Mathew Forstater wrote:
> There is a documentary about the physicist Richard Feynman mentioned in
> Mike's post with a considerable amount devoted to his interest in the Tuvans
> and the Tuvan form of singing. It wasn't clear from Mike's post, but I
> believe that Feynman's interest--almost obsession--with Tuva began with the
> singing. Feynman has a few memoirs and I would be surprised if this wasn't
> covered by him somewhere. If memory serves me correctly, Feynman had a
> pretty harsh anti-Soviet slant resulting from his experience relating to
> Tuva and the Tuvans. Mat
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Yates <mikey+ at pitt.edu>
> To: marxism at lists.panix.com <marxism at lists.panix.com>;
> lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>;
> pen-l at galaxy.csuchico.edu <pen-l at galaxy.csuchico.edu>
> Date: Friday, March 03, 2000 9:57 PM
> Subject: [PEN-L:16844] throat singing
>
> >I just saw a fine film, "Genghis Blues," about the remarkable
> >experiences of blues singer and musician, Paul Pena. A native of the
> >Cape Verde Islands (formerly a Portuguese colony and now part of
> >Guinea-Bissau), Pena played with many jazz and blues greats and composed
> >many songs. He is blind and at the film's beginning he is living in San
> >Francisco and not doing particularly well. His wife has died and he has
> >just come out of a long period of depression. He has bought a short
> >wave radio and listens to broadcasts from around the world. One day he
> >hears on Radio Moscow some unbelievable singing. It is the harmonic or
> >throatsinging of singers from Tuva, a land north of Mongolia. ( I
> >remember the beautiful diamond-shaped stamps of the republic of Tannu
> >Tuva I lusted after when I was a boy). Tuva became part of the USSR
> >during WW2. One of Genghis Khan's greatest generals was a Tuvan. Under
> >the Soviets, the Tuvans were not allowed to use their language, and many
> >Russians settled there. It is the size of North Dakota, and many people
> >there are nomadic sheepherders and horsemen. The land is
> >extraordinarily varied and has temperatures ranging from 100 degrees F
> >to many degrees below zero. Tuvan singers have learned to sing in their
> >throats in such a way as to produce more than one note at the same time.
> >You have to hear it to believe it.
> >
> > Remarkably, Pena is so taken with the singing that he tracks a tape
> >down in a record store, and he learns to do it himself. Using a braille
> >device he also begins to learn Tuvan, translating letter by letter from
> >Tuvan to Russian to English. Through a fantasitc set of circumstances,
> >involving the Nobel physicist, Richard Feynman (who decided to go to
> >Tuva as his last adventure and helped to establish a Tuvan-US friendship
> >association), Tuvan singers come to San Francisco. Pena goes and
> >astonishes the Tuvans by throatsinging for them. They insist that he
> >come to Tuva for a great throatsinging contest. Others get involved and
> >it is decided that a crew will go to make a film about his visit.
> >
> > The trip to Tuva is an adventure, but Pena's relationship with the
> >Tuvans is the main theme of the movie. I don't want to give it away, but
> >I was moved to tears. What was so awful was the horror of his life in
> >the USA compared to the beauty of his life in Tuva. To the Tuvans he was
> >not some poor blind black man, making his way down some shaby street to
> >the corner store, but a hero, a truly wonderful human being, talented
> >beyond words and beautiful to see and to hear.
> >
> > The Tuvans' embrace of Pena and his love of them make you see what we
> >as humans are capable of, just as his tribulations here in the land of
> >the free do the same though from a different angle. If you get the
> >chance, don't miss this film.
> >
> >Michael Yates
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu