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THE UYGHUR
MUSICIANS FROM XINJIANG
From: "Rachel Harris" <rh@soas.ac.uk>
MUSIC FROM THE OASIS TOWNS OF CENTRAL ASIA
GlobeStyle CDORBD 098
Take a quick glance in the Times Atlas at the Xinjiang
Region in the West of China and straight away you can see that it is a pretty
inhospitable place, far away from anywhere; apparently all desert. The Uyghur
people live there in oasis towns a great distance apart and when times were
peaceful they traded in goods along the old Silk Road that ran from China into
the Near East and on to Europe. They are a Turkic people, victims of geography
who were once part of Ghengis Khan's huge Mongol empire, and later re-conquered
by the Manchu and incorporated into the Chinese Qing empire. Despite
these changes over the centuries and today's large-scale immigration
of Han Chinese, they have kept their identity, not least through their
music. At the heart of this music is the Muqam (a set of 12 musical
suites), starting with a unmetered introduction (the muqadime), moving
through a metered slower piece (the dastan) and finishing with the
meshrep: a wild
dance piece. Classic but not rigid: one of the great stringed instrument
traditions of the world.
The current Uyghur version of the Muqam can be traced back to the 16th century,
to the court of the Yarkand khanate in Kashgar. It is very much a
music of all of the people and is often referred to in terms of a spiritual
need. In the words of one old folk singer: "During the Cultural Revolution
I
was forbidden to sing the Muqam, and I could feel it building up inside me with
great heat. Finally I got on my donkey and rode into the desert. I rode
until I was far away from all people, then I started to sing. I sang all the
Muqam I knew, and then I went back. If I had not done this I would have
become ill." As you might gather from all of this we are dealing with
a long and deep history in this recording of the Uyghur Musicians of Xinjiang.
The roots of the music and musicians on this CD are in the pre-Communist
oral traditions, but the music is very much a living thing in the oasis towns
from which they travelled to the UK for a series of concerts arranged by the
Asian Music Circuit. It was while they were in London that GlobeStyle took the
opportunity to make what turned out to be a remarkable recording of their music.
The disc features a variety of performance styles and lengths
from short instrumental duets, songs and fanfares right through to the full-play
experience of the longer suites. Available from all good
record stores - probably. If you have difficulty ordering it then go to www.acerecords.co.uk Various mail order
houses are accessible from there. To view more details of this or any of
GlobeStyle's
other wonderful recordings go to 'Check out our labels' and click on
'GlobeStyle'. Mail order is also available on +44 20 8453 1311 and speak
to Yvette.
