Ancient and invisible,the wind can be as tumultuous as the seas, and as reckless and powerful as thunder. Winds have swept through the temples of the Han and the palaces of the Tang, and echoed through the forests of every generation. It has made the great grasslands of the world rise and swell like the tides, with nothing but a whisper, carrying with it tales of the great wars fought among the nomadic tribes of northern China.

   A man on horseback cracks his whip, and takes off across the plains as fast as the wind itself. The clan advances westward; the thunder of horse hooves racing across the plains. In the evening the Donghu people set up camp, only to have their tents burned to the ground by the Xiongnu. At daybreak the blood of the Xianbei courses through the veins of the Rouran, forming the heart of what will be known as the Qidan, the powerful rulers who created the majesty of the Jin dynasty. Facing the imminent attack from the Turks, the Uyghursstand silent, swords in hand, the two people’s tumultuous story of life and death acting as the backdropto the Uyghursheroic vanquishing of the An Shi Rebellion thatbriefly saved the Tang dynasty. And as the Wusun chant the bittersweet melody of Princesses Xijun and Jieyou on the battlefield, the soldiers are filled with a courage that will endure through the generations, carried by the windsacross the plains.

The calls of the birds and bleating of the sheep can be heard as the great wind tirelessly sweeps away the sands of time, as relentless as destiny. Out of these winds of time, an ancient song is born, which accompanies the ancestors of heroes as they set out across the boundless, claiming their destiny, and showing the world what they are capable of.

   The bridle, the saddle, the tent and the fragrance of tea are forever imprinted with the names of those who would otherwise be forgotten; while the hand drum, the horse head fiddle, the dombra and the haunting resonance ofkhoomiithroat singing fill the void between settlement and warfare. A flock of wild geese call out, leading these deer herding people back. Above the endless desert a sliver moons rises, lighting the way for these lonesome travelers; the bells on their camel’s neck chiming. A swift steed fords rushing stream, ever faithful to his shepherd master. The defenders stand solemnly silent; the conquerors saying nothing, yet the everlasting trees and grass hear and remember all. Every time the stars come out to shine in the sky, an endless sea of brilliant blossoms of light, they fill the land below with their lusty songs season after season, year after year, finally becoming as immortal as the stars themselves.

Lullaby transports the listener to a realm of dreams, where the fragrance of the plains tells the tales of countless generations of heroes. A man from afar arrives on horseback, searching for the woman whose Dark Eyebrows he had seen in a dream, a single gaze enough to make one fall in love with her. The light of the bonfire outside the yurt illuminates the face of a young man humming the tune of Black Skylark, while warming the hands of an elderly man tuning his dombra. The history of countless generations is written on the vast waves of grass, reaching up to the sky. The song of the horse head fiddle soars over this forbidding landscape, like the undying wind, drawing strength from the grasslands. The footprints of the trailblazer and defender alike are to be found here, and with the passage of time, have become legends and immortalized in countless songs. In Seeing off the Bride, a father weeps as he remember his little girl from her birth to this day when she must leave home..

   Renowned cellist and teacher, NaMula, anative Evenk, expresses the history of her people through her music.

Composer Daibo let the wild geese call out through veins of fiddle and band. Rhymoi Music’s producer Ye Yunchuan once again unites east and west, past and present, and sculpts a musical landscape that beautifully evokes the lives and histories of these nomadic peoples, with the soaring sound of the cello taking the principal role. China’s master recording engineer, Li Dakang, using state-of-the-art recording technology, stunningly captures these live performances from the Middle School of the Central Music Academy concert hall, the timbre and tone of the cello and orchestra flawlessly balanced. Hailing from the US, Alan Silverman’s masterful motherboard provides the polish of post-production. Prepare to become lost in these epic performances, as our artists transport you to a place where the only sound is the wind as it rushes across the grasslands; a place as ancient and enduring as time itself.