At the beginning of 1919, by a decree of the Semirechensk regional commission on national affairs of the city of Verny (now Almaty), it was decided to gather akyns in order to transcribe their melodies into notes. The Congress of People’s Performers was held in 1920. Alexander Zataevich also came to this event from Orenburg.
“Could I pass indifferently past these treasures which opened up so unexpectedly in front of me? They still remained unknown to the cultural world, and in the meantime, the disastrous hand of extinction had already touched them. What was left had to be saved as quickly as possible,” the composer shared his impressions of the congress.
As Sergei Rachmaninoff would later write in his memoirs, Zataevich fell in love with the music of the Great Steppe, and no force could force him to stop recording mountain melodies.
For a long time, Alexander Zataevich worked in Kazakhstan. Then – in 1928 – he arrived at the invitation of the People’s Commissariat of Education in Frunze (now Bishkek). Two years earlier, work had already begun in the republic on the collection and study of Kyrgyz folklore, but this was not without problems. There were very few specialists capable of translating the legends of akyns into notes. The authorities have even decided to form a special commission for public education.
A circular was issued ordering the registration of all musicians and poets. Contracts were concluded with them for the professional translation of Kyrgyz folklore into music. However, it was not possible to develop a unified system of this process. It was here that the invaluable experience of Alexander Zataevich came in handy. He started recording folk tales by ear. He was helped in this by a talented Kyrgyz virtuoso and akyn Karamoldo Orozov, who skillfully owned the national musical instrument – komuz.
The creative union of the Russian composer and the Kyrgyz storyteller turned out to be fruitful. Alexander Zataevich has recorded more than 30 works by Karamoldo Orozov. One of them – “Song of the Shepherds”, – in modern terms, was a hit in the small homeland of the performer.
“Personally, I am inclined to consider The Song of the Shepherds as perhaps the finest number in Caramoldo’s extensive repertoire,” Alexander Zataevich shared in a letter to Sergei Rachmaninoff. the entirety of the original and compact form – all of this has been brought together in peaceful music, all imbued with that incorruptible idyll, from which it exudes the sincere innocence of a folk poet and musician, fused with the nature he sung.
Virtuoso of Taldy-Bulak
Kurenkeev deeply impressed Alexander Zataevich with his talent. The Kyrgyz akyn at that time was already over 80 years old, but he still brilliantly played on several national instruments.
“From generation to generation, from father to son, musical abilities and skills were passed down in the Kurenkeev family,” wrote Alexander Zataevich in his memoirs. “I had to hear about my father’s glory not only from his new son, like leaves in an album. Murataly himself is the best proof of the importance of his father’s talent. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain such a mastery of the komuz, the kayak (like a violin), the Kyrgyz flute-choir, and several other instruments.”
The composer worked with Murataly Kurenkeev for almost a month. For the first collection, they selected 18 instrumental and vocal pieces. At the same time, a photo of Kyrgyz storytellers and a Russian composer was taken for the first time. Alexander Zataevich sent it to one of his friends in Moscow with the caption: “I attach a small photo showing me between my two friends from the Kara-Kyrgyz tribe – Muratali Kurenkeev (interpreter of Komuz) is on my right, and Toktomambet is on the left (Karamoldo) Orozov (performer of “Kyyak”), both live on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul”.
Two light heads
Acquaintance with one of the masters of Kyrgyz folk art, Toktogul Satylganov, was also of great importance for the Russian composer. The name of the latter was widely known to the local population even before the Great October Revolution. Alexander Zataevich specially attended the performance of the legendary Toktogul and was not disappointed. Then he approached him, introduced himself in the Kyrgyz language, which he managed to learn a little, and asked him where he could hear his songs again.
The old man smiled and waved his hand, calling the Russian guest home. They stayed almost until morning. Akyn played, the composer wrote in a notebook. At that time, the inhabitants gathered in the courtyard to listen to the interpreter.
At the end of 1928, Alexander Zataevich left for Moscow to share his achievements with his colleagues. Among them was a special track by Toktogul Satylganov “A Thousand Dreams”, which tells about the fate of a horseman convicted for a false denunciation and exiled to Siberia.
Sergei Rachmaninoff was the first to read Zataevich’s drafts. After getting acquainted with the work of Toktogul Satylganov, he wrote the following: “There is no doubt about the talent of the old man, which is proved by the unique musicality and the unique disposition of his performance. In general, curiosity and, I would say, encyclopedic awareness of folk issues is the main distinguishing feature of Kyrgyz Akyns, and Toktogul Satylganov in particular. But “A Thousand Dreams” can spoil everything. The timing of this song does not hasn’t come yet.”
Alexander Zataevich returned to Frunze in mid-1936, being fatally ill. He came with one goal – to record the voice of Toktogul Satylganov again. One such encounter was captured in his work by Kyrgyz sculptor Turgunbay Sydykov. This was Alexander Zataevich’s last business trip to the Tien Shan.
After being recorded by Alexander Zataevich, the works of Toktogul Satylganov began to be published in Russia in large collections, and art historians conducted scientific research on his work.
Help “RG”
In the preface to one of his works devoted to Kyrgyz and Kazakh folklore, Alexander Zataevich writes: “To you, dear friends-dzhigits, I dedicate and return my work to you, I worked with you during the cold years and famine. I did not collect your beautiful folk songs, you yourself, with my participation, accumulate them in order to protect your property from oblivion … “
