Now in the fifth year of their internationally acclaimed collaboration, Yo-Yo Ma and colleagues continue to explore the musical cultures that flourished along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and the West. Beyond the Horizon includes music by two of China’s leading film composers—Zhao Jiping and Zhao Lin—as well as the works of such innovative members of the ensemble as Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor; Alim Qasimov, vocalist and master of the Azerbaijani mugham musical tradition; Indian tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das; and Wu Tong, who plays the xun, a type of ancient ocarina. The CD begins with a work by Sandeep Das entitled “Mohini” (“Enchantment”). The second part explores origins and rootedness, evoking the memory of nomadic peoples (“Mountains Are Far Away” and “Summer in the High Grassland”). The final third of the CD is revelatory, including the transcendent vocals of Alim Qasimov and the serene harmonies of Zhao Jiping’s “Sacred Cloud Music.”
“Music of such unearthly beauty that a listener almost feels guilty—if these aren’t the sounds of paradise, they surely come close.”—SFChronicle
“This music—exuberantly performed on a host of exotic instruments—leapt across national boundaries in a strange and wonderful way.”—Chicago Tribune
