ALL
drum
ICH Elements 116
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Peking opera
Integrating singing, reciting, dancing and martial arts performing, Peking Opera is a comprehensive performing art of traditional opera. In mid 19th Century, having incorporated elements of various opera forms from both northern and southern China, Peking Opera came into being. It was first created by civilians. Its development was then greatly promoted by the royal family, and reached its peak in the capital city of Beijing. Peking Opera is the most widespread and influential among over 300 opera forms in China. Hence it is also called the “National Opera”. Beijing dialect is used in the singing and reciting of Peking Opera where rhyme is of great importance. There is also a strict set of rules and forms of libretto composition. Peking Opera is based on Xipi tune and Erhuang tune. Xipi tune is applied to express passion, joy and ecstasy, whereas Erhuang tune is used to depict sadness and grief. Music (singing) plays a key role in setting the pace of the show, creating a proper atmosphere, shaping the characters, and smoothing the progress of the story. Traditional musical instruments are used in Peking Opera shows, where the drummer plays the role of a conductor and the “Jinghu” player acts as the first violinist in an orchestra. Strings and pipes, such as Jinghu, Yueqin and Sanxian, are known for their tender and melodious sounds, which are called “Wen Yue”, or civilian music. Whereas percussions including Bangu and Daluo make brisk and powerful beats, which are called “Wu Yue”, or military music. Singing and dancing are equally important to the performance of Peking Opera, which is characterized by its formularized and symbolic style. Performers have to follow the established format of movements of hands, eyes, body, and feet. Peking Opera only requires simple stage settings and props, following the principle of abstract presentation of big items (for example houses and walls are not necessary on stage) and specific presentation of small items (tables, chairs, cups and saucers, for instance, are used as props on stage). The exquisite and skilful acting of the performers can also help to unfold a virtual yet vivid stage setting to the audience. The costume and headdress in Peking Opera are flamboyant. The facial make-up is exaggerative and delicate. The lively opera face shows the character’s personality and social identity with concise symbols, colours and patterns, expressing the traditional Chinese aesthetic ideals. The storylines of Peking Opera originate from history, anecdotes and folk legends. About 100 of more than 3,000 Peking Opera shows are still being performed frequently today, such as “The Twin Bliss of Dragon and Phoenix”, “The Tipsy Imperial Concubine”, and “The Orphan of Zhao”. Over the process of its transmission, over 30 schools of Peking Opera with different singing characteristics have been gradually developed. The most famous schools include the Mei School (founded by Mei Lanfang) and the Tan School (created by Tan Xinpei). The Mei School, a performance system named after Mei Lanfang, is regarded as a representative of China’s opera performance systems, and one of the three major opera performance systems of the world. Nowadays, it is mostly the practitioners of professional and amateur troupes who shoulder the mission of passing down Peking Opera. Beijing Peking Opera House, Tianjin Peking Opera House, and Shanghai Peking Opera House play the most significant role in the transmission and development of Peking Opera. Prestigious Peking Opera artists, such as Wang Jinlu, Tan Yuanshou, Mei Baojiu, Li Changchun, Zhao Baoxiu, not only inherit their respective schools in a creative way, but also shoulder the responsibility of training performers of a younger generation. The traditional performing art of Peking Opera is still well received by the public. In Beijing alone it attracts over one million audiences every year. Some Peking Opera fans can not only appreciate it, but also practice it. They are also making a special contribution to the survival and development of Peking Opera. Opera towers and guild halls dedicated to staging Peking Opera shows, such as Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing and Tianchan Yifu Stage in Shanghai, are important cultural venues for relative communities and their “spiritual wonderland”. The major mode of transmission of Peking Opera is to “conduct oral teaching and inspire true understanding of the trainee”. In the past, the master of an opera troupe applied such a method to train his disciples. Even today, this mode is still being extensively used in opera trainings. As an inheritor and practitioner, each Peking Opera performer has to go through a series of rigorous and systematic training at a young age. A trainee will gradually master basic skills including reciting, singing, dancing, and martial arts performing through taking oral instructions from the master, and observing the master’s behaviour. A performing artist of Peking Opera will need to constantly improve his or her artistic attainments through a long-term practice, so as to enrich and solidify the heritage. The representative bearers of Peking Opera typically have mastery of various forms of traditional Chinese culture, such as calligraphy and history, and they are very respected by the public. Peking Opera is unique in its perfect, romantic and abstract way of performing. It is the practitioners’ special expression of their feelings and aesthetic ideals. It is also an important symbol of Chinese cultural identity.
China 2010 -
The Eagle Dance : Rejang Be'uh
One of the Bidayuh popular dance is Rejang Be'uh. This dance is usually performed after the harvest season as a form of entertainment for guests of the longhouse. The movements of the dancers with outstretched hands imitate the movements of the eagles as they flap their wings in flight. Rejang Be’uh is usually performed by two male dancers. The dance originated when a Bidayuh legendary hero, Madu Sawan was ordered by the King of the Pleiades to fight with the legendary bird of the sky known as Tingkilang Ramang (The Eagle Spirit). This was to ascertain who has the right to take the King’s daughter, Dara Buda for a wife. Tingkilang Ramang were both accomplished dancers. They started to dance from each end of the verandah, moving gracefully towards each other in various styles and motions, following the slow and steady beating and rhythm of the gongs and drums. Each time when they meet, they swoop down in a quick motion as if they are attacking each other in a fight. During each of these moving encounters, the invisible poisonous snakes and insects will come out from Madu Sawan's pockets and attack Tingkilang Ramang until he fell down unconscious. Thus, in the duel, Tingkilang Ramang lost and Madu Sawan was declared the rightful husband of Dara Buda.
Malaysia -
Bongai
Bongai is not an unfamiliar music in Negeri Sembilan; can be categorised as a traditional song especially for the state’s community. This music is very popular in merriment events that involve weddings. The word Bongai was created from two words that are “Bong” means “a respected person”, and the word “Aye” means “me”. Bongai songs are always performed in exchange of quatrains form by individuals or duet, or in groups. Among the popular songs are Cantik Manis, Kapeh, Irama Budu Landai, Donak Donai and Anak Bocek. The musical instruments that always accompany this music performance are the caklempong, accordion, gong, hand-held drummette, and clarinet.
Malaysia -
The Music of Tumbuk Kalang
The farmers’ community assumes that the festive season is the harvesting season. At this time, they are in jolly mood because they obtain revenue from their own sweat poured into their paddy fields all these while. It has been normal that when every time paddy harvesting season approaches the farmers organise a paddy flaking festivity made merrier by a game of Tumbuk Kalang. Often this game is held house to house and lasts for a number of evenings. The musical instruments for the Tumbuk Kalang performance are a set of caklempong, gong, paddy pestles and hand-held drummettes.
Malaysia
ICH Stakeholders 2
ICH Materials 403
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Pa lwei (small Flute)
The flute (pa lwei) is a wind instrument which consists of a hollow tubed played by blowing through a hole at one end. There are two kinds of Myanmar flutes: The "khin balwei" and the "kjo palwei". The khin balwei is commonly played. It has a ventage and a reed at the blowing end. The kjo balwei has no reed. Blowing the kjo balwei may be seen in the murals at Ananda and Mingalar Zedi in Bagan. Earlier flutes are wood or plastic. The ventage holes are made according to the diameter of the bamboo. Altogether 10 holes are perforated: seven finger holes, thumb- hole, the membrance hole and the "pinkelu" hole. The membrance hole is now not made because it tends to produce a shrill sound.\nIn preparing the tube, the lowest hole is perforated at two- thirds of the way up the flute. Then the six holes are perforated at distances according to the diameter of the bamboo. The thumb- hole is perforated on the lower side of the flute at the point half- way between the upper sixth and seventh hole. The "pinleku: vent hole is perforated between the topmost finger hole and the tube end. The membrane hole lies between the vent hole and the seventh hole.\nThe flute can be seen playing together with the shawm in pot- drum troupe, dobat troupe, classical music troupe, modern music troupe. The flute comes in two sizes: the big and small. The flute can cover the chromatic scale.
Myanmar -
Pa lwei (Big Flute)
The flute (pa lwei) is a wind instrument which consists of a hollow tubed played by blowing through a hole at one end. There are two kinds of Myanmar flutes: The "khin balwei" and the "kjo palwei". The khin balwei is commonly played. It has a ventage and a reed at the blowing end. The kjo balwei has no reed. Blowing the kjo balwei may be seen in the murals at Ananda and Mingalar Zedi in Bagan. Earlier flutes are wood or plastic. The ventage holes are made according to the diameter of the bamboo. Altogether 10 holes are perforated: seven finger holes, thumb- hole, the membrance hole and the "pinkelu" hole. The membrance hole is now not made because it tends to produce a shrill sound.\nIn preparing the tube, the lowest hole is perforated at two- thirds of the way up the flute. Then the six holes are perforated at distances according to the diameter of the bamboo. The thumb- hole is perforated on the lower side of the flute at the point half- way between the upper sixth and seventh hole. The "pinleku: vent hole is perforated between the topmost finger hole and the tube end. The membrane hole lies between the vent hole and the seventh hole. \nThe flute can be seen playing together with the shawm in pot- drum troupe, dobat troupe, classical music troupe, modern music troupe. The flute comes in two sizes: the big and small. The flute can cover the chromatic scale.
Myanmar
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Tamil lullaby
The refrain, Va va, means “Come, come.” This lullaby welcomes the baby by describing the joyous scene of forty people singing and dancing and referring to a baby coming in a golden chariot pulled by twelve horses. This may be a reference to the birth of a deity.
India 1938 -
Tamil lullaby 2
The lullaby describes a deity idol being carried in a procession. It evokes the scenes of joy at the birth of a child. This is likely a reference to the birth of a deity.
India 1938
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Kartatak Classical Instrumental Music-nagaswaram Performance by Kottur Rajrathnam Pillai
CD9_KARTATAK CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC – NAGASWARAM PERFORMANCE BY KOTTUR RAJRATHNAM PILLAI\n\nKottur N. Rajarathnam is a master of the south Indian conical-shaped reedpipe with a double reed known as the n ā gasvaram (Sanskrit; Tamil spelling: n ā kacuram ) or n ā dasvaram . He leads an ensemble of musicians known as periya m ēḷ am (Tamil, “the big ensemble”), which for centuries has been producing auspicious music ideal for offering to the gods and for enabling a joyous ambiance at weddings and other important life-cycle events. Indeed, at weddings and the events surrounding the actual wedding ceremony, the periya mēḷam is expected to accompany women who sing traditional songs for the each stage of the wedding. The ensemble is at its best when performing at night on the streets surrounding the major temples, as the instruments are ideal for an outdoor setting. Temple musicians and a visiting ensemble often perform as part of temple activities and all-night street processions, and indoors for concerts and at weddings and other life-cycle events. \n\nPlayers carefully modulate their tone to suit the acoustics of indoor spaces. Accompanying Kottur Rajarathnam is a second nāgasvaram player, shadowing his playing and helping to maintain the continuity of the performance. He is a skilled master drummer, who plays the tavil (sometimes known as tavul ). He plays this double-skin barrel drum with a beater in the left hand and the four fingertips of the right hand covered by thimbles, producing a characteristically bright, sharply percussive range of sounds. The tavil matches the nāgasvaram in brightness of sound, volume, and penetrating tone. The t āḻ am (small hand cymbals made of bell metal) marks the rhythmic cycle being performed and a free-reed bellowspumped drone box, the curutipe ṭṭ i (Tamil, “drone box”), produces the necessary tonal reference for the nāgasvaram. Since the mid-twentieth century, the instrumentation of the periya mēḷam has undergone changes. Perhaps most significantly, the pitch of the nāgasvaram and of the tavil has been lowered. The nāgasvaram and tavil became larger to produce a deeper sound. In this recording, Kottur Rajarathnam and his ensemble play four rāgas, including four kirtanas (a devotional song genre) and three kinds of improvisation characteristic of Karṇāṭak music. Improvisation in Karṇāṭak music can be understood as unmetered melodic improvisation and as metered improvisation following the performance of the compositions. The unmetered improvisation heard here is known as ā l ā pana (Sanskrit, “conversation”) and is unmetered melodic exploration of a rāga. The two kinds of metered improvisation heard here are svara kalpana (“note imagination”) and tavil solo improvisation. Svara kalpana is played after the composition has been concluded. It consists of sequential passages of svara (“note”) playing that develop from short, relatively slow passages to longer passages at faster speeds. Though they might not all start from the same position relative to the tāḷa cycle, each of the each svara kalpana passages concludes with a return to a selected phrase of the composition. For his performance, Kottur Rajarathnam selected three songs by Tyagarāja. This comes as no surprise, as this outstanding composer left a plethora of compositions ranging from short pieces for religious congregational singing to the most sophisticated and erudite compositions. He is also well known for having produced standalone compositions in rare rāgas, such as the composition in rāga vāgadīśvarī in this album. Tyagarāja (b. Tiruvaiyyār, 1767-1847) was a saintly brāhmaṇ composer. His family was from Andhra Pradesh but settled in Tañjāvūr. His grandfather Girirāja was a poet and musician at the court of the maharāja of Tañjāvūr. Tyagarāja composed kirtanas in his mother tongue, Telugu, as well as in Sanskrit. He is revered by musicians and music-lovers as one of three great contemporary composers, whose brilliance and popularity have almost obscured the music and achievements of their predecessors. In the popular mind, Tyagarāja is the most prominent of all Karṇāṭak musicians and his annual memorial celebrations ( ā r ā dhana) attract hundreds of musicians, thousands of audience members, and even more listeners through the broadcast media. His life story was made into a film and numerous bhāgavatars continue to re-tell versions of his life replete with his compositions. His charisma and his exceptional musical repertoire was passed down with succeeding generations of singers and instrumentalists who have polished his works. His pieces have even penetrated the repertoire of dancers attracted by the music, even though his compositions were not originally intended for dance, though he did write several music dramas. Tyagarāja unequivocally rejected the offers of position as a court musician as he was completely averse to singing the praises of mere mortals—something court musicians were obliged to do. Instead he lived an austere life, composing as an expression of religious devotion ( bhakti ), especially to his beloved Rāma. The kirtana form that Tyagarāja favored had two or three sections. \n\nAll the kirtanas in this album have three sections: pallavi, anupallavi, and caraṇam. In the pallavi the semantic theme of the composition is stated, though this is not apparent when an instrumentalist performs. The anupallavi develops the raga and moves the melodic range higher up the scale to the higher octave. After the anupallavi, the pallavi is repeated as a refrain. The caraṇam usually moves into the middle range and often explores the lower octave. The pallavi refrain is repeated to conclude the performance. A common feature in many of Tyagaraja’s kirtanas is the repetition of the anupallavi melody as the second half of the usually longer caraṇam. These audio recordings are extracted from the collection of video recordings made by Yoshitaka Terada, a wellknown scholar of the Nagaswaram who has written extensively on the topic.
India 2016 -
Hat Xoan in Phu Tho Vietnam
Hát Xoan (Xoan singing) or cửa đình singing (singing at the village communal house) starts in spring during singing and dancing performances to worship the god in the village communal house. According to legend Hát Xoan appeared in the time of Kings Hùng, in the ancestral land of Hùng Vương—Phú Thọ, a province in the midland area of Vietnam. Gathering of Xoan singers who worship in spring called Xoan guild or families of Xoan. In a Xoan guild, there are between six and eighteen members. Men, called kép (instrumentalist), have to know how to beat a drum and sing the lead. Women are called đào (female singer). Female singers must not only be beautiful but also be able sing and dance well. The leader, called ông trùm, is an expert in art and master in all Xoan singing customs . He is also responsible for organizing and training instrumentalists and singers. Nowadays, in Phú Thọ province, there are four original Xoan guilds, in Kim Đới, Phù Đức, Thét, and An Thái villages. The Xoan guilds start their two-month spring itinerary 6 Jan (lunar calendar).\n\nXoan singing for worship is structured into three singing stages: Stage one is a ritual opening that includes songs such as Giáo trống, Giáo pháo, Thơ nhang, and Đóng đám. The Xoan guild of An Thái village opens with the song Chào vua while Xoan guild of Kim Đới village opens with Mời vua. Stage two is the performance of fourteen songs (known as quả cách) such as Kiều Giang cách, Nhàn ngâm cách, Tràng mai cách, Ngư tiều canh mục cách, Đối dẫy cách, Hồi liên cách, Tứ mùa cách, Quả cách is an ancient term. Quả means a long song while cách is a method of singing a specific song. Cách is the way ancient Confusion scholars expressed their feelings and conceptions of society and nature. The content of these fourteen songs is about wishing the four classes of people— scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants—prosperity and fame. Stage three is a love-exchange song, including songs such as Bợm gái, Bỏ bộ, Xin hoa đố chữ, Gài hoa, Hát đúm, and Giã cá. The content reflects the desire of a couple’s love. Therefore, the items in this stage are usually performed by Xoan singers with local male villagers. The cultural exchange between Xoan guild and local male villagers make the singing session more attractive. However, Xoan singing was under the threat of being lost over time. On 24 November 2011, Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage In Need of Urgent Safeguarding of Humanity. In this CD, we selected and arranged some Xoan singing songs recorded and kept at Vietnamese Institute for Musicology in 1959.
Viet Nam 2015
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The Remarkable Revival of Vietnamese Xoan MusicIn just six years, an important element of intangible cultural heritage went from being an element in need of urgent safeguarding to being an active part of the lives of Vietnamese people. The Hat Xoan Phu Tho tradition, a distinctive call-and-response musical genre of Phu Tho Province in northern Vietnam, was inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011, and as a result it became the focus of an extensive revitalization program to ensure its survival.\n\nA unique blend of song and dance performance, xoan originated in the upland region of Viet Tri in Phu Tho for the people to express the richness of their community lives. Some of the performances are to venerate ancient kings while others are expressions of the people’s skills and artistry or their knowledge of farming, fishing, hunting, weaving, and other rural crafts. xoan is considered the core and essence of the social and cultural identity of the villages of Phu Duc, Kim Dai, Thet, and An Thai.\n\nSince 2011, the state and local communities have been supporting a project to revitalize xoan. A series of creative collaborations between knowledgeable elder practitioners and a nucleus of over sixty younger artists have committed themselves to xoan practice and dissemination and have subsequently secured xoan transmission to future generations. Training classes are held monthly and weekly within the communities. An active set of xoan guilds with as many as a hundred members of three or even four generations of practitioner families are successfully recruiting new adherents.\n\nTo generate an audience for the genre, xoan has been introduced into the regional school curriculum as a reference point for teaching on issues of heritage and local history. Demonstration activities and social events outside the xoan communities, have attracted young people and increased their understanding and enjoyment of xoan.\n\nWithin the xoan communities, many of the temples and shrines used for performances had deteriorated because of war and time, becoming unusable. The state, however, has allocated priority funding to restore these performance areas. Through the government-funded program, community members are fully involved in the restoration and have been empowered to manage their own cultural spaces. On 28 March 2017, the country’s largest site for xoan practice was inaugurated in Kim Duc, a commune of Viet Tri. Legend has it that this space, within the Lai Len temple in Kim Duc, was the first site of xoan performance in Vietnam.\n\nThrough these unique programs, xoan communities have become vibrant places of practice and the transmission of xoan.\n\nPhoto : In marked contrast to the traditional past, Xoan is now widely performed by young practitioners © Le Thi Minh LyYear2017NationViet Nam
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An Overview of Shamanism in NepalIn Nepal, Shamanism was practiced before the arrival of Hinduism and Buddhism. Now it is integrated within both of these religions. Depending on the credo of a particular ethnic community, shamanistic rituals have no monolithic shape but the core value of shamanism is consistently upheld. Shamans are commonly known as dhami or jhakri though ethnic communities have various terms assigned for them. Traditionally, shamans act as mediators between the spirit world and the human world. They are healers, soothsayers, advisors, and priests. Shamans are common people who work as farmers or in some other day job, and they just happen to practice shamanism, typically in the evening.\n\nAmong many ethnic communities in Nepal, Tamang, a cultural and linguistically distinct community, practices shamanism. They believe spirits in the environment help shamans solve people’s problems. In the Tamangworld, spirits are present as microbes in our environment; this worldview is never written, only maintained by oral culture. Some even say that they learn some mantras in their dreams. It’s also very important to have a master and to learn more mantras from them. In addition to teaching mantras to his disciples, a master also helps shake the body and control trances. The disciple-master relation is important and is seen during rituals.\n\nTamang shaman rituals are impressive to watch as the shaman also renders a captivating dance performance during the ritual. The attire of white dress and feather headgear he wears helps bind the people’s gaze. He uses a garland of 108 rittha seeds and rudrakshya (seed of Elaeocarpus granitreus). They wear bells arranged like a belt, producing sounds when they shake during the rituals. Along with the attire they also require ritual objects like phurba (three headed dragger), tiger bones, and materials like incense, uncooked rice, and seed of oroxylum indicum tree (which is almost like white petals). Beating a drum made of deerskin is one of the most important ritual objects. By beating and shaking his body, the shaman goes into a trance where he communicate with the spirits and finds the cure or answer for the clients’ problems. After every ritual, the shaman tells the people the solution to their problems, which he finds during the rituals. Many people in remote parts of the country still rely on the shaman for cures where they don’t have medical facilities. But in places that have medical facilities some people still go to shamans if doctors cannot cure them.\n\nDuring janai purnima (full moon of August or September), shamans have a special day when they gather at holy sites and perform rituals. It’s also a day to boost power among the other shamans. There was a time when all shamans were men. Today, however, though not too significant a change, a small number of women are also shamans.\n\nPhoto : Shaman performing a ritual in a Samarthali Village of Nepal ⓒ Monalisa MaharjanYear2018NationNepal