Songs

On this page I'd like to share with you why I chose the particular songs, how or where I learned them and what they symbolise to me. 

Altargana has been my first Mongolian tune on the Morin Khuur. Inga from Ulan-Ude had very patiently  been going over the lyrics for several weeks with me via Skype as I had no experience with the pronunciation of neither the Mongolian language nor the Buryat dialect in which this song is written. Having many years ago memorised long passages in Sanskrit was definitely an advantage as my brain accepted to retaining unknown sounds that had at first little to no meaning to me. Being familiar with the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet was also somewhat useful as it is almost identical with the Mongolian in writing but it strongly differs phonetically. So my notes ended up being a mixed scribble of the Roman, Cyrillic and the International Phonetic Alphabet. The melody appealed to me at once but the meaning of Altargana dawned only gradually on me. 

The concept of family bonds being eternal and the connection to nature resonates in many of us but in addition to that I have a deep attachment to the Buryat area which lies east of the Lake Baikal and north of Mongolia, right in the heart of Siberia. I have returned many times to that place and my love for the Lake, the mountains and the planes is deep and it feels very eternal.  

Here a wonderful documentary about people's love for the Lake Baikal ...
The Spirit of Baikal (RT documentary)