The Song Of The Hero Of The Lower World

Audio file

Date recorded: August 9, 1964
Contributor(s): Performer: Alekseev, Nikolai Timofeevich; Recordist: Alexeev, Eduard; Recordist: Lomax, Alan
Subject(s):
Genre: epic song, olonkho
Culture: Siberian, Turkey
Instruments: voice
Location: Armenia
Physical form: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T1700
Track Number: 2
Archive ID: T1700R02
Note: From olonkho "Kiun Tollur." Recorded in Moscow in 1957. These were extracts from Olonkho, the principal national epic of Yakut – there are 50 other epics known at local level. This is sung by olonkhosut, a non-professional singer who began training in childhood. The right hand to the right ear; the left arm crossing in front of the belly supporting the right elbow. See the transcription of this song in: Alekseyev E. Problemy formirovaniia lada (Moscow, 1976). Nikolai Alekseev (b. 1924) from Ust'-Aldanskii ulus (district), Republic of Sakha.
Transcript:
Belongs to: Yakut 8/64
About the session: These Yakut songs were collected and given to Alan Lomax by Eduard Alexeev. They were originally recorded in Armenia, U.S.S.R., in 1962. Notes on tape: "Yakut sing only monody or unison in dance—never polyphonically—they sometimes sing with a two-tongued jaw's harp. The shamans have totally disappeared. The Yakut had a 3, 2, 1 stringed fiddle—not a traditional instrument— introduced by the Russian cultures—the one we saw was a yard long held against the belly."
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