Radio composition / stereo / 51’10”
Commissioned by Deutschlandfunk Kultur Berlin for the program Klangkunst and the West Deutsche Rundfunk (WDR3) for the program Open Sounds.
In 2023 composer Robin Minard travelled on two field recording trips to Mongolia where he made audio recordings not only of the vast, open nature of central Mongolia and the Gobi desert region, but also of traditional Mongolian music and traditional customs involving sound, as well as interviews with nomadic herders and people connected to traditional nomadic life. All of these materials form the basis of his new radio composition “Losing Mongolia”.
While untouched nature and traditional nomadic culture still exist in Mongolia, the situation is quickly changing. Due to the effects of climate change, Mongolia has already experienced severe declines in rainfall as well as some of the world’s most extreme weather changes, with a warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius since 1940. The resulting desertification is forcing nomadic herders to move ever closer to the capitol city of Ulaan Baatar or into the vast yurt-city that surrounds the capitol. Half of Mongolia’s three million population now lives in the city. In addition to the devastating effects of climate change, the burning of raw coal in the cold winter months in Ulaan Baatar has made the city, in winter, one of the most air-polluted cities in the world.
On the one hand, Robin Minard’s radio composition documents Mongolia’s rich world of sound and music. On the other hand, it delivers a dire warning of just what we may be in the process of losing.
Thanks to:
- The musicians: Lhamragchaa Lhagvasuren, Altanbat Munkhbat, Misheelt Sanjsvren and students of the Mongolian University of Arts and Culture
- to Buyantogtokh Sharav, a nomad in the Dendii Valley
- to Bayanchuluu Dovuu, Lhagvamaa Tserenbat and Tsevegjav Minjuur who live in the yurt city
- to Munkhbayar Naran at the “Mongol Nomadic Camp” for organising a game of Knucklebone Shooting
- to Dr. Gan Khulug, emergency physician at the Intermed hospital in Ulaanbaatar
- To Batsuren Jamiyansuren for being my guide in Mongolia
- And Nyamsuren Galbadrakh for driving us safely throughout the Gobi desert region
Special thanks to
- Tsendsuren Baldan and her daughter Lhagvasuren Lhagva
Presentations
2024: WDR3 Cologne on the program Open Sounds 16.03.2024 / Deutschlandfunk Kultur Berlin on the program Klangkunst 03.05.2024
