ASHKADAR

“ASHKADAR” is a Bashkir ethnic song, uzun-kuy. It was first written down by S.G. Rybakov in 1894 from Abdrakhman Davletov in the Yuluk village of Orskiy District of Orenburgskaya region (now Baymakskiy District) and published in “Music and songs of the Ural Muslims and their household description”. G. Tukay presents the legend about the songs’ origin in his work about ethnic art (“Ethnic literature”, 1910; in Tat. lang.) One of the variants of the legend and text of “A.” song were written down by Gumer­akhun and published in 1915 in “Shuro” magazine by M.A. Burangulov (№ 13). The song is lyrico­dramatic. It is one of the most popular pieces of Bashkir musical folklore. The plot is about a death of a beloved husband during a hunt. In his memory his wife composes the song. The chant has distinct features such as a wide range of sounds, slow tempo, developed ornamented singing, gradual flow of the melody. Musical adaption for a symphonic orchestra were made by K.Y. Rakhimov. He wrote an opera with the same name in 1941 based on the plot of the song by A.A. Eichenwald.