Central Asian Tales



Sabjilar, the messengers, is a Khakas folklore group from the Republic of Khakassia in southern Siberia, formed in 1997. Besides traditional heroic epics that recall the Khyrgys (Khakas) Khanate from the 6th to the 12th century, they also play old nomad songs from the steppes, hunter's songs from the mountain taiga, and new improvisations on the chatkhan, the typical national instrument. The repertoire is rich in various styles of throat singing - khay. They have conducted numerous public performances and workshops in Germany, Italy, Poland, Holland, Norway, Finland, England, USA, Japan, and Switzerland. In 1999, Sabjilar, together with Pure Nature Music, produced its first album, titled Syr Chöme (leading arrow). Anna Burnakova (born 1978) sings and plays khobrakh (shepherd's flute from the steppe), timir khomys (mouth harp) and various percussion instruments, including the tüür (shaman's drum). Sergey Charkov (born 1963) plays two styles of khay, chatkhan (12-stringed zither), yykh (2-stringed horse fiddle) and syylas (flute from the taiga). Vyatcheslav Kuchenov (born 1969) plays three styles of khay, chatkhan, khomys (3-stringed plucked instrument) and müüs yykh (horn fiddle). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.