The story began a long time ago and more or less by accident. In 1989 I was a student volunteer for the Voices Festival in The Netherlands and Belgium. First I was assigned to assist the King’s Singers on their tour, as a representative of the festival organisation. One of the top choirs in classical music at that moment. Then the festival changed my assignment. They learnt about my interest in world music and decided I was more suitable for a traditional music program. The largest of two groups I guided was Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, which was quickly becoming a public favorite, with ongoing concert tours around the world for years to come. The other ensemble was much less known: A Cumpagnia from the isle of Corsica. The ensemble was built around the artistic community of Pigna and had just launched an album of traditional Corsican songs on the Harmonia Mundi label.
It was a life-changing experience to witness these musicians rehearse and perform their music day by day, and to assist them with their needs. The best part was yet to come though. At the end of their succesful double-bill tour in the Netherlands and Belgium, they told me one of them would not fly back to Corsica: sensing that this young student was very eager to absorb as much as he could from musical traditions, they wondered: would I be interested to use the ticket and come to Corsica? It was an offer you can’t refuse. But I refused. I had musicology exams coming up and declined the kind offer with pain in my heart. However, the invitation was made, and I would come at a more convenient time.

First visit to Corsica
That moment came Summer next year. With a friend I hitchhiked to South France, got on the ferry and arrived on the stunningly beautiful island of Corsica. There I looked for Mr. Acquaviva in a supermarket he managed in a little town. He kindly invited us to join the rehearsal a few days later, and so I came to make my first visit to the little village of Pigna, the residency of the artistic community of ‘vagabonds’ established over a decade earlier by Toni and Nicole Casalonga. It was (still is) a typical, gorgeous mediterranean hillside village: compact, with small winding cobblestone roads (mostly too narrow for cars), and solid houses built from natural rocks, ages ago. The weekly rehearsal took place at the Casa Musicale, a restaurant and pension at the edge of the village, with a grand view over the Bay of Calvi. It is too long ago to remember all the details; I think they played more instruments than they did in the concert tour, but they surely sang a lot as well. What has really stayed with me, however, is Nando’s invitation to join their singing. I never sang with musicians, only privately, and occasionally. The thought of joining musicians who had just toured in Dutch and Belgium theaters was utterly surprising. Singing? Me? With you?? Nando reassured me, explaining I could simply tag along and try: no big deal! On that spot some of my reservations about my voice, perhaps an instinctive shyness, as if it is something better kept private, vanished. I sang along and thoroughly enjoyed being part of the roaring harmonies these men produced.

We came back later to the Casa Musicale to stay overnight in the pension. I particularly remember eating in the restaurant, on the terrace, and tasting locally grown tomatoes unlike any tomato I ever ate before, as well as a dish with local basil. Al the senses were stimulated enough to make me long to go back. But I had to wait a few decades before that came to pass. The memory of the musicians remained, and in particular of Nando’s unexpected invitation to come to Pigna and join the singing. The seeds were planted and were nourished by the albums of Corsican music I found. Far away from the island itself, I immersed myself time and again in their rich polyphonies and often sang along.

The open-throated voice in traditional polyphonic singing
The singers of A Cumpagnia are all masters of the various forms of Corsican polyphony, the art of weaving several melodic lines together in ever-changing ways. Many Corsican villages have their own distinct repertoire of singing, which are either religious (and based on Latin texts) or secular (and based on poetry in the Corsican language). When singing a paghjella, three male singers produce their own vocal line with a powerful, open-throated chest voice. All vowels are produced with a minimum of obstruction in the vocal tract, in contrast with (European) classical singing, for which the open sound is modified by posturing the back and root of the tongue in different ways, and lowering the jaw. The sound flow is not as direct as it could be, and makes the tone darker. It adds a certain amount of artifice – and quite a lot of it in the case of some singers and styles. Add to it the typical vibrato that is produced deeper down in the throat and you are already far, far away from the natural open-throated sound of traditional Corsican singing.

As a young student, growing up hearing plenty of classical music at home, as well as jazz and pop (with many techniques to add colouring), this natural voice struck me as different. I was mesmerized by the qualities of the voices. There was a rawness and … honesty, as if the inner quality of a man comes through unveiled. When the second and third voice joined the main singer, they supercharged it, their lines joining in full force, making themselves stand out just as clear as the main voice. Usually the Corsican three-part polyphony would proceed as follows: shortly after the main singer begins the opening phrase, the others step in to add a note of their choice. Together they produce a three-tone chord, but the main melody and the chords keep changing. The two other singers follow the lead singer, adding a bass note and another note in between the lead voice and the bass. Each song type has well-established procedures for the development of the main voice. This gives each voice some room to play with their part. The bass wil generally start mid-range and in the course of several phrases descend to the lowest tone. Every time I hear it, this gives me the feeling there is something centering about Corsican polyphony: during a song you experience a gravitational force that is guaranteed to put you firmly on the ground when the phrase or song ends. Another feature is that many songs are in a minor key, but end on a major key.

Nando’s Mimofonia

One of the things that impressed me during A Cumpagnia’s first visit was the use of a sign language to create vocal polyphony. Nando would sing with two other men, and use his hands and fingers to indicate the harmony that they would sing. In this way the trio could remain in a natural flow of singing, while Nando could communicate possibilities and direction for the harmony in real time without talking. He could indicate how fast or slow they would change the chord, moving down or up, holding back certain progressions, make a bigger leap than usuaul etc. I found it amazing that a single person could hear the chords he wished to hear in his head and had a way to tell the others to follow the progressions he was foreseeing.

Another reason why it struck me, was that as a newcomer, the three voices were so resonant, and my ears were so attuned to overtones, that the richness overwhelmed and intoxicated me. Later, when listening to album recordings of Corsican polyphony, I sometimes could not tell how many parts there were. I might believe I was hearing 5 singers when in fact there were only three. And even I saw there were just three singers, I had a hard time catching everything that was happening. In the live sitation, onstage or during practise in Pigna, there was someone for whom all these parts were so transparent, that he had the mental space to create his own line on the spot as well as the two others, and use hand gestures to direct them. Nando did that without visible effort: he had a certain softness in his facial expressions, and a fluency in the way his hands and arms moved. During one visit, I asked him to show me how he used it, and we made photographs of each hand sign. (Unfortunately, I cannot find any video where we see the mimofonia live in action).

20+ years later

Decades later, I had a chance to get to know Nando better during various visits to Corsica, and occasional long-distance phone calls. My wife organised aromatherapy tours in the Meditterranean, and I insisted we should all go to this island, because I had vivid memories not only of the music, but also of the powerful aromas. After I had taken our family of four around the island for a two-week exploration, she felt that this was something to share with her students, lovers of fragrance, flowers, essential oils and botanical and cultural explorations in general. And so I became a tourguide for Chinese-speaking visitors. The itinerary always included a visit to Pigna and a concert or workshop with Nando and other musicians.

When we first arrived as a family, we visited the splendid botanical garden Parc Sallecia before heading for Pigna. In the park’s shop, we bought an album by a singer with the same name as Nando: Battista Acquaviva. That evening we went to the opening of the Festivoce (a great festival that is still happening every year). I saw Nando and introduced myself, 20+ years after we last met. He was standing next to a beautiful, tall lady: the one from the album we had just bought! It was his daughter. And so began a re-acquaintance and deeper understanding of Corsican music.

When the first group of aromatherapists arrived in Pigna next year, Nando performed together with Battista (a privilege that did not last long since she soon became a sensation (12 million views and counting!) in the French version of the popular TV-show The Voice.) Nando shared his passion for Corsican music, and welcomed me at home together with his family each time I visited. It was usually a day, or maybe two, that I was in the region. We had lots to talk about: I was hungry to learn more about his musical life and that of Pigna and the island as a whole. And Nando was very interested in musicology. I learnt that mimofonia was Nando’s own way to understand and create the polyphonic forms of his native region. It was he who had invented this system, which was not in general use – though one other active singer and teacher, Nicole Casalonga, also uses it to this day. Alongside the gestures, Nando wished to codify and indicate the finer variations in tuning, for which Corsican singers posses such a skilled ear.

Last but not least, Nando was a poet, a fanastic storyteller, philosopher: he could talk in the most captivating way about music and connect it with plants, fragrances, history, literature. Above all, he would speak from an unparallelled poetic imagination, weaving words and ideas like no one else. Here is his description of polyphony, from the album A Cumpagnia – in Paghjella:

Besides Casa Musicale, I would sometimes visit Claude Bellagamba, who runs a bar/restaurant in Pigna. His voice rings like a bell and makes the most extraordinary flourishes: you can hear him on many tracks of the seminal album Corsica – Chants Polyphoniques. On one occasion, it was time for a next step in my attempts to understand Corsican polyphony, and give my understanding of mimofonia a try without the aid of other singers singing my part. One of my favorite songs is Ecco Bella, and that’s what we tried to sing together. Click below to hear our version: the lead voice is by Claude Bellagamba, I was trying my best with the bass, and Nando usually comes in later to provide the highest voice.

The pandemic put an end to our yearly travels and I have not returned to Corsica again, yet. I treasure the memories and the generous sharing of his skill and knowledge. He passed on his skills to many others, and especially to Battista, who gives her own unique colour and expression to old and new music from the Balagne and elsewhere. I still take to heart that precious first session in Pigna. I recall this episode in my own Ocean of Voices workshops about musical traditions, encouraging students to start trying out new things with their voices.

Thank you, Nando and family, and thank you, members of A Cumpagnia!

More Sources

The breakthrough album that also led to their tour to the Benelux was E Voce Di U Cumune, Marcel Pérès – Corsica : Chants Polyphoniques from 1987.

Reissued and also on the streaming platforms in its ugly new ‘budget series’ cover. Make sure to check it out, the musicians were all in their prime, around 30 years young.

The album A Cumpagnia In Paghjella is also a great starting point (https://www.casa-editions.com/boutique/p/in-paghjella-a-cumpagnia).

Many more albums can be found on the label Casa Editions, run in Pigna.

If you want to read more:
The definitive work about Nando’s investigations into Corsican polyphony, including his mimofonia, is: Ignazio Macchiarella, ‘Il Restauratore di Polifonie’, in his book Ignazio Macchiarella (editor) – Tre Voce per Pensare il Mondo. Pratiche polifoniche confraternali in Corsica, Il Campo, 2011: pp. 142-.173.
A thorough English introduction to Corsican music is Caroline Bithel’s Transported by Song:
Corsican Voices from Oral Tradition to World Stage. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Hear another example of an open-throated voice? Listen to each voice in this video I recorded of a Miserere from Castelsardo, Sardinia.

Sardinia and Corsica are also discussed in my book Overtone Singing, with a recording from Sardinia where a very clear overtone melody can be heard above the four singers (on the Anthology of Overtone Singing). Go to the page of The Overtone Singing Book.

Hear Nando and his daughter Battista perform together, at 17m 45s in this video:

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Now, how to search online if your preferred term for the most accessible, most adorable, most transportable instrument happens to be *‘trump’*? By informing yourself about all the other names in existence. ‘Trump’ is but one of more than 1100 names for the same instrument. Phons Bakx, the renowned Dutch Jew’s harp player and researcher, recently shared the latest version of his list with me. Carefully collected during decades of research, with the same rigour that anthropologist Bakx applied earlier to investigations into other obscure instruments, like the bullroarer and a certain non-Tibetan type of singing bowl played on the countryside of Brittany (France).

So check out the 1100+ names for *Jew’s harps*, go to this page

http://www.antropodium.nl/Duizend%20Namen%20Mhp%20voorw%20ENG.htm

and click on this line 

(Click here) ► for the Nomenclature of Jew’s harp Names

Be patient if the list does not show up immediately! If there is a warning, ignore it and click ‘continue’. You might also try this one directly:

https://www.antropodium.nl/Duizend%20Namen%20Mhp%20NOMENCLATUUR.htm

Of course, many names for these ‘marranzano pancakes’ (a term actually in use in the States) are quite common and well-known. In Siberia and far beyond, many people know the *khomus*, here in Taiwan more and more people are becoming familiar with the *lubuw* and in Germanic-speaking countries we have the *Maultrommel*, *mondharp* and *mouth harp*. In South Africa, the Xhosa people’s *isitolotolo* is little-known but gee whiz, what a beautiful name it is!

With ever better translating tools (AI!), we may expect more and more reports around the world about President Khomus, President Isitolotolo, President Lubuw and so on in the next four years – you can read the 1150 other variations for yourself but I continue to use some names here, like *this*, so you know what I am talking about.

Meanwhile excitement is building up here in Taiwan, this time for non-political reasons. Final preparations are made now for the truly grand World Jaw Harp Music Festival. One that was envisioned many years ago, but which due to corona become a rather small-scale event in 2022 (see my photos here). But now it has grown to impressive proportions, with musicians attending from all over the place, plus of course a huge representation of local and regional talents. The performer’s list kept on growing in recent months: it seems a second Asian hub for *doromb* is in the making here! The first Asian hub for *guimbarda* being, what else, Siberia. In particular Yakutia, the republic which carries the *timir khomus* as its emblem, because the Yakuts (or Sakha’s) are the world’s most fanatic makers and players of *pangapoans*.

https://www.jawharpfestivaltw.com/

But who knows about other *gewgaws* in Siberia? What kind of *genggong* music do other indigenous people in Siberia have, such as the Negidaltsi, the Ket, the Chukchi – you probably never even heard the names of these people before (check out the map below to read all their names). So let me share some obscure recordings from the early days of my own *kunka* infatuation. I listened again and again to a double-album (2-LP) I bought in Moscow in 1992, an anthology of indigenous music from Siberia and Russia’s Far East. It was compiled by composer and music collector Igor Bogdanov (whom I met in Moscow in the year 2000, to learn more about an extraordinary triple album of Tuvan traditional music he had produced in the 1980s). There are a total of seven pieces with *vargan* players. This album, and my fieldwork in Tuva in 1993, is where I got my early *morchang* education: not from Yakutia, which is absent on this album (because it is dedicated to the “small-numbered” peoples of Siberia and the Far East). Besides the series of Siberian field recordings from Henri Lecomte on Buda Records (1992-now), each dedicated to one ethnic group, not much was ever published on disc for many of these peoples, as far as I know. And this two-elpee collection stands out as a fantastic introduction to the singing, the instruments and the shamanic séances which can be heard on this gigantic landmass covered in permafrost. (There are quite a few other very obscure instruments, too).

We start with an upbeat style played on the *tumran* from the Khanti-Mansi people (the *names* I write here are the actual names in use by these Siberian peoples). The reverb you hear on all recordings was added in the studio: this was a standard procedure in folk music recordings for Melodiya Records. It adds a certain touch that over time became associated with traditional music recordings from the Soviet Union, and which, I have to admit, has its own charm. 

Next is another upbeat piece from the Selkup, with two instruments indicated, each with a different name: *kypa* and *pyngyr*. Might these be two harps?

We continue with the lovely combination of the *pymyl*, together with the zooming disc mergeykoya from the Ket group. Listen to the lovely layered melodies from the *pymyl*, an octave apart: there is more going on than you might think.

Next are two pieces from Evenki, Eveni and Negidaltsy, the album notes do not tell which one is which.

The first one of these reminds one strongly of the Yakut style of playing and making *kumyzs*. The – presumably Evenki-  instrument is called *kordavun* and is even tuned up a half tone towards the end.

The second of these one is the much lower, darker sounding *kunkakhi* of, I think, the Negidaltsi, with plenty of breathing sounds.

We move on to the Nivkh of the Far East, whose instrument is called *kangan* (pronounced as kan-gan) and with a very low pitch.

The last one is yet something very different, the very dynamic *vanny* from the Chuvash or Chukchi. My guess: the Chukchi, who are living next to the Bering straight. I have once seen a group performing in the Netherlands, with some fine *čangko’uz* playing.

Of course by now you wish to know: where to find these peoples? Here is a map printed in the nice 2-CD compilation The Spirits are Listening. Music of Indigenous Siberian Peoples by Henri Lecomte, whom I mentioned above.

Finally, let me be clear about President Isitolotolo: his election is not a joke, but it is not the end of the world either if you are in the other camp. The Dutch historian Johan Huizinga had this to say about American politics, in his groundbreaking 1938 study Homo Ludens:

More obvious than in British parliamentarianism is the Game element in American political mores. Long before the two-party system in the United States came closest to assuming the character of two teams, whose political difference was hardly distinguishable to the outsider, the electoral propaganda there completely took the form of great national games. The presidential election of 1840 created there the style for all later ones. Candidate then was the popular General Harrison. A program his supporters did not have, but a coincidence gave them a symbol, the log cabin, the rugged log cabin of the pioneer, and with that sign they won. Nomination of a candidate by largest volume of votes, i.e., by loudest shouts, was inaugurated by the election of 1860, which brought Lincoln to his post. The emotional character of American politics already lies in the origins of the national character, which never denied its origins in the primitive relations of a pioneer world. Blind party loyalty, secret organization, mass enthusiasm, combined with a childish desire for external symbols, give to the element of play in American politics something naive and spontaneous, that the younger mass movements in the Old World lack.

That was looking back into the 19th century, and up to Huizinga’s time, 1938. On the previous page Huizinga writes:

Modern culture is hardly ‘played’ anymore, and there where she seems to play, the play is foul. Meanwhile the distinction between play and non-play in the phenomena of civilisation becomes gradually harder to make, as one approaches one’s own time.

Nearly 90 years later things have changed, but reading the words of an original historian and cultural analyst can help us see that our current epoch is not the only one dealing with extreme situations.

My advice: use your *trump* / *lubuw* / *khomus* etc. wisely, as the Italians do: as a *scacciapen­sieri* – a *thought dispeller* or *gedachtenverdrijver*!!

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The word Almanac for this book on sound words is well chosen by the initiator and editor, Bernd Herzogenrath since the entries differ a lot in length, in tone of voice, and in approach. For me it immediately brings to mind the somewhat haphazard nature of the Enkhuizer Almanak. Even a cursory look shows that the publishers (Bloomsbury Academic, mind you!) did not bother to do much editing. I did receive a request to check a word or phrase here and there, but while leafing through the final version now, I immediately and repeatedly stumble upon grammatical errors by contributors for whom English is not their first language, and other mistakes. Example: despite the fact that the almanac follows the alphabet, my own entry, ‘parafonie’, appears after the entries ‘patasurrealism’ and ‘pflotsch’. (Example 2: see photos).

I must say, I am honoured with this special non-alphabetical spot for my contribution; and I am also charmed by the uneven presentation: long and short entries, entries with and without photos, with and without bibliographic notes, some more or less objective and factual, others anecdotal, or highly personal. It is just very fitting for a Sound Word Almanac, which is neither dictionary, nor encyclopedia, and yet is designed to help Everyman navigate the world – in this case, through a list of typical and untypical sound words of foreign lands. The cover is brilliant and says it all: this is not your usual academic book, but some sort of historical relic. A special treasure of obscure knowledge that you cannot find anywhere else. I’d almost say: get it while you can, next year it may be outdated! But whether it’s worth the hefty price tag, is another question – this had better been an affordable artists’ book unless the publisher had done a proper academic-level editing job. Something for the long-term wishlist?

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What’s more, I soon found out that Dr. Canzio was the producer of an album of Tibetan chanting that I regarded as one of the most intriguing and well-recorded albums I knew. Most of my collection consisted of albums by the Gyütö Tantric College, with some by the Drepung and Gyüme monasteries, and a few from other lineages. This one, from the Bön-Po, stood out from the rest. Why exactly is an interesting story which I will explain another time – you can listen to the album first.

Ricardo, as I came to call him soon after, helped me make sense of my fieldwork materials from Darhamsala and began sharing his vast knowledge of ritual music chanting. He explained various topics to me showing his own materials on his computer. He put Tibetan texts, their transliterations and the curly ‘music’ notations together with the actual sound files into a special multimedia .pdf format. It took him hundreds of hours to create such lucid visual tools to understand these chants, making use of different software programs. Painstaking work, which he was and is still doing. Meanwhile he told me stories about the collection of these materials, which began in 1970 in India and also continues to this present day: decades more of patient work, often under difficult conditions, compared to the situation today. Dr. Canzio is well past 80 now but is still undertaking research, mostly in Nepal, during regular stays in local monasteries.

Dr. Canzio’s early training was as a player and a composer. He was born in Argentina, and undertook music research in indigenous communities in the Amazon rain forest, which he also published on an LP album. He studied Sanskrit, Indian Philosophy and Religions and Indian Music in Benares (India) and received his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London in 1979. He taught ethnomusicology at universities in Basel (Switzerland) and Paris (France) and was asked in the mid 1990s to help set up the Musicology Department at National Taiwan University, with Dr. Yuh-Fen Wang. Since that time he lives in Taiwan.

Dr. Canzio’s research output began with a translation of one of the first works in Tibetan dedicated to music. Not long ago a book was published that came out of that early work: the translation of Sakya’s Pandita’s Treatise on Music (Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2019). Again and again Ricardo showed me his newer research, which is neither historical nor theoretical, but down-to-the ground analyses of the music chanted today in certain Tibetan (refugee) monasteries. It intrigued me, but the chants were very long and it did not seem likely I could learn to chant them myself. I had struggled to learn the subfundamental Tibetan chanting of the Gyütö and other schools since the mid-1990s, without much succes. I finally decided to try to learn one short chant for which I received detailed instructions from a chant master in Mundgod, India, in 2017. For that research I benefited greatly from Ricardo’s many pointers how to approach this task of collecting material.

Although I know could chant an actual prayer with the correct pronunciation and melody, many questions remained: there was still a large gap between the theoretical knowledge we discussed and the things that I read, and the recordings I listened to. I was looking forward to Ricardo’s publication, where I would certainly find many more answers and have the possibility to go over the audio and texts again and again.

Then during a visit in 2022, I asked Ricardo if he would be willing to teach me and some other students a few pieces from the Bön repertoire he knows so well. I wanted to understand its secrets and to see if we could achieve such great coherence among our voices as on the album. Ricardo graciously agreed, and so began a regular meeting at his home for a few patient learners. The chanting is low, but it is not the very deep, subfundamental singing. It does not involve explicit use of overtones either. However, the scope of the lessons was much wider than I had imagined. We not only learn to read, recite and chant texts. We also learn the many intricacies of drumming patterns and hand gestures; we hear about the complex relationship between text and melody, which is often counterintuitive; we study traditional notations and how to read them; we discuss the subjects of the chant and all kinds of terms, including questions of English and Mandarin translation. All of this with frequent excursions into many other subjects, directly or remotely related, such as European plainchant and its notations, history, language and music of India, Central Asia and the Middle East, and of course Tibetan religious history and ideas.

If you happen to live in Taipei and are interested in joining, please contact me. We will start again on Thursday November 16 at 10:00, we finish between 12:00 or 13:00. The place is on Heping East Road near Linguang MRT, Muzha.

The post Learning Tibetan chant with Dr. Ricardo Canzio appeared first on Fusica.

That was the signal to also let the Anthology of Overtone Singing go public. First of all on Bandcamp, where the audio is now available for streaming or purchasing. I also submitted all tracks to Apple Music, Spotify etc. etc. 25 Artists that are not featured on Apple Music and Spotify yet now will be represented there. It took me about a year of preparations and it meant not a small thing to press that ‘SUBMIT’ button to me.

So book and music are available now from Terra Nova Press, from me and next week also from a European address. We are still working out the best solution to offer the music and the book in one go. For the moment, the book is available through Terra Nova Press and by writing to me directly, while the Anthology is available in Bandcamp. Possibly we offer both in one package very soon.

There is a limited number of books available with a CD that is nearly identical with the streaming version from Bandcamp: just two tracks have been shortened a bit to fit onto the CD format. Details will soon be published on Bandcamp; you can also write to me if that is what you need.

The major platforms will  start selling and shipping the book in December or January.

For now, get it directly from one of us!

Book on Terra Nova Press:

https://www.terranovapress.com/books/overtonesinging

Book and/or Anthology Album on Bandcamp:

https://markvantongeren.bandcamp.com/album/anthology-of-overtone-singing

You will find more details about the book on this page.

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TOSA members performing on January 1 at Mei Garden Restaurant, Taipei

In the end it was Sunny Chen who has done endless amounts of paperwork to have the first small meeting of founders last December. My heartfelt thanks to her and all those who signed up as founders. The next step is to go public, and this will happen right after Chinese New Year, on February 19. On that day our chairman Sky Tseng will tell more about bigger and smaller events we are going to host every year; about a practising group to brush up your overtone singing and chanting; about concerts we will jointly attend or important books and pieces or CDs we will discuss. Professor Chung Minder, or taimu as he is known to many, will look back to twenty years of overtone singing in Taiwan, and perhaps look forward too. My old friends, and long-time overtone singing lovers (and love-couple in the first place) Wei-Lin and Qi-Chung will do a presentation, and so do I: this serves as the upbeat to a full concert we are preparing for later this year.

To make all of this happen, we need to reach a minimum of 45 members by January 28 (and not by February 19, as we thought before). We hope you will consider to sign up this month and give our association a flying start. A little extra support at this point is much needed since only a small inner circle of people knows about this initiative. Once we get started in February we can reach out to more people.

TOSA founding meeting no. 1, 12/12/2021

2021 年 12 月 12 日，我們著手成立 TOSA，即「台灣泛音詠唱協會」（Taiwan Overtone Singing Association）。協會將在 2 月 19 日舉辦一場盛大活動，在一個美麗的新空間舉辦音樂會和講座，作為協會對外公開的開端。我想在此邀請你一同加入，成為協會成員。我長久以來都夢想能在泛唱領域為自己和其他藝術家創建更實際的平台。但由於中文讀寫能力有限，我遲遲無法實現這個願望。直到我身邊的合作夥伴 Sunny Chen 和 Jackal Mei 開始詢問我相關的想法，並提出發展組織及舉辦大型活動的建議，我的心願才開始逐步實踐。目前為止已經有不少人學習泛唱，可能是跟我學習，也可能是跟台灣或國外的老師學習（通常來自內蒙古或圖瓦）。近年來，有好幾位技術純熟的表演者和泛音愛好者，他們的技巧與日俱進。我在泛唱方面的工作往往是獨立進行，但我認為是時候幫助更多有志專精泛音詠唱的人發光發熱了！同時我也想與更多人分享泛唱各種形式的美，涵蓋藝術、療癒、傳統、現代等各個層面。

更多關於 2 月活動和 TOSA 計劃的訊息都可以在這裡找到。請註冊並成為會員！根據規定，我們需要在 2 月 19 日之前招募足夠的會員，所以如果可以，請現在（或在 1 月底前）點選連結，協助我們推動計劃。非常感謝你！

最後是 Sunny 做了大量文書工作，在去年 12 月召開了第一次小型的發起人會議。我衷心感謝 Sunny 和所有登記的發起人。協會的下一步是對外公開，時間將是農曆年後的 2 月 19 日。那一天，理事長 Sky Tseng 將詳細介紹協會大小年度活動、一起精進泛唱技巧的練唱小組、成員共同參與的音樂會、還有我們列入討論項目的重要書籍、作品和專輯。鍾明德教授（也就是大家熟知的大木老師）則會回顧台灣 20 年的泛音詠唱史。另外一個重頭戲是泛唱圈的佳偶啟仲和維琳的泛音雙重唱，他們是我的老朋友，也是資深的泛音愛好者。我自己也會有一段泛音獨唱，這兩段演出將為今年籌備中的正式音樂會開啟序幕。

為了實現這一切，我們需要在 1 月底前招募至少 45 名會員（不是之前以為的 2 月 19 日）。所以我們希望大家能在這個月註冊，讓協會能有一個好的開始。這方面我們非常需要一些額外的支持，因為目前只有少部分人知道這個計畫。一旦在 2 月正式對外公開，我們就能觸及更多人了。

時間: 2022年2月19日，14:00-16:00

地點: 好好說話工作坊,

         台北市中山區明水路575號B1

https://goo.gl/maps/tjjuF6zGF9vqGYmV8

~~~~~~~~~~~

精彩分享包括:

1. 鍾明德教授分享〈泛音在台灣的歷史〉 

     (鍾明德教授為《OM:泛音詠唱作為藝乘》作者)

2. Mark van Tongeren， 泛音獨唱 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The post Founding the Taiwan Overtone Singing Association appeared first on Fusica.

Video impresssion: Colours Rhythms & Cycles

NEW CLASS: SHRUTI NIGHTS

I began a new class: Shruti Nights, and ran No. I-VIII throughout the year, each with a different theme.

Listen to a nice duet I did with Sunny, translator, co-producer of many of my events, and talented singing student.

RADIOGARDEN BROADCAST

MUSHIMARU’s PHYSICAL POETS

I joined a Butoh workshop and performance by the huge family of Butoh dancer Mushimaru Fujieda and his regular students and collaborators, twenty in total. They came flying in to Taiwan from Japan, Hong Kong and other places, paying from their own pockets. Very dedicated and truly inspiring!

With Hiroyuki Matsuhisa (moham-veena), Shree Katsura (voice and suwarmandar), Mikio Kawasaki (photographer); Sogyu Fukumura, a very famous monk who quit Buddhism decades ago and became activist; Himeko Narumi, whom I visited in her bar in Kyoto a few weeks later; Vinci Mok from Hong Kong, not to mention lots of interesting old and new friends from Taiwan. Our performance UNDER THE TREE OF LIFE  is on Youtube, beginning here with the entry of Mushimaru himself.

Recently many Taiwanese repaid the visit to Japan to collaborate with the same people, and one commented that the same performance turned into a rather hard-edged, noisy, radical performance, completely different from the soft version here in Taiwan. More true to the Butoh spirit, for sure, but I was still impressed with Mushimaru and all the kids who joined the event in Taiwan as very narural, innocent performers.

SANGPUY live IN TAIPEI

LUGANG and its AUTOMATED SONIC SURPRISES

Trip to Lugang, where we were deeply impressed by the Longshan Temple. It is not as famous as some other old temples in Lugang, which are more centra. But by far our favorite. Major reasons: little modernization, no entertainment, quite silent (no tourgroups with amplified guides). However, in both temples I encountered automated percussion devices. There was a procession leading to the very noisy and central Mazu Temple or Tian Hou Temple. I had to get away at some point because of the incredibly loud firecrackers, which I found unbearable, and our dog really got shocked from it.

There was no smoke anywhere, and it turned out the noise was produced by a firecracker machine, which you see at the end of this video.

A little later, in Lungshan Temple, I noticed a drum was playing all the time but I saw no one beating it. It turned out to be another automatic device producing percussive sounds, just like the firecracking machine.

PULI, CENTRAL TAIWAN: WORKSHOP

In April I was off to Puli, central Taiwan, for a workshop and another one with Canjune, exploring herbs and plants in the forests. From the roof of a cinnamon producer, a panorama of Puli’s iconic Chung Tai Chan (= Zen) Temple.

After the workshop, re-connect with a nun I got to know in 2004, with a fantastic voice: Guanzu Shi. For all these years she is studying the performance of a specific song in the Huayen Buddhist tradition, for which the way to pronounce many syllables is not exactly known.

SAINKHO and KAZHUHISA ICHIHASHI in JAPAN

First trip to Japan. Too many impression so share, but here’s a few. Basically a family tour but, lucky me, I ran into Sainkho one or two days before she launched her new CD with Kazuhisa Uchihashi in Beijing. Great show together!

SANGPUY TURNING the NATIONAL THEATRE UPSIDE DOWN

https://tifa.npac-ntch.org/2019/en/music/sangpuy-in-concert/

What a lovely guy, and what a great show he pulled off. The most astounding thing was that after the ‘normal’ stage show, which already featured lots of people from his village Jrben, some girls began singing and dancing in the lobby. The men joined and sure enough hundreds of people began to join the line after a while. The whole thing lasted at least another 45 minutes, with the last part (not in this video) some very high-energy indigenous male dancers/singers promoting their upcoming hot dance show.

TAIWAN EASTCOAST TOUR

To Mud Studio in Yilan, Zhishan for workshop in Poco a Poco, my first houseconcert in Taiwan, near Hualien, and another concert in Hualien. See my special blogpost.

WATERPERFORMANCE WITH YEH MING-HWA

Or: how not to breath.

DUTCH CANJUNE STORE IN AMSTERDAM

VISIT to BERNARD KLEIKAMP of PAN RECORDS

Bernard produced a dozen or so throat singing CDS and many other interesting titles from around the world. All from this modest office.

EXCHANGE OF NEW TIBTEAN MUSIC PUBLICATIONS

I bring Pan Records’ new CD Phursang Kelak Lama to Ricardo Canzio on behalf of Bernard Kleikamp. Ricardo gave me his precious new book Sakya Pandita’s Treatise on Music.

WITH TRAN QUANG and BACH YEN in PARIS

See the blogpost.

IN ROME FOR THE CAVE OPERA

WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL TAIPEI

AROMAJOINT PERFUMANCE

VOICE YOGA WINTER SOLSTICE RETREAT

THANKS TO THE TEAM!

The post 2019 in pix, videos and some stories appeared first on Fusica.

Here is a letter I wrote earlier this year when I was about to turn 50 (want to get on the mailinglist too? let me know!):

I love the number 49 and its symbolism. Much better than 50. So I prefer to send out a shout to everyone on the last day of my 49th year in which I am walking on this strange and wonderful place called earth, rather than on the first day of the 50th year. My dear sister Daphne somehow knew I wanted to celebrate while I was still 49, when she organised a surprise party for me several months ago. I completely and totally bought it, even after my mom and two friends showed up in a park where you would not expect that. What a great present!

And then the Tuvans, for whom 49 is a special number, play their magic on me too. Tuva and its inhabitants have shaped my life in many ways. When I was halfway on to this point of my life and getting close to 25 years old, I first visited Tuva and fell in love with the place forever. 12 Years later I visited Tuva with June Wen, and it was then and there that we found out that we are destined for each other. That led to our marriage, to our kids, to me moving to Taiwan. Life-changing experiences in which Tuva seemed to play a role.

And right now, guess what? Earlier this year I began organising several Tuvan concerts here in Taiwan, and I was asked to curate two different acts for the Asian Pacific Traditional Arts Festival. And today (last day of 49) the first Tuvan group, a young quartet called Ezengi, has just finished their job (which they did very well) and returns to Tuva. And tomorrow (first day of 50) four fine senior musicians arrive from Tuva to Taiwan for this weekend’s performances: Shonchalai and Nachyn Choodu, Andrei Öpei and Valerii Mongush. Coincidence?

And then, there was this other coincidence this year. When I fist visited Tuva I learned about a Scythian ornament found during archaeological excavations, consisting of a panther biting its own tail. A wonderful symbol of infinity and the ever-repeating cycles of events. “Ma fin est mon commencement” (“my end is my beginning’) as mediaeval poets and musicians such as Guillaume de Machaut knew so well. This spring a very noble and inspiring friend, the philosopher Fons Elders, sent around a message with his view about this symbol, which is known as the ouroboros in the western world. A little later I performed in the Oosterkerk in Amsterdam with the wonderful Turkish ney player Sinan Arat, a concert I had arranged to be filmed so that I could share it with everybody. In the background of our stage happened to be . . . an ouroboros. So a few days ago, while working on the video I decided to call it “The Ouroboros Concert”. The next day I took the Tuvans to the Pacific Ocean – Tuva being very far removed from any sea or ocean. They decided to try surfing and that’s how I noticed the Scythian ouroboros tattooed on the arm of Anchy Damdyn. What a great idea! The first time ever I imagined I could have a tattoo too.

So by way of celebration and to express the gratitude I feel for being a human amidst so many wonderful human beings I share this Ouroboros concert video with you.

Nederlands

Hier is een brief die ik onlangs rondstuurde, toen ik op het punt stond 49 te worden (ook op de mailinglijst? laat het weten!):

49 Is een prachtig getal met een prachtige symboliek. Veel beter dan 50. Dus stuur ik een groet aan iedereen op de laatste dag van de 49 jaar dat ik op deze vreemde, wonderlijke planeet rondloop, in plaats van de eerste dag van mijn 50e. Mijn lieve zus Daphne voelde kennelijk al aan dat ik liever even stil sta bij mijn leven op mijn 49e, toen ze een surprise party voor me oganiseerde enkele maanden geleden. Ik stonk er totaal in, zelfs nadat mijn moeder en enkele vrienden spontaan opdoken in een park waar je hen toch niet 1-2-3 samen verwacht. Wat een geweldig cadeau!

En de Toevanen, voor wie het getal 49 ook speciale betekenis heeft, duiken ook weer op haast magische wijze op. Zoals jullie weten hebben Toeva en haar inwoners mijn leven op allerlei manieren vorm gegeven. Toen ik halverwege het punt was waar ik nu ben, dus bijna 25 jaar oud, bezocht ik Toeva voor het eerst en raakte voorgoed verslingerd aan deze plek. 12 Jaar later ging ik naar Toeva met June en we ontdekten, toen en daar, dat we voorbestemd waren voor elkaar. Dat leidde dus tot ons huwelijk, kinderen en tenslotte mijn verhuizing naar Taiwan. Nog een levenswending waar Toeva haast een sturende hand in leek te hebben.

En wat is er nu aan de hand? Ik begon eerder dit jaar een aantal Toevaanse concerten te organiseren hier in Taiwan, en werd onder andere verzocht twee programma’s in te vullen voor het Asian Pacific Traditional Arts Festival. En vandaag (de laatste dag dat ik 49 ben) vertrekt de eerste Toevaanse groep, een jong kwartet genaamd Ezengi (nadat ze zich trouwens uitstekend gekweten hebben van hun taak). En morgen (de eerste dag dat ik 50 ben) arriveren er vier geweldige senior musici uit Toeva: Shonchalai en Nachyn Choodu, Andrei Öpei en Valerii Mongush. Toeval?

En dan was er nog iets dit jaar. Toen ik Toeva voor het eerst bezocht leerde ik een Scythisch ornament kennen, dat bij archeologische opgravingen gevonden was en dat bestaat uit een panter die in zijn staart bijt. Een prachtig symbool van oneindigheid en de eeuwigdurende cycli van gebeurtenissen. “Ma fin est mon commencement” zoals middeleeuwse dichters en musici als Guillaume de Machaut heel goed wisten. Dit voorjaar stuurde vriend en inspiratiebron Fons Elders een bericht rond met daarin zijn visie op dit symbool, dat bekend staat als oeroboros in de westerse wereld. Iets later trad ik op in de Oosterkerk in Amsterdam met een geweldige Turkse ney-speler, Sinan Arat, een concert dat ik liet opnemen op video (en waarvoor je de link onderaan vindt). Juist achter ons podium bevond zich . . . een mooie uit hout gesneden oeroboros. En dus besloot ik een aantal dagen geleden toen ik met de video bezig was om ons optreden Het Oeroboros Concert te noemen. De volgende dag (afgelopen zaterdag) nam ik de Toevaanse musici mee naar de oceaan (waar de Toevanen verder van verwijderd zijn dan zo’n beetje wie dan ook ter wereld). Ze wilden graag gaan surfen en zo ontdekte ik de tatoeage van zo’n Scytische oeroboros op de arm van Anchy Damdyn. Wat een geweldig idee! Nooit eerder had ik ook maar een seconde de gedachte gekoesterd dat een tatoeage voor mij zelf ook best interessant kon zijn.

Dus om even stil te staan bij dit bijzondere moment in mijn leven en uitdrukking te geven aan de dankbaarheid om een mens te zijn te midden van allerlei fantastische mensen met wie ik mij omringd weet, deel ik nu deze Oeroboros concertvideo met jullie.

The post The Ouroboros Concert appeared first on Fusica.

Four days to explore Time through exciting rhythms, solemn melodies and ritualistic cycles.

Repeat repeat repeat.

Refresh refresh refresh.

Four days to reveal the secrets that Time plays with us in our daily lives.

JANUARY 24-27 , 2019, JIANSHI – TAIWAN

The Cycles

In our daily lives we are constantly immersed in cycles and rhythms. Some are natural, some cultural, some personal. Think of the seasons and our biological clock; our annual festivities and celebrations, our workweek; the times we get up, we sleep, we relax with friends or family.

How do cycles, like night and day, circadian rhythms (+/- 24 hours) and the seasonal rhythms influence us? How can we understand these rhythms in a time when we are deeply changed by artificial light, the 24-hour economy and fixed working hours, year-through? How can we play with these influences, use them more consciously, adapt them to our needs and to our actual, real-life rhythms? How can we break through our most stubborn, unhealthy patterns or improve them?

No one seems to escape from frequent feelings of being hurried, being late, being busy. Time seems to be either running after us, or we are running to catch up with Time. Music, meditation, hobbies and ‘spare time’ in general are moments to catch our breath and to not feel the pressure of The Clock. Is life really moving faster nowadays?

Many lucid minds have thought about such questions throughout the ages, and our days are no exception. Using examples from many epochs and insights from East and West, we confront these questions. We will look for and find answers in biology, philosophy and science. But most of all, we will explore answers in and through music.

The Rhythms

Can we make a music that reflects all these rhythms? A music that is not just for distraction, fun or entertainment, but a music that is charged with deeper meaning, understanding, and deeper transformative elements? What does that music sound like? Will it work?

Music happens to be a powerful messenger of a deeper sense of time. It unlocks secrets of time – and then again it makes the mystery bigger. In these three days we listen to examples of music based on the movements of planets, on the heartbeat, and learn to create our own original musics along similar lines. We create our own music based on the rhythms of cells and planetary movements (can you attune your voice to your cells or to Jupiter?). We look and listen into the rhythms and pulses of our individual ‘bodysphere’, and make them audible. We enact slow rituals to catch Time in its tracks, as it unfolds – as gesture, or dance – in our limbs and escapes – as sound – from our lips. In between we pause, reflect and discuss the ongoing game that Time plays with us. All with the aim to connect more deeply and more wisely with the manifold rhythms of the life forms inside and outside ourselves.

Program day to day

Every day we explore one of the cycle forms with which we want to make music that day.

We start Thursday from the ‘median’ rhtyhms that we can feel and test most easily: those of our own lifecycle and the longer biorhythms such as breath and hearbeat.

We continue Friday with the Circadian rhythms (day-night), expanding to the largest cycles of planets and other heavenly bodies.

Saturday we finish with a focus on the rhythms of cells and organs and also of other species, and look at the full picture of Cycles and Rhythms.

By Sunday we have a more complete picture of time cycles, with attached problems, as well as a picture of the solutions: the rhythms and tones that help us tune-in to the real world.

For each day we review some of the theories, we make our own observations and discuss the problems attached to it. At various stages, we create our own musical responses: sometimes more intuitively, sometimes in the shape of simple compositions that anyone can take part in. Gradually we will get closer to revealing the complex web of time cycles in which our life unfolds, and find answers to the question what we can do to adjust our pace to the unfolding of Time.

Dates, times, prices

OPTION ONE: FULL WORKSHOP.

The full workshop lasts 3,5 days, from Thursda, January 24,  noon (+ evening) to Sunday January 27, afternoon 4 PM. On Friday and Saturday we have a program for all day (including evening), with longer breaks to let everything sink in.

The price for the 3,5 day workshop is NT$ 12.000.

Early bird (till November 5) and R E S O N A N C E students price: NT$ 10.800.

OPTION TWO: 2, 5 DAYS

For those who are short of time (it happens), it is possible to join from Friday, January 25, evening – let us know when you can arrive so we can inform you about the reduced price.

(NOT) INCLUDED:

All meals are included. Transport and lodging are not included. Lodging is on-site at The Rainbow Mountain, Jianshi, where you can stay all the time. The rooming options differ a bit and are handled separately by Sunny Chen.

REGISTRATION

Registration: through the form or write us:

Sunny Chen: ly.sunny.chen at gmail dot com / lineID: soleilc77
Mark van Tongeren: mark at fusica dot nl

Please send a clear proof of your payment (bank transfer) by email to Mark or Sunny.

Max. 12 students.

This workshop is in English with Mandarin translation.

Mandarin registration link (write us for English registration).

用四天來探索，探索時間。透過慷慨激昂的節奏，莊嚴的旋律，與儀式性地循環。
重複，重複，再重複。
更新，更新，再更新。
四天的時間，揭露時間在我們生活中所扮演的神秘角色。
(也可以選擇只參加2.5天, 週五到週日)

【帶領者】 Mark van Tongeren 德蘇
馬克．范．湯格鄰（Mark van Tongeren）是一位在藝術與科學疆界耕耘的聲音表演家，擁有二十五年音樂與多媒體表演資歷，為荷蘭萊登大學民族音樂學研究博士。為向大師習藝，他的足跡遍及阿爾泰地區、地中海、以及西藏寺院。在國際上，他是泛唱表演與研究著作的權威。曾任教於台北藝術大學戲劇學系（2003-2004客座講師)，政治大學Ｘ書院（2012-2014) ，肯園香氣私塾「聲音瑜珈」（2013-)。合作對象包含作曲家、即興創作者、原民音樂家、與台灣舞蹈團體。肯園科西嘉島芳香之旅領隊。2018年帶團前往圖瓦（西伯利亞）進行深度的音樂之旅。 目前與其妻溫佑君以及他們的兩位孩子定居於台灣。
http://www.fusica.nl/biography/

[課程內容]
我們日常生活的無時無刻都沈浸在節奏與循環之中。有些循環是自然現象，有些是文化的，有些則是個人的。循環跟節奏的例子有四季的變化跟身體的生理時鐘、每年的節日與慶典、我們每個星期工作週的週而復始—每天起床、睡覺、和家人及朋友相處。

每個人在自己的生活中似乎都無法逃脫很趕，一直趕進度，很忙很忙的感覺。我們好像一直被時間追，又好像是跑在時間後面追趕它。音樂、冥想、休閒嗜好跟「自由時間」似乎是我們能夠喘口氣，而不感覺時間壓力的時刻。音樂同時也是帶領我們進入一種深度時間的媒介。音樂揭露時間的秘密，又或者，它讓時間更為神秘？

在四天的工作坊，我們會以細胞和星球運行的節奏靈感來玩音樂（你曾經讓自己的聲音調頻到自己的細胞或木星的頻率嗎？）我們可以聆聽和檢視我們自己身體的「身體星球體」，把它化為能被聽見的音樂。我們會參與緩慢的儀式，在慢動作中捕捉時間流動的軌跡—每個肢體的動作和舞蹈、從我們嘴唇邊逃逸出的各種聲音—所有在時間當下發生的一切。在各個活動之間，我們會空下來，來省視與反思時間對我們的影響—人活在時間之中的小遊戲。我們現代的生活中，時間真的越來越快了嗎？

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ㄧ些關於循環與節奏的核心問題是：現代人要如何面對充滿時間壓力的世界？我們是否能夠創造一種幫助自己“調頻”到平靜世界的音樂頻率？

我們每天會探索一種循環的形式，整天都用其規律來創造音樂。

週四我們會以直接感受的“中位數平均”節奏開始：像是我們的生命循環或是生物性的生命節奏，例如呼吸跟心跳等等。

週五我們接續著以晝夜循環開始，並延續到最大的星球和其他天體的循環。

週六我們會為細胞跟器官，以及其他物種的生命節奏做個小結。並且更宏觀的檢視循環與節奏。

到了週日，我們對於時間的循環已經會有有較全面的了解：了解其相關的問題，以及各種可能的解決方案——也就是幫助我們與真實世界調頻，透過節奏與音調。

每天我們都會檢視一些概念，提出我們自己的經驗觀察，然後討論相關問題。在不同的階段，我們會創造我們自己的音樂性回應：有時候是直覺性的反應; 有時是透過一些簡單的規則結構，使得所有人都能輕鬆的參與其中。漸漸的，我們會越來越接近我們生命之中時間循環的複雜網絡，進而找到我們在時間的流逝中，該如何調整自己的腳步的方向。

【課程資訊】
[對象]: 任何想深入接觸聲音、音樂的人。任何想要增進聲音、震動、及覺性的聲音音場之技巧以及了解的創作者、身體工作者或心靈修練者。對課程內容有想望者。
[語言]: 英文+中文
[時間]: 2019年1月24-27日，週四中午到週日下午四點
[地點]: 彩虹山嶺-靜淨境教室，新竹縣尖石鎮義興村9鄰93之1號
[學費] 12,000。含十餐和保險
早鳥優惠（至11月5日）/ R E S ON A N CE折扣：NT $ 10,800。
學生折扣（帶學生證）：8折

不包含:
＊ 內灣火車站到彩虹山嶺的交通
＊ 三晚的住宿
(1500-3600之間，依房型和人數而定。
當學員報名完成，將會說明與協調選擇。
如需特殊住宿安排，請於報名表單末說明。或聯繫我們)

[開課人數]: 最少8人- 最多12人
[折扣]:
– 學生8折 (請帶學生證)
– Resonance 舊生: 10,800

【好奇嗎？請來電或來信了解詳情】
中文： ly.sunny.chen@gmail.com / lineID: soleilc77 陳亮伃
英文： info@fusica.nl Mark van Tongeren

【報名連結】
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HBwCK59RgwMAKnz8CK27uc1mtd4rYB0cIPaY1o9jY_g/edit

The post Sound Journey: Cycles and Rhythms appeared first on Fusica.

Bovenal werd het een dag waarin allerlei prachtige reis-, muziek- en andere verhalen opgerakeld werden. Het was bijzonder omdat sommige gasten elkaar wel kenden van de radio maar elkaar nog nooit in levende lijve hadden ontmoet; en ook omdat het een soort reünie was rondom Walter’s legendarische programma De Wandelende Tak, dat in de 23 jaar dat het bestond (van 1984-2007) een grote schare trouwe luisteraars unieke verhalen muziek voorschotelde.

En toen kwam slechts enkele dagen later totaal onverwacht het bericht dat hij op reis in Lübeck overleden was. Ik was op weg naar Siberië en was alleen nog in staat op afstand een laatste groet te brengen aan Walter, middels de nu volgende herinneringen, die ook tijdens de begrafenis op 9 augustus voorgelezen werden.

…..paaaroooooleeee…… paaaroooooleeeee……

en dan die prachtige, welbespraakte, Vlaamse stem die op schaarse momenten vrijwel non-stop trancemuziek van over de hele wereld onderbrak. Het programma Senza Parole (‘zonder woorden’) bezorgde mij hallucinerende radio-uren, ook zonder de paddo’s. Ik raakte voorgoed verknocht aan Marokkaanse gnawa en Dr. John The Nighttripper; aan Griekse miroloi, Moondog en Sufi-gezangen, welke zó lang duurden dat ze wel nooit meer integraal op de Nederlandse radio te horen zullen zijn; en ik raakte ook voorgoed verknocht aan Walter zelf.
Ik ontdekte De Wandelende Tak, Walter’s wekelijkse prime-time radioprogramma gewijd aan musici en reizigers uit alle uithoeken van de aarde. Wonderlijke, dramatische en ontroerende verhalen over reizen ver weg en dichtbij, met vaak ongehoorde en onbekende muziek. En altijd weer die fascinerende, gloedvolle stem.

Mijn verzoek om meer informatie rond 1990 leidde tot een uitnodiging voor een bezoek aan de VPRO studio: de stem kreeg een gezicht, en er bleek een vrouw achter de schermen te zijn die evenzeer een drijvende kracht was achter de enorme productiviteit van De Wandelende Tak en andere programma’s. Walter Slosse en Magda van der Eecken leefden voor de radio, dat was duidelijk. Het waren gouden media-jaren (royale budgetten, en bijna alles mocht), en dankzij de tomeloze inzet en het alsmaar uitdijende netwerk van Walter en Magda stroomde er micro- en macrokredieten naar allerlei musici die anders nooit gehoord werden, tot ver buiten Nederland. Walter stak overal helpende handen toe en liep altijd over van nieuwe ideeën. Zo liet hij mij vorig jaar bij hem thuis een vernuftig zonnecellen-batterijpak zien dat hij in de jaren negentig regelde in Eindhoven, zodat Louis Sarno in het regenwoud maandenlang Pygmeeënliederen kon opnemen.

Een vroeg experimenteel model zonnepaneel dat Walter speciaal voor Louis Sarno bij Philips in Eindhoven regelde, zodat hij maandenlang het regenwoud in kon, onder andere om opnames van de Pygmeeën te maken.

 

Walter wist altijd een uitgebalanceerde koers te varen: hij gaf een stem aan onderdrukten, migranten en muzikale marginalen, maar dan zónder azijnsmaak, mét relativeringsvermogen en soms rake humor. Zijn dadendrang was gebaseerd op passie en overtuiging, en niet op één of ander post-koloniaal plichtsbesef. Hij bleef altijd op zoek naar de menselijke maat en had oog voor de breedst mogelijke context van muziek en cultuur.

Een sigaret losjes in de mond, nervositeit voor of tijdens de uitzending: het was ook duidelijk dat het wel degelijk een enorme inzet vergde om steeds weer met zoveel uiteenlopende programma’s, cd’s en concerten op de proppen te komen. Ik maakte me soms wel zorgen over de inspanningen die Walter leverde, maar het gesprek was eigenlijk nooit op hem zelf te brengen. Het ging over wat Walter om zich heen zag en hoorde, en wat hij vond dat er moest gebeuren.

Het afgelopen jaar viel mij aan niets te merken dat er iets mankeerde aan Walter: na een weerzien bij hem en zijn partner Eline thuis (zijn vrouw Magda van der Eecken overleed in februari 2012), hadden we regelmatig contact via Skype, blikten we terug en passeerden allerlei plannen de revue. Het leidde tot een door Walter en Heiko Jessayan georganiseerde bijeenkomst, nu slechts twee weken geleden: een geweldig weerzien van oude bekenden. Nog eenmaal kregen we de kans om deelgenoot te zijn van Walter’s aanstekelijke enthousiasme voor ongewone geluiden.

In maart van dit jaar publiceerde Walter een bericht over prachtige liederen uit de Catalaanse Llibre Vermell, uitgevoerd door Hesperion XX (‘Hesperion twintig’). Hij noemde het bericht Ad Mortem en haalt onder andere de volgende tekst aan:

 
Vita brevis breviter, in brevi finietur,


mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur.


Life is short, and shortly it will end;


death arrives faster than anyone fears.

 

Dat te lezen is één ding. Dat te voelen is iets heel anders.

De pijnlijke boodschap van die tekst drong vorige week pas echt tot me door, terwijl ik de hele dag naar de uitvoeringen op jouw blog luisterde.
 

 
Senza parole, zonder jouw stem en persoon moeten we verder, maar je stem zal nog lang nagalmen in de digitale ether. In Siberië, waar ik dit schrijf, zal er vandaag ten afscheid een keelgezang rondgalmen door de taiga, langs de oevers van de Jenisei.

 
 
 
En hier is die ode aan Walter die ik vorig jaar zong in Erzhei, Toeva, tijdens de keelzangreis die ik maakte met Taiwanese studenten.
 
 

Uiteraard zijn er sinds zijn overlijden meerdere getuigenissen van Walter’s bijzondere journalistieke carrière verschenen. Enkele oude bekenden uit de ‘wereldmuziek’ haalden herinneringen op in een speciale uitzending van Fred Gales’ De Klankbron, tezamen met muziekfragmenten die ooit te horen waren in Walter’s De Wandelende Tak.
 

Walter Slosse (l) en Fred Gales tijdens de bijeenkomst, een week voor Walter’s dood.

Een andere oudgediende van de VPRO, Peter Flik, herinnerde zich een amusant voorval toen hij met Walter door een van muziek verlaten Leipzig reisde. Er dook ook een filmpje op, gemaakt door een voormalig student van een sociale academie, die Walter in 1978 in zijn bezemkast filmde, waar hij een complete radiostudio had geïnstalleerd. Hoe dat ging staat in een blogpost van Ronald van den Boogaard.
 
 

Nog altijd te lezen zijn het blog Websporen, met dichter Rob Van de Zande, het blog Reizen met Charly dat Walter samen met zijn partner Eline Robin maakte, en het blog Charley’s Blik, dat Eline nog regelmatig aanvult, en waarmee de geest van Walter levend blijft. Walter’s boeiende biografie is na te lezen op Walter Slosse’s Alfabet. Op dat blog zijn ook talloze uitzendingen terug te luisteren, verwerkt in journalistieke bijdragen die tientallen jaren van Walter’s radiocarrière bestrijken. Daaronder is een uitzending die ik voor Walter maakte in april 1996. Te zijner tijd zal ik hier nog wat andere uitzendingen die ik met Walter maakte aan toevoegen.

The post Ode aan Walter Slosse (1947-2016) appeared first on Fusica.