Mongol music
Tablature Notation for 4-Stringed kluchir soprano lute, in Mongolian, manuscript on paper [Mongolia or Tibet, 19th century]
Music for the Mongol kluchir as accompaniment to storytelling.

c.53 x 142mm, 2 leaves, 3+3 lines in Mongolian, written in Tibetan dbu med script, 3 lines and 17+22 vertical lines in tablature notation for 4-stringed kluchir soprano lute and for another string instrument (some marginal staining).

Provenance:
(1) Mark Wilson, Southampton, acquired in 2007 by:

(2) Schøyen Collection, MS 5384.

Text and music:
'The music of the Mongol Lamaist monasteries is a faithful reproduction of the Tibetan model. The songs, which are in Tibetan, are characterised by the same low-pitched tones; the temple orchestra instruments are identical with those of the Tibetan service and are played in an analogous fashion. Mongol Lamaist chant is sometimes notated according to the Tibetan dbyangs-yig system [see lot 158]' (The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 12, p.485). The music here is intended for use on the kluchir, a lute with four bowed strings which is tuned to a soprano register, as an accompaniment to oral storytelling. A variant of tenor register, called khuur, constitutes the most indigenous Mongol category of instruments: performed by men only, they play a divinatory role and accompany recitatives of a more or less magical character. It is the favorite instrument of tale-tellers - musicians Khuurchi from the east country.