Tuvan Throat Singing and John williams

Corey Woodfield

Period 6

Tuva

Population: 313,900. Land mass: 65830 mls2

77% Tuvan (Turks), 20.1% Russians, 0.4% Khakas (Mongolian), 2.5% Other.

Religions: Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism, Orthodox Christianity.

Mountainous regions, heavily forested and plains, animals (skins, tendons for instruments)

Influenced heavily by USSR and Mongolia. Everything passed through oral tradition.

Tuvan Music

Characterized by “throat” or overtone singing. This is called xöömei and it is done by emphasizing

overtones. There are five different styles, called sygyt, xöömei,

kargyraa, borbangnadyr, and ezenggileer. Instruments used were the igil, the doshpuluur, the

byzaanchy, the chanzy, the chadagan, the kengirge, the shyngyrash, the xomus, the murgu, the shoor, the limbi, and the amyrga.

These instruments complemented the singing style. Some modern Tuvan bands include Yat-Kha and Huun-Huur-

Tu. It was used to connect with and imitate nature by shamans,

hunters, and others.

Igil- made with wood, goat skin, and horsehair, strings are a 5th apart

Doshpuluur- often compared to banjo, strings go 1, 5, 8

Byzaanchy- 4 strings, 2 are 1, 2 are the 5th

Chanzy- similar to Doshpuluur, but louder

Kengirge- goat skin stretched across wooden frame

Chadagan- stringed instrument on a pentatonic scale

Shyngyrash- bells used with Kengirge

Xomus- jaw harp, played by plucking the metal tongue

Murgu- end blown flute with no holesShoor- end blown flute with holes

Limbi- side blown flute with a varying number of holes

Amyrga- hunting horn that imitates the Siberian red deer

John Williams

John williams He was born in 1932 as the son of John Williams, Sr., a jazz

percussionist He studied music in college with the Italian composer Mario

Castelnuovo-Tedesco He entered the Juilliard School in 1955 and studied piano and

performed in New York clubs as a jazz pianist. He then moved back to LA and began composing songs for films. Some notable films he has composed for include Fiddler on the

Roof, Jaws, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. He composed music for all of Steven Spielberg’s films except

two. He has won multiple Academy Awards for his compositions in

movies

Palpatine’s teachings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHfFimij0Cg This song was written for Star Wars Episode 3: Return of

the Sith. It begins with a low overtone voice which sets an eerie

tone. It maintains the eerie tone throughout the piece, with

generally low tones and a slow melody.

Comparison

works cited

http://gov.tuva.ru/news.aspx http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/

page.basic/country/content.country/tuva_828/en_US http://www.alashensemble.com/ http://www.youtube.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams