Tajikistan: Classical Music and Songs

This suite of mainly instrumental music is an exemplary presentation of Tajik art music. Abdurashidov plays the sato, a (very) long-necked fiddle. He is director of the Academy of Shashmaqam in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan. Shashmaqam refers to six musical modes, which can be found in various forms from Turkey to Xinjiang in western China. The six sato solos here illustrate Abdurashidov’s mastery of the compositional and improvisational aspects of the music.

The five sympathetic strings, similar to the Indian sitar, and one bowed melody-string lend a natural reverberation to the sato’s timbre. There is no rhythmic accompaniment on the album: it’s a total immersion into the expertly executed nuances of the vibrato, feel and release of the meditative tones of the maqam presented. In contrast, the solos on the dotar (a two-string fretted lute), played by the virtuoso Sirojiddin Juraev, are a vivid outward expression, as opposed to the more reflective sato pieces. The ensemble music, with lute and fiddle supplemented by dôyra frame drum, are essentially vehicles for the voice of Ozoda Ashurova, delicately interpreting poems and texts that blur the line between the sacred and profane Sufi sensibilities.