Munâjât Yulchieva

Munojot Yo'Ichiyeva (born 1960), also known under her name Munadjat Yulchieva, is the leading performer of classical Uzbek music and its Persian-language cousin Shashmaqâm. She is famous for the unique quality of her voice and her natural charisma.

Yo'Ichiyeva was born in 1960 in the Ferghâna valley near Tashkent, and from an early age it was obvious she had a great gift as a singer. This nearly resulted in her being channelled into a career as an opera singer, but she was inexorably drawn towards the slow, aching music of her own ancient culture, something that seemed almost pre-ordained by her name, which means 'ascent to God' or simply 'prayer'.

She is always accompanied by her master, the famous rubab player, Shawqat Mirzaev. Her repertoire includes many of his compositions, and she usually performs with his ensemble. Typically the group use local instruments such as the dutar (two stringed lute), the tanbur (3-stinged lute), a gidjak (spike fiddle), doira (frame drum), ney (flute) and at times the chang (zither). Those lucky enough to attend one of her rare concerts abroad will witness a sumptuously dressed performer of startling gravitas and charisma, with long pigtails trailing down to her waist.

In 2005, she performed at the Austrian Music Festival Glatt und Verkehrt.
Only two recordings of her music are widely available - the first for the French label Ocora (1994) and the most recent (1997) on Germany's Network label, which has the subtitle A Haunting Voice.

Bayat-i Shiraz Talqinchasi was recorded by Theodore Levin and used by permission.
Theodore Levin is a specialist on music, expressive culture, and traditional spirituality in Central Asia and Siberia. His two books, The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (and Queens, New York) and Where Rivers and Mountains Sing: Sound, Music, and Nomadism in Tuva and Beyond are both published by Indiana University Press. As an advocate for music and musicians from other cultures, he has produced recordings, curated concerts and festivals, and contributed to international arts initiatives. During an extended leave from Dartmouth, he served as the first executive director of the Silk Road Project, founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and currently serves as Senior Project Consultant to the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, and as a chair of the Arts and Culture sub-board of the Soros Foundations' Open Society Institute. He is currently working on a book on culture and development in Asia, and completing a 10-volume CD-DVD series, Music of Central Asia, released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. At Dartmouth he teaches courses on ethnomusicology and world music, sacred music in East and West, and an interdisciplinary course on the Silk Road offered through the Middle Eastern and Asian Studies Program.

Category:

Music

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• Shawqat
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[harandir32]

SO BEAUTIFUL...What is this song called?

[runupahill1]

@harandir32 It is called Bayat-i Shiraz Talqinchasi and was recorded years ago by Theodore Levin for his book on Central Asian music titled "The Hundred Thousand Fools of God". Thank you for your warm response. It is beautiful music and a beautiful and great-hearted singer. There's more in my explanation section.

[harandir32]

@runupahill1 Thanks :D

[harandir32]

You are welcome. I have to songs from her from a Tribute album to Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, & I fell in love with her voice. So now I am finding more songs from her. Thanks for posting,

3bood