MUSIC LITERACY FACT SHEET

TITLE 1. Naiman Sharag

2. The Eight Chestnut Horses
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------STYLE PERIOD/GENRE
1. Contemporary
2. choral composition
3. Nationalistic
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------COMPOSER/ARRANGER/EDITOR
1. by Se Enkhbayar
2. editors Yalungerile and Almaz Han
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------COMPOSER INFO
1. The composer, Se Enkhbayer, was born in 1956 in the Alsha Aimak of the Inner
Mongolian Autonomour Refion, Peoples Republic of China. As the second son of a herdsman,
he grew up in a rural, pastoral environment, learning traditional folksongs and acquiring the
nomads worship of naturethe two main features of his distinctive creative style. he was one of
the founding members of the Mongolian Youth Choir in 1987 and has been composing for the
group since its inception. Enkhbayar, currently employed as an urt duu soloist in the performance
troupe of the Inner Mongolian radio and Television Station, has received recognition for his
compositions at the national and international level. The Eight Chestnut Horses was awarded
first prize in the 1991 Beijing International Choir Festival and it, Mirage on the Gobi Desert, and
other pieces were enthusiastically received at the 1996 IFCM Symposium in Sydney, Australia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TEXT 1. Sung in Mongolian
2. The text praises horses, real and legendary, reflecting the close relationship between
horses and humans. A 13th century chronicle refers to the eight chestnut horses of Chinggis Kahn,
and they have thus become a symbol of national identity which embodies the Mongols love for
their native language and culture.
3. Syllables (with no real Mongolian translation) are used as vocal
percussion/accompaniment to imitate the horses galloping sounds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SOUND
1. SATB with divisi
2. a cappella
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------HARMONY
1. Based on Eastern chord structure rather then common Western chords our American
ears are used to hearing

2. Chords clusters and harmonies developed by adding voice parts in a layering

technique.
3. The choir serves most often as the accompaniment to the melody
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MELODY
1. Almost non existent, except for the melody heard in the solo part, which is more a
telling of the text using repeated notes rather than a distinct melody
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RHYTHM
1. Naiman Sharag is ALL about the rhythm of the text and imitation of the horses gallop.
2. Very complex , driving, almost forced, layered rhythms
3. Vocal percussive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GROWTH/FORM
1. Introduction/Verse 1 (solo), Verse 2 (solo), Verse 3 (choir), Coda
2. Through-composed
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TIME SIGNATURE
1. 4/4, 6/8, 2/4
2. Consistant Tempo, several tempo changes in Introduction and Coda
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------KEY SIGNATURE
1. Eb Major, C Major (at the climax), returns to Eb Major
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTEWORTHY
1. Harmonic challenges
2. Memorizing Mongolian
3. Uniqueness of the composition