Rescuing 12 Muqam of Uygur Music
Article by Xin Yan
2005.1
English
Version
Uthe
upper social strata and it is the rare musical pieces of classics. After the
17th century, Xinjiang was torn by war and the music numbers and dances that
were once shining on the silkroad have declined. The cream of the 12 Muqam,
"Qonnagma" was thrown on the verge of extinction. Up to the 1940s,
there were few people who could sing the complete suite of this masterpiece.
In
1951, the Chinese government adopted measures to rush record the performances
by Turdi Ahun and other Uygur Muqam masters.
During the ten-year "cultural revolution" in 1966-1976, the
traditional cultures of all minority people including Uygur Muqam were trampled
down upon. After 1978, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Government and
other social organizations began to launch a campaign to collect, sort out,
publish and translate the folk cultures of minorities. The Ministry of Culture
and the Chinese Federation of Literature and Art compiled and published the
"Collection of Folk Music of Chinese Minority People" and the "Collection
of Folk Dances of Minority People of China", providing a big push to the
development of rescuing work. After 1980, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
set up "Muqam Learning Groups", "Xinjiang Muqam Art Troupes"
and "Muqam Teaching Class at the Xinjiang College of Arts" and a number
of artists began to learn 12 Muqam.
