CAVALRY HORSE WITH A STAR ON HIS FOREHEAD
“CAVALRY HORSE WITH A STAR ON HIS FOREHEAD”, “A h o r s e w i t h a w h i t e s t r i p e o n h i s f o r e h e a d”, Bashkir ethnic song, uzun-kuy. First registered by A.S. Klyucharyev in 1933 from A. Karimov, a worker of the Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant, published in the book “Bashkort khalk yirdary”. The song is lyrodramatic. According to the legend told by K.M. Diyarov, a dzhigit lived in one of the villages situated along the Dyoma river. He had never lost a horse competition or a fight with enemies. He met a girl from the same village and fell in love. One day the lovers, walking around the riverside, decided to swim. The dzhigit heard the girl whimper and then found her dead body on the bottom of the river. The song was composed by the dzhigit. It conveys his sorrow for his loved one and thoughts about life, he approaches to his loyal horse. The base of the melody is minor pentatonic. The beat is irregular and the song has undecim range. Ascending fourth and descending fifth leaps make the melody special. Musical adaptations of the song for women’s and mixed choir were made by A.G. Tikhomirov, for mixed choir by S.S. Ibragimov. The tune was used by K.F. Akhmetov for a string quartet.
G.A. Ishkinina