The Thailand HRDs

Programme Notes

The Thailand HRDs is a 35-movement string quartet inspired by Luke Duggleby’s photo essay For Those Who Died Trying. Duggleby’s collection highlights victims of murder and disappearance in Thailand, all targeted for their efforts to protect their communities’ environments and uphold human rights. In most cases, the perpetrators have faced little to no legal consequences.

Each movement serves as an elegy to one of the victims featured in Duggleby’s essay. While the music reflects the solemnity of their loss, it also carries a note of defiance, symbolizing the enduring memory of these heroes.

The musical themes for each movement are derived from the musical pitches or letters found in the victims’ names (as noted in each movement’s title), creating a kind of musical DNA unique to each individual.

– Frank Horvat

The Thailand HRDs composition eventually led to the For Those Who Died Trying album, which eventually led to the #music4HRDs social media campaign that featured string quartets and ensembles from around the world…

It is impossible to escape Frank Horvat’s mystical hypothesis that music is somehow part of all human DNA…a testament to the genius of Horvat that he is able to craft this into each segment of this unique 35-movement string quartet. 

– Raul da Gama, WholeNote Magazine

The following are some of the photos from Luke Duggleby’s photo essay, For Those Who Died Trying, that inspired the composition, The Thailand HRDs.

Movement 2 – Mr Charoen Wat-Aksorn. Photo by Luke Duggleby/Protection International

Movement 16 – Ms. Montha Chukaew & Ms. Pranee Boonrat. Photo by Luke Duggleby/Protection International

Movement 27 – Mr Somchai Neelapaijit. Photo by Luke Duggleby/Protection International

Movement 34 – Mr. Som Hompornma and Mr. Tongnuan Kamjen. Photo by Luke Duggleby/Protection International

Movement 35 – Mr Thongnak Sawekchinda. Photo by Luke Duggleby/Protection International

Learn more about Frank and Luke’s collaboration here.