmar-related titles and themes is no easy task, even if it is confined to the colonial period (1824–1948).Some compositions were so ephemeral that they appear never to have been published or recorded. Some were only produced in small numbers. Most of them soon passed from the musical scene and a number appear to have been lost forever. Others, like the musical settings inspired by Kipling’s ballad “Mandalay”, were so popular that they themselves spawned a wide range of melodies, arrangements and lyrics. Many had the same or similar titles, usually involving signature words like “Burma” (or “Burmah”), “Mandalay” and, to a lesser extent, “Rangoon”. Copyright lists, collections of sheet music and old recordings held by libraries and sound archives are helpful in identifying such works, but until an authoritative list can be compiled, the following must be considered provisional only.

The following list does not include works that only refer to Myanmar (or related places like Rangoon or Mandalay) in passing; for example, as a brief mention in a song about something else. Nor does this list include different arrangements of the same tune or song unless it differs significantly from other versions; for example, the various musical settings of the poem “Mandalay”. Also absent are the different arrangements of particular songs and tunes recorded by bands and singers after the development of gramophone records. Most hymns and soldiers’ songs have been left out on the grounds that, despite their wide use in Myanmar for certain periods, they were not ‘popular’ in the usual sense of the word, and often did not refer specifically to the country. In any case, only works that have a direct connection to Myanmar have been included.

All musical compositions have been listed in chronological order by first publication or original recording. Where those details are not known, they are listed according to the date of their first mention in published sources. Songs and tunes that appear never to have been published have been listed according to the date on which copyright was first granted as shown in the annual catalogue of copyright entries for musical compositions by the US Library of Congress.Where any information is not available or is unreliable, this is shown by the use of question marks in the appropriate place.