Brief introduction of Uyghur Twelve Muqam

The Uyghur 12 Muqam is so large in scale and so complicated in rendition that no rival can be found in this world. It consists of 360 sung poetry, stories, dance tunes and instrumental sections. Some of the lyrics of the Muqam are drawn from 44 great classic poets and folk poetry, totaling 4,492 lines of words. The Twelve Muqam each consists of suites of fixed melodic sequences and order. To sing a complete Muqam takes around 24 hours. The Twelve Muqam is so loved by nearly every one in a whole minority group that it has no match in this world. It is both a centuries-old cultural tradition and a popular musical suite today; it is both a high-taste works of classic poets and a favorite of farmers and children in the bottom of the social strata; it is both a large scaled musical work and a musical piece that can be performed by dividing into the minutest units. The melody of Muqam is heard floating every where in places where the Uyghurs live, on big streets and small lanes, in teahouses and small restaurants, in villages and town and country fairs, on the donkey-drawn carts, on the back of camels or by bonfire. Young people get to love each other in singing the poetries and people who had experienced miseries and hardships are buried in the sand amidst Muqam music. “I’ve lived in Uyghur areas for years and found no one who cannot perform Muqam. Men and women, old and young, every one can sing Muqam and can dance Muqam dances,” said a Han musician. òIt is indeed a miracle that no one among the Uyghur who does not have a hand in the music treasure handed down from their ancestors. What is more surprising is such a large-scale suite that it consists of 360 sung poetry, stories, dance tunes and instrumental sections. Some of the lyrics of the Muqam are drawn from 44 great classic poets and folk poetry, totaling 4,492 lines of words. The Twelve Muqam each consists of suites of fixed melodic sequences and order. To sing a complete Muqam takes around 24 hours. In fact, the Twelve Muqam is so old - having a history of hundreds of years or even 1000 years - that when an elderly or a child of seven or eight sings it, it seems to be a popular piece just off the table of a composer. It is so high in taste - most of the sung poetries are drawn from classic Uyghur poets who wrote poems in the most beautiful language of Chagatai- that when a Uyghur farmhand or a Uyghur girl harvesting in the field sings it with imagination, it seems to be a music piece of his or her own creation. It is so large in scale - it takes a whole day and night to sing the complete thing without interruption - that when a Uyghur sings it anytime and anywhere irrespective of its completeness, consecration and solumnness, it seems that it is nothing but part of his or her life. This is Uyghur's holy classic musical piece - Twelve Muqam. In 2004, the Chinese government submitted an application with UNESCO for listing it into the Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

By www.kashghari.com