The Sound of the Belt and Road: China’s Wu Man Performing with International Musicians

A group photo of "Nowruz"-Wu Man & The Aga Khan master musicians. File photo

Tonight’s 2024 Shenzhen “Belt & Road” International Music Festival featured musicians from countries spanning the Belt and Road from China to the Middle East. Wu Man, renown for her mastery of the pipa, assembled the group of musicians several years ago. Known as “Nowruz,” Wu Man and the Aga Khan Master Musicians, it includes saxophonist, duclarist and drummer Basel Rajoub from Syria (now residing in Geneva, Switzerland), Qanun master Feras Charestan, also from Syria, viola d’amore player Jasser Haj Youssef from Tunisia, tambur and dutar player Sirojiddin Juraev from Tajikistan, frame drummer and percussionist Abbos Kosimov from Uzbekistan, and dutar player and singer Sanubar Tursun from Xinjiang, China.

The Duclar resembles what Westerners know as a tenor recorder but is played with a clarinet mouthpiece; its tone is softer than that of the clarinet. The qanun is a type of plucked zither whose origin dates back to the 19th century BCE; it can have as many as 78 strings. The viola d’amore is a variant of the viol family, similar in size to a viola, and has six bowed strings plus six unbowed resonator strings. The dutar is an Iranian two-stringed lute-like instrument from Iran that is plucked or strummed.    There are many types of tamburs, which are also lute-like instruments with ancient origins. It is usually plucked but can be bowed and used as a drone or solo instrument.

The opening song began with a surprisingly versatile frame drum solo, then was joined by the others with Basel Rajoub playing the main melody on the duclar; his playing style produced a delightfully soft, mesmerizing almost flute-like sound. The music then jumped into an upbeat 6/4 beat exposition, and ended with a clean downbeat cutoff, which proved to be characteristic of most of their pieces.

Almost all the song titles when translated into English still needed a bit of explanation to understand the meaning: Samai, Teahouse (I understand that one!),Madad, Awdeh, Jul Dance, Autumn Flowers and Leaves, Peony Khan, My Beautiful Motherland, Chabbiyat Muqam – Jula, Tashkent, and Nowruz (the source of the title of the concert). Several of the pieces performed were composed by some of the team’s members. Most had a jazz-styled format—the ensemble plays, then each player in turn takes over the focus against the background of the others.

Every piece had its own unique features. Some followed the traditional forms and structure of the regions they represented. Here are a few of the highlights:

“Samai” is the name of a form in 6/8 time commonly found in Ottoman Turkish music. This Samai had a gentle, meditative quality to it.

Wu Man composed “Teahouse,” and opened with a moving pipa solo that was later accompanied with the ensemble joining in. When Abbos Kosimov took a short solo part and vigorously attacked his drum, creating a multitude of distinct sounds and pitches, it quickly became evident that he was a master of speaking rhythm with his instruments.

It is common for central Asian music to have time signatures that are less familiar to Western classical music audiences, and this evening did not disappoint! “Madad” is in a slow—very slow—6/4 time, with unique rhythmic patterns and melismatic flourishes that created quite a spiritual listening experience.

Even less common is the 10/4 meter found in “Awdeh,” meaning a return to home. Its introduction was a series of harmonics played on the viola d’amore, followed by a slow, meditative ensemble musical conversation, with Rajoub joining Kosimov playing frame drums. It ended as it began, with a short coda consisting of viola harmonics.

“Jul Dance” reflects some of the folk music of Sweden; the composer and our qanun player Feras Charestan now lives there after moving from Syria. It seems to switch between 8/4 and 6/4, helping to contribute to its exciting texture.

Wu Man held the audience spellbound with her performance of her composition “Autumn Flowers and Leaves.” She left no doubt of her mastery of her instrument and of her musicianship.

Sanubar Tursun then joined the ensemble, playing the dutar and singing the songs “Peony Khan,” “My Beautiful Motherland,” and “Chabbiyat Muqam – Jula.” It did not matter if you understood the words or not (for me, not!); the beauty of her heart was fully present in the beauty of her voice. “Peony Khan” is a Xinjiang Ili folk song about a Uyghur woman who falls in love with a wandering artist. Similarly, “My Beautiful Motherland” celebrates the Ili prefecture in Xinjiang. In that northern region of Xinjiang, there also exists a set of twelve Muqams, or melody types, the second of which is called “Chabbiyat.” It began with quiet singing over a bowed tambur drone, then moved into a 4/4 upbeat with the two bowed instruments and two drums, then quickly slowed down at the end.

The grand finale was Abbos Kosimov’s “Nowruz,” which is the name of the traditional Persian New Year, which takes place during the vernal equinox, and is also celebrated elsewhere as the Feast of Spring. The whole ensemble shined, but overshadowing all others was Kosimov’s extended drum—I mean, percussion—solo. More than drums, more than keeping a simple pulse going, we saw and heard acrobatics, juggling, percussive drum melodies, frame drums, juggled frame drums, simultaneously playing two frame drums along with a cymbal, wood blocks, and a Persian version of spoons or castanets, all the while not missing a single beat. When I heard his drum solo at the beginning of the concert, having twice seen live performances by Indian tabla master Zakir Husssin, my thought was that “Kosimov was the Sakir Hussein of Persia,” but after hearing this solo, I have to say “Sakir Hussein is the Abbos Kosimov of India!” (The two of them have had performances together.)

The audience was not satisfied, and brought them on stage for an encore. Wu Man announced that they would play a piece everyone knew, but that did not include me! I asked several people for the name of the piece, and while they said they were familiar with it, they did not know its name. It was enthusiastically appreciated by the audience and closed the evening’s concert.

When I heard this diverse group of instruments perfectly blending and complementing each other as performed by this equally diverse group of musicians, I realized that the sound they create is what it sounds like when nations cooperate and work together. They truly reflect the intent of the Belt & Road International Music Festival, and are making a great contribution to bringing about Peace to the world.

Happy National Day, everyone!

Don Orfeo
29 September 2024