Svenskt Visarkiv Celebrates

April 12, 2011

Svenskt visarkiv celebrates Muslim World Music Day with a taste of the upcoming CD of Uyghur musician and composer, Kurash Sultan (1959–2006). Produced in collaboration with Caprice Records the recordings were meant to be only the beginning of Kurash Sultan's efforts to record and document as much of his musical heritage as possible. These four musical pieces are a small part Sultan's output.

Sultan (known among the Uyghurs under his artist name of Kurash Kösen) settled in Sweden in 1999 and began the documentation project, which was cut short by his untimely death in 2006. Early in 2008 Sultan's collections, manuscripts and recordings were donated to the Svenskt visarkiv (The Swedish Centre for Folk music and Jazz research).

Through the DISMARC project, in which Svenskt visarkiv (SVA) participated, the donation became internationally known, which resulted in the production of this CD. However, the music presented on the CD represents only a fraction of the Kurash Sultan donation, which contains Sultan's manuscripts and much background material in printed and digital formats, as well as his musical instruments (these are kept at the The Stockholm Music and Theatre Museum).

Kurash Sultan was a prolific and versatile musician, an excellent performer on several traditional Uyghur instruments, as well as on the accordion. However, this CD focuses mainly on Kurash as a singer and dutar player, the artistic role he evidently had the strongest personal attachment to. Also, the dutar and its tradition stands out as an emblem of Eastern Turkestani and Uyghur cultural identity. It is used in the urban muqam ensembles as well as in rural folk singing. It is the most widespread instrument found in the home, among the Uyghurs. Kurash Sultan was only seven years old when he made his first acquaintance with the instrument.

Kurash Sultan wrote the music and lyrics for the first three pieces presented here and the fourth, Hawada, is a traditional piece.

Ärkäk Su – Mighty Water 3'29''

link to file

I would like to dedicate this publication of mine which is entitled Ärkäk Su – Mighty Water to my lifelong friends who have shown loyalty through both life's difficulties and adventures. Consequently, I also address these songs to the thousands of envious persons who have no real life.
The rose belongs to our friends who have been washed in the Ärkäk su. The wounds caused by its spines belong to the envious.
Pure and brilliantly transparent water that hurls from stone to stone is Ärkäk su – Manly Water, Mighty Water, Powerful Water. Only the Tarim River starts its course from the Uyghur land, and furthermore it disappears into the Uyghur sands. Thus its water is pure and powerful.

We are neither saints nor angels
We have no place on earth or in heaven
If anyone should ask about us,
Show them an abandoned bird's nest
My brothers! Stop your questioning
We are used to listen to the roar of the storm
The Prophet will return to this world again
If we swim in the mighty waters of the Tarim
Mighty water, powerful water, water of the Tarim
Mighty water, manly water, water of my homeland

Ämäldar – Person in Power 2'54''

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Power is rule
Power also is debt
Power is the hope of the people
Don't be mistaken my friend. Those who are in power are no saints.
May you who are in power know that you are the servants of the people!

I know my friend that you were elected to power
Other people gossiped about you
You are digging a pit that good people fall into
I want to laugh but cannot, since you are being used
I know my friend that you were elected to power
You have been stained forever
You are working as a slave
I don't want to see the dead body that you've become
I know my friend that you were elected to power
Don't boast, understand how false it is
"Good fortune comes once to a man, once to the earth"
My people know that in the end you will be kicked out

Turmush – Life 2'41''

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Life is a battle, a competition, a struggle.

Life is a battle
Come on out and win it
Life is a mystery
Open up and find out
Life, life, ah life. Life is a game
Life, life, ah life. Life is a Qoyun, a desert storm
Life is a competition
Go and win it anytime
Life is a long journey
You have to finish it
Life, life, ah life. Life is a game
Life, life, ah life. Life is a Qoyun
Life is a struggle
Life has different meanings
To smash a sugar cube requires a hero
You have to be strong
Life, life, ah life. Life is a game
Life, life, ah life. Life is a Qoyun

Hawada – In the Air 8'07''

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If the Ärkäk Su cycle, with its powerful and challenging dutar accompaniment, deals with struggle, despair and protest, in this lyrical and introspective song Kurash Sultan strikes a totally different note. His tämbür seems to evoke the majestic perspective of the Tengri Mountains. The clouds are drifting in the crisp air, their shadows dancing over the landscape deep below. Life may be a battle that has to be fought, but it is also a mystery—and a love story. The wandering ashiq longs for his beloved, but finds comfort in his music and in the sound of his instrument.

Find out more about Muslim World Music Day at:
http://muslimworldmusicday.com/

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