Birzhan Sal Kozhagululy (1834-1897) –golden-voiced singer, composer, improviser and sery.
Biography
A prominent representative of Kazakh folklore of the 19th century, one of the brightest masters of the word – Birzhan Sal Kozhagululy, was born in 1834 in the modern Akmola Region (Kokshetau), in Obagan Town, in his clan nomad near Jekei Lake, one of Seksenkol (eighty lakes). Birzhan’s great-grandfather on the male line – Birtas had eight sons: Aksholak, Aishuak, Zhanshuak, Kozhamkul, Kozhagul. Turlybay, Nurali, Yeraly were born from Kozhagul. Birzhan’s father is Turlybay. Birzhan was very close to his grandfather Kozhagul and was in his care. Grandfather and grandmother pandered Birzhan and provided complete freedom of expression. As a teenager, Birzhan began to compose songs in which the lines sounded: “I am the son of Kozhagul – Birzhan Sal”.
Kozhagul was one of the richest people in the district, therefore Birzhan grew up without needing anything, developed freely in a favourable environment. From childhood, the boy played “dombra” and sang songs, showed talent in poetry and music, composed melodies. Love for the song became the reason for his participation in family and generic holidays. The young man carefully listened to the speeches of akyns and storytellers, showed his interest in the folk tradition of sery and Sal (traveling singers and storytellers), began to take part in performances. Birzhan was tall, with a strong physique, attractive appearance, as can be seen in the picture of Abilkhan Kasteyev, preserved in Akmola Regional Archive [1, 1 p.].
Grandfather Kozhagul greatly influenced the creative work of Birzhan, his fate, the choice of creative environment, his development as a singer and poet, because Kozhagul himself was an educated bi-judge, a sharp-tongued orator, the people called him “tyue paluan” – a strong fighter (able to overcome a camel). In a word, Kozhagul was a man who loved art. Birzhan’s grandfather was in close relations with the khan’s court, travelled abroad, and visited China twice as an ambassador. According to Alkey Margulan, Shokan Ualikhanov handed over the gold saddle of Ambassador Kozhagul and his gilded dagger to Petersburg Museum for an art exhibition. Birzhan’s poetic gift, his wit is a hereditary talent, passing from grandfathers to children [2, 115 p.].
On his creative career, Birzhan studied under talented people. Birzhan began his path to art in a madrassah, his mentors were Imagambet Yyrbekbekuly, Korpesh Bahramuly and Koshebeli, famous artists close to religious mentoring from the Kerey clan: poets and singers taught musical (playing dombra) and song art, poetry and skills of the storyteller, they taught different types of crafts, hunting methods, including hunting with a hunting bird, preparing horses for racing and other skills of a real Sal- sery (a traditional singer and storyteller), and put him on the path of art. Birzhan adhered to the direction set by his mentors, studied the skills and mastery of the songwriter. The guy also studied under a madrassah from mullah village. Birzhan learned not only the performer’s skills and hunting with a hunting bird, he also developed spiritual qualities and religious virtue. This fact influenced his fame among the people.
From childhood, Birzhan loved art, played dombra, and sang songs. When singers or musicians came to the village, Birzhan not only listened carefully to them, but tried to understand their performance techniques. If the singers and performers came to neighbouring villages, he always went there, and participated in such holidays. He loved not only songs, but also the “Sal-sery” tradition as a whole. He was attracted to their elegant clothes, horses, hounds, hunting birds and other attributes of their profession.
Since Birzhan became the owner of the prefix “Sal”, which meant recognition of his skill as a performer, he immediately became popular, his songs were sung, his name was always on the lips, his sharp words were intercepted on the go, poets and singers were interested in his work and took him as a model. If in childhood he was called a “boy singer”, then in his youth he was called a “horse-singer”. He travelled around the villages and shared his work with the people; people enjoyed his performances with pleasure and enjoyed his special style of performance, his voice and songs. A beautiful saddle, elegant clothes, an amazing voice that struck the entire Saryarqa, attractive appearance, dignity and figure inherent in Birzhan made him recognizable throughout the steppe. The singer became popular in a short period of time, he became popularly known as Birzhan singer, Birzhan skillful performer and finally as Birzhan Sal [3, 4-5 pp.].
Thanks to the skill of the singer and poet, Birzhan quickly gained fame throughout the country, achieved fame, adhering to the special Kazakh tradition of “Sal sery”, he also continued to develop it. He was known not only in the territory of Kokshetau, but throughout the Sary-Arch and became a recognized representative of Kazakh literature. Such singers as Zhayau Musa, Ukili Ybyray, Baluan Sholak then continued the tradition of Birzhan Sal. Each Birzhan song was born in special conditions. During gatherings or state meetings, when the soul was anxious, Birzhan Sal created songs that convey the state of his soul.
Nature endowed Birzhan with artistic abilities, highly spiritual potential and imagination; he could see and hear with his heart, he worked sincerely, by inspiration. He sang songs in Russian, Kyrgyz, Bashkir languages. When he went on a creative tour for a week, he always prepared a new repertoire, performed songs, never repeating itself. “His rhythms shimmered in a variety of registers, he sang in a strong voice, with beautiful overflow transitions, the melodies of his large-scale works could be heard on holidays, during the days of popular festivities. Birzhan had such a strong voice that his songs could be heard in villages located five to six kilometres around, and people fell silent enjoying listening to his performance” [4, 80-81 pp.].
Merits
The creative heritage of Birzhan Sal reflects the feeling of love and friendship inherent in youth, his songs reflect the time and environment in which he lived, various social events and features, his works contain concepts of decency, humanity and other topics. They contain ardour of youth, creativity, the attributes of the tradition “sery and Sal”; passion and exaltation of beauty; violence and coercion, hatred and anger against injustice, a sense of shame and humiliation; understanding of the mortality of life, despair, grief – there is everything. Because Birzhan is not the poet who knew only ups, not everything was perfect in his life. He himself became convinced of the violent nature of the ruling class. He survived a lot of hardship and grief. In the songs “Zhanbota” and “Adaskak”, Birzhan in the interests of the common people describes volost Aznabai and Zhanbot, who, using their power, exerted pressure on people.
In verses and songs, Birzhan and his contemporary akyns are opposed to the established habit of gender division, against patriarchal inertness. In his works, Birzhan advocate for the equality of women; he himself, having survived adversity and deprivation, understands well the problems of social inequality. Birzhan Sal was once persecuted by the volost and rich and witnessed intergeneric confrontation. All the political social problems that he experienced were laid down on paper in the form of poems and songs. About sixty songs of Birzhan Sal have survived to our time [4, 82-83 pp.]. Now their number is increasing. These songs have deep social significance, and great educational value. In Birzhan’s songs there are many features of household and life of Kazakhs in the second half of the XIX century, reflecting the worldview of people, their customs and traditions.
Birzhan Sal Kozhagululy not only knew the song tradition of his region well, he also made a significant contribution to the ancient tradition of “sery and Sal”. The musical and lyrical nature of Birzhan’s work is obvious. His poem “Birzhan Sal” expresses a desire to protect human dignity even in mortal danger; The song “Sheder” is about a greedy bai who cares only about himself, the song “Ғашығым” – “Beloved”, is full of passion, opposite feelings inherent in love. Also, in the works of Birzhan Sal there is an everyday routine, vanity and joy of existence. These songs excited the listeners, aroused aesthetic feelings in them. At the same time, in songs, the poet raised questions about the lack of social justice in the society, called for speeches against colonial dependence. [5, 100-102 cs.].
It is evident that Birzhan Sal began his creative career in a difficult time, when his truthful songs made it difficult to carry out political changes in the steppe. Initially, his relatives did not mind Birzhan’s work, motivated him to travel and perform, they were proud of him and his work. But his family began to worry about him when he reached middle age but did not found a profession other than singing. Relatives did not like that Birzhan constantly speaks at holidays, that he does not deal with home and household. In connection with the transition from a free nomadic way of life to colonial politics, many people have changed their attitude to traditional Kazakh art, to the work of “Sal and sery”. The main reason for this was the colonial policy of the Russian Empire, which banned the traditional folk art of Sal and in every possible way prevented its spread.
Contemporaries of Birzhan Sal, composers and at the same time poets-singers such as Segiz sery, Akan Sery, Mukhit, Aset, Zhayau Musa, Baluan Sholak, also made their innovative contributions to Kazakh literature. The poems of these poets, about their dreams and hopes of the independence of the people, were a source of pride for ordinary people. Sery and Sal created poems and songs, performed them to the accompaniment of dombra or kobyz. They dedicated songs to the most important social problems of the society, events in the daily life of Kazakhs, love, and called in their songs for equality and freedom of rights of Kazakh women. Birzhan’s song “Zhanbota”, the song “Kulager”, written by Akan Sery, the song of Zhayau Musa “Haulau” tell about social injustice in the society, urge to fight for a decent life. Through the poetic work of singer-composers, Kazakh literature was filled with freedom-loving and humanistic ideas that quickly spread among the people [6, 8-9 pp.].
As mentioned above, Birzhan Sal had a good reputation and respect in the society. He enjoyed success and recognition among his colleagues. Being a contemporary of the aforementioned poets and singers, creators with his own individual poetry, song art and philosophy, he certainly influenced their work. Bright talent and high art of Birzhan Sal became an example for his Zhayau Musa, Kanapiya Basyrga, Kultum, Akan Sery, Baluan Sholak, Ukili Ibrai. And Birzhan Sal as “the last Kazakh singer Sal, the eldest of the poets of sery, mentor and innovator in the art” contributed to the continuation and dissemination of the song tradition of ““Sal and sery”” [7, 25-27 pp.].
It is not at all difficult to imagine the thoughts and conclusions of Birzhan Sal about the society and about the people of his time from his works. The life of the fair-haired boy of the family of Sara-arch, a talented singer, went through difficulties and hardships. The environment that exalted him, then began to build obstacles, ceased to support the spread of the Kazakh tradition of sery and Sal, and only his family remained the driving force of his creative work. The tradition of “Sal and sery” at all times played the role of a folk theatre, served the people as a source of creative energy, positively influenced the aesthetic worldview of people, freeing from everyday routine, fostering artistic taste. The main goal of the tradition of sery and Sal is the centuries-old education of art, this value which lies in the philosophy of nomadic civilization, this tradition was erroneously rejected and underestimated, and today this point of view is subject to revision and rethinking.
The works of Birzhan Sal reflect the problems of the society, deeply examined the difficulties and intricacies of human destinies. As mentioned above, it is not at all difficult to imagine the thoughts and conclusions of Birzhanal about the society and about people of its time from his works. By a personal example, Birzhan Sal demonstrated the value of education for creativity; it is also difficult to overestimate his contribution to the upbringing of art. Firstly, when analysing the works of Birzhan Sal, it is clear that truth is the core of his worldview; secondly, he is the only one of its kind conductor of the tradition of sery and Sal on a national scale, a propagandist of the aesthetics of an ancient tradition among the people. Thirdly, Birzhan Sal expressed the idea of philanthropy in his songs; fourthly, he emphasized the importance of the role of each person in the development of the society in his songs. For this, the people loved the creativity of the Sal sery and listened with pleasure to them. There was no note school of music in the steppe, funny tunes and melodic songs were remembered and re-chanted on the move, if the singer’s performing talent touched the hearts and souls of the people, brought joy, then the song instantly spread to the vast expanses, glorifying the author [8, 21 p.].
Birzhan Sal was widely known not only as a talented performer. He became famous as a performer who spread the tradition, based on the art of song and music, which affects people, has a beneficial effect on the ability to think and draw conclusions. Birzhan Sal was also widely known as a fiery poet-improviser. As you know, the educational function of “aitys” is that two poets use the ingenious word to reveal the value and artistry of the language, its power of influence, the importance of etiquette in communication. Most fans of “aitys” are familiar with Birzhan’s contest with Sara. “Aitys” – duel between Shorzhe and Birzhan became widely known in the middle Zhuz, in which the “akyns” demonstrated a special acuteness of the word and in which criticism and claims against Kunanbai were voiced [8, 106 p.].
The highest achievements of Birzhan Sal in folklore are, of course, related to his talent as an “akyn improviser. Among his contemporaries, Birzhan Sal was considered an unattainable master in the art of “aitys”. “Aitys” of poets-improvisers have long been considered one of the important types of Kazakh literary work. The tradition of wit competition that has developed over the centuries has been constantly improved; it continued to serve the society in the days of Birzhan Sal. In those days, the fame of “akyn” began with participation in “aitys”, where the poet as a performer competed in the resourcefulness, knowledge, acuteness and metaphor of the word, and thereby found a response in the hearts of the audience. Therefore, every budding poet who wanted to devote his life to poetry, first of all prepared for “aitys”, armed himself with facts from the life of prominent representatives of his kind, in order to use them during the competition. Many poets-improvisers of the 19th century glorified the Kazakh poetry with their poetic talent, the gift of eloquence, resourcefulness, and deep knowledge of the life of the people, such poets were loved by the people. Among them are Birzhan and Sara, Baktybai, Akbala, Tubek, Shortanbai, Serniyaz, Suinbai and others [9, 551 p.].
The shape and content of “aitys” are largely different from each other. If the main theme of some of them was the life of the people, issues of household and management, the traditions of the tribal community and their characteristics, then, for example, the “aitys” between Birzhan and Sara raised the issue of personal independence of women. Along with great “aitys” on epic themes, often there were competitions for wit as a joke, for greeting, for raising the mood and fun. In accordance with the theme and content, the artistic level of “aitys” also differed from each other.
Aitys of poets-improvisers contributed to the development of oral folk art. These competitions turned into a school of improvisational skills, into the art of words, taught resourcefulness, metaphorical statements, and performing skills. Akyns improvisers during aitys openly spoke out and criticized problematic social phenomena. Later, in connection with the development of written literature, a new tradition appeared – in the form of poetic writing, when aitys passed in the form of an exchange of various riddles and encoded messages. All these facts had a comprehensive impact on the development of national poetry [9, 552 p.].
The talent of Birzhan improviser was revealed in full breadth during the aitys with Sara. Among the works of poets-improvisers there have never been texts of such a high level of artistry as in the aytis of Birzhan and Sara. This aitys was also remembered by the topic: it raised the problems of the society, human values. Before giving a general assessment and characterizing the topic that poets debated during aytis, it is necessary to distinguish between the peculiar similarities between Birzhan’s lyric songs and his poetry of a poet-improviser [3, 23 p.].
In 1865, Birzhan Sal met with Abay. Traveling the steppe with his performances in the tradition of Sal sery, Birzhan once drove into Abay village as a guest. Of course, the songs and legends sounded at that meeting, was a separate topic. The great Abay praised the creative work of Birzhan Sal. Abay noted that Birzhan did not go along the beaten paths, but left his expressive mark, while maintaining the tradition. Abay admired the talent of the poet, praised the works of Birzhan and his performing art. The meeting of the two poets became a phenomenon for the steppe, the exchange of opinions, greatly influenced their further work. The conversation between Birzhan and Abai, the comprehensive, scientific conclusions of the great poet, the critical and honest approach to songs and poems, and the two-sided union of the two poets influenced poetry and art in general.
Birzhan Sal, on his part, was able to uncover the philosophical depth of Abai’s poems. If Abay set a new direction in poetry, then Birzhan Sal became an innovator in music and performing skills. Abay, a poet who experimented in his creative work in different artistic styles, praised the song and poetry of Birzhan Sal for his performing skills in dombra. Particularly noting the folk character of the performance [8, 90 pp.].
Memory
In the work of Birzhan Sal, the main place is given to love lyrics and to his songs in this direction “Aitbay”, “Lailim shyrak”, “Zhambas sipar”, “Kalamkas”, “Altyn baldak”, “Axerkesh”, “Kerkekil”, “Birlan”, “Gashygym”, “Gashyk Heat”, “Makpal”, “Aizhan Kyzga”, “Oryntai”, “Kalkama”, “Akzhorgazhan”, and other dedication songs. They are vivid manifestations of the author’s feelings that took place throughout his life, a confirmation of sincere friendship and love. The above-mentioned works of Birzhan Sal are poetic experiments that led to the creation of real love lyrics. The publication of the works of Birzhan, published in 1967, consists of 65 verses, 59 of which relate to love lyrics.
Since the Soviet times, Birzhan’s songs and poems have been recorded and studied. This fact is evidence of the great interest of the leadership of the Soviet Kazakhstan in the life and work of the outstanding representative of the Kazakh culture of Birzhan Kozhagululy. A. Zataevich, a collector of the Kazakh songs and poems, editor and compiler, famous researcher in his collection “1000 songs and 500 tunes of the Kazakh people”, collected poetry of Birzhan Sal, edited and contributed to the collection. The author assessed the work of Birzhan Sal in this collection. This collection of songs by A. Zataevich is one of the largest publications and is also considered the first collection in which the works of Birzhan Sal are published [10, 15-17 pp.].
Birzhan Sal songs dedicated to love lyrics reveal flaws of the colonial system, including the social inequality of women. From which it follows that the study of the creative work of Birzhan Sal, the collection and analysis of his songs, their popularization on the one hand affects the development of culture, and on the other hand demonstrates all aspects of the life of the Kazakh society during the tsarist regime. Accordingly, the study of the author’s love lyrics helps to outline the society of that time. For example, E. Ysmayylov, who studied poetry of Birzhan Sal [11, 8-10 pp.], began his work by studying the poet’s birthplace, and studied materials about his life in everyday life and in his family. The scientist’s work examined the poetic art of Birzhan Sal, his works are explained very readily in today’s Kazakh language. Studying the verses of Birzhan Sal, the author also assessed the status of women in the society, their inequality in comparison with men.
In the same way, M. Tolebaev studied the works of Birzhan Sal in the Soviet times and wrote the opera “Birzhan – Sara”. The study of M. Tolebaev is one of the important works in Birzha Studies. Based on the story of “Birzhan – Sara”, the poet K. Zhumaliev prepared the libretto, based on it the composer M. Tolebaev wrote an opera, which was very successful in the Soviet times, and the composer was also highly appreciated. This opera helps to understand that all works written about the work of Birzhan Sal extend the life of the poet’s works even longer, never become obsolete, they are a true spiritual heritage [12, 3-4 pp.].
Although the works of Birzhan Sal were written during the tsarist empire, his songs and poems were devoted to ordinary people, poor people and people of low social and social status, which corresponded to the Soviet ideology, therefore their ideas were clear and close to the socialist system, as a result of which the works of Birzhan Sal were intensified to study. Therefore, many researchers studied the creative work of Birzhan Sal. If we dwell briefly on them, Sabit Mukanov and Saken Seifullin were the first to highlight his name in his published works as the famous Birzhan Sal and singer. Sabit Muқanov collected important data on the biography of Birzhan Sal [13, 8-10 pp.]. Then this work was continued by literary scholars K. Zhumaliev, A. Zhubanov, M. Gabdullin, M. Auezov, as well as other scholars who studied the biography and work of Birzhan Sal in their books.
In addition, several scholars in the Soviet times released a collection of Birzhan Sal entitled “Laylim shyraq”. The collection contains many facts and social events and cases from the author’s biography. The collection “Laylim shyraq” paints the image of a woman, shows the place of a woman in the society at that time, and also reveals political, social and public topics [14, 10-12 pp.].
Since the Republic of Kazakhstan became independent, it is the duty of every researcher to take a conscious view of the history of the people, language and culture. Today we consider the horizons of learning as an ongoing process, and we also mean two types of education in interconnection. The first type is Comprehensive schools of a new type. The second is higher education institutions. In connection with social changes, universities are called upon to prepare future specialists in a specialized context.
The writer and scholar G. Abetov collected old and new materials about Birzhan Sal, made conclusions on his works, and conducted a detailed analysis of his poetic works. Conclusions on poetic creativity, on his poetry of improviser today are found in the works of other literary scholars. There are also many scholars who collect information about the life and fate of unfamiliar songs and poems by Birzhan Sal. With the establishment of independence of the country, work on the study of the creative work of Birzhan Sal expanded. His path as a poet-improviser and his aitys are also being investigated nowadays [15, 32-33 pp.].
Considering the role of Birzhan’s creative work in art and for the whole society, given its historical role, a film was made about his life. The role of Birzhan Sal in this film was played by the famous actor Doskhan Zholzhaksynov, he also acted as a director, and this film is his largest work. He played the main role in the film “Birzhan Sal”. Based on reliable facts and a biography of the poet, the actor was able to embody the image at a high professional level. The film was staged in the genre of poetry and lyric drama. The screenwriter showed Birzhan Sal in middle age, when his fame was at its best, but because of strife among relatives, he was in disgrace. The contention between the favourites of the people, the singers, “akyns” and the rural municipality, touched the interests of relatives of Birzhan Sal, because of which the poet was at the centre of the conflict. This conflict led to the death of Birjan Sal in captivity, parting with his last love Laili, the death of his wife Apish– and made up the main storyline of the film [16, 68 p.].
Currently, based on the socio-philosophical point of view, the works of Birzhan Sal, Akan Sery and other representatives of art can be attributed to three categories. Poems on the theme of nature, works on the theme of being to ontology, worldview about the society and the individual to epistemology, and songs about spiritual values can be attributed to axiology.
Summarizing the above, there is no doubt that Birzhan Sal is a person who has made an invaluable contribution to the Kazakh art and culture. Birzhan Sal remained in the memory of the people, in the Kazakh history as a particularly significant figure. As a composer, Birzhan Sal filled the Kazakh folk music with new facets, enriched and raised the performing arts to a high level. First of all, Birzhan Sal remained for the Kazakh people a gold-voiced singer, a person with a poetic and performing gift. Like any owner of great talent, Birzhan Sal left his unique mark, became the founder of a new direction in music and performing arts. Birzhan Sal is a master of poetic words, a skilled performer of songs. His name and his works enjoy well-deserved respect among the people; his work today is folk and national in form, and rich in spiritual heritage in content.
Today’s generation is well aware of the name Birzhan Sal. His name and beautiful works enjoy the love of the people, entered the cultural heritage of the whole world. At the same time, the centres of art and culture, and even the district centre, bear his name. In the Akmola region there is Birzhan Sal district, in Kokshetau City there is a music college named after him, and streets in all major cities of Kazakhstan are also named after him.
References:
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T.A. Apendiyev, PhD