YMB Saya Tin (, ; 11 February 1894 – 8 August 1950) was a Burmese composer. He was one of three well known pre-war composers with the name
Sayar Tin. The others were and . He is best known for composing "
Kaba Ma Kyei
The national anthem; ; of Myanmar consists of two parts; the first half is a traditional Burmese style section, before transitioning into the second half, a Western-style orchestra. Because of the second half, both the "State Song" and its prede ...
", the national anthem of Myanmar.
Early life
Tin was born in
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553.
Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
on 11 February 1894 (7th waxing of Tabodwe 1255
ME) to
Daw Thein and her husband
U Yan Aung, a former official in the service of the last Burmese king
Thibaw.
[MSK 1964: 74] He had one elder sister and one younger sister.
After finishing high school at the age of 17, Tin worked as a schoolteacher in a private school for the next three years. During his leisure time, Tin took up playing his
concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
, exploring its sounds, and studying
traditional Burmese music.
Musical career
In 1918, Tin founded his own private school, the Young Men's Buddhist School in Mandalay, and came to be known as YMB ''Saya'' Tin (''săya'' meaning 'teacher' in Burmese). His school's musical troupe performed free of charge at charity events and weddings.
In 1930, Tin shut down his school and moved to Yangon, where his songs had been recorded and used in films. Tin met up with an old classmate of his, ''Tha Khin'' Ba Thaung, and joined his political movement known as
Dobama Asiayone
Dobama Asiayone ( , ; ), better known as Thakins ( , ; ), was a Burmese nationalist group formed around the 1930s and composed of young, disgruntled intellectuals. Drawing their name from the way in which the British were addressed during colon ...
().
National anthem of Myanmar
In 1930, Tin composed
Dobama Song (တို့ဗမာသီချင်း – ), in 1930, with Ba Thaung supplying the lyrics. Tin himself gave the first ceremonial rendition of the song on the flat ground of
Shwedagon Pagoda
The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ; ), officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' (, , ), and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar.
The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanma ...
at 5:00 pm on 20 July 1930. After the ceremony, Tin was imprisoned by British officers, who accused him of inciting insurgents. He was later released in 1946. In 1942, the song was adopted as the national anthem of the
State of Burma
The State of Burma (; , ''Biruma-koku'') was a Japanese puppet state established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II.
Background
During the early stages of World War II, the Empire of Japan invaded British Burma ...
. In 1947, it was used as a template for the
national anthem of the Union of Burma, for which Tin was awarded
Rs.1,000/-. The Burmese government awarded him the title ''
Wunna Kyawhtin'' () on Independence Day, 4 January 1948.
Death
Tin died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
on 8 August 1950, aged 56, and was buried in Yangon. Tin had composed over 4,000 songs.
[
]
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tin, Saya
1894 births
1950 deaths
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Burmese musicians
National anthem writers
Tuberculosis deaths in Myanmar
Burmese people of World War II
People from Mandalay
Recipients of the Wunna Kyawhtin