Orphans Lament

Huun-Huur-Tu | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E3E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,034 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Mongolia
  • #3 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Tuva

Track Listings

1. Prayer

2. Ancestors

3. Aa-Shuu Dekei-Oo

4. Eerbek-Aksy

5. The Orphan's Lament

6. Kaldak Khamar

7. Steppe

8. Borbanngadyr

9. Chiraa-Khoor (The Yellow Trotter)

10. Exile's Song

11. Eki Attar

12. Irik Chuduk (The Rotting Log)

13. Sygyt

14. Agitator

15. Khomuz Medley

16. Odugen Taiga

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Night sky over the steppe, January 13, 2000

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Orphans Lament (Audio CD)

I am writing this to refute the previous review that called this "Mongol techno music". "Techno" would seem to hint that this is electronic music that just happens to also have Tuvan-style vocals. That is 100% not the case! The music on this cd is completely acoustic and played on traditional and non-traditional Tuvan instruments, and the previous reviewer has no familiarity with Nepalese music, because it does not sound like this, nor does this music have any rap-like qualities. I also disagree with the "official review" that called this "musically naive at first listen". There is nothing naive about the level of musicianship and/or vocal ability that the men on this cd possess.

Tuvan throat-singing is really something to behold. Whereas Tibetan Buddhist-style throat-singing seems to stop and start while already in the overtone, Tuvan throat-singing usually starts in a normal voice (one note) and then in mid note or phrase the singers will shift into the overtones, and their actual overtones sound vastly different than those of the Tibetans as well. In short, this is some of the most beautifully ethereal-yet-rustic music ever recorded.

A couple (of the many) standout tracks are STEPPE and KHOMUZ MEDLEY.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Huun-Huur-Tu's 2nd album improves on the first, June 13, 2002

By 

woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orphans Lament (Audio CD)

Tuvan throat-singing techniques allow a singer to sing two notes at once, a low drone and a higher melody made of the overtones of the low note. Huun-Huur-Tu specializes in old Tuvan songs that were in danger of being forgotten during the long Soviet reign. This album is an improvement over their first album, "60 Horses in My Herd", by adding Anatoli Kuular's strong tenor to the band. Kuular has the best voice I've heard in Tuvan music, and he and Kaigal-ool Khovalyg provide a great one-two punch here. My favorite song is "Aa-shuu Dekei-oo"; other highlights are the "Exile's Song" and "Agitator". Every Tuvan album includes some khomuz jaw harp, and that's usually the low point of the album for me--the medley of khomuz here is perhaps the most listenable I've heard. The instrumentation is mostly simplified variations on violins and banjos, and the playing is pretty basic.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary offerings in traditional Tuvan styles., September 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Orphans Lament (Audio CD)

A work of well-produced art, contemporary offerings in traditional Tuvan styles, not an ethnomusicological assay. Its 16 pieces in styles varying from unison Kargyraa chants to political songs to khomus ("Jews' harp") solos provide a tour-de-force of Tuvan styles designed for listening pleasure and wonderment. Master khoomigch Kaigal-ool Khovalyg's deeply touching igil (Tuvan viol) playing is (as on "60 Horses") a real highlight of the album. His frequent vocal solos in all styles, and those of the sweet-voiced Anatoli Kuular, joined by Mergen Mongush for one sygyt cut, help place this album among the two or three "must-have"'s for anyone who *enjoys* authentic Tuvan music.