2.2. First rehearsal of cantata

Eugene Moon with boom; kil-kobyz
Daniel Corral, Timur Bekbosunov, Maestro Zhamat Temirgaliyev rehearsing the cantata
Sazgen Sazy rehearsing the cantata

Post by Eugene Moon; photos by Sandra Powers

At the rehearsal hall, we were greeted by the sound of the dombra played by a musician rehearsing her part. As we started recording the rehearsal session, the reality of being a boom pole operator began to hit me---with searing pain in the arm. Despite the ache in my arms and heat in the room, it was countered by the euphonious sound of the cantata. It was phenomenally wonderful. Brilliant and beautiful. It is a wonder how a non-Kazakh can compose a cantata so well that she knew how to put the music, instruments, and folk songs together. I have to say, I congratulate you, Anne. Well done! A round of applause to your virtuosity as a composer. I very much want the soundtrack and DVD of the cantata to turn out well, as it is something worth listening to and watching.

Sandra and I went back to the hotel to do some transcription. The transcription I have to do is to write down all the dialogue and speaking from the intro of Sandra's film, "The Nomad's Song," so that it can be translated into Russian for the audience on the day her film is shown. Later, we interviewed a bayan (similar to accordion) player, and the player of the kyl kobyz, a type of violin played like a rebab with a hollowed-out body and made of horse hair that creates a distinctive sound like the morin khuur (Mongolian cello), but an octave lower.