Kyrgyz music is
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic and rural, and is closely related to
Turkmen and
Kazakh folk forms. Kyrgyz folk music is characterized by the use of long, sustained pitches, with
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
elements also prominent.
Traditional music
Travelling musicians and
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
s called
manaschi are popular for their singing and
komuz
The komuz or qomuz ( ky, комуз , az, Qopuz, tr, Kopuz) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be f ...
-playing. Their music is typically heroic
epics
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...
, such as the most famous story, the ''
Manas epic'' (20 times longer than
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
), which is the patriotic tale of a warrior named
Manas, and his descendants, who fight with the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
.
[Broughton, Simon and Sultanova, Razia. "Bards of the Golden Road". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 24-31. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ] There are modern reciters of the ''Manas'' who are very popular, such as
Rysbek Jumabaev and
Sayaqbay Karalaev.
Aside from the komuz, Kyrgyz folk instruments include the
kyl kiak
The Kobyz ( kk, қобыз, ''Qobyz''; ba, ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кубыз) or ''kylkobyz'' ( kk, қылқобыз, ''qylqobyz''; ba, ҡыл ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кылкубыз) is an ancient Turkic bowed string instrument, spread among K ...
(qyl-qyiyak), a two-stringed upright bow instrument (cf.
fiddle),
sybyzgy
The sybyzgy ( ky, сыбызгы, sybyzǵy) is a Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan
*Kyrgyz people
*Kyrgyz national games
*Kyrgyz language
*Kyrgyz culture
*Kyrgyz cuisine
*Yenisei Ki ...
, a side-blown
flute,
chopo-choor and the
temir ooz komuz (mouth komuz), also known as
jaw harp in some countries. The komuz is the national instrument of Kyrgyzstan. It is a plucked string instrument. The kyl kiak, however, is also an important symbol of Kyrgyz identity. It is a string instrument, related to the Mongolian
morin khuur
The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered ...
, and is associated with horses and the vital role they play in Kyrgyz culture.
Shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
istic elements of Kyrgyz folk culture remain, including the
dobulba (a
frame drum
A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mate ...
), the
asa-tayak (a wooden device decorated with bells and other objects) and the earlier mentioned
kyl kiak
The Kobyz ( kk, қобыз, ''Qobyz''; ba, ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кубыз) or ''kylkobyz'' ( kk, қылқобыз, ''qylqobyz''; ba, ҡыл ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кылкубыз) is an ancient Turkic bowed string instrument, spread among K ...
.
A widespread variety of instrumental music called ''
kui'' (or ''küü'') tells narratives that revolve around a musical journey.
The narrative, which is entirely expressed without words, is sometimes punctuated with exaggerated gestures to mark important parts of the story.
Performers
Modern interpreters of Kyrgyz traditional music include the
Kambarkan national folk ensemble.
Salamat Sadikova is a popular traditional Kyrgyz singer with a strong voice, who is capable of holding notes for a remarkably long duration. Her repertoire includes contemporary folk-style compositions as well as folk songs.
Other notable acts include Tengir-Too, the Djunushov Brothers, Jusup Aisaev, Gulnur Satylganova, and
Zere Asylbek. Kyrgyz writer and musician Elmirbek Imanaliyev died in April 2020.
Contemporary music
Rock and metal music is popular in Kyrgyzstan.
Darkestrah is a well-known metal band from
Bishkek, now based in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Their music combines traditional Kyrgyz folk music with
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
. There is also a new pop genre called Z-Pop which influenced mainly by
K-Pop and western pop music.
Gallery
References
External links
Kyrgyz music- samples of folk music available for download
National Geographic World Music: KyrgyzstanIntroduction to the music of Kyrgyzstan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstani