TUVAN THROAT SINGING AND JOHN WILLIAMS Corey Woodfield Period 6

TUVA  Population: 313,900. Land mass: mls 2  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.sygytxöömeikargyraa borbangnadyrezenggileer  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 5 th apart Doshpuluur- often compared to banjo, strings go 1, 5, 8 Byzaanchy- 4 strings, 2 are 1, 2 are the 5 th 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 holes Shoor- 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

 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   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 Overtone singing Progresses slowly No lyrics Polyphonic Palpatine’s Teachings: Mostly instrumental Clearly structured Eerie and menacing tone Used for entertainment Written Performed by an orchestra Tuvan Music: Pentatonic Mainly vocals Freestyle Carefree tone Used to connect with nature Passed down orally Traditionally a solo effort

works cited   ent.country/tuva_828/en_US ent.country/tuva_828/en_US   