U I G H U R M U S I C
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Music and
dance occupy a significant place in life of the Uighurs. There are no holidays,
parties and wedding festivities without music and dances. Uighur traditional
songs are remarkable for their melodious originality. They can be heard both in
solo, and in choral singing. Singing is accompanied by music, which leads theme
and variations of a song and emphasizes the song rhythm. While singing
performers swing back and forth in tune of songs, and sometimes they clap in
time with the music.
Nowadays,
certain parts of Twelve Uighur Muqams, a unique creation of musical folklore,
are widely popular. Folk songs and muqams are performed to the accompaniment of
folk instruments, which the Uighurs have in a great number. Some of them are: a
dutar is a string instrument with an oval barrel and a long neck, which has from
8 to 15 movable frets; a tambir is a stringed musical instrument played by
plucking, a sitar is a lute with 3 metal strings; a stringed instrument with 9
strings; a 3-stringed and a 5-stringed ravap; 48-stringed dulcimer; a qalun –
an instrument with 18 pairs of strings; a gidjak with 4 to 10 strings. Among
percussion instruments there are: a dap or shaldap – a tambourine; a big drum
- dumbak; a small drum – nagra; a kettke-drum – tevilvaz and brazen cymbals.
Wind instrument include a nyay – a reed flute; a surnyay – a pear-tree
clarinet; a carnay – a long instrument made of a brazen pipe.
Music is
accompanied by dance. Uighur dances are very graceful and vigorous. Mastery of
Uighur dancers was valued so high that they were invited by emperors of Tang
Dinasty to participate in special festivities.
At present
there are no Uighur festivities without dance. The Uighurs have a great number
of genre dances, which are: holiday dances, hunters’ dances, lovers’ dances,
farmers’ dances and others.
There is a
number of Uighur Soviet composers, conductors and musicians. Kuddus Kuzhamyarov
is one of the outstanding Uighur Soviet composers of the 20th
century. A son of a Uighur farmer, K. Kuzhamyarov became a People’s artist of
the USSR and the USSR State Prize laureate. The composer’s works include opera
“Nazugum”, “Golden Mountains”, “Sadyr Palvan”, a ballet “Chintomur
Batur” and numerous symphonies. Composers I.Masimov, I.Isayev, N.Kibirov and
S.Kibirova made a significant contribution in development of Uighur music.
A People’s
artist of the USSR Gaziz Dugashev is well-known in musical world. He was a
conductor of Kazakh Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet named after Abay. He
also conducted in Bolshoy Theater of the USSR.
Tamara
Alibakiyeva, Doctor of Arts, professor of Alma-Ata Coservatoire named after
Kurmangazy plays an important role in musicology. She made an invaluable
contribution in research of cycle of “Twelve Uighur Muqams” as well as song
folklore of the Uighurs. Having gathered rich folklore material, Tamara
Alibakiyeva was the first to classify genres of Uighur music folklore. Having
“Twelve Uighur Muqams” - a masterpiece, a pearl of Uighur folklore, set to
music, the musicologist implemented a historical and theoretical analysis of the
cycle and derived mode and intonation system of Medieval Uighur muqam. Based on
comparative analysis of Uighur professional music folklore and musical
professional genres of various medieval cultures, Tamara Alibakiyeva defined
mutual influence between ancient music civilizations. More than 300 of her books
and articles devoted to history of Uighur musical culture were published in
different encyclopedic, scientific and scholar editions. Among them are
“Uighur Historical Songs”, “Twelve Uighur Muqams”, “Uighur Wedding
Songs”, “Uighur Funeral Songs” and others. Taking part in international
musicological conferences, symposia, seminars and concerts, Tamara Alibakiyeva
has been vigorously popularizing Uighur art on international stage over 40
years. She is well-known in the USA, Canada, countries of Europe and Asia.
Opening of
Uighur Theater21 in 1934 was one of the remarkable events in
cultural life of the Uighurs in Kazakhstan. Uighur theater art developed under
ponderable influence of such art masters as: People’s artist of Kazakhstan
M.Semyatova, A.Shamiyeva, G.Jalilov, R.Ilakhunova, M.Bakiyev, S.Sattarova,
N.Mametova, Z.Akbarova, G.Raziyeva, K.Abdrasulov, T.Baklhtybayev; Honored
artists A.Akbarov, Zh.Asimov, M.Zaynaudinov, R.Tokhtanova, A.Sopiyev,
Kh.Iliyeva, R.Marupova, A.Musayeva, S.Akbarova, K.Zakirov, M.Rakhmanova.
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