Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

is an autonomous republic within

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, where the largest ethnic group are the

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

s. Their traditional music is a mixture of Turkic, Mongolic and Finnic elements, reportedly bridging Mongolian and Hungarian music. Nonetheless, the most distinguishing feature of Tatar music is the

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many an ...

, which aligns it 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 ...

and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

musical traditions. Instrumental dance music, secular song and sacred music are all a part of Tatar folk music. Instrumentation includes the kubyz ( jaw harp),

surnay The zurna ( Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: ''зурна/зурла''; Serbian: зурла/zu ...

, quray ( flute) and

garmon The garmon ( rus, гармо́нь, p=gɐˈrmonʲ, links=yes, from rus, гармо́ника, p=gɐˈrmonʲɪkə, r=garmonika, cognate of English ''harmonica''), commonly called garmoshka, is a kind of Russian button accordion, a free-reed wi ...

-talianka. In the mid-20th century, a number of Tatar composers became renowned, including Cäwdät Fäyzi, Salix Säydäş, Mansur Mozaffarov and Näcip Cihanov. Many of the works of the Russian-Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina have been inspired by Tatar music. The largest center of Tatar national music is the Jalil Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Musa Cälil. The first Tatar

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, ''Saniä'', was staged in 1925. It was composed by Soltan Gabashi in collaboration with Vasili Vinogradov. Farit Yarullin was the creator of the first Tatar

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, '' Şüräle''. Modern Tatar music includes practically all existing basic musical genres. Almaz Monasypov is one of the first Soviet Tatar composers re-embodied in modern music the ancient layers of the national tradition like baits ( tt-Cyrl, бәет), munajats ( tt-Cyrl, мөнәҗәт) and book singing ( tt-Cyrl, китап көе). Modern, non-traditional music includes pop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, hip-hop music (for example, İttifaQ), etc. One of the most remarkable artists, who obtained her own niche in Tatar music is the renowned world music singer and composer Zulya Kamalova,ak
Zulya
/ref> who currently resides in Australia. One of the most outstanding examples of contemporary Tatar music is the

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

The Wanderer in Bulgar – an amalgamation of Tatar Folk Music, the Tatar Opera tradition and western

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

arrangements with

Russian rock Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground ro ...

prints. Tatar pop singers

Alsou Alsou Ralifovna Abramova ( rus, Алсу́ Рали́фовна Абра́мова; tt-Cyrl, Алсу Рәлиф кызы Абрамова; ; born 27 June 1983), better known as just Alsou, is a Russian singer and actress. She represented Russi ...

(who sings in English, Russian and Tatar) and

Zemfira Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova (russian: Земфира Талгатовна Рамазанова, tt-Cyrl, Земфира Тәлгать кызы Рамазанова; born 26 August 1976) is a Russian rock musician. She has been performing si ...

(who sings mostly in Russian) are currently among the most popular musical performers in Russia. The National Tatarstan Orchestra is the major symphony orchestra in Tatarstan.

References

External links

Online tatar radio (tatar music only)
* Culture of Tatarstan

Tatar culture

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