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WOSAS : F182	WOSAS/CD68/track3 R194.wav
Sound recording, song; throat singing, performed Mongun-Ool Oondar, of Tuvan and Siberian culture, as part of the welcome programme, The Sound of the North, in the Big Top at the Beyond the Border Festival, St Donats Art Centre, Llantwit Major, South Glamorgan, Wales, 7th July 2000.
Introduction by David Ambrose, followed by performance of Tuvan throat singing by Mongun-Ool Oondar, with musical accompaniment. The performance ends with David Ambrose completing his welcome to the festival and explaining changes to the festival programme.
The country of Tuva, sometimes known as the Shepherd's Republic, lies deep in the Alti mountains, where Siberia meets Outer Mongolia. Traditionally the Tuvan people were semi-nomadic herders, and sheep farming still plays a central role in the country's economy and culture. Tuva is largely rural and remote from major trade routes. The Tuvans have developed a remarkable musical culture, which they call 'Khoomei', from the Mongolian word for throat. In Khoomei, a single vocalist produces two distinct tones simultaneously. One tone is a low sustained pitch, like the drone of a bagpipe. The other is a series of fluting harmonics. These resonate high above the drone and are often stylised to mimic the cry of a bird, the rushing of wind or the cantering of horses hooves. This technique is referred to in the West, as throat singing, though this does not allow for the range of throat singing techniques used across the world. Tuvan legends about the origins of throat singing suggest that human kind learnt to sing this way. Although the roots of Tuvan thraot singing are obscure, it is clear that the music is intimately associated with Shaminism, a belief system that teaches respect for nature. The idea that all objects in the natural world have their own spirit, and that animals in particular have a power that can be assimilated through imitation, is deeply rooted in Tuvan culture. Similar beliefs among Native North Americans suggest that Shaminism may have spread from Siberia around 50,000 years ago, when nomadic Siberians migrated eastwards across teh Bering Straits and down into North America.
audience:-	adult
language:-	Tuvan
recording quality
condition:-	good
completeness:-	complete
duration:-	0 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds
Beyond the Border Festival was founded in 1993 by Ben Haggarty, Artistic Director of the Crick Crack Club, and David Ambrose, the then Director of St Donats Arts Centre, Wales. The Festival was founded as The Beyond the Border International Festival of Storytelling and Epic Singing, but became known simply as Beyond the Border. The festival ran from 1993 to 2006 co-directed by the two founders: with Ben Haggarty programming storytellers and David Ambrose programming musicians. Since 2007 the festival has been directed by David Ambrose. The festival is a weekend event running on the first weekend of July annually; attracting around 2,500 people from across Britain and from overseas. The festival is sited at St Donats Arts Centre and in the grounds of St Donats Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan on the South Coast of Wales. Beyond the Border was initiated as part of the UK Year of Literature in 1995. The successful bid submitted by Academi Wales, prominently featured a storytelling festival. The original Director of the UK Year of Literature was Maura Dooley, who had been at the South Bank Centre in London when Ben Haggarty ran the Third International Storytelling Festival there in 1989. Maura Dooley supported the proposal brought to her by Ben Haggarty and David Ambrose to hold an International festival and series of summer schools at St Donats Castle and to begin Beyond the Border in 1993 in order to build an audience and a core of Wales-based artists for the Year of Literature in 1995. However before the plan could be implemented Maura Dooley resigned from her post (the position was later taken by Sean Dorran). Despite this, St Donats Arts Centre was committed to the festival and Beyond the Border was launched in July 1993. The 1993, 1994 and 1995 festivals were accompanied by summer schools, which produced a number of storytellers including Megan Lloyd, Francis Maxey, Richard Berry and Michael Harvey.
singing:-	throat singer; singer; musician: Mongun-Ool Oondar male / Tuvan / Siberian, North
singing:-	Master of Ceremonies; Festival Co-Director: David Ambrose male / British / occupation Director of St Donats Arts Centre
origin:-	Tuva Mongolia Siberia, North
	festival programme
	Click to enlarge images
programming:-	Festival Co-Director: Ben Haggarty Festival Co-Director: David Ambrose
administration:-	administrator: St Donats Arts Centre
singing:-	St Donats, Llantwit Major, South Glamorgan, Wales: St Donats Art Centre: Big Top 07 Jul 2000 festival: Beyond the Border Festival The Sound of the North Wind
gift from:-	St Donats Arts Centre

©  The London Centre for International Storytelling: 2007
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