Throat singing: world classical music
Last night I went to Millennium Park for the second free CSO concert this week at the park (and don’t forget tomorrow’s Day of Music; last night’s concert will be repeated at Symphony Center at 7:00 p.m.). This Silk Road-inspired program included Yang Wei on pipa, Chicago’s Radio Maqam Ensemble, and throat singers Yat-Kha from Tuva, a small republic in the utmost south of Siberia, near Mongolia. Time Out Chicago wrote about Yat-Kha last week.
I had never heard throat singing before, so I didn’t know what to expect. As soon as the artist hit the first note, I wondered if it came from a person! It almost sounded like an Australian didgeridoo. And if that’s an instrument that is hard to play, I don’t even want to imagine getting those sounds out of your throat. The low and warm bass sound fitted wonderfully with the symphonic music. I thought it was the highlight of the evening.
I am really getting more and more interested in this “world classical music,” which is a term I took from last month’s chat on Chicago Classical Music with Yo-Yo Ma, in which he stated:
“I think there are many different kinds of classical music, and it’s a constantly evolving field. Lots of musicians around the world are now writing music that I think of as world classical music. Osvaldo Golijov is a great example of that.”
It is a great metaphor of how I view the political issue of multiculturalism, assimilation and integration; learning from others and placing what you believe are the most interesting facets of a culture (and there are many in any culture) in your own view of the world.
But back to music and Yo-Yo Ma:
“Classical composers have always taken inspiration from the world around them - Bach did that, Dvorak did that, you can probably think of 100 others - but today it happens in a different way. I think it’s really exciting to be part of a field that is evolving so quickly and in such interesting directions.”
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