UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music
The UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music comprises 127 albums of music from around the world. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings published a dozen previously unreleased albums and re-released 115 albums of recordings published between 1961 and 2003 but out of print since 2005. All are available in both digital and physical formats.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the series in collaboration with musicologist 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. Starting in April 2014, and until July 2015 two albums per week were released and now all 127 albums are available via digital download, streaming services, on-demand physical CDs, and library streaming audio subscription.
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- KoreaVarious ArtistsUNES08010 (1972)This 1972 recording features Korean court music, or hyang-ak, which was codified in the 5th century...
- Viet Nam: Traditions of the SouthVarious ArtistsUNES08070 (1984)This recording, compiled and annotated by Vietnamese musicologist Trần Văn Khê, collects two styles of music from the southern region of Vietnam ...
- North India: Instrumental Music - Sitar, Flute, SarangiVarious ArtistsUNES08017 (1972)The classical music of North India (Hindustani music) has roots in Persian Musiqi-e assil folk music, Sufi songs...
- North India: Instrumental Music - Rudra Veena, Vichitra Veena, Sarod, ShahnaiVarious ArtistsUNES08021 (1974)Noted musicologist Alain Daniélou observes that the classical Indian raga is a meditation on the states of the soul...
- Azerbaijan: Azerbaijani MugamVarious ArtistsUNES08045 (1975)The traditional music of Azerbaijan is based on a system of melodic modes and motifs called mugam...
- Tajik Music of BadakhshanVarious ArtistsUNES08212 (1993)The traditional homelands of the Tajik people cover parts of modern-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan...
- Ritual Chant and MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08103 (1971)Ritual Chant and Music is a compilation of recordings from across the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music...
- Nepal: Ritual and EntertainmentVarious ArtistsUNES08279 (1999)Situated between China and India in the Himalayans, Nepal contains eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains within its borders...
- Folk Music of CubaVarious ArtistsUNES08064 (1995)The folk music of Cuba combines Hispanic stringed instruments like guitar and tres (a guitar-like instrument with six strings, paired in octaves like an American twelve-string guitar) with African percussion instruments...
- Croatia: Traditional Music of TodayVarious ArtistsUNES08276 (1998)Croatia’s traditional music of today is the focus of this 1988 UNESCO release. In the liner notes, Svanibor Pettan, Secretary General of the International Council for Traditional Music...
- Egypt: Taqâsîm & Layâlî - Cairo TraditionVarious ArtistsUNES08038 (1971)The foundation of classical Arabic music are the maqâm, any one of various modal forms based on a great variety of scales...
- Iraq: Iqa’at - Traditional Rhythmic StructureVarious ArtistsUNES08044 (1979)In Iraq, maqam—a term referring to any one of the rhythmically complex and improvisational melodic modes of Arabic classical music...
- Ethiopia: Three Cordophone TraditionsVarious ArtistsUNES08074 (1985)These recordings, made by ethnomusicologist Cynthia Tse Kimberlin in 1972 in the capital city of Addis Ababa, showcase three Ethiopian chordophones...
- Myanmar: Music by the Hsaing Waing Orchestra: The Burmese HarpVarious ArtistsUNES08281 (1998)The music of Burma (officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar) is characterized by two types of music...
- Portugal: Festas in MinhoVarious ArtistsUNES08317 (2015)These 1998 on-site recordings of two pilgrimages in northwestern Portugal capture the rich and varied music of the streets, squares...
- Portugal: Music and Dance from MadeiraVarious ArtistsUNES08323 (2015)Part of Portugal since its discovery in the early 15th century, Madeira developed music, dance, and festival traditions that reflect and shape its history and social life...
- Bengal: Bengali Traditional Folk MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08077 (1972)Bengal, a historically important and culturally distinctive region in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent that today is separated by the India-Bangladesh border, is the source of the Baul song tradition...
- Turkmen Epic Singing: KörogluVarious ArtistsUNES08213 (1994)The history of Turkmen music is closely linked with the narration of heroic epics...
- Uzbekistan: Musical Traditions of the KarakalpaksVarious ArtistsUNES08308 (2015)The ancient, orally-transmitted epic tradition of the Karakalpaks, woven with the songs they sing in their everyday lives...
- Music Tradition of MalawiVarious ArtistsUNES08265 (1996)The southeast African country of Malawi was a Bantu settlement in the 10th century, a British colony in the 19th century, and became an independent nation in 1964...
- Madagascar: Spirit Music from the Tamatave RegionVarious ArtistsUNES08282 (2001)Except for the period of French colonial rule from 1897 to 1960, the peoples of Madagascar have been free and independent. The Malagasy place great belief in ancestral power...
- Japan: Semiclasssical and Folk MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08016 (1974)The traditional music of Japan comprises a rich variety of styles developed over the course of more than a millennium...
- Yoshihisha Taira: Tribute to NoguchiVarious ArtistsUNES08302 (1989)In 1956, UNESCO approached famed Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) to design and install a patio garden at its headquarters in Paris, France...
- Armenia: Liturgical Chants - Mekhitarist Community of VeniceVarious ArtistsUNES08015 (1975)The monastery located on the island of San Lazzaro in the Venetian Lagoon, serves as the headquarters of the Mekhitarist Order of the Armenian Catholic Church...
- Yemen: Songs from HadramawtVarious ArtistsUNES08273 (1998)The Hadramawt region of Yemen has always been a center of culture for the Arab world. This album, recorded between 1985 and 1995...
- Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Gumuz TribeVarious ArtistsUNES08072 (1985)The Gumuz people make their home in the western border regions of Ethiopia and the Blue Nile Province of southeastern Sudan...
- Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Ingessana and Berta TribesVarious ArtistsUNES08073 (1985)These field recordings, made by Robert Gottlieb in November and December 1980, are of the Ingessana and Berta peoples in Sudan’s Blue Nile Province...
- Central African RepublicVarious ArtistsUNES08020 (1983)The landlocked nation of the Central African Republic is home to an estimated 80 to 100 ethnic groups, each with their own language and music idioms...
- Central African Republic: Banda PolyphonyVarious ArtistsUNES08043 (1976)The Banda people form the largest ethnic group in the Central African Republic. They are divided into over fifty subgroups, each with its own speech, customs, and art forms...
- Afghanistan: The Traditional Music of HerâtVarious ArtistsUNES08266 (1996)Located in western Afghanistan and a center of Islamic culture during the 15th century, the city of Herat has produced vocal and instrumental music uniquely identified as “Herati.”...
- Afghanistan: Female Musicians of HeratVarious ArtistsUNES08284 (2002)In Afghanistan, gender ideology profoundly affects musical life, as nearly all musical activity is segregated between women and men...
- Japan: O-Suwa-Daiko DrumsVarious ArtistsUNES08030 (1978)In one Japanese Shinto myth, the goddess of sunlight is angered by her brother, the god of storms, and shuts herself in a cave...
- Japan: Koishimaru Izutsuya: Master of the Kawachi Ondo EpicsKoishimaru IzutsuyaUNES08319 (2015)This is a recording of Koishimaru Izutsuya (1932–1992), a master of Kawachi Ondo, the little-known genre of epic-based song performed at large Bon Odori festivals...
- Bahrain: Fidjeri: Songs of the Pearl DiversVarious ArtistsUNES08046 (1978)The island nation of Bahrain, literally meaning “two seas,” sits along the western edge of the Persian Gulf...
- Madagascar: Land of The BetsimisarakaVarious ArtistsUNES08275 (1998)The Betsimisaraka ("those who are many and united") are the second largest ethnic group on the African island nation of Madagascar...
- Bolivia: PanpipesVarious ArtistsUNES08009 (1987)French ethnographer Louis Girault recorded this album between 1955 and 1973, often transporting his heavy recording equipment by wheelbarrow or mule...
- Canada: Music of the Inuit - The Copper Eskimo TraditionVarious ArtistsUNES08053 (1983)The Inuit of the Canadian Northwest Territories, sometimes known as Copper Eskimos, follow two seasonal social patterns...
- Niger / Northern Benin: Music of the FulaniVarious ArtistsUNES08006 (1975)The Fulani are a very large, predominantly Muslim group of people living in communities scattered across Sub-Saharan Africa with the largest concentration in present-day Nigeria...
- Viet Nam: Tradition of the SouthVarious ArtistsUNES08049 (1975)The music presented in this collection is considered to be “entertainment” music, similar to that played in private concerts or on the radio, rather than for religious and ceremonial occasions...
- Uzbekistan: Music of KhorezmVarious ArtistsUNES08269 (1996)Khorezm, a medieval kingdom located in the heart of Central Asia, is now a culturally autonomous region in the northwest of Uzbekistan...
- Uzbekistan: Echoes of Vanished CourtsVarious ArtistsUNES08306 (2015)The robust music scene in Uzbekistan today can trace its roots back to the medieval court culture that flourished during the 14th century...
- Viet Nam: Ca Tru & Quan Ho - Traditional MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08035 (1978)The northern Vietnamese vocal song traditions of ca trù and quan h? are the focus of this recording...
- Java: Vocal ArtVarious ArtistsUNES08014 (1979)Javanese vocal style dates back to the introduction of Islam in the 14th century and is based on the macapat, a form of poetry with a rigidly defined structure and widespread use in the arts...
- Java: Sundanese Folk MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08051 (1976)The Indonesian island Java is the most populous island in the world, and the Sundanese, who live in the western part of Java, are the second most populous of Indonesia’s communities...
- Japan: Ainu SongsVarious ArtistsUNES08047 (1980)The Ainu people, indigenous to the Hokkaido Island of Japan and the Sakhalin and Kuril islands of Russia...
- Love SongsVarious ArtistsUNES08101 (1972)This album, compiled in 1996, features 17 love songs from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music...
- Cameroon: Baka Pygmy MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08029 (1977)The Baka people inhabit the rain forests of Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon...
- Aka Pygmy MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08054 (1973)The Aka Pygmies are known as one of the oldest populations on the African continent, occupying parts of the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo...
- Yemen: Traditional Music of the NorthVarious ArtistsUNES08004 (1978)The music of Yemen has evolved in a different manner than that of other Arab countries: it is predominantly vocal, and it does not use the maqam modal system...
- Oman: Arabian WeddingsVarious ArtistsUNES08305 (2015)Arabian weddings in Oman are multi-day celebrations involving hundreds of participants, announcing to the community a union between two individuals, families, or tribes...
- Turkish Classical Music: Tribute to Yunus EmreVarious ArtistsUNES08303 (1991)This 1991 recording is a tribute to the poet Yunus Emre on the 750th anniversary of his birth. Emre was a 13th-century troubadour and mystic whose poems focused on God and nature...
- Afghanistan: Music During the Civil War (1979–2001)Various ArtistsUNES08320 (2015)Afghanistan: Music of the Civil War (1979-2001) is one of twelve previously unreleased albums from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music...
- Switzerland: Zäuerli, Yodel of AppenzellVarious ArtistsUNES08026 (1980)This collection of traditional zäuerli (wordless yodels) was recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp in the Appenzell region of northeastern Switzerland...
- Solomon Islands: Fataleka and Baegu Music from MalaitaVarious ArtistsUNES08027 (1973)Malaita, the most densely populated of the Solomon Islands, is located about 1,200 miles off the northeast coast of Australia...
- Byelorussia: Musical Folklore of the Byelorussian PolessyeVarious ArtistsUNES08005 (1981)Covering southern Belarus and northern Ukraine, the region of Polessye is known as “the land of legends, fairy tales, and songs.”...
- Peru: Andean Music of Life, Work, and CelebrationVarious ArtistsUNES08307 (2015)UNESCO’s previously unreleased album Peru: Andean Music of Life, Work, and Celebration presents a wide array of rural indigenous musical traditions...
- Corsica: Religious Music of Oral TraditionVarious ArtistsUNES08012 (1977)Recorded in 1977 in the remote Corsican village of Rusiu (or Rusio), the music featured on this album is performed in a style of medieval folk polyphony that has been adapted to the modern world...
- Sicily: Music for the Holy WeekVarious ArtistsUNES08210 (1993)During Holy Week, proceeding Easter, many Sicilian villages celebrate with costumed processions through the streets...
- Bali: Court Music and Banjar MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08059 (1971)The Indonesian island of Bali is so small and densely populated that there has long been a complex system of cooperation among banjar, community groups within a village...
- Bali: Balinese Music of LombokVarious ArtistsUNES08272 (1997)Easily overlooked for its tourist-destination neighbor, the Indonesian island of Lombok lies about twenty miles east of Bali...
- Viet Nam: Court Theatre Music: Hat-BôiVarious ArtistsUNES08058 (1985)The traditional court theater of Vietnam is called hat bôi (hat: theater; bôi: masked or painted face)...
- Indonesia: Java - Music of the TheatreVarious ArtistsUNES08078 (1985)Traditional Javanese theater exists in various forms, featuring either puppets or dancers, and music from gamelan percussion ensembles...
- Syrian Orthodox Church: Antioch LiturgyVarious ArtistsUNES08039 (1983)According to ethnomusicologist Christian Poche, the Syrian Orthodox Church (also known as the Syriac Orthodox Church in English-speaking countries since 2000) is one of the...
- Syrian Orthodox Church: Tradition of Tur Abdin in MesopotamiaVarious ArtistsUNES08075 (1973)The Syrian Orthodox Church (referred to as the Syriac Orthodox Church in English-speaking countries since 2000) is one of the oldest Christian churches of the Middle East...
- Kurdish MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08023 (1974)From the mountainous region covering parts of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia, the Kurdish people practice a musical culture that is described by...
- Vanuatu: The Music Tradition of West FutunaVarious ArtistsUNES08274 (1998)Vanuatu, a small island nation, is located approximately 1800 miles north of New Zealand. Composed of 82 small islands (65 of which are inhabited)...
- Greece: Vocal MonodiesVarious ArtistsUNES08056 (1983)Dimitras Kukas, familiarly known as Barba Mitsos (“Uncle Mitsos”), sang and composed these unaccompanied songs...
- Russian Orthodox ChantsVarious ArtistsUNES08301 (1989)The Russian Orthodox Novodevichy Convent, dedicated to the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, was founded in 1524...
- Thailand: The Music of Chieng MaiVarious ArtistsUNES08007 (1975)Situated in northern Thailand, Chieng Mai is currently the country’s largest city. Over its long history, the city and surrounding province were attached to...
- Laos: Traditional Music of the SouthVarious ArtistsUNES08042 (1973)The Laotian national instrument is the khène, typically an eighty centimeter (roughly a two and a half foot) long mouth organ constructed of seven or eight pairs of bamboo pipes...
- Syria: Islamic Ritual Zikr in AleppoVarious ArtistsUNES08013 (1975)Vocal art is an important aspect of Islamic religious practice. In addition to two officially accepted forms—the call to prayer and the reciting of the Qur’an—there is the more mystical, Sufi zikr...
- Turkey: Bektashi Music - Ashik SongsVarious ArtistsUNES08204 (1990)The ney, Persian for “reed,” plays a leading role in the music of the Arab, Persian, and Turkish worlds. Although simple in design, this reed flute can achieve a range of three octaves...
- Hong Kong: Instrumental MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08031 (1974)“The warrior takes off his battle armor” and “Graceful steps of a lovely lady” are two of the nine compositions in this collection, recorded in the British crown colony of Hong Kong several years before its return to China in 1997...
- Turkey: Bektashi Music - Ashik SongsVarious ArtistsUNES08069 (1982)The Bektashi Order is a branch of Sufism spread across the Anatolia region of Turkey and beyond. Because many of its teachings differ from orthodox Islam, Bektashi was kept secret by its followers...
- People at PrayerVarious ArtistsUNES08108 (1971)People at Prayer is a 24-song collection of religious ritual, meditation, and devotion. Drawn from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music, the selections come from around the world...
- Côte d’Ivoire: A Senufo-Fodonon - Funerary VigilVarious ArtistsUNES08203 (1989)The Senufo are an ethnic subgroup spread across Mali and Côte d’Ivoire that were studied intensely by French ethnomusicologist Michel de Lannoy...
- The Yemenite JewsVarious ArtistsUNES08024 (1978)After the destruction of First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, a group of Jews settled in Yemen...
- Oman: Traditional Arts of the Sultanate of OmanVarious ArtistsUNES08211 (1993)In the 19th century, Oman extended into parts of the East African coast, along the Arabian Gulf, and on the Makran coast of what is now Pakistan...
- Portugal: Portuguese Traditional MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08008 (1972)As the liner notes explain and the recordings attest, Portugal’s location on the westernmost coast of continental Europe influenced...
- Ukraine: Traditional MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08206 (1991)Modern-day Ukraine is the largest country entirely within Europe, bordering Russia to the east, Moldova and Romania to the southwest...
- Cambodia: Royal MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08011 (1971)The roots of Cambodian music trace back to the ninth century and the establishment of the Khmer Empire...
- Cambodia: Folk and Ceremonial MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08068 (1996)Traditional Cambodian ceremonial orchestras may be divided into two groups: those composed of string and wind instruments and those that are primarily percussion ensembles using...
- Venezuela: Afro-Venezuelan Music, volumes I and IIVarious ArtistsUNES08318 (2014)African people of many cultural backgrounds were brought as slaves in Spanish colonial times to the Caribbean coast of what is now Venezuela. Through a culture of resistance...
- Chile: Hispano-Chilean Metisse Traditional MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08001 (1988)The traditional music of Chile is a vibrant and distinctive fusion of Spanish and indigenous cultures. This recording features music that falls into two functional categories...
- Morocco: Arabic Traditional MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08002 (1988)This 1988 recording focuses on the Arabic tradition in Moroccan music. According to the liner notes, the two forms of l-'asri modern music and sh-sha'abi popular/people’s music...
- Middle East: Sung PoetryVarious ArtistsUNES08025 (1989)Sung poetry has been a popular form of artistic expression in many parts of the world, especially among the nomadic peoples of the Middle East. Most of the poems in Persian, Arabic...
- Algeria: Sahara – Music of GouraraVarious ArtistsUNES08037 (1975)Little is known about the history of the Gourara region of the Algerian Sahara. In 1987 it housed over 60,000 Zenete, Bedouin, and Sudanese peoples...
- Benin: Bariba and Somba MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08057 (1976)The northern regions of Benin are home to the Bariba and the Somba peoples. Each has a different approach to the role of music in their culture...
- Bali: Folk Music Various ArtistsUNES08003 (1972)The native folk music of Bali, the Indonesian island province, ranges from sacred to secular celebrating all aspects of life from birth to death...
- Viet Nam: Hát Chèo – Traditional Folk TheatreVarious ArtistsUNES08022 (1978)Hát chèo is a form of popular musical theatre dating back to the 11th century. Appreciated especially in the northern part of the country, the historical plays and social satires portray village characters...
- BulgariaVarious ArtistsUNES08019 (1983)Musicologists note that the rich tradition of Bulgarian folk music can be divided into seven distinct regional styles, all of which are represented on this recording...
- France: Bagpipes of Central FranceVarious ArtistsUNES08202 (1989)Although most often associated with the British Isles, bagpipes have been played throughout Europe for centuries...
- North India: Instrumental Music of Mediaeval India Various ArtistsUNES08205 (1991)The rudra vina or bin is a plucked zither-type instrument that dates to the seventh century. Translated to mean “the vina dear to (the Hindu god) Shiva,”...
- Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad - Music from the North Indian TraditionVarious ArtistsUNES08278 (1999)According to a 2011 census report issued by the government of Trinidad and Tobago, approximately one-third of the residents of the island of Trinidad identify themselves as...
- Pakistan: The Music of the QawalVarious ArtistsUNES08028 (1977)Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in the northern regions of present-day Pakistan and India. Although it is thought to have originated in Persia...
- India: North Indian Folk MusicVarious ArtistsUNES08033 (1972)“There is not a single aspect of [Indian village] life which does not have its music,” writes Manfred M. Junius is the liner notes of this album...
- Songs of the Earth: Astonishing and Rare VoicesVarious ArtistsUNES08104 (1955)The human voice is not only the world's oldest musical instrument, but also the most portable, and it can be used in countless ways...
- Musics of the Earth: Astonishing and Rare InstrumentsVarious ArtistsUNES08105 (1955)For centuries, musicians from all parts of the world have crafted musical instruments using locally-sourced materials...
- Argentina: Tritonic Musics of the North-WestVarious ArtistsUNES08208 (1992)The early peoples of Andean northwest Argentina lost many of their cultural traits in the course of occupation by the Incas and colonization by the Spanish...
- Peru: Music of the Indigenous Communities of CuzcoVarious ArtistsUNES08268 (1997)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...
- Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850–1900 Various ArtistsUNES08277 (1998)Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850–1900 represents a reconstruction of traditional Australian New England music...
- Australia: Aboriginal Music Various ArtistsUNES08040 (1977)It is thought that the indigenous peoples of Australia (Aborigines) have inhabited the varying terrains of the continent for more than 40,000 years...
- Symphony of Nature Various ArtistsUNES08106 (1973)This international collection presents songs from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Caribbean invoking and honoring the natural world...
- Mongolia: Traditional Music Various ArtistsUNES08207 (1991)UNESCO has identified two elements of traditional Mongolian music as being “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”...
- Romania: Festive Music from the Maramures Region Various ArtistsUNES08310 (2014)This album captures the robust music in the Maramures region of Romania, where the musicians play the fiddle (cetera), the guitar (zongora)...
- Islamic Ritual from Kosovo Various ArtistsUNES08055 (1974)This recording presents extracts from two zikr rituals performed by members of the Rufa’i brotherhood, a Sufi order created in the 12th century by Ahmed ar-Rifa’i...
- Canada: Inuit Games and Songs Various ArtistsUNES08032 (1976)From 1974 to 1976, researchers traveled to Arctic villages in Northeastern Canada to record the verbal games and songs of the Inuit people...
- Lullabies and Children’s Songs Various ArtistsUNES08102 (1972)The singing of lullabies and children’s songs knows no geographical boundaries...
- Greece: Traditional Music Various ArtistsUNES08018 (1974)After two millennia under the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, not to mention musical invasions from the West...
- Côte d'Ivoire: Baule Vocal Music Various ArtistsUNES08048 (1972)The liner notes relate the legend of Queen Aura Poku, who sacrificed her son to allow her people to cross a river to freedom...
- Brazil: Bororo World of Sound Various ArtistsUNES08201 (1989)The Bororo are an indigenous people living in the Mato Grosso region of west central Brazil. Primarily hunter-gatherers, the Bororo all but disappeared as an ethnic group...
- Mexican Indian Traditions Various ArtistsUNES08304 (2014)The music on this album was recorded live during performances by seven indigenous Mexican groups at the Avignon Festival (France) in the summer of 1992...
- Indonesia: Music from West Java Various ArtistsUNES08041 (1976)The Sundanese are indigenous people in the western part of Java. Until the 15th century, the Sunda region of Java was home to a powerful kingdom which remained independent of numerous Javanese empires...
- Fiji: Songs of Love and Homeland: String Band Music Various ArtistsUNES08316 (2014)From island villages of Fiji in the Melanesian South Pacific, the songs known as sere ni cumu are music of a special time and place...
- China Various ArtistsUNES08071 (1985)The qin, zheng, and pipa are plucked string instruments that can be traced back to the Sui (581–618 AD) and Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties. All three are generally played as solo instruments—five of the six pieces on this recording are solos...
- China: Chuida Wind and Percussive Instrumental Ensembles Various ArtistsUNES08209 (1992)The music of China is as varied as its enormous population, but chuida is one of several styles of traditional folk music that is widespread...
- South India: Ranganayaki Rajagopalan
—Continuity in the Karaikudi Vina Style Ranganayaki RajagopalanUNES08311 (2014)Vi?a player Ranganayaki Rajagopalan (b. 1932) is a much-honored master of a South Indian classical (Karnatak/Carnatic) instrumental style named after the town... - India: The Music of Pandit Lalmani Misra Pandit Lalmani MisraUNES08267 (1996)Musician and educator Dr. Lalmani Misra (1924–1979) was recognized as a master of the vicitra vi?ā (also known as vichitra veena). Perhaps the oldest stringed instrument in classical Hindustani music...
- Tibetan Ritual Various ArtistsUNES08034 (1971)This recording presents in its entirety the “Invocation to the Goddess Yeshiki Mamo,” performed by Buddhist monks (lamas) from the Nyingmapa Monastery of Dehra Dun in India with the authorization of the private secretariat...
- Japan: Shomyo Buddhist Ritual - Dai Hannya Ceremony Various ArtistsUNES08036 (1975)Buddhism was formally introduced into Japan in the 6th century. One of the earliest forms of Japanese Buddhist music is shomyo, derived from a Chinese adaptation of Indian Vedic chants...
- Norway: Fiddle and Hardanger Fiddle Music from Agder Various ArtistsUNES08063 (1996)The hardingfele (fiddle from Hardanger) has been the principal stringed instrument of the fiddle tradition in the region of Agder in southernmost Norway since...
- Ireland Various ArtistsUNES08271 (1997)Drawing from thousands of hours of music recorded and stored in the Department of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin, Professor Ríonach Uí Ógáin selected 21 performances representing the essence of traditional Irish music...
- North India: Vocal Music - Dhrupad and Khyal Various ArtistsUNES08076 (1971)The two principal vocal styles found in the classical music of Northern India are dhrupad and khyal. The dhrupad style, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition, first appeared in the late 16th century...
- North India: Dhrupad Singing by Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar Ustad F. Wasifuddin DagarUNES08283 (2003)Dhrupad singing is regarded as the most ancient and rigorous form of classical vocal music in India. The term refers to both the musical form as a whole and to one of its three parts...
- Musical Sources Various ArtistsUNES08100 (1971)First issued in 1971, Musical Sources is a collection of 30 compositions from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. The featured field recordings include rarely heard examples of music from the cultures of...
- Dance and Festivity Various ArtistsUNES08107 (1974)Dance and Festivity highlights music for dance and festive events around the world. Included are the cueca, the national dance of Chile; zapateo, a couples dance from Cuba; and a polka from France...
- Anthology of Indian Classical Music: A Tribute to Alain Daniélou Various ArtistsUNES08270 (1955)First released in 1955 by Ducretet-Thomson (EMI), the LP anthology is said to be the "first of this music to become available in the West...
Previously Unreleased Albums:
- Afghanistan: Music During the Civil War (1979-2001)
- Fiji: Songs of Love and Homeland—String Band Music
- Japan: Koishimaru Izutsuya: Master of the Kawachi Ondo Epics
- Oman: Arabian Weddings
- Peru: Andean Music of Life, Work, and Celebration
- Portugal: Festas in Minho
- Portugal: Music and Dance from Madeira
- Romania: Festive Music from the Maramures Region
- South India: Ranganayaki Rajagopalan—Continuity in the Karaikudi Vina Style
- Uzbekistan: Echoes of Vanished Courts
- Uzbekistan: Musical Traditions of the Karakalpaks
- Venezuela: Afro–Venezuelan Music, volumes I and II
Two Albums Released Per Week Starting April 29, 2014
The release of the UNESCO collection began on April 29, 2014, with two albums released every week for approximately one year. Stay updated about the collection and learn more about how to become a UNESCO collection guest blogger by signing up to our mailing list below.
Titles in the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music:
Africa
- **UNES08054 Aka Pygmy Music
- **UNES08037 Algeria: Sahara – Music of Gourara
- **UNES08057 Benin: Bariba and Somba Music
- **UNES08029 Cameroon: Baka Pygmy Music
- **UNES08020 Central African Republic
- **UNES08043 Central African Republic: Banda Polyphony
- **UNES08203 Côte d’Ivoire: A Senufo-Fodonon - Funerary Vigil
- **UNES08048 Côte d’Ivoire: Baule Vocal Music
- **UNES08038 Egypt: Taqâsîm & Layâlî - Cairo Tradition
- **UNES08074 Ethiopia: Three Cordophone Traditions
- **UNES08275 Madagascar: Land of The Betsimisaraka
- **UNES08282 Madagascar: Spirit Music from the Tamatave Region
- **UNES08265 Music Tradition of Malawi
- **UNES08002 Morocco: Arabic Traditional Music
- **UNES08006 Niger/Northern Benin: Music of the Fulani
- **UNES08072 Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Gumuz Tribe
- **UNES08073 Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Ingessana and Berta Tribes
Asia
- **UNES08284 Afghanistan: Female Musicians of Herat
- *UNES08320 Afghanistan: Music During the Civil War (1979-2001)
- **UNES08266 Afghanistan: The Traditional Music of Herât
- **UNES08045 Azerbaijan: Azerbaijani Mugam
- **UNES08046 Bahrain: Fidjeri: Songs of the Pearl Divers
- **UNES08077 Bengal: Bengali Traditional Folk Music
- **UNES08068 Cambodia: Folk and Ceremonial Music
- **UNES08011 Cambodia: Royal Music
- **UNES08071 China
- **UNES08209 China: Chuida Wind and Percussive Instrumental Ensembles
- **UNES08031 Hong Kong: Instrumental Music
- **UNES08033 India: North Indian Folk Music
- **UNES08267 India: Vicitra Vina - The Music of Pandit Lalmani Misra
- **UNES08270 Anthology of Indian Classical Music: A Tribute to Alain Daniélou
- **UNES08283 North India: Dhrupad Singing by Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar
- **UNES08021 North India: Instrumental Music - Rudra Veena, Vichitra Veena, Sarod, Shahnai
- **UNES08017 North India: Instrumental Music - Sitar, Flute, Sarangi
- **UNES08205 North India: Instrumental Music of Mediaeval India
- **UNES08076 North India: Vocal music - Dhrupad and Khyal
- *UNES08311 South India: Ranganayaki Rajagopalan—Continuity in the Karaikudi Vina Style
- **UNES08078 Indonesia: Java - Music of the Theatre
- **UNES08041 Indonesia: Music from West Java
- **UNES08272 Bali: Balinese Music of Lombok
- **UNES08059 Bali: Court Music and Banjar Music
- **UNES08003 Bali: Folk Music
- **UNES08051 Java: Sundanese Folk Music
- **UNES08014 Java: Vocal Art
- **UNES08044 Iraq: Iqa’at - Traditional Rhythmic Structure
- **UNES08047 Japan: Ainu Songs
- *UNES08319 Japan: Koishimaru Izutsuya: Master of the Kawachi Ondo Epics
- **UNES08030 Japan: O-Suwa-Daiko Drums
- **UNES08016 Japan: Semiclasssical and Folk Music
- **UNES08036 Japan: Shomyo Buddhist Ritual - Dai Hannya Ceremony
- **UNES08010 Korea
- **UNES08023 Kurdish Music
- **UNES08042 Laos: Traditional Music of the South
- **UNES08025 Middle East: Sung Poetry
- **UNES08207 Mongolia: Traditional Music
- **UNES08281 Myanmar: Music by the Hsaing Waing Orchestra: The Burmese Harp
- **UNES08279 Nepal: Ritual and Entertainment
- *UNES08305 Oman: Arabian Weddings
- **UNES08211 Oman: Traditional Arts of the Sultanate of Oman
- **UNES08028 Pakistan: The Music of the Qawal
- *UNES08301 Russian Orthodox Chants
- **UNES08013 Syria: Islamic Ritual Zikr in Aleppo
- **UNES08039 Syrian Orthodox Church: Antioch Liturgy
- **UNES08075 Syrian Orthodox Church: Tradition of Tur Abdin in Mesopotamia
- **UNES08212 Tajik Music of Badakhshan
- **UNES08007 Thailand: The Music of Chieng Mai
- **UNES08034 Tibetan Ritual
- **UNES08069 Turkey: Bektashi Music - Ashik Songs
- **UNES08213 Turkmen Epic Singing: Köroglu
- *UNES08306 Uzbekistan: Echoes of Vanished Courts
- **UNES08269 Uzbekistan: Music of Khorezm
- *UNES08308 Uzbekistan: Musical Traditions of the Karakalpaks
- **UNES08035 Viet Nam: Ca Tru & Quan Ho - Traditional Music
- **UNES08058 Viet Nam: Court Theatre Music: Hat-Bôi
- **UNES08049 Viet Nam: Tradition of the South
- **UNES08070 Viet Nam: Traditions of the South
- **UNES08022 Viet Nam: Hát Chèo - Traditional Folk Theatre
- **UNES08273 Yemen: Songs from Hadramawt
- **UNES08004 Yemen: Traditional Music of the North
- **UNES08024 The Yemenite Jews
- **UNES08302 Yoshihisha Taira: Tribute to Noguchi
Australia and Oceania
- **UNES08040 Australia: Aboriginal Music
- **UNES08277 Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850—1900
- **UNES08316 Fiji: Songs of Love and Homeland—String Band Music
- **UNES08027 Solomon Islands: Fataleka and Baegu Music from Malaita
- **UNES08274 Vanuatu: The Music Tradition of West Futuna
Europe
- **UNES08015 Armenia: Liturgical Chants - Mekhitarist Community of Venice
- **UNES08019 Bulgaria
- **UNES08005 Byelorussia: Musical Folklore of the Byelorussian Polessye
- **UNES08012 Corsica: Religious Music of Oral Tradition
- **UNES08276 Croatia
- **UNES08202 France: Bagpipes of Central France
- **UNES08018 Greece: Traditional Music
- **UNES08056 Greece: Vocal Monodies
- **UNES08271 Ireland
- **UNES08055 Islamic Ritual from Kosovo
- **UNES08063 Norway: Fiddle and Hardanger Fiddle Music from Agder
- *UNES08317 Portugal: Festas in Minho
- *UNES08323 Portugal: Music and Dance from Madeira
- **UNES08008 Portugal: Portuguese Traditional Music
- *UNES08310 Romania: Festive Music from the Maramures Region
- **UNES08210 Sicily: Music for the Holy Week
- **UNES08026 Switzerland: Zäuerli, Yodel of Appenzell
- **UNES08204 Turkey: The Turkish Ney
- **UNES08303 Turkish Classical Music: Tribute to Yunus Emre
- **UNES08206 Ukraine: Traditional Music
North America
- **UNES08032 Canada: Inuit Games and Songs
- **UNES08053 Canada: Music of the Inuit - The Copper Eskimo Tradition
- **UNES08064 Folk Music of Cuba
- **UNES08304 Mexican Indian Traditions
South America
- **UNES08208 Argentina: Tritonic Musics of the North-West
- **UNES08009 Bolivia: Panpipes
- **UNES08201 Brazil: Bororo World of Sound
- **UNES08001 Chile: Hispano-Chilean Metisse Traditional Music
- *UNES08307 Peru: Andean Music of Life, Work, and Celebration
- **UNES08268 Peru: Music of the Indigenous Communities of Cuzco
- **UNES08278 Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad - Music from the North Indian Tradition
- *UNES08318 Venezuela: Afro-Venezuelan Music, volumes I and II
Compilation Albums
- **UNES08107 Dance and Festivity
- **UNES08101 Love Songs
- **UNES08102 Lullabies and Children’s Songs
- **UNES08100 Musical Sources
- **UNES08105 Musics of the Earth: Astonishing and Rare Instruments
- **UNES08108 People at Prayer
- **UNES08103 Ritual Chant and Music
- **UNES08104 Songs of the Earth: Astonishing and Rare Voices
- **UNES08106 Symphony of Nature