WU_PJ-Mag Spring Summer 2026_FINAL - Flipbook - Page 126
STO R I E S I N S O U N D
WHE RE S T ORIE S ARE N ’ T J US T T OL D ,
B U T PA S S E D O N T H RO U G H S O UN D
A traditional Mongolian
village, home to a
nomadic family.
A young boy plays a
morin khuur, Mongolia's
national instrument.
MONGOLIA
Equally iconic is the morin khuur, Mongolia’s national instrument.
The silence between notes
Two strings stretch across a wooden body and long neck,
Across Mongolia’s wide-open steppe, music echoes the
landscape – raw, elemental, and expansive. It moves with the
ending in a carved horse head – a symbol of the enduring bond
between humans and horses on these plains.
rhythm of the herders, the changing seasons, and the arc of
The morin khuur is often played solo, though it can accompany
oral tradition.
folk songs (urtiin duu), mythical tales, dances, and ceremonies,
In the country’s west, khöömei (throat singing) allows a single
voice to layer multiple tones at once, mimicking the sounds of
the natural world: wind against rock, a river’s current, the cry
many of which center on equestrian life.
Time spent with Mongolia’s nomadic families o昀昀ers a glimpse
into a way of life shaped by movement and resilience. A culture
of distant birds. Intricate in technique yet ancient in instinct,
of open landscapes and expression, where stories aren’t just
it re昀氀ects a deep attunement to the environment.
told but passed on through sound.
