Tengir-Too, Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan

From the mountainous Kyrgyzstan, Jew's harps, fiddles, plucked stringed instruments, and powerful voices transmit the vibrant rhythms of nomadism and the serene atmosphere of the Kygyz mountains in a musical language as contemporary as it is ancient. 　　Tengir-Too is a new ensemble from Kyrgyzstan that plays old music. The group takes its name from the mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China and that is better known by its Chinese name, Tien Shan: "Celestial Mountains." 　　Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov, a gifted composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, Tengir-Too (Too is pronounced like "toe") provides a living laboratory for Nyshanov's efforts to find a voice for Kyrgyz music in the contemporary cultural marketplace. Kyrgyz music is rooted in the sensibility of nomads who inhabit a spectacular landscape of mountains, lakes, and pristine grasslands where the elemental energies of wind, water, and echo, the ubiquity of birds and animals, and the legendary feats of heroes have inspired a remarkable art and technology of sound-making. During the Soviet era, however, much of this music was lost or adapted to European musical ideals. Orchestras of reconstructed folk instruments replaced solo performers, and the introduction of music notation undermined orality, with its deep-rooted tradition of transmission from master to disciple. 　　Tengir-Too's repertory centers around the two principal genres of Kyrgyz music: instrumental pieces that represent or tell a story about a particular subject purely through melody and rhythm, known as küü; and lyrical songs traditionally performed by singer-songwriters, called akyn. Tengir-Too frequently performs with guests artists including Nurak Abdrakhmanov, a well-known akyn and virtuoso performer on the komuz, a three-stringed fretless lute; and Rysbek Jumabaev, a manaschi, or reciter of Manas, the great epic poem of the Kyrgyz. The Manas is traditionally performed without musical accompaniment, and in the spirit of much of its repertory, Tengir –Too's atmospheric arrangement of excerpts from the Manas represents an innovation on tradition. 　　a review : "The 20-minute documentary on the DVD is excellent. It features each of the musicians recorded here performing on their instruments, shows a komuz player teaching children how to play (an encouraging sign), and has plenty of shots of Bishkek and the wide Kyrgyz wilderness where this music hails from. The DVD is even vital for getting the most of the Manas recital on the CD, because only on the DVD can one see the traditional hand gestures of the bard as he recounts his tale, a vital part of the storytelling. "