Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Music of Afghanistan - rec. 1960




The Music of Afghanistan
A Musical Anthology of the Orient - Unesco Collection 3
Bärenreiter • Musicaphon - BM 30 L 2003 - (rec. 1960 - P.1960?)


Side A

A01 Song Of Kataran 4'53
A02 Song Of Badarshan (Turkestan) 3'09
A03 Melody For Flute From Turkestan 2'44
A04 Festive Music From Chardi (Region Kabul) 3'58
A05 Chant From Azarejot (Central Afghanistan) 5'46
A06 National Afghan Dance (Shah Mast) 2'05
A07 Chant From Farkhar 4'55



Side B

B08 Village Dance Melody (Region Kabul) 2'05
B09 Pushtu Quatrain (Charbait) 4'22
B10 Ancient Chant Of Kabul 3'26
B11 Ancient Chant Of Khodaman 2'44
B12 Tumbur - Lute - Solo 3'50
B13 Ghazni (Chant) 2'15
B14 Chorus From The Panshir 3'18
B15 Solo Of Sarinda 3'02
B16 The Dotar (Small Lute) Of Herat 3'20



I will slowly start making more non Indian posts but I will not be leaving it, it has too strong a pull on me. And it seems so, that even though I have so much more Asian, African, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and even European music that I want to share with you, I find it very very hard to completely leave India.

I may also slow down a little here as I am getting too many things pulling me away from this blog and as they are also intellectually stimulating and rewarding it means that they are also time consuming so I will have to spread my graces a little,. Well so it seems at the moment anyhow.

Ideally I think one post a day is very nice, but believe me when I say that it takes a little more time than one would expect! I'll try to keep up at least a couple of posts a week but it may prove impossible to do one every day. Anyhow if there are a couple of days with no post it does not mean that the blog is dead or that I am in any immediate danger of popping a vein or so. It is just normal because sometimes, other calendars interfere, (usually someone else's time), with the Luobaniyan calender, disabling me from my natural way of time reckoning. I hope you understand and have pity on the frailty of the human, and his circumstances. A reality also Luobaniyans live under although we are working in every possible passive, non-agressive way to eliminate it! This is certainly no farewell but I bid you a nice and sweet summer!

There will be rather more Afghanistan posts to follow this one before we start roaming the geography in all directions again. I have so many unpublished posts I almost don't know where to continue. I also have a very good surprise coming in some days as I finally got hold of a very rare and precious record recently. I have mentioned it here before and I have posted the first volume already but I am sure some of you will be more than pleased. It did cost me a lot of effort and a pretty penny on top of that, but I think it was worth it. You'll see and hear for yourself when the time is ripe!

Anyhow, here is another of those great Bärenreiters! The good news on those is that I now have all of them, except for the Pakistani. But, either you help me with a copy, or I'll find one myself!
In due cause I am sure that eventually we will have them all here!



Recording No. 2 ill. Song of Badarshan

Mohammad Naïm, ritchak Abdul Masjid, dhol
Recording No. 3 ill. Melody for flute from Turkestan

Ghulam Haïdar (Tula)
Recording No. 4 ill. Festive Music from Chardi 

Gholam Dastagir, Majeti, dhol Rahmat Khan, Mohammad Hasan, sornai


Recording No. 7 



ill. Chant from Farkhar
Niaz Mohammad, tumbur


Recording No. 10 ill. Ancient chant of Kabul
Fayaz Mohammed, dhol Beltun, tambur Tawakhal-Shah, rabab




Recording No. 12 ill. Tumbur-solo 
Hakim Mazori, tumbur Abdul Udud, zer-barhali


Recording No. 13 ill. Ghazni chant
Mohshin, sarinda Sher Mohammad Ghaznavi, tumbur
Rasuddin, dhol Ustad Mohamed Omar, rabab









17 comments:

Barron said...

Hi,

The link for this post gives an "HTTP 404 Not Found" error.

Giri Mandi said...

Yes, a disturbing 404 for me too.

The rarefaction of ICM posts sounds like Paradise Lost!

Always grateful,I wish you a serene and luminous summer, and all the inner and outer peace to enjoy it!

bolingo69 said...

This is so weird! I think it has to do with the fact that this psot was prepared very long ago using the older editor and now you would never guess!
Clicking on the Arrow only (not on the word "Music") takes you nice and fine to the download but ONLY if you click on the arrow! I have no Idea why that is but I will try to fix it!

I will first add another Music ▼ below the first one so you can see ... ;-) he he Blogger quirks! Sorry if this caused you any frustration but I promise it was absolutely unintentional ;-)

and here is the dl link laid bare:
http://www.multiupload.com/DTN930PCPK

bolingo69 said...

This post looks soo messy and I think it has to do with the older editor. So I will give it a cosmetic overhaul later but suffice it to say that at least now I think the dl Link is OK!

I am not prepared to take any blame, but I am sorry if it caused you any inconvenience!

;-)

Giri Mandi said...

Now it works perfectly, more thanks!

Wonderful recordings & photos.
Danielou in his notes seems desperately keen to relate everything to ancient European music: "... It is therefore of the greatest interest for us to find here an art which bears not the slightest resemblance to the Arabian word, of the Indian world or of the Mongol world but which seems rather to be a direct ancestor of the Italian music of the Renaissance..." ; "... the melody (...) belongs in its spirit, style and scale to the ancient Greek music, similar to that of which we find traces in the old flute melodies of Sicily, as well"... etc etc... Adorable!

arvind said...

This one is a gem! Thanks a thousand times for all the music, bo, and yes, I think you should take it easy when you feel like it :)

There's enough music here already to keep most people busy for years, so I don't see the prospect of anyone complaining! Actually, it will be a good time to revisit the older posts and listen to records we couldn't give immediate attention to when they were posted.

bolingo69 said...

Thank you all for your kind words!

I tried my best to edit the post but it still looks ugly, I may repost it some day to start with a clean format. This one is very "ill-behaved"... Anyhow the music id great ;-)

Tawfiq said...

Dear Bolingo,
this is after all these years still the best anthology of Afghani music ever. Thank you
Tawfiq

Anonymous said...

It is always great to hear more Afghan music, I find relatively little is readily available, many many thanks, another great post

bolingo69 said...

Giri Mandi wrote " Danielou in his notes seems desperately keen to relate everything to ancient European music" <-snip-> ... Adorable!

I loved that comment, as I have always found it more stale than amusing I chuckled at the moore allof standpoint of "adorable" since that is what it is. It is easy to snicker at some predecessor lesser enlightened opinions having so much more sources to compare with. However I find it detrimental to the stature of any researcher to see such obvious "agendas" as this constant need to trace everything to its ethno-centrical origin, be they concious or not. As much as I cannot deny, and have no reason to, that I have benefited from the knowledge and insights in the works of Monsieur Alain Daniélou, I have also no reason to hide the fact that I have several times got so annoyed by same said bigotry that I had to put his book down and let it rest for a while before coming back to it. These examples are unfortunately legion. Just to mention one more example I suggest you scrutinize the reasoning in chapter one (especially on Indian Theatre) of the "Nortern Indian Music" (also as abbreviated edition"The Raga-s of Northern Indian Music ) and "Traité de Musicologie Comparée" for further gleanings of this kind. Comments like those makes one less jealous. However I have no intention whatsoever to stop posting his absolutely invaluable recordings, nor deny his greatness of seeing, hearing and understanding the value of so many traditions and cultures of music. But the shining armour of this warrior has cracks and weak joints, soft spots that should be made manifest and there is no harm in pointing out where the glimmering protective gold dusted varnish has its cracks...

We can always try to repair it!

"Adorable!"

;-)

Giri Mandi said...

Thank you, dear Bolingo, you perfectly understood my point. I also took benefit and inspiration from Monsieur Danielou's luminous passion and commitment, and particularly from his precious library in San Giorgio, Venice. Actually I was about to write my dissertation with him, but the winds of life blowed in a different direction...
I tend to consider the euro-centric notes in this essential LP as a collateral effect of his passion: an effort to make this beautiful music known to a wider audience, giving some cues and a familiar environment to western listeners in the eraly Sixties...

Absolutely adorable!

Robot said...

Hey,
I went and checked my records for Pakistan for you. No luck. I have about seven of these releases. I thought Pakistan was one, but it is Afghanistan. At least the thrill of the search will still exist!
Thank you for so much information and music too.
- ken

Anonymous said...

hi!your blog has amazing music!congratulations for your work!i have a little problem, i cannot download this post.and the other link that you have sent doesn't work...

bolingo69 said...

Sorry Anonymous, the link tested OK again right now by me and two other friends! Please try again maybe your problem is temporary. Anyhow there is nothing I can do to repair this as to me there is nothing that I can see that is broken!

Anonymous said...

hi again! i finally managed to download it (it was my mistake..) all your posts are amazing,you have very good taste! thank you for your generosity sharing then with us...

AFOFOROMUSICCLUB said...

This is my Totem album since 1979. I'm so happy is finally available to be shared for other people! Thank you for your wonderful blog, hope you will keep to post unique and wonderful albums whenever you'll have the time!
all the best!

Chakith said...

Mr Bolingo
I am Mahalinga, from south india. Just discovered your great blog. Really wonderfull. These are music for them I was searching for twenty years. Your music taste is really wonderfull and this is a great service to musical world. Thank you Thank you