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May. 21st, 2005 05:26 pmSo I was a good doobie and got myself to the conservatory at 9 AM on a saturday (Uzbeks have a 6 day week and I just can't get used to it). I thought I was going to see a Sogdiana orchestra rehearsal, but it turns out I saw the Tuxtasin Jaliov Halq Cholg'u Orchestra rehearse instead. Apparently they are the current reincarnation of the Philharmonia, an orchestra of "modernized" Uzbek instruments that was founded in 1966. The first hour was sectionals (they divided the gijak section from the rubab section). The winds went with the gijaks and the chang with rubabs becuase of the similarities of the parts for the pieces they are playing. I got to talk a little bit with the assistant director, and he was very nice to me and happy to have me sit in. He told me to come along to tomorrow's rehearsal from 9-12:20 and talk to the director afterwards. There is a concert on the 25th which R and I will go to.
What amazed me about this rehearsal was just how similar it was to every orchestra rehearsal I've ever sat through, aside from the Uzbek language and the Uzbek instruments, the only real difference I noticed is that the director wasn't harping on intonation. I've noticed that intonation just doesn't seem to be as big an issue for orchestras (both halq cholg'u and western symphonic style). They play out of tune and the directors don't seem to worry about it - they work hard for dynamics, rhythmic unison, and the elimination of wrong notes. The issue of whether everyone is playing the same version of A440 just doesn't seem to matter. It even shows in the relatively short tuning (which was done from the oboe - one of the 2 western instruments in the ensemble - the oboe and silver flute). They did tune from the oboe, but the oboist didn't sustain his note. Soon everyone was playing a cacauphony of tuning notes and noodling and I couldn't have told you where the original A had been.
The other interesting thing I'm noticing is the gender spread - dutar is really the only instrument that has been lable "feminine" for a long amount of time. However, starting in the Soviet period, women started breaking new ground and playing certain other instruments. The instruments that these mavrick women chose are now instruments that other women are choosing to play, like the chang and the rubab (in its afghan, tenor, and prima forms - girls don't seem to play bass instruments). In addition to avoiding bass instruments, I've never seen a female gijak player in either a halq cholg'u ensemble or an an'anaviy ensemble. I've seen female rubab and chang players in both. This often gets naturalized that changs are like harps and thus feminine and I'm not sure why the rubab, but regardless these seem to be the instruments that women are okay playing.
After watching 2 hours of the rehearsal I went to the supermarket to try to change money. Neither kiosk had any. R went to the bazaar later and they couldn't change his $100 bill either. Part of me is wondering if they are restricting commerce by not releasing sum to money exchange kiosks now. Most people hold their savings in Euros or dollars at the moment, and I found it odd that both places we tried to change money were out of sum.
As I walked home from the market I was on the street where all the wedding musicians hang out to get hired. Summer is definitely upon us because there were 3 times more than I'd seen early this month. Part of that is because it is early on a Saturday afternoon, prime time for weddings, and also because as summer ratchets up, there will be more and more weddings needing karnai, surnai, and doira. All the drummers had their doiras hanging out in the sun to bake the skins tighter so they would be louder and higher pitched. It still amazes me that this is how to get hired as a wedding musician here - you just show up with your buddies and your instruments on Navoi street near Chorsu and someone may just drive up and hire you.
Then as I pass the circus on my way home the wierd brass band was at it again - I think it is for days when the circus is having performances. This time instead of the Andijon Polka, they were playing a really popular Turkish tune called "Lezghinka" I think - I swear that makes it souther slavic and not Turkish, but people here swear it is Turkish. ANyway, as I walked by they were blasting that out and I had to marvel at the diversity of music that I run into in my everyday life here.
What amazed me about this rehearsal was just how similar it was to every orchestra rehearsal I've ever sat through, aside from the Uzbek language and the Uzbek instruments, the only real difference I noticed is that the director wasn't harping on intonation. I've noticed that intonation just doesn't seem to be as big an issue for orchestras (both halq cholg'u and western symphonic style). They play out of tune and the directors don't seem to worry about it - they work hard for dynamics, rhythmic unison, and the elimination of wrong notes. The issue of whether everyone is playing the same version of A440 just doesn't seem to matter. It even shows in the relatively short tuning (which was done from the oboe - one of the 2 western instruments in the ensemble - the oboe and silver flute). They did tune from the oboe, but the oboist didn't sustain his note. Soon everyone was playing a cacauphony of tuning notes and noodling and I couldn't have told you where the original A had been.
The other interesting thing I'm noticing is the gender spread - dutar is really the only instrument that has been lable "feminine" for a long amount of time. However, starting in the Soviet period, women started breaking new ground and playing certain other instruments. The instruments that these mavrick women chose are now instruments that other women are choosing to play, like the chang and the rubab (in its afghan, tenor, and prima forms - girls don't seem to play bass instruments). In addition to avoiding bass instruments, I've never seen a female gijak player in either a halq cholg'u ensemble or an an'anaviy ensemble. I've seen female rubab and chang players in both. This often gets naturalized that changs are like harps and thus feminine and I'm not sure why the rubab, but regardless these seem to be the instruments that women are okay playing.
After watching 2 hours of the rehearsal I went to the supermarket to try to change money. Neither kiosk had any. R went to the bazaar later and they couldn't change his $100 bill either. Part of me is wondering if they are restricting commerce by not releasing sum to money exchange kiosks now. Most people hold their savings in Euros or dollars at the moment, and I found it odd that both places we tried to change money were out of sum.
As I walked home from the market I was on the street where all the wedding musicians hang out to get hired. Summer is definitely upon us because there were 3 times more than I'd seen early this month. Part of that is because it is early on a Saturday afternoon, prime time for weddings, and also because as summer ratchets up, there will be more and more weddings needing karnai, surnai, and doira. All the drummers had their doiras hanging out in the sun to bake the skins tighter so they would be louder and higher pitched. It still amazes me that this is how to get hired as a wedding musician here - you just show up with your buddies and your instruments on Navoi street near Chorsu and someone may just drive up and hire you.
Then as I pass the circus on my way home the wierd brass band was at it again - I think it is for days when the circus is having performances. This time instead of the Andijon Polka, they were playing a really popular Turkish tune called "Lezghinka" I think - I swear that makes it souther slavic and not Turkish, but people here swear it is Turkish. ANyway, as I walked by they were blasting that out and I had to marvel at the diversity of music that I run into in my everyday life here.
