BAY HORSE
“BAY HORSE”, “S l o p e o f t h e b a y h o r s e”, Bashkir ethnic naigrysh. First regis tered by A.S. Klucharyev in the 1930’s, included into the handwritten collection called “50 Bashkir ethnic instrumental plays and quaray naigrysh melodies”. Its variants are published in the book “Bashkort khalk yirdary” by K.F. Akhmetov, L.N. Lebedinskiy. The naigrysh resembles a march. “B.h.” performance is usually preceded by the legend, which has several variants. One of them tells the story about a dzhigit protecting his beloved tulpar from envious people. (The variant was registered by K.A. Aralbayev from M. Ilyasov and S. Karimov in 1967 in Khaybullinsliy District, BASSR). The dzhigit comes to see his bride and leaves his horse on a slope. The horse dies because of the bride’s relatives’ nosy looks. The dzhigit composes the melody mourning his friend’s loss. The melody is called “B.h.”. Another variant of the legend, registered by Y.I. Gareev from T. Kunakkasov in 1969 in Ilyachevo village, Khaybullinskiy District, RB, tells that the dzhigit dies on his way back home and his bride rushes into the water. The dominant idea of “B.h.” is the indissoluble connection between a warrior and his horse. The death of one of them leads to the death of the other (see Cults). The theme of the naigrysh, which has a 2-part variational form, is based on the overture mode element, which has a big third interval. The melody is a period consisting of 2 sentences, the last of which is emphasized by the variable 7th step. There also was a “B.h.” song as evidenced by the poetic text written down by Gareev.
L.K. Salmanova
