Central Asian Music

Central Asian music covers the traditional musics of the steppe, oasis cities and mountains between the Caspian Sea and Mongolia. Its classical pole is the maqam tradition — the Uzbek and Tajik shashmaqam suites and Uyghur muqam — sung and played on long-necked lutes, spike fiddles and frame drums, while nomadic cultures of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tuva contribute epic recitation, komuz and dombra virtuosity and overtone throat singing. Court, Sufi and wedding repertoires coexist with village ritual music, unified by modal improvisation, oral transmission and the prestige of master musicians who carry repertories learned from their teachers.