kongerei.

have you ever heard any overtone singing? have you heard tuvan and mongolian singings, like singing into the mountains and the grassland? i have only heard overtone singing once and have only heard mongolian long songs, but not throat singing. it's overwhelming.

kronos quartet got the throat singers from the land of Tuva to sing this kongerei for them, and for us. the ancient and sorrowful yearning therefore rings in my headphones. the strings keep a stead pulse, with the cello crying like the horse head fiddle alongside. immediately visible to me is a picture of vast plateau, on which a shepherd and his herd move steadily. he sings a low fundamental tone, heavy and coarse. suddenly there's this other sound. a whistle, a bird song, or a flute, floating indeterminably at the top. and then his sound becomes part of nature. and he moves on, a person without home. a people without home. a lonely people in the midst of the vastness. singing, and moving.