Throat singing in Norway
Two cold lands, two herding cultures, and one voice from Norway that sings like the steppe.
Quick answer
Throat singing is not an old Norwegian tradition, but Norway has deep voice traditions of its own: kulning, the high herding calls of the mountain farms, and joik, the song tradition of the Sami people. UYANA brings Mongolian throat singing to Norway, sung in Mongolian.
In Norwegian: strupesang
In Norwegian, throat singing is called strupesang, and Mongolian throat singing is mongolsk strupesang. In Swedish it is strupsång, in Danish strubesang and in Finnish kurkkulaulu.
Kulning: the herding call
On the summer farms of Norway and Sweden, women called their cattle home with kulning: high, ringing calls that carry far across the mountains. Like throat singing, it was born from herding life, from voices made to travel over open land.
Joik: the Sami song
Joik is the song tradition of the Sami people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and one of the oldest living music traditions in Europe. A joik does not describe someone: it captures a person, an animal or a place in sound. It is its own tradition, not throat singing.
Where the North meets the steppe
Nordic folk and steppe music share a lot: drones, drums, animals, snow, ancestors and wide, empty land. That is why Mongolian throat singing feels at home next to Nordic and dark folk.
UYANA is the Mongolian throat singer from Norway: a voice from the far north of Europe, singing the old songs of the steppe.
Songs of snow and wind
Three songs from UYANA's debut album for long Nordic nights.
Salkhiny Duu · Song of the Wind
A duet between UYANA and a deep male voice, the wind of the steppe.
Read the lyrics and meaning of Salkhiny Duu
Quick questions
What is throat singing called in Norwegian?
Strupesang. Mongolian throat singing is mongolsk strupesang.
Is there throat singing in Norway?
Not as an old tradition. Norway's own voice traditions are kulning and the Sami joik. Today you can hear Mongolian throat singing from Norway in the music of UYANA.
Is joik the same as throat singing?
No. Joik is the Sami song tradition, with its own sound and meaning. Throat singing comes from Mongolia and its neighbors.