Voice of Tibet
In 1937, Tseten Drolma was born into a serf’s family that lacked a home or land. In old Tibet, officials, aristocrats and highranking monks, as well as their agents, accounted for only five percent of Tibet’s population, but they owned almost all of Tibet’s farmland, pastures, forests, mountains, and rivers, as well as livestock. About 95 percent of old Tibet’s population was serfs with no means of production. And serfs were forced to work the estates of lords and hand over the majority of their harvest to the landowner, leaving only a small portion for their survival. Tseten Drolma experienced hunger and chills in her youth.
During a harvest break in 1972, Tseten Drolma sings a song. CFB
As a serf’s daughter, Tseten Drolma certainly had no chance to go to school, which was a privilege reserved only for aristocratic sons. She usually herded lambs and cattle for her masters. However, Tseten didn’t blame her situation on the serf system. “The lords’ children were born lucky,” she thought.
In 1951, Tibet was liberated peacefully by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). As a result, Tseten Drolma’s meager prospects totally changed. The PLA Art Troupe tried to recruit Tseten Drolma after hearing her sing. She was hesitant to accept the invitation because she was unfamiliar with the PLA and the Communist Party of China. While she was contemplating whether to join, she found the chance to visit other places of China and signed up. In 1957, she joined other young people on a tour of some areas beyond Tibet. She was stunned to see that other farmers didn’t have to hand over their harvest. The three-month trip turned her world upside down.
In 1958, her love for singing and hope to avoid starving pushed her to join the art troupe of the PLA. A year later, Drolma was sent to Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, to study at its Tibet Institute. For the first time, Tseten Drolma had the chance to sit in a class. After half a year of studying, she found another new opportunity: Shanghai Conservatory of Music introduced classes especially for minority ethnic groups. Thanks to her beautiful voice, Tseten was recruited.
October 8, 2003: Tseten Drolma bows to the audience after a solo concert held in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province. CFPAt the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Tseten Drolma studied under Wang Pinsu. Tseten Drolma’s highest note was so high that Wang could not find a corresponding piano key. She decided to train Drolma differently. Wang instructed her to keep the singing habits of Tibetan folk songs, but taught her some scientific methods to optimally develop her natural voice. After professional training, Tseten Drolma preserved her Tibetan flavors. At that time, because of language barriers and a weak educational base, it was hard for Tseten Drolma to study music theory. It was also hard for Wang to teach. Ultimately, Wang learned Tibetan just to teach Tseten Drolma.
Tibetan songs are mostly loud and clear but usually get weak as the notes go higher. Thanks to Wang’s guidance and the student’s efforts, Tseten Drolma became a world-class singer.
In 1965, 28-year-old Tseten Drolma returned to Tibet and joined the Song and Dance Troupe of the Tibet Autonomous Region. She visited almost every village in Tibet to sing for the public. Beginning in 1974, Tseten Drolma successively served as vice president of the Bureau of Culture of Tibet, vice chairwoman of the People’s Political Consultative Conference of Tibet Autonomous Region and vice president of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In 1994, Tseten Drolma launched a fund for Tibetan singers. For her, the development of Tibetan music is a life-long mission.
Tibetan Music: From Tibet to the World
Back in the 1960s, Tibetan music featured a natural style, and popular songs often praised the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao Zedong, the PLA and Tibet’s new look. Tibetan singers were represented by Tseten Drolma. In the 1990s, Yatung, known as the “Tibetan King of Pop,” inspired a wave of Tibetan music producers and singers devoted to making Tibetan popular music a special genre in Chinese pop music. Zhu Zheqin (Dadawa) released the album Voices from the Sky in 60 countries around the word, which enabled Tibetan music to be heard by the world. Since the dawn of the 21st Century, the popularity of Tibetan culture has accelerated the development of Tibetan music. Influential Tibetan music figures from 1990s have started promoting Tibetan culture and exploring traditional Tibetan music.
An artist performs a talking-singing version of King Gesar. In the past, such legacies were preserved only in memory and passed on by word of mouth.
October 1975, Beijing: Artists from the Tibet Song and Dance Troupe dance with their counterparts from Zhejiang Province. by Gu Dehua
August 2009: Primary school students in Lhasa perform a Tibetan Opera in front of the Potala Palace. Tibetan Opera is a central folk art in Tibetan culture. Performers make changes to fit local tastes. by Kelsang Dawa