Huun Huur Tu - In Review

Unforgettable music experiences do not often appear in this author’s life. Usually they fall under the category of “enjoyable,” occasionally reaching “moving.” “Unforgettable” reserves itself for transcendent moments when the music engages in a way that places me beyond the reach of any and all distraction. Saturday night, October 8, in the humble confines of the Singletary Center Recital Hall, certainly stands securely as an unforgettable musical experience for all in attendance. Huun Huur Tu took the stage, a group of four musicians hailing from the Russian province of Tuva, which boarders Mongolia. Their music presents one of the world’s most unique folk traditions: throat singing. This style involves the manipulation of the natural resonating chambers within the throat and mouth in order to sound multiple pitches simultaneously. Huun Huur Tu couples this with traditional Tuvan instruments

Huun Huur Tu appears unassuming on stage, dressed in traditional Tuvan attire, calmly sitting in their seats and tuning their various traditional instruments without a degree of showmanship, but certainly professionalism. Sayan Bapa, the English-speaking spokesman for the ensemble, opened the concert with a galloping ostinato on his lute before allowing a brief silence that gave way to the first transcendent moment: each of the ensemble members bellowing their traditional throat-singing, creating a deep and dark tapestry of tones and overtones. That moment did not require a light show or a screaming crowd to acquire all of the audience’s attention, but captured it using only texture of sound. This lead to a solo song performed by Radik Tyulyush—who performed both bowed strings and flute for the evening—with such vocal clarity and grace that his genuine musicality was apparent in the lilting overtones of the ballad. Following this was perhaps the most emotional work of the night, based on a folk story on the futile attempts of a lover to pursue a princess. This work’s haunting melody mixed chest voice with moments of throat singing, and was carried through the work by different members of the ensemble, each bringing out unique nuances, creating a collective presentation that felt both personal and mythical.

The second half of the concert was equally engaging to the first, but one single work stood out above the rest. Calling on performer Kaigal-ool Khovalyg to not only sing, but also recreate bird song, which he did with astonishing clarity, the work coupled remarkable percussive effects from Alexei Saryglar, who utilized various techniques on his single drum to add depth and impact to the work. These effects combined with the flute melodies of Tyulyush and Bapa’s still-galloping ostinato made this the most memorable work of a night full of them.

At the concert’s conclusion the small audience, gripped with passion for Huun Huur Tu’s music, refused to let them leave Lexington without performing one more piece. Applauding continued for some time before the musicians finally returned to the stage and performed an encore. Unfortunately that single piece was the finale, because I would have stayed all night.