Produced by Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ustad Saami, The Good Ones [Rwanda], Parchman Prison Prayer), the Bhutan Balladeers perform classical music from Bhutan called Zhungdra, that dates back to the dawn of the 17th century.
The music features extended vocal tones that weave complex patterns, and melodies that are sup-ported by minimal instrumental accompaniment. That instrumentation consists of the Drumnyen (a lute with 3 double-strings, also sometimes known as Drangyen), the wooden flute, Lemo (hammered dulcimer), and the Chiwang (a 2-string, bowed fiddle).
Derived from Sanskrit, the Choekey language (“dharma language”) used in Zhungdra songs is indeci-pherable to most Bhutanese apart from Buddhist monks.
The Bhutan Balladeers collective’s entire debut album was recorded live in a hilltop forest outside of the capital, Thimphu.
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Bhutan is officially the highest nation on earth and was the first carbon neutral country, with the only other currently being Suriname. Over 60% of Bhutan’s land is legally mandated to remain forested. In 2020, zero homicides were reported in the entire nation.
We set-up to record in the forest with sixteen singers on a mountain which reportedly has no name, and where the largest sitting Buddha in the world (169-feet tall) kept watch, the top of its head just clearing the ridgeline. When each song was through, the crows appeared in droves, chiming in— more loudly for some performances than others as if critiquing each piece.
Many songs were entirely a cappella and the men provided most of the instrumentation when it was utilized. Only one woman, Lemo, accompanied herself. She played the Yangchen, a hammered dulci-mer, which set the birds particularly aflutter. But as with everywhere on earth, animals are almost never out-of-tune or arhythmic— instead, they are close listeners responding. The other women worked chorally. Whether duos, trios, quartets or more, they devised a way to make space for every voice. But one elder, Pemo Choden’s song was so rare that no one could join with her since they’d never heard it.
In total over thirty-seven songs were recorded. As with so much folk music around the world, the songs often bear mournfully bent notes.
--- Ian Brennan
credits
released June 21, 2024
Singers:
1. Women’s choir
2. Yeshi Zangmo (32)
3. Tandin Lhamo (26)
5. Tshechu Choden (30)
6. Lemo (37)
7. Yeshi (61)
8. Pemo Choden, (61)
9. Zeko Lhamo (53)
10. Kinley Dorji (29)
11. Tshewang Lhamo (27)
12. Bhutan Balladeers chorus
Musicians:
Yeshi: Drumnyen (lute with 3 double-strings), Chiwang (a 2-string, bowed fiddle), flute.
Kinley Dorji (29): Drumnyen (lute with 3 double-strings)
Lemo: Yangchen (dulcimer)
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