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SPRINGS OF AUTUMN 2010 - ALASH
The members of the Alash ensemble are masters of throat singing – a remarkable vocal technique that enables the singer to produce more than one tone at a time. The technique, a specialty of the Tuva region, creates a complex, multi-layered sound: the listener hears two, three, or even four ‘voices’ simultaneously, all coming from the mouth of a single singer. The rhythm of Tuvan songs is often reminiscent of the clip-clop of horses – like their Western counterparts, Tuvan ‘cowboys’ have a great affinity with the animal, and horse heads adorn traditional instruments such as the three-string igil.
The small republic of Tuva lies in the heart of central Asia, at the southern edge of Siberia. For centuries it was a part of China and Mongolia, and it retains many musical links to these countries. In 1944, Tuva became part of the Soviet Union, and today it belongs to the Russian Federation. The ensemble is named after the Tuvan river Alash, which flows through the northwestern part of the region.
