VA ~ Chine ☆ Xinjiang La Rout De La Soie [Playasound]

01 - Dulan Muqam
02 - Nawa Muqam
03 - Bayat-Nawa Muqam [Muqaddima]
04 - Mushawarik Muqam [Dastan Marghul]
05 - Sharh Aman
06 - Khushtarman
07 - Qambarkhan
08 - Nazirkhom
09 - Damulla
10 - Dart Alam
11 - Worksong
12 - Tagh Suleri

Recordings by Anderson Bakewell, 1986-87



'Musique is tremendously important to the inhabitants of the former 'silk road'. not only are their lives accompanied throughout by musique of professional musicans [sazanda], hired to play at births, circumcisions, weddings & innumerable religious festivals, but musique as an amateur pursuit is, unlike many Islamic countries, actively encouraged. Instruments are found in every home & often played from a very young age. Singers are hired to accompany farmers in the fields, wandering mendicants [habdal] chant religious hymns in the bazaars & virtually any social gathering can be transformed, at the slightest provocation, into a mashrap [celebration], a cultural institution in which song & dance is the central focus.

There are large number of Uyghur folksongs, many universally known in the tarim basin. they are, like much turkic musique, linked to poetic forms marked by strong rhythms & tinged with melancholy. The subject is almost invariably love: meditations on the beauty of the beloved & the anguish of seperation or unrequited affections. The intersection of the musical genres of the amateur & professional musician makes categorization of Uyghur musique difficult, but the muqum fits the description in the popular mind of a classical musique. The muqum is of great significance to the Uyghurs, not only as a repository of musical inheritance, but also as the symbol of their cultural heritage.' ~ liners

the last recordings we have from the venerable Anderson Bakewell & among his most interesting work. something for everybody eyed think, whether you dig the spike fiddle dronage or entrancing chants. full booklet skans with notes by bakewell in french & english thoughtfully included. 320 thanks to toro y loco for the hook-up

Ocora - China - Classical Music

Ocora - China - Classical Music (Chine - Musique Classique)
Ocora C 582039, recorded 1957-71, CD released 2001
(originally released 1988)

Tracks:
01. Liushui
02. Gaoshan Liushui
03. Hangong Qiu Yue
04. Shimian Maifu
05. Zhegu Fei
06. Sishang Xiang - Tu Chunxi
07. Ting Song
08. Ying Diao
09. Yimeng Shan
10. Qionghan Ge
11. Dalang Tao Sha
12. Xiu Hebao - Wang Yifu
13. Liu Yao Jin
14. Fei Hua Dian Cui
15. Haiqing Ge - Wang Boyun,
16. Changmen Yuan - Xia Fuxi
17. Pu'an Zhou

Info from Medieval.org

Ocora - China - The Art of the Qin

China - The Art of the Qin [Chine - L'Art du Qin]
played by Li Xiangting
Ocora C 560001, CD recorded and released 1990

Review from All Music Guide:
The Qin (pronounced "chin") is a seven-stringed table zither, quite possibly among the oldest Chinese musical instrument. It was cited in some poems more than 2,700 years ago. It went through different versions. The standardized 21st century version was created sometime around the second or third century A.D.

The Qin became an instrument of choice at the court during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In fact, it is the most documented Chinese musical instrument, in treatises, essays, handbooks, and poetry (there exist more than 150 handbooks on the Qin). It has been used for meditation purposes in natural environments, especially for Taoist and Confusion values, and its music has an obvious meditative character.

One interesting point to mention is that the Chinese were already using harmonics on the Qin almost 2,000 years ago. Li Xiangting, one of China's great masters of the Qin, gives an exquisite overview of this instrument, which is more than two millennium old, with pieces almost as old as the instruments. You can hear history in this fascinating music and instrument.[Bruno Deschênes]

Vocal Polyphonies of Taiwan Aborigines [Inedit]

Vocal Polyphonies of Taiwan Aborigines - Ami, Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai
(Polyphonies vocales des aborigènes de Taïwan -
Ami, Bunun, Païwan, Rukaï)
Inedit W 260011, recorded 1988, CD released 2000

China - Celestial Music for Qin (zither) and Xiao (bamboo flute)

China - Celestial Music for Qin and Xiao
Deng Hong, qin & Chen Shasha, xiao
Caprice Records CAP 21818, recorded 2008, CD released 2009

Qin (pronounced 'chin') is a quiet instrument, best suited to be played in solitude or with a good friend who follows the melody on flute. The instrument is difficult to play, and one problem for new beginners is that there is no sheet music of the kind we are used to. The seven strings are made of tightly thrown silk. To obtain the durable silk threads required for the strings, the silkworms are fed a special leaf from the zhe-tree. Qin music is normally not performed in public.

Throughout history, the instrument has been regarded with immense reverence and celebrated in countless poems. In ancient times, it was used by sorcerers and shamans to avert misfortunes and maintain harmony. From the mid 1960s and decades onwards, qin was considered too elitist in China, but today the instrument is advancing strongly and has reclaimed its role as its country's foremost national instrument. A few years ago, it was included in UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

01. Qi Yan Hui (Tears for Yan Hui)
02. Liu shui (Flowing Waters)
03. Meihua san nong (Three Variations on the Melody Plumblossoms)
04. Chunxiao yin (Spring Morning)
05. Guanshan yue (Moon over the Mountain Pass)
06. Ping sha luo yan (Wild Geese decending on the Sandbank)
07. Yangguan san die (Three Variations on the parting for Yangguan)
08. Liang xiao yin (Serene Night)
09. Si da jing (Four great Sceneries)
10. Ao ai (Creeks of the Oars)

Inedit - Chinese classical Kunqu opera - Peony Pavilion, 2CDs

Chinese classical opera Kunqu - Peony Pavilion, 2CDs
(Opéra classique chinois Kunqu - Le Pavillon Aux Pivoines)
Recorded 1994, Inedit CD release 2001

Kunqu is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
Kunqu boasts a 600-year history and is known as the "teacher" or "mother" of hundreds of operas, because of its influence on other Chinese theatre forms, including Peking Opera.

Kunqu was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001.