• for voices, ikel, morin khuur, denshig and piano

• Duration: 8'
• In 1 movement
• Composed in 2011
• ISMN: 979-0-9016511-1-1
• Downloadable scores for inspection:
  Shame_6.pdf

In August of 2010, Casteels traveled to Mongolia, joined a scientific expedition to track and record eagles in their natural habitat. I was very impressed by the landscape and its inhabitants. I read a book of Mongolian literature translated in English and was struck by the poem Shame, shame by Dulduit Danzanrajaa. Every verse ends with the interjection “shame”. After lamenting on the shortcomings of elderly, youngsters, wise men, princes, daughters, ministers, pandits, yogis, students, doctors, cautious people, girls, scholars, husbands, wives,  the poet exclaims: ”if I have these faults myself, then I am first amongst equals”. The poet concludes: “who, young or old, does not?” Little did Casteels know that Danzanrajaa who lived from 1803 to 1856 is Mongolia’s most celebrated poet and that this poem is part of every secondary school’s curriculum. Danzanrajaa was also a prominent composer, painter, astrologist and the incarnation of a Lama. Six months after his journey to Mongolia, Casteels met the Mongolian Ensemble Khan Bogd who was performing then in Singapore. They got along well despite the language barrier. The pitches Casteels wrote for the western piano in Shame deliberately contrasts with those of the Ikel and Morin Khuur, two Mongolian traditional string instruments. The damped or resonating sounds of the Denshig or finger cymbal punctuate particular words of the poem.