|  UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music Originally published between 1961 and 2003, the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music comprises of more than 125 albums from around the world. Out of print since 2005, the entire collection, including many previously unreleased recordings, will be published by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the series in collaboration with ethnomusicologist Alain Daniélou (1907–1994) and the International Music Council (IMC). Collaboration continued more recently with the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM). The UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music stands as one of the earliest achievements of UNESCO’s program for safeguarding and revitalizing intangible cultural heritage. With recordings from more than 70 nations, the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music offers a staggering diversity of our shared humanity. Much of the collection was gathered in situ and is presented as field recordings. Extensive annotations and photographs accompany each release. The republishing of this collection marks renewed commitment to making this unique collection of diverse musical expressions accessible to the public. SUBSCRIBE TO THE ENTIRE RE-ISSUED UNESCO SERIES AND GET EACH TITLE FOR 20% OFF. FOR EXAMPLE, EACH $16.99 COMPACT DISC IS $13.59. FOR INSTITUIONAL PURCHASERS -- SEND US A STANDING PURCHASE ORDER SUBSCRIPTION AND AS EACH NEW TITLE IS RELEASED WE WILL SHIP AND INVOICE YOU.
 Côte d'Ivoire: Baule Vocal Music CD Various Artists
UNES-08048 $16.99 The liner notes relate the legend of Queen Aura Poku, who sacrificed her son to allow her people to cross a river to freedom. After her people were safely across the river, the queen could only repeat the word bauoli, meaning: the child is dead. Queen Aura Poku and other legends are represented in Baule music, which is well known throughout Côte d’Ivoire. Two or more voices are usually joined by bells, rattles, and a variety of drums. They also use a fiddle and a harp-lute to accompany singers, creating layers of complex sounds. Although many children begin training in vocal polyphony at a young age, the finest musicians, especially singer-instrumentalists, are thought to have been chosen by the spirits. This album was recorded in 1965 and 1966.
 Greece: Traditional Music CD Various Artists
UNES-08018 $16.99 After two millennia under the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, not to mention musical invasions from the West, what remains of Greece’s early musical heritage? What can be called “Greek”? Although the origins of musical genres and systems identified with the country are often confused, misunderstood, and mislabeled, this 1970 collection provides fourteen vivid examples of vocal and instrumental music from mountain and island regions that have maintained the closest ties to ancient tradition. The liner notes also provide information about each song and a brief history of Greek music.
 Lullabies and Children's Songs CD Various Artists
UNES-08102 $16.99 The singing of lullabies and children’s songs knows no geographical boundaries. Featuring many young singers and their mothers, this compilation documents the sounds of playtime and bedtime from Africa, Portugal, the Middle East, Mongolia, Japan, Solomon Islands, and the Nunavut Territory of Canada. Game songs include Baka Pygmy children from Cameroon playing “the water drum” by splashing rhythmically in a river and Kanoukro girls from Côte d’Ivoire falling into each other’s arms and then pushing away. Some songs are lullabies for calming children, while others are for amusing them. One even warns little girls against running away from their parents.
Canada: Inuit Games and Songs CD Various Artists
UNES-08032 $16.99 From 1974 to 1976, researchers traveled to Arctic villages in Northeastern Canada to record the verbal games and songs of the Inuit people. One example, called katajjait, involves two women standing face to face, producing guttural, animal-like repetitions until someone runs out of breath and concedes in laughter. The lone instrumental track features a Jew’s harp and the tautirut (a violin-like instrument). As stated in the liner notes, this recording preserves the verbal game traditions of the Inuit and has stimulated a renewed interest in Inuit traditional culture. This recording was supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Quebec Ministry of Education, and the University Montreal.
 Mongolia: Traditional Music CD Various Artists
UNES-08207 $16.99 UNESCO has identified two elements of traditional Mongolian music as being “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” They are the urtyn duu, or long song, and the morin-khuur, or horse violin, and both are featured here. The morin-khuur is a two-stringed instrument with a carved horse head on the end of the tuning head. It is played like a cello by men for dance and to accompany singers, particularly for the urtyn duu, or long song. The long song is so named for the singing of each lyric syllable for long durations in single musical notes. In addition to providing examples of urtyn duu and the playing of the morin-khuur, this recording offers examples of other forms of Mongolian traditional music including bongino duu (short songs) and music played on metal and bamboo Jew’s harps, flutes, vieles (violins), lutes, and zithers. Two tracks feature an example of diphonic song or khoomly, sometimes referred to as throat singing.
Australia: Aboriginal Music CD Various Artists
UNES-08040 $16.99 It is thought that the indigenous peoples of Australia (Aborigines) have inhabited the varying terrains of the continent for more than 40,000 years. Although only three percent of Australia’s population (as of 2013), the first Australians belong to more than four hundred distinct tribal groups and speak over two hundred languages. Aboriginal music is essentially vocal music and mainly the prerogative of men, although women may provide vocal support in some ceremonies. Music is primarily sung during ceremonial rites of passage and funeral rituals. Singers may occasionally be accompanied by the droning rhythmic patterns of the didjeridu (didgeridoo), a long, tubular wind instrument usually made from eucalyptus wood, or by sticks. The album includes ten songs—Rain Dreaming songs, clan songs, dance songs, and women’s songs—in nine languages. The liner notes present detailed information about regional variations in the music and about each selection.
Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850–1900 CD Various Artists
UNES-08277 $16.99 Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850–1900 represents a reconstruction of traditional Australian New England music, known as “bush music,” from the second half of the 19th century. The material for the album was drawn from fieldwork gathered by researchers between 1983 and 1990, and only songs that could be traced back to 1850–1900 were included. The music, all of English, Irish, Scottish, and other European origins, includes solo and ensemble performances ranging from hunting songs to dance songs to hymns. The songs were an important part of the social life of Australian New Englanders before the turn of the century; musicians, audience, and dancers participated together, and community was favored over virtuosity. The main instruments featured on the album and of that historical time period are fiddle, button accordion, mouth organ, and the Anglo system concertina.
 Peru: Music of the Indigenous Communities of Cuzco CD Various Artists
UNES-08268 $16.99 The city of Cuzco, Peru is home to a number of indigenous peasant communities. Much of their music continues to be associated with fertility rites and to mark agrarian cycles, but the Spanish introduced guitars, mandolins, and other instruments that the indigenous peoples adapted and blended into their ancestral music. The songs are sung in Quechua. The liner notes, in English and French, provide information about the geography of the region, the history of its inhabitants, local rituals involving music, and especially the musical instruments heard on the recording.
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