Bilegiin Damdinsüren - In the High Mountains of Khentii (score-video) (300 subscribers special!)

~~~~~ Details/Timestamps ~~~~~
Bilegiin Damdinsüren - Khentiin Öndör Uuland (In the High Mountains of Khentii) (1947)
Unknown performers
~~~~~ Artist information ~~~~~
Unknown
~~~~~ Buy the recording ~~~~~
As far as we know, this recording has never been commercially released.
~~~~~ Sources ~~~~~
Photograph of Bilegiin Damdinsüren:
pbs.twimg.com/...
Score:
This score was typeset in Dorico based on a transcription we did of the audio used in this video. We used a score found in the Facebook photos of Degi's music school as reference: / degismusic
The recording used in this video deviates from the score in two places: the repeat of the B section is taken an octave higher than written, and the second D in bar 67 is played as an E instead.
Original audio:
• Хэнтийн Өндөр Ууланд -...
*Note, we did some audio editing to remove as much of the noise and hum as we could.
Links to program note sources (in Mongolian):
1. Bilegiin Damdinsüren - Wikipedia
mn.wikipedia.o...
2. Biography of Bilegiin Damdinsüren
eagle.mn/r/69106
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~~~~~ Disclaimer ~~~~~
We do not own the recording or sheet music used in this video. In uploading this video, we claim that it qualifies as “fair use” for “comment” and (music) education according to Section 107 of the United States' Copyright Act of 1976. If you own the copyright to any materials used in this video and disagree with our claim, please contact us directly and we will take this video down. Please do not report it through RUclips’s built-in system, as that would give our channel a strike.

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~~~~~Composer Biography~~~~~
Bilegiin Damdinsüren (1919-1992) was a Mongolian composer noted for composing operas which incorporate Mongolian traditional folk melodies, such as “Three Sad Hills” (1942). He also co-wrote the music for the Mongolian national anthem and is widely considered to be one of the founders of Mongolian classical music.
Damdinsüren was born in 1919 in the Mongolian aimag (province) of Dundgobi. Since his father died at a young age, he took his mother's name as his surname. When he was 5 or 6 he moved to the capital city of Niĭslel Khüree (now called Ulaanbaatar) with his mother. He studied under monks for 4 years; during this time, he learned Tibetan and Mongolian scripture and memorized prayers and chants. In 1930, he graduated from elementary school and worked at his school for three years. After that, he became an assistant driver and carrier (carrying large parcels).
Then one day, in between some fence posts, Damdinsüren found a broken flute. He fixed it up and started learning how to play by imitating his uncle, who was a famous flautist. Damdinsüren managed to learn two folk songs this way, “Gan Tumer” and “Gandin Mod,” which he played during a large feast his neighbors held in the fall of 1934. Luckily for Damdinsüren, there was a famous morin khuur player in attendance at the feast, who commented on how nicely the boy was playing the flute and invited him to play at the national theater. Damdinsüren started working at that theater the very next day. (Note: the morin khuur is a Mongolian bowed string instrument with two strings. Its scroll is usually carved in the shape of a horse’s head.)
While Damdinsüren was working at the theater, he learned how to play music from the famous musicians working there, including his uncle. In 1939 he penned his first composition, ''Bushes of the Khalkh River.” This song, which he recorded himself singing, was included in a documentary, marking the beginning of his busy 15-year period as a composer for the national theater. In 1940, Russian musicologist Boris Smirnov (not to be confused with the Russian actor) came to the national theater to teach Western music theory and composition, and Damdinsüren took part in the lessons. Smirnov purportedly took a special liking to Damdinsüren, as he learned quickly and was good at leading/conducting others. After just two years of study, Damdinsüren composed his first opera, “Three Sad Hills,” with the support of his mentor Smirnov. Damdinsüren then composed a series of musicals: Sharai Golyn Khaan (King of Sharai River), Manduhai Tseitsen Khatan (Wise Queen Manduhai), Talyn Baatar (Hero of the Steppe), Jargayj Khussen Monkhoo (Monkhoo Who Wished for Happiness), and Dalan Khudalch (Big Liar). In 1945, Damdinsüren composed his first film score, “Tsogt Taij,” again with Smirnov’s guidance. The work featured in this score video, “Khentiin Öndör Uuland” (In the High Mountains of Khentii), was written in 1947, and it marked Damdinsüren’s first foray into chamber music. (The orchestral accompaniment was only added later.) In 1949 he competed in the Mongolian national anthem competition, where his melody was chosen as the main melody. When Damdinsüren was not busy writing music for plays, he also worked as a pianist, musician, actor, singer, and a fill-in for any of the theater's productions. He was so in demand at the theater that he had to delay his formal music school education until later.
After working for 20 years at the national theater, in 1954 Damdinsüren went to the USSR to pursue further musical studies. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory for two years, but returned home as a criminal when he slapped a Soviet policeman. Following the incident, he was called back to Mongolia and spent one year in prison. Upon release from prison, he went to Bayan Olgen province for a year and established a drama theater. In 1958 he went to study in Beijing (probably at the Central Conservatory of Music), graduating in 1962. From 1962 to 1981, Damdinsüren worked as a composer and director for the Mongolian State Opera and Ballet Theater, and from 1981 to 1982, he was the artistic director of the Dornod Music and Drama Theater. Presumably from 1983 onwards, he was the music editor of the Mongol Kino film studio, but we could not find out whether or not he retired before his death on January 12, 1992 in Ulaanbaatar. In total, Damdinsüren wrote 46 songs, 11 opera musicals, and 14 film soundtracks.
~~~~~Program Notes~~~~~
As mentioned in the composer biography, “Khentiin Öndör Uuland” (In the High Mountains of Khentii) (1947) was Damdinsüren’s first chamber music composition. Damdinsüren originally wrote the work for solo violin, but he also made a version with orchestral accompaniment, which is featured in this video.
Khentiin Öndör Uuland is written in A-B-A form (also called ternary form), though with a lengthy introduction that precedes the first A section. The introduction features an improvisatory violin solo with lush orchestral accompaniment. Marked “Largo” (slow), it is extremely free and spacious, as if evoking a fiddler playing on top of the Khentii Mountains.
After the introduction, the solo violin picks up the tempo with a series of open fifths, setting up the lively and joyful A section. The violin sings the A section’s theme twice, accompanied by dance-like rhythms in the orchestra. In the B section, Damdinsüren introduces a more reminiscing theme that is also repeated twice. The tempo here (Andante) is slower than the A section’s “Allegro,” and the accompaniment is not as driven. After the B section, the solo violin plays open fifths again, leading to the A section’s reprise and the piece’s calm end.
(Link to program note sources is in the description!)