Essay IV : Traditional Music, Part I

Thoughts and Ideas after listening Tuvanese Music

made by the Tuvanese Ensemble Huun Huur Tu

Essay for the University of Pennsylvania

Listening to traditional music is usually an experience where our senses go back to the root of all sounds and music, no matter if we belong or not to the cultural environment who produces it. Clean, acoustic, non-distorted sounds are capable to enlighten both the listener and the performer, when played correctly and with an spiritual intention. While listening to Huun-Huur-Tu it's impossible not to feel embraced by the power of the music they perform. It's like being transported to the Tuvan Steppes and contemplating nature surrounding us, hearing the echo produced by the air movement resonating in the mountains, hear the river flowing, being completely aware of what is going on where we stand. All of this happens when closing our eyes, like some people in the audience did.

In doing so, it's inevitable not feeling healed after hearing these nature-influenced sounds. It's like breaking away from the noise prison we're trapped because of living in a big city where all the sounds you hear are not natural, but artificial and disturbing, usually associated with the "urgent" feeling of going in a constant race against time. In fact, all the sounds you hear in the city are related with this "Urgency" of doing things fast: Car engines speeding up, maniac people pushing incesantly their car horns even if they're stuck in a traffic jam, the sound of police cars chasing thieves, and so many more.

Looking for inner peace is an universal quest, and music is one of the most frequent ways of achieving this mental state. Through the repetition of certain chords, drone-like sounds and special chants, Huun-Huur-Tu connects with their audience in a deep spiritual level that is hardly achieved by popular musicians, who are usually focused on being noisier and flashier rather than leaving a message in their audience. These are experiences that any music listener, student and composer should experience at least once in their lifetime, in order to understand how music connects with our human spirit.

Being able to witness these kind of events (where a musician or group of musicians perform traditional music with an spiritual focus) through a video recording or a web broadcast is not the same, because of the energy flowing between performers and listeners (in constant feedback) in the room where the performance is being developed. In my opinion, we only experience a part of the whole intended aural effect, which I believe is peace of mind, body and soul. It's their message, and their reason to be touring through the world in the countries they are requested to perform.

In an ideal world, every country would witness these kind of events, that are both healing and inspiring as well for the people performing and the people in the audience. But when you don't have these kind of chances for whatever reasons (Polithical Turmoil or living in a society not interested at all in these kind of cultural manifestations), I encourage to the people living under these circumstances close their eyes and focus on the music. You will be healed, no matter what kind of thoughts are troubling you. Close your eyes, then feel healed. It's the power of music. It gives you the power to overcome the most terrible situations, it gives you the inspiration to carry on no matter what. And Huun-Huur-Tu certainly inspires you to listen carefully, and pay more attention to what's going on around you.