Music of Mongolia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Music is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among the unique contributions of Mongolia to the world's musical culture are the long songs, one of the greatest features of the Mongolian music, overtone singing and morin khuur, the horse-headed fiddle. The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country: Oirats, Hotogoid, Tuvans, Darhad, Buryats, Tsaatan, Dariganga, Uzemchins, Barga, Kazakhs and Khalha. Besides the traditional music, Western classical music and ballet flourished during the MPR. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs, which are written by modern authors in a form of folk songs. The Mongolians are renowned for their love for music and singing. Any celebrations by the Mongolians always turn into a celebrity of singing.
Long songThis genre is not called "Long song" (Urtyn duu) because the songs are long, but because each syllable of text is extended for a long duration. A four-minute song may only consist of ten words. Lyrical themes vary depending on context; they can be philosophical, religious, romance, or celebratory, and often use horses as a symbol or theme repeated throughout the song. Eastern Mongols typically use a morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) as accompaniment, sometimes with a type of indigenous flute. Oirat groups of the Western Mongols typically sing long songs unaccompanied or accompanied with the ikel. Horse-head fiddleThe horse-head fiddle, or morin khuur, is a distinctively Mongolian instrument and is seen as a symbol of the country. The instrument is two-stringed and is bowed like a cello. There is some controversy regarding the traditional carving of a horse on the upper end of the pegbox. Some scholars believe that this is proof that the instrument was originally a shamanistic instrument, as the staffs of shamans have a horse similarly carved on top; the horse is a much-revered animal in Mongolia. Throat singingPerhaps the best-known musical form of the Mongols is the throat singing tradition known as hoomii, extant among all or most Mongols though best known internationally from Tuva. Sung differently than traditional vocals. In Mongolia, the most-famous throat-singers include Khalkhas like Gereltsogt and Sundui, while the Tuvan group Huun-Huur-Tu has an international following. This unique type of singing involves the production of two distinctively audible pitches at the same time, including a low pedal note, or drone, derived from the fundamental frequency of the vocal cord vibrations, and higher melodic notes that result when the singer's mouth acts as a filter, selecting one note at a time from among the drone's natural overtone series pitches. Pop musicLargely unknown outside of Mongolia, there is a thriving popular music scene centered in the city of Ulaanbaatar. Actually, this is a mixture of various kinds of popular music. A few of the younger Mongolian popular artists are becoming increasingly well established internationally, mostly notably, the young female singer Nominjin (singing in 8 languages in a variety of genres) and Borkhuu Amarkhuu, a star of the Russian pop music. Other Western genres include Rock performers like young singer Otgoo, heavy metal bands like Exero, Nisvanis and Hurd, alternative rock like Night Train and the Lemons, folk rock like Altan Urag, boy bands like Camerton, girl groups like Kiwi, Emotion and Lipstick, hard rock bands like Haranga, hip hop, and techno like Khar Sarnai. Changing the tune of 6th string on the guitar, Exero achieves the most profound heavy rock sound. Since 1994, hip hop has gained considerable popularity in Mongolia. Mongolia's first hip hop groups were Dain Ba Enkh (War & Peace)2 Huu, Erkh-Chuluu, Lumino, Mon-Ta-Rap and others.
First groups who were worth noting are Har Sarnai, Har Tas and MC Boys. These groups represented the beginning of rap in Mongolia. Their songs mostly stressed on social issues, philosophy and rebellious ideas. Second part of the rap scene was much more like American hip hop. Dain Ba Enkh, 2 Huu, Erkh-Chuluu, Lumino, Mon-Ta-Rap, Ice Top and URMC to name a few groups that were setting to tone of this generations. They have continued with message the previous groups left. Also, they added little twist to the game by including “soft” touches in their songs. These songs are called “Love Songs” that faced with strong resistance from hard core rap fans but welcomed by the general public. Groups that created these songs found fame and success but most importantly they have created a new fan base that made Mongolian hip hop stronger. The third part of Mongolian rap is represented by the groups that are active now. There are so many of them but most successful ones are Tataar, Quiza and Lumino. Popular folk musicThere is also a long established and distinctive "Mongolian pop" genre that occupies the same place on the musical spectrum as Japanese Enka music or Western soft-pop-oriented folk music or country music. Classic singers from the late 20th and early 21st centuries include Vandan and Dulamsüren, Batsükh, Tömörkhuyag and Egschiglen. Some of the repeatedly heard lyrical themes are very distinctive for Mongolia: heartfelt tributes to the songwriter's mother, for example, or paeans to great horses. This type of music is not considered world music in the west and was long generally unavailable outside Mongolia, but can now be downloaded from various Mongolian websites. It may be filed under the designation Зохиoлын Дyy (schlagers). Classical musicMongolia features a rich tradition of classical music and ballet. The classical music ows its prosperity in the 2nd half of the 20th century to a patronage of then Socialist government that favoured Western and Russian/Soviet classical arts to Western pop culture. In addition, the Mongolian composers developed a rich diversity of national symphony and ballet. List of Mongolian composers
See also
References
|
