# Exotic Folk Music From The Former Soviet Union - Cool Stuff !



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The traditional music of the exotic non-russian areas of the former Soviet Union is really fascinating , exotic and fascinating places such as the Caucasus, central asia and Siberia .
Some of the traditionally nomadic tribes of southern Siberia, such as the Tuvans, Altay Turks etcnear the Mongolian border 
have an amazing vocal tradition called "Throat Singing". This is a technique where one singer actually produces TWO OR MORE pitches at a time by singing with audible overtones ! These must be the strangest sounds ever to come out of the human throat .Absolutely uncanny . You can hear and see them perform on youtube ; just look for "Tuvan throat singers", etc. There are also other websites you can google about throat singing, and CDs are available. The friends of Tuva website fota.org, has lots of information .


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

I have been privileged to be able to have attended a production of Russian folk dances to old Russian music and folk songs. It was absolutely mind blowing. 

Here is an excerpt from the review I did -

The Venzelia Russian Folk Dance Ensemble has just performed at the Civic in Johannesburg. They will be visiting Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Pretoria as well.

This is a slick, fun production with interesting dances, fantastic costumes and an upbeat mood. It is clear that most, if not all, the dancers are originally classically trained, and the sometimes intricate and challenging moves are within their capabilities. The precision with which the steps are executed indicates both discipline and dedication.

The show is directed by a husband and wife team, Nikolai and Larisa Alexseev, both of whom have been granted the title of "Honourable Artist of the Russian Federation".

The programme has the order of dances, as one would expect, and an informative little description, one of the most delightful of which reads: "... the main tricks of this dance are drob (sharp quick strokes of the hills (sic) of the shoes on the floor)".  The whole show is a delight.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

the region is one of my interest in classical music. I think composer alike Khachaturian and Gliere strongly implemented their folk melody to their composition.


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## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

I attended a jazz concert where one of the Austrian musicians had an interest in folk music. He played some Austrian folk music as a little diversion and I found it the best part of the concert. 

I explained that I could hear the cow bells and yodelling coming from the mountains I could see and I could smell the apple strudel baking ...  

I attended that Venzelia concert in 2006 so it is not fresh in my memory anymore. (I attend a lot of theatre, music and dance in a year).


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## sumitmangal (Oct 29, 2012)

the region is one of my interest in classical music. I think composer alike Khachaturian and Gliere strongly implemented their folk melody to their composition.

music festival india


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

The Inuit people of northern Canada, also practice throat singing
It's a different style and "sung" almost exclusively by women.
Again, you can find it on YT


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