Kurmangazy Sagyrbayulý
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Everyone knows the name Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly.
His face was on the 5-tenge note. Perhaps there is a
Kurmangazy Street in your town or city. A national
orchestra is named after him, and thousands of young
musicians have studied at the Kurmangazy National
Conservatory. Kazakhstanis have been listening to his
famous and beautiful kuis (music for the dombra) for over
180 years. But what do we know about his life? We don't
know exactly when he was born, but it was probably in
1823. His family lived in a yurt in the Atyrau region of
Kazakhstan and they were poor. His mother loved music,
and her young son learned to play the dombra. He played
so beautifully that he became well-known while still a
child. Travelling musicians (kuishi) often visited his village.
One of these kuishi, called Uzak, realised that the young
Kurmangazy would be a great musician. At the age of 18,
Kurmangazy left his home village with Uzak and began his
life as a travelling kuishi. At that time, Kazakhstan was not
an independent country. It was ruled by Russia. Life was
very hard for ordinary people, and in 1836 a Kazakh leader,
Isatai Taimanov, led 2,000 Kazakh horsemen against the
rulers. Kurmangazy believed in freedom, and his music put
fire into the hearts of the Kazakh fighters. His kui Kishkentay
is a famous example. The fighting went on for two years,
but the rulers were too strong, and Kurmangazy was put
in prison. But after that, he continued to speak against the
country's rulers. He often had to run from them and find
a new home. But he never stopped composing wonderful
music. His most famous composition is Sary-Arka (The Wide
Steppe), which expresses love for freedom and the beautiful
land of Kazakhstan. Kurmangazy felt this love strongly when
he had to say goodbye to the land where he grew up. He
spent his last years in the region of Astrakhan, where the
Kurmangazy Museum is now.
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