Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

Today's issue of  "Russian reporter" journal, which compiled a rating of the ten most successful ethnic musicians, had a pleasant surprise for fans of Tuvan music. The boom of ethno-music or "world music" took place in the entire world in the 90's; the main supplier of stars of this genre to the world scene turned out to be the disintegrated Soviet Union. As the author of the material, Natalia Zaitseva, believes, this was due to a coincidence of two factors:  the fact that the borders opened, and a search for national identity of the populations of the former empire. At the same time, national traditions, which grew from the fragments of USSR, often first developed  in the West; then the musicians by origin from the former Soviet republics toured in Russia - already in the capacity of stars from abroad. 

One of the most vivid representatives of the traditional school of Tuvan khoomei, who is the possessor of  inimitable mastery of performance in the kargyraa style, is the National khoomeizhi of Republic Tyva Aldyn-ool Sevek. 

His way of throat-singing performance is unique to such an extent that it is unmistakably recognizable, just as Soruktu Kyrgys, Ak-ool Kara-Sal, Maxim Dakpai, Kyzyl-ool Sanchy, Khunashtar-ool Oorzhak, Gennady Tumat, as well as many others among our prominent khoomeizhis were unmistakably recognizable. The it was impossible to mistake the performance of each of these khoomeizhis with that of anybody else. It is precisely the recognizability and uniqueness of the manner of performance that is the most highly prized quality of traditional khoomei, which, unfortunately, is being gradually lost in our times.