Tsuur
The
Tsuur is an end blown flute that is found in the west part of Mongolia. It is
mainly used by the Altai-Uriangkhai people, although other yastan like the
kazakhs and the Tuvans are known to play them or have played them. In 1993 I
met two Tsuur players in Khovd town, Khovd province. Both Sengedorje and Battarjoe learnt from Narantsogt a
Uriangkhai from Duut district in Khovd.
There
seems to be a connection with khöömii and the Tsuur by that fact that there are
stories regarding the river Eev that link the two and in the way in which the
Tsuur is played. A vocal drone in the throaty Khailakh style of the epic and
khöömii singers is sung by the tsuur player at the same time as he plays the
flute. Very few people can master this instrument today. Apparently a new one
is to be made each year and during the communist times (1924 to 1990) they were
hid in the woods not to be found.
There are only three holes to finger.
The blowing technique utilises the teeth, tongue and lips in the same way as
Ney in Classical Persian music. The Tsuur is usually immersed in water before
playing in order to seal and leaks in the wood.
The melodies that are played on the
Tsuur are usually imitations of the sound of water, animal cries and birdsongs
as heard by shepherds whilst on the steppes or the mountain slopes of the
Altai. One of the melodies, “The flow of the River Eev” as was said before is
the river where the sound of khöömii was mythically supposed to have
originated.
The Uriangkhai called the Tsuur the
“Father of Music”. A three-holed pipe was in use in Mongolia in the 18th
century and was believed to posses the magical properties of bringing Lamb’s
bones back to life. In the Jangar epic of the 14th century the Tsuur
is said to have had a voice like a swan. This reference may also be indirectly
a very early reference to khöömii as the singing style sung with the Tsuur is
Khailakh. It is not surprising that Sengedorj is both a Tsuur player and a very
accomplished khöömii singer.
You
can hear some short recordings of the Tsuur on Jargalant
Altai (various artists) : Pan Records Pan 2050CD (recordings
from the 1960’s to 1994) and Musique et Chants de
tradition populaire Mongolie (various
artists) Grem G7511 (recorded september October 1985).
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