YNYIKAY AND YULDYKAY

“YNYIKAY AND YULDYKAY”, Bashkir ethnic song, khalmak-kuy. The song and the legend were registered by S.G. Rybakov in 1894 from Abdrakhman Davletov in Sultanovskaya minery of Orskiy District of Orenburgskaya region (current Baymakskiy District, RB) and published in “Music and songs of the Ural Muslims and their household description”. The song is epic. According to the version registered by Rybakov, the songs origin is connected with what happened during a nomadic migration with seven girls. One of them had a fiance. One summer all people went for haying except the fiance of one of the girls, he went to the girls. The dzigit climbed a neighbor’s rich kyuysh to get kumys milk and meat but he fell on scythes while climbing down and died. The girls were accused of murder and sent to Siberia. Two of the girls composed the song dedicated to these tragic events. It was called by their names afterward. According to another version, Ynyikay is the name of a girl, Yuldykay is a name of a dzhigit. During a party Ynyikay’s friend accidentally died. The lovers were accused of what had happened and imprisoned. The melody is wide (twelfth). There is no ornamentation and a plenty of musical repetitions. Ascending melody to the quint tone, a sharp octave leaping down and approaching a third tone make the song dramatic. G.S. Almukhametov composed the same-titled opera (manuscript), K.G. Gabitov composed a play based on the song.

G.Сh. Khamitova