MONGOLIAN TRADITIONAL ARTS

MONGOLIAN TRADITIONAL ARTS

 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: Oirad, Hotogoid, Tuva,Darhad, Buriyad, Tsaatan, Barga, Dariganga, Uzemchin, Khazakh and Khalha.

The Long drawn song (Mongolian: ᠤᠷᠲᠠ ᠢᠢᠨᠳᠠᠭᠤᠨ, Urtiin duu) is one of the central elements of the traditional music of Mongolia. This genre is called “Long song” not only because the songs are long, but also because each syllable of text is extended for a long duration. A four-minute song may only consist of ten words. Certain long songs such as Uvgin shuvuu khoyor, also known as Jargaltain delger (lit. ‘Old man and the Bird’) has a length of up to 3 hours if to sing in full length with complete 32 stanzas. Lyrical themes vary depending on context; they can be philosophical, religious, romantic, 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, called limbe. Oirat groups of the Western Mongols traditionally sing long songs unaccompanied or accompanied with the Igil.

Mongolian folk long song embraces a comprehensive nature of all our national traditions and customs, history and culture, aesthetics, ethics and morality, philosophy, way of thinking and view to life of our nomadic way of life. The main feature of the long song is the shuranhai (prolonged, tenuto notes with deeply modulated vibrato on the vowels.). The Mongol aizam long songs are ancient grand songs that possess extensively broad vocal diapason and diverse vocal fine movement techniques, elaborate singing elements and vocal improvisations such as dan (single) and davkhar (double) shurankhai (tenuto notes with deeply modulated vibrato on the vowels), nugalaa (sharp notes modulated in lower pitch), various vocal ‘soothing’ long-drawns, upward and downward usrelt (tone leaps or sudden transmission to higher or lower tones), tsokhilgo (vocal modulated pulsation), tsatslaga(sprinkling), khayalga (bestrewing or free improvised tone), shigshree (sifting or repeated vocal vibration) and other unique singing techniques.These extraordinary features give the long song profound philosophical, meditational character and they often depict the spacious mountain valleys and the tranquility of the Mongolian soul.

Three major styles are identified in long songs: besreg urtiin duu (“minor long song”), suman urtiin duu (“ordinary long song”) and aizam urtiin duu (“major’ or majestic long songs”). Again, the styles reflect the way of the performance of the shuranhai and other techniques rather than the sizes of the songs. The word ‘Aizam’ comes from the non-lexical vocable of ‘Aya, zee khu’ at the beginning of the grand long song, which has the broadest and splendid melody, with a context of philosophy, a theme and purpose of the state and ceremony and quality of ode, honor, respect and solemnity. The aizam grand long songs are sung in sequence at the beginning of the ceremony and feast in accordance with the special ceremonial rules and are the summit of the long songs to try out the skills and capability of the singer and morin khuur (horse-headed fiddle) musician.

Biyelgee (Mongolian Cyrillic Биелгээ) or Bii (Mongolian Cyrillic: Бий), is a unique form of dance, originated from the nomadic way of life. It has often been labelled in English by Chinese troupes as Mongolian bowl dancing.

Almost all regions populated by different ethnic groups of Mongolia have their specific forms of Biyelgee. Especially the Western Mongols (Oirad) is famous for its Biyelgee dance.

ORIGIN

Biyelgee dances embody and originate from the nomadic way of life and are performed while half sitting or cross-legged. Hand, shoulder and leg movements express aspects of Mongol herders everyday lifestyle such as milking the cow, cooking, hunting, household labor, customs and traditions, etc. as well as spiritual characteristics tied to different ethnic groups. Originally, Mongolian dance developed very early is evidenced by a reference in The Secret history of the Mongolia were wont to rejoice, dancing and feasting…they danced until there was dust up to their knees…

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

In Biyelgee, music plays an important part in the choreographic art of the Mongols. Many of the folk dances are performed to the accompaniment of the Morin Khuur (Horse-headed fiddle), ikhel, sometimes in combination with other instruments. There are also dances which are performed exclusively to the accompaniment of the human voice, for example, the Buryat dance Yohor.

CHOREOGRAPHY

Choreography is rich and diverse, since people living in different parts of the country employ different means of expressing their feelings. Biyelgee is traditionally performed on the rather limited space before the hearth, so the dancers make practically no use of their feet. Instead, the dancers principally use only the upper part of their bodies, and through their rhythmic movements express various aspects of their identities, such as sex, tribe, and ethic group. Dance Movements, which can be made within a restricted space, are essential features in which the smallness of the space is compensated by the expressiveness of the movements of hands, shoulders, chest, waist, eyes and head.

MONGOLIAN TRADITIONAL CONTORTION   

Contortion is an unusual form of acrobatic display which involves dramatic flexing and bending of human body. This difficult performing art has a long and deep rooted tradition in Mongolia.

Mongolian traditional contortion is a form of acrobatics involving dramatic bending and flexing of the human body into complicated positions including the human knot, head-sit, splits and dislocations. Contortion is often part of acrobatics and circus acts. In general, “contortionists” have unusual natural flexibility, which is then enhanced through acrobatic training, or they put themselves through intense, vigorous and painful training to gain this flexibility.

n Mongolia, many people (mainly girls) learn contortion because of a passion or as a career as it is considered a nationally respected art form that holds cultural importance. This is practiced mostly by females who begin training in early childhood; for those who become contortionists a career rarely lasts past the age of 40.

Contortion displays the beauty and flexibility of the human body, incorporating elements of Mongolian dance and Buddhist fine arts. It is performed at some rituals as well as festive events.