Folk Music of China Vol 4: Songs of Guangxi

This is a rare recording of some lesser-known musical traditions from Guangxi, China. The album presents authentic folk songs of the Zhuang, Bouyei, Maonan and Mulao ethnic groups, although the Bouyei songs were actually recorded in the neighbouring Guizhou province and seem somewhat out of place here.

Most impressive are the polyphonic songs and each ethnic group has its own style of polyphonic singing. For example, in Mulao songs, the second singer always slides into a drone, on a note where he or she forms a tense, second interval with the first singer, before they move downward to the same note and end the song.

Worth noting are the nuo opera excerpts of the Bouyei and feitao songs of the Maonan, which are part of exorcism rituals, although unfortunately the recordings were apparently not made during those rituals. The booklet would benefit from some more ethnomusicological information, for example, the lifestyles of the singers and their own views on music, which would help the listeners to understand the music more deeply.