tists, and actors to achieve, within limits, a self-expression never before available to them. Leading 20th-century modern writers are Dashdorjiyn Natsagorj, Ts. Damdinsürün, D. Sengee, S. Erdene, and others.John Richard KruegerMusicMusic in Central Asia flowered along centuries-old caravan routes linking the Middle East with China and India via what is often referred to as Turkistan, the vast region extending from the Caspian Sea to Sinkiang province in China. Musical instruments diffused from one region to another, and many of the musical styles still display foreign influence. The variety of musical styles ranges from the systematically organized classical music of Turkistan to the notated religious chants of Tibet to the highly varied folk music styles of the region's numerous ethnic groups. The main thrust of this examination of Central Asian music will be on the traditions and styles first of Afghanistan and the sedentary population of Turkistan, then of the Turkic nomads, the Mongols, and the Siberian peoples, and finally of the Himalayan peoples in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim.Afghanistan and the sedentary population of TurkistanThis region of Central Asia includes Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the oases of eastern (Chinese) Turkistan. The region lies within the Persian cultural area, and in the arts and in language the Persian imprint has endured over many centuries. In music the links with Persia appear most clearly in terminology and instruments. Islām, another Middle Eastern heritage, predominates in this region and results in a generally low social status for musicians and musical performance—a situation generally not found in other regions of Central Asia.The area includes two main streams of musical practice: folk music in a broad range of styles, often closely linked to specific ethnic groups; and the more exclusive, cosmopolitan, classical music, derived from the medieval court music of Bukhara, Samarkand, and other urban centres of Transoxania (modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan). A third stream is now in the process of formation: popular music disseminated through the mass media.Generally characterized by a scarcity of musicians and musical instruments (musical instrument), folk music of this region is predominantly a matter of solo playing and singing, small ensembles, and a complete lack of musical notation or codified musical theory. In their general types, the musical instruments are closely related to those of Persia and the Middle East, but specific forms and playing styles are purely local. Thus, there are numerous variants of the Persian long-necked lute, with names derived from the Persian tanbūr (tanbur) or dūtār; small spike fiddles (rabāb), in which the neck skewers the body, forming a spike at the base; various block or fipple flutes (fipple flute), with air ducts like that of the Western recorder; transverse (horizontally held) flutes; oboes; metal jew's harps; and two basic drum types, a single-headed vase-shaped drum of pottery or wood and a large single-headed frame drum, or tambourine—all instrumental types widely diffused in the Middle East.Stylistically, the music relates to that of both the Middle East and the surrounding nomadic Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Songs are completely monophonic (i.e., consisting only of a line of melody), but instrumental music often includes two-part polyphony (music in more than one voice, or part). The polyphony may take the form of a drone (sustained note) with a melody played above it. Or it may be organum style—i.e., the second part playing the same melody as the first but at a higher or lower pitch. Most common are parallel fourths or fifths (a fourth encompasses four notes of a Western major or minor scale; a fifth, five). In structure, much of the music is based on small forms, frequently binary, or two-section, and ternary, or three-section. Small musical units may be repeated many times and varied slightly at each appearance. The recurrence of melodic phrases and an emphasis on marked rhythms (rhythm) is common 