Product Code Database
A Muqam (; p=Mùkǎmǔ) is the melody type used in the music of the Uyghurs, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition.
Each of the 12 muqams consists of a main section that begins with a long free rhythm introduction, followed by pieces with characteristic rhythmic patterns that gradually increase in speed. Each muqam consists of three parts, including naghma, dastan and mashrap. These pieces are arranged in the same sequence in each muqam, although not all muqams have the same pieces. These parts are known as teze, nuskha, small seliqe, jula, senem, large seliqe, peshru and tekit. Some have an associated instrumental piece known as a merghul ("decoration") following it. Although each named piece has its characteristic rhythmic pattern, the melodies differ, so each piece is generally known by the muqam and the piece: for example, "the Rak nuskha" or "the Segah jula". There are about 20 to 30 pieces of songs and musics, which might take approximately 2 hours to finish performing. It will take about 24 hours to perform all pieces of 12 muqams.
After the main section, there are two other sections, originally associated with other musical traditions, but included in muqams by performers such as Turdi Akhun and therefore included in the present 12 muqam tradition. The Dastan section includes songs from several of the romantic dastan narratives found widely in Central and South Asia and the Middle East. Each dastan song is followed by an instrumental märghul. The Meshrep section consists of more lively dance songs that were originally connected with the performances of sama by dervish musicians of Turkistan.
The concubine Amannisa Khan of the Yarkent Khanate (1526–1560) is credited with collecting and thereby preserving the Twelve Muqam, while reshaping its style to draw more from the indigenous traditions of the Tian Shan mountains and purging it of the Perso-Arabic. After the Chinese Communist Revolution, the state commissioned musicians Wan Tongshu and Turdi Akhun to record the Muqams on tape, so that it could not be lost. They published their first album in 1960. From 2004 to 2008, over 7,000 performers have collaborated in a Chinese state project to proliferate seminars, research projects and recordings of the Muqam.
In 2005, UNESCO designated The Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang as part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[1]
|
|
