Music of Central Asia Vol.5: The Badakhshan Ensemble: Song and Dance from the Pamir Mountains, 5 min

The Badakhshan Ensemble takes its name from the mountainous region - poetically known in Persian as Bam-i Dunya, the "Roof of the World" - that comprises the sparsely populated eastern half of Tajikistan and northeast Afghanistan. There, nestled in a series of riverine valleys that descend from the Pamir Mountains to the Panj River, the boundary line between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, are scores of small settlements whose inhabitants have cultivated a vibrant tradition of devotional song, dance, and contemplative instrumental music.