Losar antiphonal songsTshangla and Dakpa
Greeting, blessing and competitive teasing between two groups singing in alternation, with new verses fitted to a fixed tune and chhang passed through the circle.
Sung at: New year, over several days.
Monpa & Tawang Belt · Eastern Himalaya & Brahmaputra Belt
Folk songs
The songs of Tsangyang GyatsoTibetan
Love, longing and the difficulty of being what one is expected to be, in short quatrains attributed to the sixth Dalai Lama, who was born at Urgelling near Tawang. They circulate orally far beyond this valley.
Sung at: Sung informally, everywhere.
Brokpa herding songsBrokpa
Weather, animals, distance and the long walk up. Sung unaccompanied in a high open voice because they were made to carry across a valley.
Sung at: At the summer pastures.
Wedding negotiation songsTshangla
A sung exchange between the two families in which the groom's party has to answer for itself before being let in. Formalised argument, with the outcome never in doubt.
Sung at: At the door of the bride's house.
Choskar field songsTshangla and Dakpa
Blessing of the standing crop, sung by the procession as it walks the field boundaries behind the monks and the volumes of scripture.
Sung at: When the scriptures are carried around the fields.
Ajilamu song sequencesTshangla
Narrative and comic verse carrying the plot of the masked drama, alternating between sung passages and spoken exchanges.
Sung at: With the masked play.
The folk songs of Monpa & Tawang Belt — what they are about, who sings them and when. (6)