SONG OF KAZAKH

Trad. arr. Wu Man
(b. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, January 2, 1963)

4 minutes

Kazakhstan shares a long border with western China and nomadic Kazakhs have long represented an ethnic minority in China’s Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region. In Xinjiang, Kazakhs speak their own language and maintain their own musical traditions. Wu Man has frequently described how the pipa is believed to have entered China long ago through contact between Chinese civilization and the peoples that ancient Chinese sources described as ’northern barbarians,’ which is to say, nomads. By performing this virtuosic nomadic melody on the pipa, Wu Man brings her instrument full circle, back to its Central Asian origins. Her Song of Kazakh is a vigorous, rhythmically driven dance that builds and builds to an exuberant, whirling climax and a surprisingly gentle conclusion.