The modern state of Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazakh National Opera and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra. The folk instrument orchestra was named after Kurmangazy, a famous composer and dombra player from the 19th century. Other Kazakh composers include Tattimbet, Sougur, Almaz Serkebayev, Tles Kazhgaliev, Makhambet and Bayserke. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Buryatia is a part of the Russian Federation. ... Inner Mongolia is a province of China, with traditions related to Tuvan music and Mongolian music. ... Khakassia is a region in Russia. ... Tibet is a region of China, culturally very distinct from the rest of China. ... Tuva is a part of Russia, inhabited by a people related to the nearby Mongolians. ... Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is dominated by Uighurs, a Turkic people related to others from Central Asia. ... Kurmangazy Sagyrbaev (1823-1896), was a Kazakh composer, instrumentalist, and folk artist. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Folk music

Main article: Kazakh folk music

Kazakh music is nomadic and rural, and is closely related to Turkmen and Kyrgyz folk forms. Travelling bards, healers and mystics called akyn are popular, and usually sing either unaccompanied or with a string instrument, especially a dombra or qobuz. Akyn performance contests are called aitys; their lyrics are often social or political, and are generally improvised, witty remarks. Kazakhstan (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, IPA /qɑzɑqˈstɑn/; Russian: Казахстан, Kazakhstán, IPA /kɐzəxˈstɐn/), also spelled Kazakstan, is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Asia, and a former republic of the now extinct USSR. A portion of its territory west of the Ural River is located in eastern... Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. ... Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан, variously transliterated), officially the Kyrgyz Republic, and sometimes known as Kirghizia, is a country in Central Asia. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... See Bard (disambiguation). ... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... Not to be confused with Domra The dombra is a long-necked, two-stringed instrument, possessing a resonating chamber, somewhat similar to a banjo or a lute, and especially popular in the Central Asian nations. ...

Traditional Kazakh music includes ensembles using instrumets like the qobuz or dombra, as well as kylkobyz, sherter, sybyzgy, saszyrnay and shankobyz; the most common instrumental traditions are called kobizovaia, sibiz-govaia, and dombrovaia. Many songs are connected to ancient mythology and folk religious beliefs (kui), while others were composed after the rise of authored works (kuishi) by early songwriters (jiray) like Mahmud Kashgari, Kaztygana, Dospanbeta, Shalkiiza and Aktamberdi. The kuishi tradition is said to have peaked in the 19th century, often composers like Kurmangazy, Madi Baliuly and Birjan and singers like Ahan were active. In the 20th century, the first major star was the singer Mayra Shamsutdinova, who was, unusual for the time, a woman. You can obtain some of Kazakh music at www.kazakhcrafts.com

References

• 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. ISBN 1-85828-636-0