When I recently took a seat in the Performance Hall at the Ashokan Center to hear Anda Union, a 9-member ensemble from Mongolia, I didn’t know what to expect. But a few songs in, a friend called it “otherworldly,” and I knew what he meant. The group sang in Chinese in faraway intonations, and their throat singing sounded, well, otherworldly doesn’t do it justice.
But as I listened, I realized this was roots music, like all the music that comes through the Ashokan Center, with acoustic strings, a flute, and a drum that used melody, harmony and rhythm to elicit feelings of tenderness, sadness, and delight. The difference was that Anda Union’s music wasn’t rooted in the American landscape, but in the grasslands of northern China.
Band members introduced each song with a word or two, such as “wind,” “water,” and “horse,” each connected to what one member referred to as their “birth-land.” I could hear wind blowing in the airiness of the flute, water flowing in bent notes of singers, and almost see horses in the playful whinnies of the strings and the galloping of drums. The droning base notes felt like ground beneath it all.
It’s no accident that the wellspring of Anda Union’s music is nature: Their songs are intended to bring attention to the threatened steppes where they were born—and help preserve them. The word “family” was also used to describe a song, also fitting, as I could imagine their songs being played at an evening at home, or a funeral, or even a wedding, with everyone dressed in the brightly dyed traditional clothing that the band members wore onstage. The Ashokan Center was a fitting venue for the ensemble because traditional music preserved this Catskill landscape and has also touched the heartstrings of an extended family without borders.
About Dennis Gaffney
This review was written by Dennis Gaffney, a freelance journalist and communications specialist based in Albany, New York and friend of the Ashokan Center. His worked has been featured in many publications over the last two decades, including the New York Times, the History Channel Magazine, Mother Jones, and more.
Dennis has previously written an article about the Ashokan Center, which was featured in the New York Times – Song ‘Ashokan Farewell’ Saved Center in Catskills