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Music is an integral part ofMongolian culture. Among the unique contributions ofMongolia to the world's musical culture are thelong songs,overtone singing, andmorin khuur, the horse-headed fiddle. Themusic 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,Westernclassical music andballet flourished during theMongolian People's Republic. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Westernpop androck genres and the mass songs, which are written by modern authors in a form offolk songs.
Overtone singing, known ashöömij (throat),[1] is a singing technique also found in the generalCentral Asian area. This type of singing is considered more as a type of instrument.[2] It involves different ways of breathing: producing two distinctively audible pitches at the same time, one being a whistle like sound and the other being a drone bass. The sound is a result of locked breaths in the chest.
In Mongolia, the most famous throat-singers include Khalkhas likeGereltsogt andSundui.
Khalkha singers have conceptualized Mongolian lyrical xöömei into several different styles while kharkhiraa remains a separate technique.[3]
"Long songs" (Urtyin duu[4]) are one of the main formats of Mongolian music. Firstly, whenGenghis Khan first united Mongolia (13th century), many different tribes were brought together, and this allowed sharing of music that had not happened before. The song "Ertnii Saikhan" was a popular song at weddings and imperial meetings, and the song "Oyunt Khuu" was a popular song. The most distinguishing feature is that each syllable of text is extended for a long duration; a four-minute song may only consist of ten words.[5] Other features are a slow tempo, wide intervals and no fixed rhythm. The richer and longer hold a singer has, the more appreciated the singer. Lyrical themes vary depending on context; they can be philosophical, religious, romance, or celebratory, and often usehorses as a symbol or theme repeated throughout the song. Eastern Mongols typically use amorin khuur (horse-head fiddle) as accompaniment, sometimes with a type of indigenousflute namedlimbe. Oirat groups of the Western Mongols typically sing long songs unaccompanied or accompanied with theigil.
In neighboring China's autonomous region ofInner Mongolia, 15 notated chapters of the court music of the last Mongolian Great KhanLigdan (1588–1634) was found in a temple near the ruins of his palace Chagan Haote (Ochirt Tsagan Khot). It was already known that theQing Dynasty of China greatly valued Mongol court music and made it an integral part of its royal ceremonies, especially at feasts.
Largely unknown outside of Mongolia, there is a thrivingpopular music scene centred in the city ofUlaanbaatar. Actually, this is a mixture of various kinds ofpopular music. It is often subdivided intopop,R&B,EDM,rock,reggae,hip hop, and alternative (consisting ofalternative rock andheavy metal). The pop scene includes solo artists, such as the renownedAriunaa, alsoAltantsetseg,Bayartsetseg,Bold,BX,Delgermörön,Erdenetsetseg,Gangaa,Jargalsaikhan.D,Khaliun,Michelle,Onon,Sarantuya,Serchmaa andUka,boy bands likeCamerton,Nomin Talst andMotive, andgirl groups likeFoux,Kiwi, Gala, 3 ohin,Lipstick,SweetYmotion,Anemone andThe Wasabies. There are also some EDM singers such asMvchi.
The alternative scene bands includeNisvanis,Night train,Otgoo,Magnolian, andThe Lemons, the rock scenerock-n-roll likethe Pilots andSoyol Erdene,folk rock likeAltan Urag andhard rock bands likeHaranga,Hurd,Chinggis khaan andNiciton, and there are also some reggae singers likeJiiJah withMacho andtechno bands such asKhar Sarnai. A few of the younger Mongolian popular artists are becoming increasingly well-established internationally, most notably, the young female singerNominjin (singing in eight languages in a variety of genres), singerEnguun, the winner of the season 1 ofThe Voice of Mongolia, andAmarkhuu Borkhuu, a star of theRussian pop music.
Hip-hop/Rap has gained considerable popularity in Mongolia. From the early 1990s, Mongolian teenagers and youngsters formed dancing groups with anywhere between three and thirty members that started to compete in national tournaments. This was the beginning of theMongolian hip-hop movement. For some reason, single rappers had never "made it" into the Mongolian hip-hop scene. Although, the Mongolian-Swedish rapperBattulga Munkhbayar, also known asThe yellow Eminem and50 öre, has made it to the big stages inSweden because of his unique rap style. He wasn't so successful as apickpocket on the streets of Bangkok, though, being arrested there for thieving a Slovak tourist's wallet in 2019.[6] Early bands includeHar Tas andMC Boys. The latter two groups represented the beginning of rap in Mongolia. Their songs mostly stressed social issues, philosophy and rebellious ideas. A later generation consisted of bands and solo artists likeDain ba Enkh,2 Khüü,Erkh-Chölöö,Lumino,B.A.T,Big Gee,Ice Top,Mon-Ta-Rap,Quiza,Odko,Seryoja,ThunderZ,Tsetse, URMC,Vande, and female rappersGennie withHulan. They continued with similar messages as their predecessors but also came to include “soft” touches in their songs, which faced strong resistance from hardcore rap fans but were welcomed by the general public.
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There is also a long established and distinctive "Mongolian pop" genre that occupies the same place on the musical spectrum as JapaneseEnka music or Western soft-pop-orientedfolk music orcountry music. Classic singers from the late 20th and early 21st centuries include Vandan and Dulamsüren, Batsükh, Tömörkhuyag andEgschiglen. 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.
Mongolian popular folk music is not consideredworld 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 designationZohioliin Duu (Зохиoлын Дyy) (schlagers). In the Mongolian language,duu means song; and the genitive wordzohioliin derives from the noun for a literary composition. A typical zohioliin duu may include three four-line stanzas and a refrain. The lyrics of zohioliin duu, like those of Mongolian folk poetry, tend to be alliterative. Often, the lines of a zohioliin duu share not only initial letters, but also initial syllables.
Mongolia features a rich tradition ofclassical music andballet. The classical music owes 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.
The horse-head fiddle, ormorin khuur, is a distinctively Mongolian instrument and is seen as a symbol of the country. Theinstrument has two strings. 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. The staffs of shamans have a horse similarly carved on top; the horse is a much-revered animal in Mongolia.
Other instruments used in Mongolian traditional music include theshudraga orshanz (a three-stringed, long-necked, strummedlute similar to the Chinesesanxian or Japaneseshamisen),khuuchir (a bowed spike-fiddle),yatga (a pluckedzither related to the KazakhJetigen),everburee (a folkoboe),khel khuur (Jew's harp),tobshuur (a pluckedlute similar to thedombra),ikh khuur (bassmorin khuur), andbishhuur (a pipe similar in sound to aclarinet).
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