Turkmen Music

Last Sunday was International Children's Day. I decided to attend a concert that was being held at Magtamguly Drama and Music Theatre that featured performers from five different music schools within Ashgabat. The ages of the students ranged from little boys who had to have been no older than seven or eight to university students who were eighteen or nineteen.

The musical talent in this city is amazing. I can only compare to similar age groups that I saw in my hometown and that I saw when my siblings were performing, but these groups are very advanced. One teacher said that they spend half of the day in regular school and then half of each day in the music school. Instruments ranged from Turkmen guitars (no idea what their real name is) to classical violinists. Before the concert began, there were two groups in the lobby area that moved between a brass band and a group of violinists. Both had a unique sound and provided quite the contrast.

The musical choice was just as diverse. The concert started out with a traditional Turkmen song, and I'll do my best to describe it. There are a few vocalists, and the vocal part is rather nasaly (not in a bad way) but with less tonal changes. It kind of is a series of notes strung together-- I couldn't make out, really, individual words. Kind of like Native American music from some parts of the U.S. There are four or five types of instruments used. A miniature cross between a cello and violin, Turkmen style guitars, a mouth boingy instrument thing, a hammar harp type instrument, and a larger guitar like instrument. Together it's rather haunting and a very unique sound.

The other music consisted of a mix of Americana and classical (it was a joint Turkmen-American concert). One of the most interesting and entertaining moments was a rendition of "Oh Susanna" sung by two adorable Turkmen girls. They did an incredible job, and it was interesting listening to an old American classic sung with a Russian accent.

My favorite part of the concert was the youngest choir. Little girls in sparkly green dresses, with big white bows in their hair filed out on stage. Then came the maestro and violin soloist-- both little boys about six years old. The maestro even had the full coat tails of a director. He bowed to the crowd, signalled the violinist to bow, and then raised his hands and signalled for the girls and other little boys to begin singing. They sang a lovely song about the ABCs. When they were done (and the violinist played in concert with the vocalists), the conductor told them when to end, and they all turned and bowed again to the audience. By far the best act :).

The concert just cemented how similar families are in any country. Mothers and fathers took pictures and recorded, and raised their cell phones to get their newest background picture for their phone. Kids sang, some shuffled in their seats, and flowers were given to the performers in the end. It was a very good concert and impressive with the talent it displayed.