Plaza Mayor Company Ltd release Ulziibayar Shatar's score for The Children of Genghis. Mongolians traditionally celebrate three cultural games during festivities: wrestling, racing horses and archery. The film focuses on the horse racing tradition. Bold is a horse trainer who has yet to find a rider for his latest prized steed. One of Bold's sons believes he's the perfect rider for the job, but when Bold listens to the locals and employs another young man for the job, Bold's son is not happy...

The score for The Children of Genghis is a sweet and lovingly crafted affair. The album contains 10 tracks (29 min, 09 sec) and employs the use of plenty of East Asian instruments to give the movie a flavour of Mongolia. It works well and there are a number of really beautiful tracks, most notably the two pieces that conclude the album: 'Suvraga Khairkhan' ('Mountain Suvraga') and 'Chingisiin Huuhduud' ('Children of Genghis').

The album opens with a very simple, yet incredibly moving theme, 'Bodol' ('Mind') before opening up to more intricate pieces. There are a handful of recurring themes, none of which are over used or outstay their welcome.

A wonderful little score with a lot of heart.

9

Darren Rea