BÖÖ - the heavens of the Mongolians
BÖÖ translated from Mongolian language means “natural healer”,
one who acts as a mediator between the world of the visible
and the invisible.
In this project BÖÖ stands as a synonym for the music,
which acts as a mediator between borders of our world.

Concept
The Project BÖÖ is collaboration with traditional Mongolian
Musicians, through 9 music-picture compositions it tells
us about the “tenger” (heavens) which have a central role
in the still very strongly rooted nature cult in Mongolia.

An old Mongolian proverb:
“A frog that lives in a well,
judges the dimension of the heaven from the edge of the well.”
In Mongolia the edge of the well seems to be eternal…



With the image of the wide expanse of central Asia it is not difficult to imagine the admiration of the “eternal blue sky” (munk choch tenger).

“Tenger” in the Mongolian language translates not just as heaven; it is also used to describe a parallel world, which has positive and negative influence on humans. The songs of the shamans talk about “99 tenger” which exist in this parallel world. For every life situation there is a tenger (e.g. Tenger of sympathy, tenger to protect from accidents, tenger to protect, tenger of natural forces…and so on…)

During our first trip to Mongolia in August 2005 we had the rare chance to witness the everyday life of a nomadic family and to meet the shaman “Sarantsetseg”.

    Schaman „Sarantsetseg“

She is a descendant of reindeer breeding shamans (Tsaatan-Darkhad-protected Tribe) and lives in the northern province of Khubgul.
We got a little glimpse into their culture, especially into the still very strongly rooted traditions of the Mongolians.
The imagination to be with the blessing of heaven lives on…

Enriched with this experience we have chosen 9 tenger out of 99, their themes are the basis for the 9 music-picture compositions.
These 9 tenger will be worked on with Mongolian musicians during another planned visit to Mongolia.
The whole project will be documented on film and released on DVD in autumn 2006.

These 9 compositions are an emotional crossover, a mirror image of cultures, without losing respect of the originality of any tradition.

An exciting travel through the heavens of the Mongolians.

with the cooperation of

Austria

Arne Marsel: soprano sax, xaphoon, ewi, G4
Nico Marsel: alto sax, clarinet, alto flute
Christian Eder-Colvin: baritonsax, alto sax, clarinet

Mongolia

Erkhembayar Bayarsaikhan: Ikh Chuur – base fiddle
Shijirmaa Dorjnyam: Chajlach – epic song, Urtyn Duu – long song, mongolian dance
Shinezog Dorjnyam: Morin Chuur – horse-head fiddle, Chöömji – throat singing
Mainbajar Burenbaatar: Yatga – board zither
n.h.u. percussion

sound engineer: Dieter Treibenreif

design & realtime -videoprograming: Martin Machacek

camera, cut & regie: Henriette Fischer

idea, concept & head of the project: Nico & Arne Marsel

translation & organization tasks in Mongolia:
Tungalag Bayanjav, headmaster of the music & dance college in Ulan Bator
Baasajav Bayanjav, austrian-mongolian association