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Masterpieces of Uygur music
By UNESCO website |
January 6, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Xinjiang Uygur muqam is the term for various melodies and form of composition among Uygur communities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China's far west.
Muqam reflects Central Asian influences along the Silk Road.
The Xinjiang Uygur muqam includes songs, dances, folk and classical music and is characterized by diversity of content, choreography, musical styles and instruments. Songs vary in rhyme and meter and are performed solo as well as by groups. The lyrics are both folk ballads and poems written by classical Uygur masters. Thus, the songs include poetry and folk narrative, bearing witness to the history and contemporary. In muqam ensembles, the lead instruments are made from local materials may be bowed-stringed, plucked or wind instruments.
Dance involves unique steps, rhythms and formations as well as figures such as flower-picking-by-mouth, bowl-carrying-on-head and imitation of animals in solo dances. There are four main regional styles: The Twelve muqam, Dolan muqam, Turpan muqam and Hami muqam.
Community festivities, such as meshrep and bezme in which everybody would participate in the muqam, are held less frequently. Traditionally folk artists pass on the tradition but interest among young people is declining.
The Xinjiang Uygur muqam was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2008.
Muqam reflects Central Asian influences along the Silk Road.
The Xinjiang Uygur muqam includes songs, dances, folk and classical music and is characterized by diversity of content, choreography, musical styles and instruments. Songs vary in rhyme and meter and are performed solo as well as by groups. The lyrics are both folk ballads and poems written by classical Uygur masters. Thus, the songs include poetry and folk narrative, bearing witness to the history and contemporary. In muqam ensembles, the lead instruments are made from local materials may be bowed-stringed, plucked or wind instruments.
Dance involves unique steps, rhythms and formations as well as figures such as flower-picking-by-mouth, bowl-carrying-on-head and imitation of animals in solo dances. There are four main regional styles: The Twelve muqam, Dolan muqam, Turpan muqam and Hami muqam.
Community festivities, such as meshrep and bezme in which everybody would participate in the muqam, are held less frequently. Traditionally folk artists pass on the tradition but interest among young people is declining.
The Xinjiang Uygur muqam was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2008.
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