(Yonhap Interview) Mongolian maestro unveils excellence of his native music at Jeju Delphic

(ATTN: photos available)
By Shin Hae-in
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- After he first came across the
exotic two-stringed musical instrument when he was eight years old, Mongolian
musician Tseyen Tserendorj has never been more than a few feet away from the
morin khuur, a traditional instrument that was an integral part in the life of
Mongolian nomads for centuries.
Just a few months from his 70th birthday, the passionate maestro has flown to the
South Korean island of Jeju, where he will be performing among fellow musicians
from different countries at the International Delphic Games, a global cultural
contest.
"I feel great," said Tserendorj. "We have cultures from 54 different countries
gathered here. This is going to be a very exciting event."
Making his fourth visit to South Korea and his second to Jeju, Tserendorj will
hold a concert Friday, presenting nine musical pieces, including a paean
dedicated to the South Korean island with traditional instruments such as the
morin khuur, a horse-headed fiddle known as the "maduguem" to Koreans.
The paean, dubbed "maktal" in Mongolian, will be improvised, with lyrics added
spontaneously by the musician.
"Like the last time I visited Jeju, I will perform a maktal composed from the
feelings and emotions that come to me on the spot. It will be quite unique," he
said. "This musical genre is performed best when the musician plays out of
impulse."
Along with the paean for Jeju, Tserendorj's concert will feature folk songs from
his home nestled in central Asia, introducing to the audience hand-clapping and
oral techniques.
The musician's dark eyes sparkled as he began to talk about the morin khuur, an
instrument that he has devoted himself to for more than 50 years. He compared the
instrument to the "gayageum," a Korean board zither made with 12 silk strings.
"When I was young, all houses in my neighborhood had the morin khuur. I remember
my mother playing the sounds of a running horse with it when I was young," he
said. "The morin khuur is an instrument that holds the life of the Mongolian
nomads. The instrument is decorated in the shape of a horse, a symbolic animal
for my country."
With socialism taking over the country, the Mongolian government had discouraged
people from learning or playing traditional instruments until 1990, resulting in
the younger generation's ignorance and indifference toward traditional music, he
said.
"But now the government is keen to support promoting and preserving traditional
music, and I see a lot of younger people interested in learning how to play the
morin khuur," Tserendorj said. "It is not an easy instrument to play, but once
one learns the techniques, he can play any music with just the two strings of the
instrument."
The morin khuur has been registered in the World Art Heritage Cultural Object
list by the UNESCO.
Born in 1940 in the province of Omnogobi near the Gobi desert, Tserendorj started
his professional music career in 1960, when he started working as an actor at the
Cultural House of Omnogobi.
Since then, he has become a special folk talent known in and out of his country
and performs many different forms of folk art, such as singing benedictions,
eulogies, epics, long and short songs, whistling and playing the morin khuur, as
well as other traditional instruments, including the khuuchir (fiddle with a
cylindrical body), tovshuur (plucked two-stringed lute) and aman khuur (Jewish
harp).
Now an honored artist of Mongolia and president of the Centre of Mongolian
Well-wishers and Eulogists, Tserendorj is also focusing on nurturing and training
the next generation of performers.
"I have about 120 close disciples who have majored in the morin khuur and other
traditional instruments. If I also add people who would have watched the TV show
I appeared on to teach the morin khuur, I should have some 1 million pupils
across Mongolia," the musician said.
Also passing his talent to his son, Tserendorj has traveled with him, performing
and introducing the folk art of his country in some 50 cities in 20 countries,
including the United States, France, Japan, Russia, Germany and China.
While he now has various duties resting on his shoulders, the musician said his
favorite remains performing music, mainly on the maktal and eulogy.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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