TIBETAN RITUAL MUSIC: CHANTED AND PLAYED BY LAMAS AND MONKS OF THE FOUR GREAT ORDERS

Perhaps the Chinese first became intimidated, and then terrified by this small peace-loving Bhuddist culture with roots in animistic cult worship because of it’s music… one listen to these spellbinding tracks and it seems fairly likely. Enlightening souls one musical vibration at a time, these powerfully charged devotional pieces offer the listener full immersion, helping meld the spirit with celestial vibrations that transcend the material for otherworldly affirmations. All recorded on location during May and June of 1961 by Peter Crossley-Holland. From the liner notes:

“In the monasteries, which became the great centers of learning and artistic culture, the ancient beliefs and disciplines flourished and a body of liturgy was created. Its music, designed also to help man on his way to Enlightenment, is the highly distinctive music of Tibet, with a ritual style unlike that of any other high civilization. It employs both chanting and instrumental playing and occupies over half the waking hours of its red-robed devotees. The chanting, executed with exceedingly deep and constricted voice, embraces the repetition of canonical texts and the invocation of the gods. The instrumental music provides interludes between the chanted portions of a service. Though wind and percussion only, the instruments create an ensemble richer and more varied than that found in Buddhist ritual elsewhere.” - Peter Crossley-Holland.

Lyrichord Stereo LLST 7181, 1962

Side One:

1. Offering to the Saviour Gompo (9′51)
2. Invocation of Gompo (2′37)
3. A Buddha Prayer (8′32)

Side Two:

1. Offering to the Guru Drakmar (6′05)
2. Glorification of the Past Buddha (18′23)

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TIBETAN FOLK AND MINSTREL MUSIC

Out of the temple and into the rural countryside, the music captured in these recordings is the heart and soul of the Tibetan people. Recorded by Peter Crossley-Holland in the 1960’s, these are songs to accompany all facets of every day life - musical analogues for day-to-day activities as seemingly mundane as ‘the sowing of seed’ or ‘the threshing of wheat’, to something as profound as ‘dreams’ or ‘glaciers’. Structurally simple melodies, these poetic renditions of day-in-day-out experiences are a unique window into the musically functional life of the nomads of the Tibetan highlands. From the liner notes:

“Side A is devoted to occupational songs and airs from several different parts of Tibet. More sophisticated forms are found among itinerant musicians and town and village bands, which have a professional or semi-professional status. Side B illustrates songs and instrumental tunes from the repertoire of such bands in Ladak.” - Peter Crossley-Holland

Lyrichord Stereo LLST 7196

Side One (Folk Music From Tibet):

Pastoral And Nomadic Airs

1. Gold Saddle (1′34)
2. Riding Song (2′04)
3. Shepherd’s Flute (1′19)
4. Trekking Song (1′08)

Agricultural Songs

5. For repairing water-channels in the barley fields (2′02)
6. For repairing water-channels (3′13)
7. For sowing seed (1′46)
8. For cutting barley (1′33)
9. Harvest Festival (2′13)
10. For threshing wheat (’59)
11. For turning the barley crops (1′27)

Other Occupational Songs

12. For cutting grass (’37)
13. For carrying logs or other loads up the hill (1′30)
14. For lifting stones and cutting them, during building (’35)

Side Two (Musician’s Tunes From Ladak):

Band Of Shawm And Kettle-Drums

1. Polo music 1′28)
2. Women’s dance music (1′13)
3. Marriage dance music (1′35)

Song Accompanied By Single-Headed Drum

4. About a man drawn to religion and who, after marrying and going through life’s vicissitudes, becomes a monk at the Sgang-Ngon Monastary (2′04)

Airs For Double Flute

5. Frozen glacier on a mountain (1′13)
6. The Monastery Pot (1′23)
7. The Big Roof (1′01)

Songs Accompanied By Instruments

8. In praise of a pigeon (3′13)
9. Man’s dream song (3′38)

Dance Music For Shawm And single-Headed Drum

10. Quick dance music (1′03)
11. Quick dance music (’35)
12. Poetical dance music (’49)

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TIBETAN SONGS OF GODS AND DEMONS: RITUAL AND THEATRICAL MUSIC OF TIBET

The tracks on this LP, recorded by Stephen Beyer sometime in the 1960’s, are fairly ancient and primitive sounding, utilizing bells, horns, simple drums, and voice - at times spoken word. If ritual has a musical sound, then this record may well exemplify it. While the first side is primarily devotional, the second side is made up of two theatrically-related tracks, the performances themselves probably of a sacred nature. No accompanying booklet or liner notes on this one, and it is probably the least straightforward or familiar sounding of the bunch. If you are looking for the more musical and less devotional sounding performances from the region then these might not be the tracks for you. If however you are into relatively obscure and rarely recorded voice-based ritual tunes with a flair for the dramatic, then this is your eternal source for Tibetan music related to the twin themes of heaven and hell.

Lyrichord Stereo LLST 7291

Side One:

1. The Praises Of The Goddess (3′16)
2. The Ritual Of Cutting Off (6′46)
3. Mi-La Raspa Wins A Disciple (6′32)
4. Stag-Seng (1′24)
5. Rje-tsun Brgya-Rdung (1′18)

Side Two:

1. Du-Rtse-Ma (1′29)
2. Gur-Gsar-Ma (2′10)
3. The Tale Of Lotus Blazing-Light (14′50)
4. Ge-Sar And His Magic Slingshot (5′50)

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TIBETAN BUDDHIST RITES FROM THE MONASTERIES OF BHUTANUME THREE: TEMPLE RITUALS AND PUBLIC CEREMONIES

Featuring temple music on side A, the first half of side B is recordings of the Bhutanese throngs during street-level festivities and ritual celebrations. I published Volume 4 in this four volume series some months back, but am unfortunately missing Volumes 1 and 2. This last installment in the series is dedicated to His Majesty King Jigme Senge Wangchuk (who abdicated his throne in 2006 so his son could rule over the country), and is another vestige of the ancient and remarkable cultural, spiritual, and musical diversity from a region splintered and befouled by Chinese meddling and cultural eradication programs. Recorded in Bhutan in 1971 by John Levy. From the liner notes:

“The music of Tibetan Buddhism (and I believe in every other form of Buddhism) is not in general heard by the public, except on special occasions, whereas folk-music is heard and performed by almost everyone. The Bhutanese are a musical people. What stands out here, especially in the monastic music of Bhutan, is its great virility. Bhutanese music, like Bhutanese architecture and the allied arts, is also a local variation of the Tibetan, so far as one can judge from the limited number of recordings available on disc.” - John Levy

Lyrichord Discs Inc. LLST 7257, 1971

Side One:

1. Nyule Drelwa, Calling Down of deities to subjugate evil spirit; and Kulwa, its death, stabbed by Black Hat (10′19)
2. Part of Jinbeb, The Coming Down of Grace (3′09)
3. Monks in procession playing portable instruments followed by chanting of the Heart-Drop Teaching (5′21)
4. Dramnyen Choshe, Song of Offering, with lute. Lute solo followed by chorus, in praise of sons of Bhutan (3′54)
5. Dramnyen Choshe, chorus only, Song in Praise of Chinese Silk (3′39)

Side Two:

Annual Festival of Sacred Dance, at Jampai Lhakhang (Temple of the Future Buddha in Bumthang Dt., E. Bhutan)

1. Monks, a clown, crowds and instruments (2′43)
2. Monks, a clown, crowds and instruments (4′44)
3. Monks, a clown, crowds and instruments (’52)
4. End of festival, with temple bell, and drums and trumpets (1′44)
5. Wandering ascetic (manip) chanting a Milarepa poem and a mantra (2′05)
6. Wandering ascetic (manip) chanting a Milarepa poem and a mantra (’52)
7. Cymbals (silnyen) played solo (2′13)
8. Cross-flute (zurlim), folk-song from E. Bhutan (2′14)
9. Another manip chanting Milarepa poem (2′40)
10. First manip as story-teller (1′48)

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LADAKH, SONGS & DANCES FROM THE HIGHLANDS OF WESTERN TIBET: RECORDED IN LEH BY DAVID LEWISTON

This LP would have fit perfectly into the September post, but settles in nicely here too. A polished set of tunes recorded by David Lewiston sometime in the mid 1970’s, these tracks are the most melodic and instrumental of the listings for this month. Recorded in Leh, the former capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh (Now referred to as the Leh District in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India - nestled at a mere 11,400′ in the sky), this city was a major trade route to and from India and Central Asia, a unique place where cultural and religious diversity coexisted for centuries (threads of which are still heard in this music). These are heart-lifting ditties that roll with lively tempos and whirling melodies, much like the snowy winds that whip up and around the 20,000′ peaks adorning the semi-arid landscapes of Western Tibet. From the liner notes:

“For centuries, Leh was one of the great trading places of central Asia. Each summer, caravans from Kashmir and Chinese Turkestan would cross the high passes to meet in Leh and exchange their wares. This age-old tradition came to a rude halt in the early 1960’s when the Chinese first overran northeast Ladakh and began turning back the caravans. Today, the traders of Leh have resorted to supplying the government and the military. In most of west-central Asia, music is traditionally provided by artisan castes, such as blacksmith-musicians of Lahul and Hunza; their Ladakhi counterparts are the Mon, carpenter-musicians who came to Ladakh over 1,500 years ago from Kashmir.” - David Lewiston.

Nonesuch Records H-72075 (Stereo), 1977

Side One:

1. Ston Gyi Lu (Autumn) (4′35)
2. Pata Nyima Zangmo (2′43)
3. Tash Spa (Wedding Dance) (3′06)
4. Isley Tundup (Wisdom Sish Fulfiled) (2′59)
5. Sung Ya Nyi Iza Niska (You Are The Night Sky) (2′55)
6. Kushti (Wrestling Music) (4′45)

Side Two:

1. Natar Ylgay Namkar (Our Country Ladakh) (3′02)
2. Da Tses Yangs (Archery Music) (3′09)
3. Chikdil Dsangpo Gyurchik (United Like A Mighty River) (3′59)
4. Harvest Work Song (2′46)
5. Chungsgot Thonpo (The Night Sky) (4′32)
6. Mi La Michay Thopna (If Man Can Live Longer) (3′59)

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