How it began
The morin khuur is a two-stringed fiddle of the Mongolian nomads. UNESCO states that string instruments adorned with horse heads are attested by written sources from the Mongol empire of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. No single maker is recorded. Mongolian legends credit a herder who built the first one from the remains of a beloved horse.
How it works
A hollow, trapezoid-shaped body is attached to a long fretless neck that ends in a carved horse head. Two tuning pegs stick out below the head like ears. The soundboard is covered with animal skin, and both the two strings and the bow are made of horsehair. The player slides or strokes the bow across the strings while fingering with the left hand, producing a main tone together with overtones.
What changed first
The fiddle was part of the rituals and daily work of herders. It is played mainly solo, but it also accompanies dances, long songs, epic tales and ceremonies. Its repertory still includes tunes meant to tame animals. The music was passed orally from master to apprentice and is hard to write in standard notation.
Where it stands today
Most Mongolians have moved to cities over the past decades, and the instrument is often retuned for the stage, giving a higher and louder sound that loses some of its timbre. Herding communities in southern Mongolia have kept older playing styles. UNESCO proclaimed the music of the morin khuur a masterpiece in 2003 and placed it on its Representative List in 2008. It is regarded as a symbol of the Mongolian nation.
