I’m glad to know that most valuable, endangered things have spokesmen. Here is a story about a protector who is focused on endangered music.
At the Boston Globe, Gal Beckerman interviewed Catherine Grant about her effort to bring attention to the issue.
Beckerman writes, “In the highlands of Tibet, for centuries, it was commonplace for farmers to sing a particular kind of song to their yaks. The melodies were intended to coax the yaks to produce more milk, praising the sheen of their coats and the beauty of their horns. The particular combination of tones was said to have special powers to relax the yaks and get the milk flowing. Today, only a handful of old-timers still remember those songs …
“These yak songs are just one of countless endangered music traditions around the world, vanishing as modern life intrudes and the last practitioners die without passing them on. Worried about the loss, ethnomusicologists have begun trying to document, preserve, and even breathe new life into these disappearing traditions …
“Music contains vital information about how people live—about their animals, their weather, their practices, and traditions—and about the world we share. One Australian researcher, Allan Marett, recently wrote that the loss of certain music like traditional fishing or food-gathering songs represents a loss of ecological knowledge that could ‘potentially compromise our ability to adapt to as yet unforeseen changes.’ ” Read the interview here.
Photo: Ian Kirkland
Kantaoming master Seng Norn (right) and students.
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