Musical Explorers: Music of Tibet

This re-release of archive recordings is a welcome addition to the many Tibetan musical releases recorded in exile since the 1959 flight of the Dalai Lama and some 100,000 Tibetans to India. Recorded and filmed by Deben Bhattacharya in 1975 and 1979 at refugee communities in Ladakh, Dharamsala and other Himalayan areas, they capture snapshots of religious ritual, secular music and performance practices of Tibetans, many of whom were the last to learn their tradition in their homeland. The ten-minute ‘Temple Ceremony of the Drugpa-Ka-gyu Sect’ starts with a rich, intense fanfare on a pair of strident shawms, two deep resonating ceremonial long trumpets, punctuated by slowly repeated, accelerating cymbals and bass drums, followed by a low-pitched repeated rhythmic mantra celebrating the birth of Padmasambhava, who is reputed to have brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. This sacred orchestral sound world is like nothing else on earth. On the other hand ‘Khampa Folk Dance’ demonstrates simple catchy pentatonic melodies sung in unison to a transverse flute and drum ensemble of secular Tibetan music. The CD comes with a wonderful DVD of the film Echoes of Tibet, which Bhattacharya shot in 1979. It includes fascinating shots of the daily life of the Tibetans, playing folk music, a Yak dance and a ‘black hat’ dance, with footage of the Dalai Lama visiting a Tibetan Children's village.

ARC Music and Simon Broughton, who compiles the Musical Explorers series, are to be congratulated at making these important cultural documents available again.