Sainkho Namtchylak
Encyclopedia
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
, a small autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei
Khoomei
Khoomei , also spelled Xoomii, Xöömei, Xöömej, Khöömei, or Höömey, refers to...
.
Style
Sainkho Namtchylak is an experimental singer, born in 1957 in a secluded village in the south of Tuva. She has an exceptional voice, proficient in overtone singing; her music encompasses avant-jazz, electronicaElectronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, modern composition and Tuvan influences. In Tuva, numerous cultural influences collide: the Turkic roots it shares with Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, Xinjiang Uighur and the Central Asian states; various Siberian nomadic ethnic groups, principally those of the Tungus-Manchu group; Russian Old Believers; migrant and resettled populations from the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Tatarstan
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of Russia located in the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kazan, which is one of Russia's largest and most prosperous cities. The republic borders with Kirov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, and Orenburg Oblasts, and with the Mari El, Udmurt,...
and other minority groups west of the Urals. All of these, to extents, impact on Sainkho's voice, although the Siberian influences dominate: her thesis produced while studying voice, first at the University of Kyzyl, then in the Gnesins Institute
Gnessin State Musical College
The Gnessin State Musical College and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music is a prominent music school in Moscow, Russia...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
during the 1980s focussed on Lamaistic and cult musics of minority groups across Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, and her music frequently shows tendencies towards Tungus-style imitative singing.
With her shaved head and seven-octave range, Sainkho Namtchylak would stand out on any stage. Add her particular mix of Tuvan throat-singing and avant-garde improvisation, and she becomes an unforgettable figure. The daughter of a pair of schoolteachers, she grew up in an isolated village on the Tuvan/Mongolian border, exposed to the local overtone singing — something that was generally reserved for the males; in fact, females were actively discouraged from learning it (even now, the best-known practitioners remain male, artists like Huun-Huur-Tu and Yat-Kha). However, she learned much of her traditional repertoire from her grandmother, and went on to study music at the local college, but she was denied professional qualifications. Quietly she studied the overtone singing, as well as the shamanic traditions of the region, before leaving for study further in Moscow (Tuva was, at that time, part of the U.S.S.R.). Her degree completed, she returned to Tuva where she became a member of Sayani, the Tuvan state folk ensemble, before abandoning it to return to Moscow and joining the experimental Tri-O, where her vocal talents and sense of melodic and harmonic adventure could wander freely. That first brought her to the West in 1990, although her first recorded exposure came with the Crammed Discs compilation Out of Tuva. Once Communism had collapsed, she moved to Vienna, making it her base, although she traveled widely, working in any number of shifting groups and recording a number of discs that revolved around free improvisation — not unlike Yoko Ono — as well as performing around the globe. It was definitely fringe music, although Namtchylak established herself very firmly as a fixture on that fringe. In 1997 she was the victim of an attack that left her in a coma for several weeks. Initially she thought it was some divine retribution for her creative hubris, and seemed to step back when she recorded 1998's Naked Spirit, which had new age leanings. However, by 2000 she seemed to have overcome that block, releasing Stepmother City, her most accessible work to date, where she seemed to really find her stride, mixing traditional Tuvan instruments and singing with turntables and effects, placing her in a creative firmament between Yoko and Björk, but with the je ne sais quoi of Mongolia as part of the bargain. A showcase at the WOMEX Festival in Berlin brought her to the attention of many, and in 2001 a U.S. tour was planned.
Career
After graduating, Sainkho worked with several ensembles: the Moscow State Orchestra; the Moscow-based jazz ensemble 'Tri-O' (since 1989); School of Dramatic Art under the direction of Anatoly VasilievAnatoly Vasiliev
Anatoly Vasiliev is a noted Russian theatre director and one of the leading European contemporary stage directors. He is artistic director of the Moscow Theatre "School of Dramatic Arts", Théâtre de l'Europe, and professor of drama in Lyon, France.-Early years:Vasiliev was born in the Soviet Union...
(Moscow), various orchestras in Kyzyl
Kyzyl
-External links:*** in Kyzyl, Russia*...
, the Tuvan 'folkloric orchestra'—a far less sanitised example of folk baroque than, say, existed in pre-independence Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
—that has housed many of Tuva's other important singers. However, for several years Sainkho annually invited foreign musicians to Tuva to promote Tuvan culture.
Based in Vienna far from her beloved homeland Tuva, Sainkho sculpted "Stepmother City" to reflect her ambivalent feelings about European metropolis. Calling herself “first and foremost a woman from the Steppes,” Sainkho’s first musical inspiration came from her nomadic grandmother, who would sing lullabies for hours. She grew up in a culture where people just sing when they feel like it—singing when they’re happy and singing when they’re sad. Denied professional credentials from a local college where her explorative nature led her toward forbidden male-dominated overtone singing styles, Sainkho transferred to Moscow where she discovered Russian improvisation & where she also continue to study about vocal techniques of Siberian lamaistic & shamanistic traditions.
Audiences are astounded by the diversity of sounds Sainkho can produce with her voice, from operatic soprano to birdlike squawks, from childlike pleas to soulful crooning; which at various moments elicit comparisons to Zap Mama, Patti Smith, Billie Holiday, and Nina Hagen.
In 1997, Sainkho was horrifically attacked by Tuvinian racketeers which left her in a coma for two weeks. Again, sources regarding this contradict- others maintain that she underwent surgery for a severe malignant brain tumor; regardless, 1997 marked an appreciable change in her life. Since then, she has been resident in exile in Vienna, and has also recorded more prolifically as a solo artist- although she has released over thirty albums in the past twenty years, only seven have been entirely solo.
Sainkho claims that music and spirituality are related by desire, or the tension that yells to reawaken people. Eager to take part in the process of remembering what has been forgotten, "Stepmother City" presents itself like a map, proposing routes to connect Western physicality with Eastern spirituality...
http://www.ponderosa.it/downloads/0000/0134/SAINKHO_NAMTCHYLAK_BIO_ENG.pdf
In 2005, the Italian publishing house Libero di Scrivere released a book of poetry Karmaland. In 2006 in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, a book Chelo-Vek (in Russian, "A Human Being") was published in Russian, Tuvinian and in English.
Discography
- 1990 - TRI-O Plus Sainkho Namchylak Transformation of Matter, DOCUMENT, vol.V - Leo Records, London
- 1991 - Tunguska-guska - Eine Meteoriten-Oper, EFA-Schneeball, Germany
- 1991 - Lost Rivers - FMP, Gremany
- 1991 - „When the sun is out...“-FMP-Berlin
- 1991- “Octet- Ost“ with Christian Muthspiel- Amadeo , Austria
- 1992 -“Marsias Song“ with Mattias Ziegler,Mark Dresser- Zürich, Switzerland
- 1992 „Puls“ with Michael Sivert-Dizzi Essentials DE 002, Germany
- 1993 - Kang Tae Hwan and Sainkho Namchylak Live - Free Improvisation Network Record, Japan
- 1993 - Out Of Tuva - songs, Crammed World, Belgium
- 1993 - Letters -compilation of live recordings, Leo records, London
- 1993 -„Expos Jazz &Joy“-Ver Abra records, Germany
- 1993 - "Mixing it" Chill out Label/ London, CHILL CD004
- 1993- "Synergetics Phonomanie III" 2CDs )Leo Records LR
- 1994 - Moscow Composers Orchestra and Sainkho Live at City Garden - U-Sound
- 1994- "The First Take" Biosintes + Sainkho FMP 80,Berlin, Germany
- 1994-"Dancing on the Island" Irene Becker and Sainkho DOCD 5147
- 1995- J.Rose "Techno mit Storungen" (Plag Dich Nicht CD002)
- 1996 - Mars song - Duo with Evan Parker, Victo, Canada
- 1996 - "Amulet" - Duo with Ned Rothenberg, Leo records. London
- 1996 - Moscow Composers Orchestra and Sainkho An Italian Love Affair - Leo Records, London
- 1997 - Moscow Composers Orchestra and Sainkho Let Peremsky Dream -Leo Records, London
- 1997 - Time Out -Ponderosa, Italy
- 1996 - Moscow Composers Orchestra and Sainkho The Gift - Long Arms Records, Russia
- 1998 - Naked Spirit Amiata Records
- 1998 - "Kharms-10 Incidents" Long Arms Records,Russia
- 1999 - "Voci in Viagio" Amiata, UNITA, Italy
- 1999 - Temenos - Leo Records, London
- 2001 „Homo Sonorus-International Antology of Sound Poetry“poetry compilation vol IV-Russia
- 2001-"El Lebrijano- Lagrimas de Cera" CD, EMI, International
- 2001 - Stepmother City Ponderosa
- 2001 - Aurasolo Sainkho. duo-Peter Kowald & Sainkho, trio-Sainkho & Vl. Volkov, Vl. Tarasov, Ponderosa, Italy
- 2002- "Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz" vol 3,4 GY 409/412): Sainkho with Pop-Mechanika 18 nov 1985, Sainkho with Mikchail Zukov 10 June 1990, Sainkho + Tri-O 1989, 1991, Sainkho with Sergey Letov 11 June 1989, 1991
- 2003 - Who Stole The Sky, Ponderosa, Italy
- 2005 - Arzhaana" a musical fairy tale Asia Plus Records, Russia
- 2005 - Forgotten streets of St.Petersburg" Tri-O & Sainkho, Leo Records, London
- 2005- "Karmaland" Live CD add to the book "Karmaland" by LiberoDiscrivere, Italy
- 2007- "Tuva-Irish live music project" electronics with Roy Carroll - Leo Records, London
- 2007-"Nomad"- compilation of best works by Sainkho, dedicated to 50 universary- Leo Records
- 2008-"Intrance"acoustic duo with Jarrod Gagwin- Leo Records, London
- 2008-"Mother-Earth! Father-Sky!" Huunhuurtu fit Sainkho,, Jaro Records, Germany, jaro 4281-2
- 2009-"Portret of an Idealist" Mosocow Composer Orchestra fit Sainkho- Leo Records, London
- 2009-"Tea Opera"electronics with Dickson Dee- Leo Records, London
- 2010-"Not quite songs" electro acoustic with Nick Sudnik- Leo Records, London
- 2010-"Terra"jazz arrang songs with Wolfgang Puchnig, Paul Urbanek- Leo Records, London
- 2010-"Cyberia" solo voice- Ponderosa Music and Art, Italy
- 2010-"Simply-Live" compilation of live recordings of son program, Tree Music, China