The melodies of this genre group are differentiated into children's songs and songs for children. Some are created and performed by children themselves, while others are created by adults.
The lullaby (бешик ыры) is one of the oldest genres, still functioning as a constant attribute of family life. However, in urban conditions, the tradition of placing a child in a special cradle (бешик) and soothing them with a "бешик ыры" has noticeably weakened over time. Rarely does a mother or older sister of an infant know the authentic folk lullabies today. Therefore, their scientific study and preservation is all the more important.
Russian Orientalists and travelers first paid attention to Kyrgyz folk lullabies even before the revolution. The text of one song was recorded by philologist A. Divaev and published in Russian translation, without musical notation, in 1900. Its first verse:
Hush-hush, my child!
Lie down in the white cradle, my child!
Don't cry, my child, don't cry,
If you break a bone, I'll give you a brain.
Tying the tail of Baykutan to a thread, I'll give it to you.
Lullabies are characterized by poetic quality, vivid imagery, and heartfelt emotion. In them, a mother tries to foresee her child's fate, expresses hope to see in her son a fearless, honest, and just person, and in her daughter a virtuous beauty, singing about respect for parents and love for the homeland. Male and children's lullabies (from father to son, sister or brother to the younger child in the family) are rarer.
Depending on the child's gender, there are variations in the song texts. One example of a lullaby for a girl is found in the collection "Children's Folklore" ("Балдар фольклору"). Lyric and tender, it is based on the ostinato repetition of a melody within the Phrygian tetrachord of la — si-flat — do — re.
Hush-hush, dear little one,
Sleep peacefully in the cradle,
Mother will come home soon.
Taste the sweet flavor of sleep, my little one,
Hush-hush, my soul...
In a lullaby from the "Anthology of Kyrgyz Music" (gramophone record M30 35845), the family theme resonates with the social one. A mother soothing her son complains about poverty and the oppression of the wealthy:
Hush-hush, my child.
You were born in poverty.
The wealthy and manaps humiliate your kin.
Sleep, sleep, calm down, don't cry,
Your mother's hands are tired.
I would make you porridge,
But there isn't a pinch of flour at home.
Hush-hush, sleep, my child...
The narrow tercian-quartal range of the melody, the stepwise movement, and the repeated intonations impart a monotony to the tune— a characteristic of sad lullabies.
The children's songs (бапдар ырлары), performed by the children themselves, include game songs "оюн ыры," teasing songs "чымчыкей ыры," and songs about animals and birds. The total number of such songs was likely large, but not all of them have survived to this day.
A. Zataevich recorded the following children's folk songs: "Cheerful Game" ("Боз балдардын солкулдак"), "Five Braids" ("Беш кекул"), "Falcon" ("Турумтай"), "Orphaned Foal" ("Жетим тай"). They tell of children's traditional games or depict their beloved world of animals and birds. It is no coincidence that in ancient examples of the genre, images of domestic animals are often used, alongside which adolescents worked and played daily. The content of the songs is closely related to specific circumstances and situations from children's lives.
In the folk music collections of V. Vinogradov, there are also several children's songs. These include "Black Goat" ("Кара теке") and "Falcon" ("Турумтай"). They were recorded from the well-known akyn-improviser Korgool Dosuiev, who sang them while accompanying himself on the komuz. Naturally, the author's version of these songs is much more developed than the original children's version, thanks to instrumental accompaniment:
Black goat (fight, fight) —
It must be slaughtered when it's fat (fight),
But not when it's thin (fight).
When it becomes fat,
Like a calf or a hamster (fight),
We'll butcher it and be full (fight).
In the aforementioned collection "Children's Folklore," several dozen texts of actual children's songs are published. Among them are "My Calf" ("Торпогум"), "Butterfly" ("Кепелек"), "Flock of Crows" ("Каак, каак каргалар"), "My Chestnut Foal" ("Жээрде тайым"), and others.
The realm of children's creativity also includes children performing works from traditional "adult" genres: humorous dialogues "акыйнек," household ritual songs "жарамазан," funeral ritual laments кекуруу, and some labor songs. Special mention should be made of the performers of "Manas."
During the Soviet era, with the spread of universal education and the influence of professional composers' music, the thematic range of children's folk songs significantly expanded. New songs emerged, dedicated to social events and historical figures. During the Great Patriotic War, sad songs like "Father, I Long for You" ("Сыгындым атам кайдасыц") and "In Forty-One" ("Кырк биринчи жылында") resonated. They impressively reflect the "non-childish" theme of war and the loss of loved ones.
Stylistically, Soviet and post-Soviet children's folk songs are close to composer samples of the genre.
Universal literacy has made its corrections in children's folk performance. The fixation of song texts has overshadowed traditional forms of mastering the folk singing style.
An example of this is Kyrgyz epic and akyn performance, in which children traditionally participate. In recent decades, young akyns and manaschy have been learning the epic from publications. In the late 1990s, due to changes in the concept of developing folk creativity, the ancient method of teaching children folk storytelling and singing is being revived.
The Kyrgyz State Directorate for the Promotion of the Epic "Manas," with the support of the UN Development Program (UNDP), held the founding congress of the Association of Manaschy and Akyns-Improvizers in 1997. According to one of the Association's projects, classes for master storytellers and akyns have been established in the capital and each region of the republic, where children are taught this art using special methodologies. The main conditions are fluency in the Kyrgyz language, natural vocal abilities, and close communication between the student and teacher not only during classes but also in everyday life, at concerts, and on tours.
As the initial results have shown, the creation of such classes is an extremely positive development. Bright talents—future "stars" of folk performance—have been identified at the competitions and festivals of young akyns and manaschy held in recent years. Thus, the break in the millennia-old tradition, whose danger was caused by new social and communicative conditions, is no longer a threat. Although, of course, the revival of traditions cannot be literal and mechanical: it reflects the new era of Kyrgyzstan in one way or another.
