Kazakh Music Will Touch the Hearts of the Americans!
By Aitkali Zhaimov
Kazakh folk music is largely
unknown in the West. This
will be most Americans’
first experience with it.
Aitkali Zhaimov, the
Conductor of the Kazakh
State Kurmangazy
Orchestra of Folk
Instruments explains his
music saying it comes
from the Kazakh heart to
the American heart.
Talking about his music
he explains:
Kazakhstan’s musical
culture traces its roots to
far distant times. Evidence
of that is seen in our
ancient cave paintings
showing dancing people
making music which are preserved till this day.
We, Kazakhs, are direct descendants of those ethnic and cultural societies whose lives were based on the nomadic life style. It was indeed the nomads, known to have lived on Kazakhstan’s territory since the 8th century B.C., who created a wide range of musical instruments and a bright and distinctive music to be played on them, and left behind a rich musical and poetic tradition. The Kazakh people inherited these traditions.
Kazakh music is closely intertwined with everyday life which was accompanied by songs, kuyis (instrumental plays), and terme (a talkative improvisational genre). It is hard to overestimate the importance of akyns, masters of poems, zhyrau and zhyrshi (creators and performers of epic poems), sals, syera and anshi (original folk singers) for the Kazakh culture. They have preserved and developed the traditions of the Kazakhs, exemplified the very talented and deep caring features of the people.
World musical culture from beyond Kazakhstan’s borders lent its rich experiences and traditions playing a positive role in the establishment of musical composition in Kazakhstan.
Traditional Kazakh musical culture has shown changes in modern times. New conditions are reflected in the renewal of themes for works of art, and have led a move of musicians to the professional stage. The development of the musical education system in Kazakhstan has led to the appearance of an entire school of musicians of a new type who read sheet music, have special European-standard education and know the traditional Kazakh music inside and out. Orchestras of Kazakh instruments and folkloric ensembles have sprouted out simultaneously, more important, individual folk musicians have kept their community status.
A significant peculiarity of Kazakh musical culture is that throughout its history up until the first quarter of the last Century it remained non-written. Music was the mainstay of our oral tradition.
The wisdom and viability of that oral tradition lie in the preservation of its artistic values for following generations.
The fact that musical art was oral left a mark on the interconnection between the performer and the listeners. A musician is an artist who creates art in front of the public. An artist performs works and improvises in direct contact with the audience. Every prominent musician had followers and pupils. They learnt through the process of artistic interaction between a teacher and a pupil.
Popular at all levels of traditional society were aytyses, music and poetry competitions between akyns (improvising poets). They were widely popular and loved in Kazakh society. Similar competitions took place in Western Europe, for example: competitions of Meistersingers in Germany.
The tradition of oral art has been rejuvenated in our time. Aityses are again part of Kazakh daily life. They take place on important occasions, draw huge crowds and are featured on television. Most musicians are taught the traditional oral form since it sets free and opens the musician’s fullest artistic potential.
Many events of ancient times, the Middle Ages and modern history are reflected in folk songs and kuyis. Music preserved landmark moments in the life of a society linked to conquests by Alexander the Great and Tamerlane. A great number of the ancient kyuis are devoted to the time when the Kazakh Khanate was founded in the 15th Century. The Kazakh people suffered through hardships in the 18th Century when the Semirechie region was invaded by the Dzhungars. That time, which took place in 1723, was called Kaigy Tere Kaseret Zhyldary, (Years of Great Calamity). The song Elimai, for example, is dedicated to this troubled time.
The anticolonial and antifeudal movement under Isatai Taimanov and Makhambet Utemisov, his fellow fighter and a fiery poet, gained wide spread support in the 1830s. Many poems and kyuis by Makhambet were born as a direct response to events accompanying the uprising.
The role of folk music in Kazakh society is a great one. Kazakhstan is a country of highly developed cultures and has a lively musical life, diverse and rich in oral traditions as well as musical. In addition to classical genres and modern music, folk music occupies a distinguished place. Songs and kuyis are heard everywhere. Amateurs and recognized masters of the stage both sing them.
Kazakh folk music is popular across the generations. Younger people take pleasure in learning how to play folk instruments, learning secrets of folk singing and they express strong interest and excitement in traditions of aitys and tartys (a competition of instrumentalists).
The Kazakh musical tradition is supported by a wide range of uniquely Kazakh musical instruments.
The dombra, a two stringed instrument,
is the most commonly played Kazakh
folk instrument. Its history reaches back
at least 2,000 years according to
archeological evidence. During
archeological digs at the ancient city of
Khorezm, archeologists found little
terracotta statues of musicians playing
two stringed instruments played by
plucking which have evolved in today’s
dombra.
There are two traditions of playing the
dombra which have influenced its form.
Dombras with long thin necks are made
for playing fast virtuoso kuyis of the
Tokpe tradition. The other tradition, Shertpe, teaches soft plucking of strings with the fingers. So necks for dombras in that tradition are wide and shorter.
The kobyz is an ancient string instrument played with a bow with two strings made with hair. Kobyzes traditionally were sacred instruments, owned by shamans and bakses (traditional spiritual medics). According to legends, the kobyz and its music could banish evil spirits, sicknesses and death. In the 1930s, when the first folk instrument orchestras were established, a new kind of kobyz came into existence. It now had four metallic strings and is became closer to a violin. A modernized kobyz can be used to play both Kazakh music and the most complicated works of violin literature. Until today, the tradition of playing the ancient kyl-kobyz is preserved. Its sound projects a unique almost magical force.
The sybyzgy is a wind instrument. It is widely used in Kazakhstan and is particularly among rural peoples such as chabans (shepherds). It is easy to make and was traditionally created from a hollow cane tube where holes were drilled. There are also wooden sybyzgys.
The saz syrnai and uskirik are small hollow clay instruments with 1, 2 or 3 oval holes made in the form of birds or animals. They produce a soft sound.
The dabyl and the dauylpaz are percussion instruments and used to have extensive usage in Kazakh life. Loud percussion sounds were used to gather people in the auyls (villages) for hunting and religious rites or to give notice for the upcoming move to a new place. Remember, Kazakhs were nomads.
Currently, folk ensembles and orchestras use other Kazakh musical instruments, for example: a zhetygen, a stringed instrument played by plucking and resembling a harp, a sherter, another stringed instrument played by plucking which is smaller than a dombra and with a stronger and more sonorous sound, and a shankobyz, a metallic instrument known in the West as a mouth harp.
The brightness and distinctive sound of Kazakh music should interest Americans. You see, a nation’s folk music is its best ambassador. It develops a feeling of adoration for the infinite diversity and beauty of the folk genre and the very sound of folk instruments. It will open a new unexplored world. Kazakh music will touch the hearts of the Americans!
