ALL
instrumental music
ICH Elements 15
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Traditions of rubab making and playing on it
Production of folk musical instruments in Uzbekistan and traditions of performance. The history of traditional folk musical instruments of Uzbekistan is incredibly rich and diverse. Rubab is a string bow instrument. It has a wooden convex body (round or oval in shape), a leather deck, 4-6 intestinal, silk or metal strings, usually tuned in quarts, and resonating strings. The most common rubabs are 800-1000 mm long. Sound is extracted usually by plectrum. The Uzbek orchestra of folk instruments includes 3 varieties of rubabs: prima, viola, tenor. Varieties of rubab are found in various peoples of the East: Afghan, Dulan, Kashgar, Pamir and other rubabs. It is also known that the rubab is played in North Africa and in the southern provinces of Spain. It was borrowed to Europe in the XII century under the name of Rebra. In Turkey, there is a three-string rubab. Among the Persians it is called "Rabet Barbitus".
Uzbekistan -
Nongak, community band music, dance and rituals in the Republic of Korea
Inscribed in 2014 (9.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Nongak is a fusion performing art genre that combines a percussion ensemble (with occasional use of wind instruments), parading, dancing, drama, and acrobatic feats. It has been practiced for various purposes, such as appeasing gods, chasing evil spirits and seeking blessings, praying for a rich harvest in spring, celebrating the harvest at autumn festivals, fund-raising for community projects, and professional entertainment. Any joyful community event was never complete without uproarious music and dance performed by the local band clad in colorful costumes. The resultant ecstatic excitement (sinmyeong) is often defined as a preeminent emotional characteristic of Korean people. The music frequently uses uneven beats of complex structures like simple three-time, compound time, and simple and compound time. Small hand-held gongs and hourglass drums, with their metal and leather sounds, play the main beats, while large gongs and barrel drums create simple rhythmic accents. The small hand-held drum players focus more on dancing than playing music. Dancing includes individual skill demonstrations, choreographic formations, and streamer dances. Actors wearing masks and peculiar outfits perform funny skits. Acrobatics include dish spinning and miming antics by child dancers carried on the shoulders of adult performers. Nongak was most often performed and enjoyed by grassroots people, but there were also professional groups putting on entertainment shows. In recent years, professional repertoires have evolved into the percussion quartet “Samul Nori” and the non-verbal theatrical show “Nanta,” dramatically emphasizing the music element and thereby appealing to broader audiences at home and from abroad.
South Korea 2014
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Gangneung Nongak (Farmers' Performance of Gangneung)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Gangneung Nongak is a leading farmers’ music handed down in areas east of Taebaek Mountain Range in Gangwon-do. Also called nongsa puri (explanation of the farming process) music, the music is presumed to have been naturally made with the start of farming. A Gangneung Nongak troupe is composed of people carrying farming tools, swaenap (conical wooden oboe), kkwaenggwari (small gongs), jing (large gongs), buk (drums), janggo (hourglass-shaped drum), sogo (small drums), and beopgo (Buddhist drum), and mudong (dancing boys). Performers wear white jacket and trousers, with their bodies decorated with bands in three colors (red, blue, and yellow); dancing boys wear colorful clothes. Gangneung Nongak is performed on the following occasions: jisin bapgi (“earth spirit treading”); geollip nongak geollippae (fund-raising troupe)’s performance; gimmaegi nongak (performance for planting rice seedlings and weeding); jilmeokgi (party for farm laborers); geollipgut (geollippae’s shamanic performance); madanggut (courtyard ritual), etc. The foregoing events are also held in other regions, but the following are performed only in Gangneung with the accompaniment of Gangneung Nongak: dalmajigut (rite to the first full-moon), hwaetbul nori (torch play), notdari bapgi (one selected among a group of young women, who treads on their waists as they lie down), gimmaegi nongak, jilmeolki, and gil nori nongak (road performance). Gangneung Nongak plays an important role as an event that provides consolation in the hard life of farmers and helps villagers build friendship with each other.
South Korea 2014
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Namwon Nongak (Farmers' Performance of Namwon)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Namwon Nongak refers to a variation of nongak being transmitted in the Ongjeong-ri neighborhood of Namwon-si City, Jeollabuk-do Province. It shares musical and performance characteristics with other forms of nongak transmitted in the eastern portion of the Jeolla region. This tradition can be categorized as a form of community ritual (mageul gut) which is generally composed of a rite for community guardians, door-to-door visits to individual households, and pan gut entertainment shows. It is also a form of donation-gathering rite (geollip gut). Namwon Nongak is known for its unique composition of shows in the latter part of the pan gut. Practitioners of Namwon Nongak are still crafting their own budeul sangmo, a type of headgear characterized by a tuft of soft feathers on top that is exclusive to the eastern Jeolla nogak tradition.
South Korea 2014
ICH Materials 24
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Mak Yong Theatre
Mak Yong is a traditional form of dance-drama that combines ritualistic spiritworship concerning Mak Hiang (Mother-Spirit, or the Paddy-Spirit). It has elements of acting, dancing, singing, songs, stories and dialogues. It is widely performed in Terengganu, Patani, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis as well as at the Islands of Riau in Indonesia and Pattani of Southern Thailand.\nMak Yong is believed to be originated from the Malay Palace in Pattani about 400 years ago before making its way to the East Coast of Peninsular Nakatsua. In the 1920’s, Mak Yong was performed under the patronage of Kelantan Sultanate and therefore has assimilated the luxury of palace-style decorated costumes.\nUnfortunately, Mak Yong was banned by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1991 under the allegation of animist and Hindu-Buddhist roots. The status of Mak Yong was recognized internationally after UNESCO declared Mak Yong as an"Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2005.\nThe performance often opens with the song “Mengadap Rebab,” followed with dancing and singing accompanied by traditional musical composition. There are twelve main stories in a Mak Yong performance: Dewa Muda, Dewa Pencil, Dewa Sakti, Dewa Panah, Raja Indera Dewa, Endeng Tejeli (Anak Raja Gondang, Batak Raja Gondang, Raja Bongsu Sakti), Raja Tangkai Hati, Gading Bertimang, Raja Muda Lakleng, Raja Muda Lembek, Raja Besar dalam Negeri Ho Gading and Bentara Muda. In general, the stories are derived from local folktales about kings, deities and comic characters. Mak Yong has also been associated with traditional medicinal purposes in which shamans attempt to cure possessed patients through singing and dancing in ritualistic trance.\nEach story needs a duration of three hours to be fully performed. Most Mak Yong characters are played by female actors and is performed on a center stage surrounded by the audience. Audience sit around the three sides of the stage, while the fourth side is reserved for the musicians.
Malaysia -
Mak Yong Theatre
Mak Yong is a traditional form of dance-drama that combines ritualistic spiritworship concerning Mak Hiang (Mother-Spirit, or the Paddy-Spirit). It has elements of acting, dancing, singing, songs, stories and dialogues. It is widely performed in Terengganu, Patani, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis as well as at the Islands of Riau in Indonesia and Pattani of Southern Thailand.\nMak Yong is believed to be originated from the Malay Palace in Pattani about 400 years ago before making its way to the East Coast of Peninsular Nakatsua. In the 1920’s, Mak Yong was performed under the patronage of Kelantan Sultanate and therefore has assimilated the luxury of palace-style decorated costumes.\nUnfortunately, Mak Yong was banned by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1991 under the allegation of animist and Hindu-Buddhist roots. The status of Mak Yong was recognized internationally after UNESCO declared Mak Yong as an"Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2005.\nThe performance often opens with the song “Mengadap Rebab,” followed with dancing and singing accompanied by traditional musical composition. There are twelve main stories in a Mak Yong performance: Dewa Muda, Dewa Pencil, Dewa Sakti, Dewa Panah, Raja Indera Dewa, Endeng Tejeli (Anak Raja Gondang, Batak Raja Gondang, Raja Bongsu Sakti), Raja Tangkai Hati, Gading Bertimang, Raja Muda Lakleng, Raja Muda Lembek, Raja Besar dalam Negeri Ho Gading and Bentara Muda. In general, the stories are derived from local folktales about kings, deities and comic characters. Mak Yong has also been associated with traditional medicinal purposes in which shamans attempt to cure possessed patients through singing and dancing in ritualistic trance.\nEach story needs a duration of three hours to be fully performed. Most Mak Yong characters are played by female actors and is performed on a center stage surrounded by the audience. Audience sit around the three sides of the stage, while the fourth side is reserved for the musicians.
Malaysia