Classical Music of Central Asia

Munojat Yulchieva, now in her early 60s, is probably the most recognised vocalist in Uzbek traditional music. She's got a wide vocal range and her strong voice is characterised by the particular ornamentations that characterise shashmaqom, the classical Uzbek style developed in the courts of Bukhara and Samarkand. She also sings a number of ghazals – one of the most beautiful being ‘Nihon Etdi’, whose music was composed by her teacher Shavkat Mirzaev. Her voice is backed by a small ensemble including the nasal-sounding bowed sato of Turgun Alimatov and plucked qonun and rubob (to give them their Uzbek spellings). Percussion comes from a doira frame drum.

The repertoire is predominantly serious and intense. The recordings date from 2006-2011, although their provenance isn't clear. It's a shame that the opening track, ‘Chorgoh’, is recorded in such an over-reverberant acoustic environment, and sounds mushy and unfocused as a result. The remaining ten tracks fare much better. The highlight is the slow and tragic sounding ‘Ul Kim, Jono’ in which time seems to stand still for six minutes. A shame not to give this album a more imaginative title.