Long song

The Long drawn song (Mongolian: ᠤᠷᠲᠠ ᠢᠢᠨ
ᠳᠠᠭᠤᠨ, 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.

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Wikipedia