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Music is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among the unique contributions of Mongolia to the world's musical culture are the long songs, 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.
The morin khuur, also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the nation of Mongolia. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified by UNESCO.
The igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate. The strings, and those of the bow, are traditionally made of hair from a horse's tail, but may also be made of nylon. Like the morin khuur of Mongolia, the igil typically features a carved horse's head at the top of the neck above the tuning pegs, and both instruments are known as the horsehead fiddle.
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The Hu is a Mongolian folk metal band formed in 2016. Incorporating traditional Mongolian instrumentation, including the morin khuur, the tovshuur, and throat singing, the band calls their style of music "hunnu rock", a term inspired by the Xiongnu, an ancient nomadic empire based in Mongolia proper, known as Hünnü in Mongolian. Some of the band's lyrics include old Mongolian war cries and poetry in the Mongolian language.
Epic poetry, or tuuli in Mongolian, is an important genre of Mongol oral literature, with features reminiscent of Germanic alliterative verse. The two most well-known epics are the Jangar and the Geser. These tuuli are commonly sung with instruments such as the Morin khuur and the Tovshuur (lute). Most epics deal with topics of the history of the Mongols, their ideal worlds and heroes, and the acquisition of new lands. Epics are performed mostly as celebrations or during important events. Mongol epic poetry has, as of 2009, been on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
Aryun-Goa, born Aryuna Nimaeva, is a Buryat singer, musician and composer from Russia. She is known for blending traditional Buryat and Mongolian music with contemporary styles like hard rock. Aryun-Goa is the lead vocalist of the ethno-rock band NukeR.
References
- ↑ The Wire. C. Parker. 2005. p. 83.
- 1 2 3 Gouchinova, Elza-Bair Mataskovna (2013-01-11). The Kalmyks. Routledge. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-1-135-77887-3.
- 1 2 Reckel, Johannes; Schatz, Merle (2020). Oirat and Kalmyk Identity in the 20th and 21st Century. Universitätsverlag Göttingen. pp. 191–197. ISBN 978-3-86395-464-2.
