The Lonely Mongol (Morin Khuur solo) | Medieval Steppe Music

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Description

After the Mongol conquests and subsequent retreat, a once proud warrior of the Mongol Empire, who lost contact with his brethren, wanders around alone along the unfamiliar terrain of the Ponto-Caspian steppe. The only companion that was left was his horse. One day, it fell ill and died. The Mongol then cut his friend's hair and, with some luck and ancient knowledge, used it as strings for his new Morin Khuur. Now, he constantly plays on this ancient Mongolian instrument in the hope that one day, his people shall make note of his lamentation and come to rescue him...

This song features a Morin Khuur solo: a horsehead fiddle, basically a bowed stringed instrument. The fact that most of the eastern Turkic neighbors of the Mongols possess similar horse hair instruments (such as the Tuvan igil, the Kazakh kobyz, or the Kyrgyz Kyl kyyak), though not western Turkic, is a testament to the shared musical heritage across the various Khaganates that mutually ruled these people.