S. P. Somtow

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S. P. Somtow.
S. P. Somtow.

S. P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; Thai: สมเถา สุจริตกุล), b. December 30, 1952, is a Thai American musical composer. He is also an English science fiction and horror author.

Contents

[edit] Youth

At the age of 11, Somtow wrote a poem, Kith of Infinity, which was published in the English-language Bangkok Post. Shirley MacLaine ran across it, and, thinking that it was written by a dead poet, included it in her autobiography, Don't Fall Off the Mountain.[1] This poem contains the line "I am not a man", alluding to the fact that Somtow had not yet attained manhood; it is speculated that this line caused MacLaine to assume that the poet was a woman.

Somtow was educated at Eton College and at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

[edit] Science fiction

As a science fiction writer, he is known for several series, among which are Mallworld, Inquestor, and Aquila. He was first published as Somtow Sucharitkul in the late 1970s in the pages of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and wrote several stories and novels under that name before changing his byline to S. P. Somtow for personal reasons.

[edit] Horror

In the horror genre, he wrote Vampire Junction and a series of related novels and stories. He was president of the Horror Writers Association from 1998 to 2000. His other horror books include the werewolf/American West novel Moon Dance, the zombie/American Civil War novel Darker Angels and the collections Tagging the Moon - Fairy Tales of L.A. and The Pavilion of Frozen Women. In 1997, he wrote the juvenile vampire novel, The Vampire's Beautiful Daughter. He also directed the cult horror film The Laughing Dead.

[edit] Other literary works

His novel Jasmine Nights, a semi-autobiographical novel set in Thailand in the 1960s, has become his best known fictional work.

[edit] Symphonic works

He has also composed five symphonies and a ballet, Kaki. Other musical compositions include the "Requiem: In Memoriam 9/11", commissioned by the government of Thailand as a gift for the victims of the 9/11 events and inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and T. S. Eliot.

[edit] Opera

In 2000 he composed Madana, the first orchestral western opera by a Thai composer and based on a Thai language play by King Rama VI.[2]The opera was in English. His second opera on a Thai theme, Mae Nak, premiered in 2003 and a third opera, Ayodhya, was first performed in November, 2006.[3] A fourth opera, "Dan no Ura", is scheduled to premiere in November 2007 in Bangkok.

He is currently artistic director of the Bangkok Opera. In 2006 Somtow Sucharitkul conducted the first Wagner opera in Southeast Asia, Das Rheingold, as part of a five year project to bring the entire Ring Cycle to Southeast Asia by the year 2010.[4]

Somtow was a critic of the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Somtow replaced Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka as keynote speaker at the 2006 S.E.A. Write Awards Ceremony, after Soyinka withdrew in protest against the recent coup that overthrew the elected government. In his keynote speech, Somtow berated Soyinka for boycotting the awards and claimed that in 50 years, he had never felt more free. Soon afterwards, Somtow's opera Ayodhya was censored by the junta. State officials claimed that the on-stage death of the demon-king, Thotsakan, would constitute a bad omen to those in power. Somtow agreed to modify the scene and was forced to sign a document giving officials the right to "immediately shut down the opera in mid-performance if, in their sole opinion, a breach of 'tradition' occurs."[5][6]

[edit] Awards and honors

Somtow Sucharitkul has won the World Fantasy Award, for which he was four times previously nominated. He has won the International Horror Guild Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Locus Award, the HOMer Award, the American Horror Award and numerous other awards. He has been nominated for two Hugos and five Bram Stoker Awards.

[edit] Gallery

Somtow with H.M. Queen Sirikit after "Sirikit Concerto"

Somtow with HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, and Cardinal Michai, at the Thailand premiere of Mozart's C Minor Mass.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Melton, J. Gordon, The Vampire Book, the Encyclopedia of the Undead, ISBN 1-57859-076-0.
  2. ^ Mertens, Brian, "A Thai's Grand Design for Opera", International Herald Tribune, February 24, 2001
  3. ^ "Thailand's enfant terrible of opera tackles the Asian classic Ramayana", International Herald Tribune,November 14, 2006
  4. ^ Turnbull, Robert, "Wagner meets Buddhism on Thai director's stage", International Herald Tribune, April 13, 2006
  5. ^ "Citing 'bad omen,' Thai government censors Ramayana opera", International Herald Tribune, 18 November 2006
  6. ^ Somtow, S. P., "Why artistic freedom matters", The Nation, 17 November 2006

[edit] External links