COLONEL BUTISOV

“COLONEL BUTISOV”, “C o l o n e l B u t a s”, Bashkir ethnic song, uzun-kui. It was firstly registered on a phonograph in the 1930’s. The variants of the poetic lyrics were registered in 1959 in Kurganskaya region by S.A. Galin, Kirey Mergen, N.D. Shunkarov. The song is lyroepic. It relates to songs about the heads of military and canton units. According to one of the legends, the song is dedicated to Butisov, who was present at the coronation of Alexander II in 1856 and returned from there at the rank of colonel. According to historical documents, the brothers Shayakhmet and Mukhametsadik Butisovs were in service of one of the canton’s authorities in Chelyabinskiy Districs, Orenburgskaya region in the 1950’s. Presumably, they lived in Kuysan village (Safakulevskiy District, Kurganskaya region). The song is presumably dedicated to one of the brothers. The chant is lightly ornamented. The distinctive feature is ascending quart intonation which is the impulse of further melodical development.

L.K. Salmanova