SPIRITUAL MOUNTAIN MUSIC FROM KYRGYZSTAN   (中文)

Date: 13 June 2006
Written By: Yeoh Jun-Lin

High above in the Tien-Shan or Celestial Mountains, west of China, lies the nation of Kyrgyzstan. Landlocked by China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, it is made up of valleys and basins with spectacular mountains, lakes and grasslands. It has the second largest mountain lake in the world, Issyk-Kul, after Lake Titicaca. The annual temperatures here can range from 40 degrees Celcius in summer to sub-zero in winter months.

Here, a nomadic people who were descended from Turkic origin, have lived since 201 BC. They raise their livestock, and farm wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. Islam is the predominant religion, and they were under Soviet rule between 1864 and 1991 before gaining their independence.

The Rainforest World Music Festival is having the very spiritual ENSEMBLE TENGIR TOO from Kyrgyzstan. The performance is presented by The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, and the band is being flown in to Kuching courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

His Highness the Aga Khan has specially established the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia to assist in preserving the music heritage from this part of the world.

Music and musicians have historically played an essential part in the cultures of Central Eurasia. It is not only for entertainment but also as a way to reinforce social and moral values.

In Kyrgyzstan, the people honour and hold in great esteem sites of spiritual power. They call these places mazars. These could be anything that has a special natural beauty or aura – a cave, a unique formation of the land, or often, a burial ground of a saint.

Because of the immense expanse of their surroundings and because of the many outdoor places they hold their community gatherings and festivities at, their singers have had to cultivate powerful voices.

To be skilled at improvisatory texts or to have memorized masses of oral poetry was to be very admired and treasured. On stage at the Rainforest World Music Festival, there will be an excerpt of an epic ode recited by manashi Rysbek Jumabaev. Usually these epics go on for days – a bigger marathon than any Wagner operatic cycle!

TENGIR TOO is also coming with traditional instruments like the komuz which is the main folk instrument of the Kyrgyz. It is a three-stringed lute usually made from apricot wood, nut wood or juniper. Besides the usual plucking and strumming, the strings can also be struck using the fingernails and there are highly stylized hand and arm gestures during performance that enhances the story telling.

There is also the sybyzgy – a lyrical side-blown flute used by the shepherds and horse herders, again made from apricot word or the wood from the mountain bushes; and the choor – another flute but this time blown from the end (like a recorder) and come in different sizes. This flute is very characteristic of the mountain people of the Inner Asia and can be found throughout the region and known by different names.

A great favourite with the children is the chopo choor – a clay ocarina with 3-6 holes that herders might have used as signaling instruments in the forests.

They also have a qyl-qiyak which is a fiddle with the body the shape of a bowl, and played with a bow while being held upright. It has 2 horse hair strings and is able to produce lots of sound effects that is so essential in the Kyrgyz story telling sessions. It was also associated with shamanism and recitations.

The stories and recitations of the Kyrgyz did not even have to have words or lyrics. Their instrumental music was very programmatic in nature – depicting people, texts, situations and moods as needed. This might have started with Berlioz in western music, but these people in Central Asia have been practicing it since time immemorial.  They call it the kuu – and they believe that certain tunings and modes can be specially directed to connect with the human soul and psyche.

The Rainforest World Music Festival, besides trying to bring together as many different cultures and music, also is a strong believer that our roots and traditions should not die out. TENGIR TOO is one of those groups that will reinforce those beliefs.

Apart from Kyrgyzstan, there will also be bands  from Austria,  Mali, Korea, Turkey, Canada, Mongolia, Latin America, Malaysia, Madagascar and France.

The Rainforest World Music Festival is in its 9th year and still keeping to its formula of having daytime workshops on all 3 afternoons of the 7th – 9th of July 2006, as well as evening main stage shows.

It has been the baby of the Sarawak Tourism Board and, while still comparatively a young festival, is trying to bring in a substantial number of acts every year to cater for a growing crowd.

The venue for this year will be the Sarawak Cultural Village, situated about 45 minutes outside of Kuching city.

Tickets are priced at RM60 and RM30 for children aged 3 – 12 years. They are available at the Visitor Information Centres in Kuching, Miri and Sibu. Or check the website www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com for packages or travel agents or outlets and updates on the festival. More enquiries can be made by calling the Sarawak Tourism Board at 082-423600.

The festival is also supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia Airlines as its Official Airline and fROOTS magazine as the Media Sponsor. The official telco for the festival is DIGI and supporting sponsors are Heineken and Water Genesis.

PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) awarded the Rainforest World Music Festival as the winner of the gold award 2006 in the Heritage and Culture category. PATA, the leading Bangkok-based travel industry, officially presented the award at the 55th annual conference in Pattaya, Thailand last April.

Yeoh Jun-Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival