China

II: MUSIC

An Da Union

An Da Union
Historian Jack Weatherford has written that the music of the Mongolian people “records and maps the landscape of their land, not merely in words, but in the rising and falling of notes corresponding to the flow of the land itself.” The music of An Da Union, is created by fourteen young and dynamic musicians, singers and dancers from the semi-autonomous region of Inner Mongolia , who bring power, excitement, and the haunting beauty of their homeland and culture to each performance. As their songs unfold, the audience feels the hoof beats of generations of horses moving across vast grasslands and hears the songs of unseen birds on summer mornings. The audience is transported to a distant time when these instruments were played late into the evening in the camps of the great Genghis Khan.

Anda means “good friends” in Mongolian. An Da Union was formed in 2003; its 14 members all hail from the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia, a semi-autonomous region of China. At the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Opera and Dance Theater, the members of An Da Union studied the folk music they now perform and traditional instruments they now play, such as the horse-head fiddle or tsuur, an ancient bowed instrument. The ensemble members also play the maodun chaoer, a three-holed flute, as well as Mongolian versions of the dulcimer, zither, lute, and mouth harp. The main singing style performed by An Da Union is khoomii, commonly referred to as throat singing, a traditional type of Mongolian overtone singing, which replicates the sounds of nature. Much of their repertoire is comprised of long songs, or urtiin duu, a traditional style of Mongolian folk music that evolved from melodies sung by nomadic herders. While moving from pasture to pasture, herders hum melodies inspired by their surroundings; these improvised melodies eventually take fixed forms, which have remote and stretching rhythms and a slow and free cadence. Winners of the prestigious Eco-Youth Prize awarded by China Central Television (CCTV) and featured at the Kennedy Center Festival in China, An Da Union has toured France, Spain, Finland, Sweden, and Korea. An Da Union will be joined on this, their first American tour, by two of Inner Mongolia's most important performers of the long song.

The names of An Da Union's members translate to “beauty,” “pure,” “hero,” “peace” and “forever”—qualities that clearly resonate in their music. Their music, heavily influenced by traditional nomadic culture, is original and ancient, haunting and beautiful.

The members of An Da Union are:
Ao Tegenbayaer, Na Risu, Tong Laga, Meng Hejiya, Ba Ter, Wu Rigen, Qing Gele, Jin Yongming, Sai Hanniya, Qi Qigema, Bi Ligebater, Wen Li, Zhao Xuedong, and Siqindalai.

Music from An Da Union:
Listen to a sample of An Da Union's music on the Arts Midwest World Fest Myspace Page

Resources:
(Links will open in new windows.)

Khoomei Web site. A comprehensive Web site about khoomei, or throat singing, with audio and video clips and thorough and detailed explanations.

A thorough explanation of how to perform khoomei.

“Throat singing: Origins and Mechanisms”

A Scientific American magazine article on Tuvan throat singing.

Mongolian throat singing information.