A. Cherkesova

Short songs (saryn) in the folk music of the Karanogais

The article is based on the field records made during 2008–2016. The author describes saryn – the variety of the Karanogais short songs. The aim of the study is to provide the stylistic attribution of saryn by establishing the typical signs of their subject matter, poetics, the interaction between poetic text and melody, music form and modal-melodic features. Poetic lyrics of short songs competitions, which are performed at the public assemblies, develop the topics related to history, household conflicts and interpersonal relationships. They are quite versatile on the structure of the seven-eight syllable caesured and non-caesured verse, appropriate melodic construction, the syllabic relationship of word and melody (one syllable – one sound), the rhythmic short units with the enlargement of last syllable. The passthrough structure of melodic strophe with repeated structures (usually first, sometimes last) is typical. The originality of melodic composition is determined by the «terracing» principle of organization in the form of transposition of variable or contrast music structures, as well as their displacement in the downward direction. The researcher identifies nine poly-text folk tunes, four of which are common among the Karanogai people and the Kuban Nogais, being known in the folk music of the Dagestan peoples and Turkic peoples of other cultural areas. Also the author establishes the common elements of the texts and melodies stylistics, that allows to characterize saryn as an independent genre type of short songs.

Key words

the Karanogais, folk music, short songs, saryn.

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