Starting from the mid-19th century, progressive Russian travelers and scholars began to study and widely introduce the artistic creativity and material culture of the peoples of Central Asia to the European public. During this time, a relationship and mutual penetration of the musical cultures of the peoples of Russia and Central Asia began. Russian composers showed great interest in the music of the peoples of Central Asia. They recorded folk melodies, processed them, borrowing some elements. These included Alyabyev, Glinka, Musorgsky, Borodin, Eichhorn, and others, who opened to the world the rich musical heritage of the peoples of Central Asia.
For example, in Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila," Borodin's "Prince Igor," and in the symphony "In Central Asia," melodies and tunes that have long existed among the peoples of Central Asia, including the Kyrgyz, can be heard.
Kyrgyz musician Ataï Ogonbaev discovered the well-known Kyrgyz melody "Erkin-Tuu" in the third part of "Scheherazade."
The famous musicologist V. S. Vinogradov found similarities between the Russian folk song "Kalina" and the Kyrgyz song "Kuydum chok."
In early 1871, the Turkestan Committee for the preparation of the Polytechnic Exhibition in Moscow (1872) commissioned A. F. Eichhorn to collect a collection of musical instruments of the Central Asian peoples and record individual works. For this purpose, Eichhorn visited Tashkent, Osh, Jalal-Abad, Andijan, Namangan, and Margilan.
In 1872, Eichhorn's collection and musical recordings were presented at the exhibition in Moscow, and the following year at the World Exhibition in Vienna.
In 1885, a second collection by A. F. Eichhorn was exhibited in St. Petersburg, and a catalog was published containing descriptions of 37 musical instruments.
The pioneer of Soviet music in Kyrgyzstan was the outstanding Russian ethnographer and composer A. V. Zataevich, whose collecting and creative activities are equivalent to a feat. Here is what the newspaper "Pravda" wrote about A. Zataevich's activities in 1926: "Through hunger and cold, through typhus and cholera... Zataevich walked through barracks, night shelters, markets, schools and courses, through the dormitories of congresses, like a true seeker of pearls, collecting the wonderful songs of the people. Who and what, besides the revolution, can give a person the strength for such a feat? Only the great revolution." With his recordings of Kyrgyz folk songs and tunes, he laid the foundations for the study of the musical culture of Kyrgyzstan and set an example of a scientific approach to the folk musical heritage.
In 1928, ethnographer and composer A. V. Zataevich (1869—1939), at the suggestion of the government of the Kyrgyz SSR, recorded Kyrgyz folk instrumental pieces and melodies for the first time, performed on the kyiyak, komuz, and other musical instruments. In 1934, he published the book "250 Kyrgyz Musical Pieces and Melodies."
V. S. Vinogradov was the first to systematize information about Kyrgyz music, its forms and genres, the history of instruments, and features of performance style. He is the author of several monographic works about musicians of Kyrgyzstan: "The Musical Heritage of Toktogul" (1961), "Atai Ogonbaev" (1960), "Murataaly Kurunkee" (1962), "Kyrgyz Folk Musicians and Singers" (1972), and others. He was awarded the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR named after Toktogul.
In 1936, at the invitation of the government, two young composers Vladimir Alexandrovich Vlasov and Vladimir Georgievich Fere came to Kyrgyzstan. The creative collaboration of V. Vlasov, V. Fere, and Kyrgyz composer A. Maldybaev turned out to be fruitful. They wrote music for the drama "Ajal orduna" (1938), operas "Altyn kyzy" (1937), "Aychurek" (1939), "Patriots" (1941), "Son of the People" (1946), "On the Shores of Issyk-Kul," and music for ballets "Anar," "Selkinchek," and others.
The development of professional musical art in Kyrgyzstan is also associated with another person — Petr Fedorovich Shubin. From the very beginning of his stay in the republic, he recorded and processed tunes, composed works based on folk music. P. F. Shubin became the founder of chamber-instrumental Kyrgyz music, the organizer and leader of the orchestra of Kyrgyz folk instruments, and the author of the first works for it.
In the republic, there were over 100 music schools, 5 secondary specialized music educational institutions were opened, and a special higher educational institution was organized — the Kyrgyz State Institute of Arts named after B. Beishenaliev.
The Kyrgyz State Philharmonic Society of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the main concert organization of the republic, was formed in 1936 through the joint efforts of Kyrgyz musicians and composers who came to the republic: P. Shubin, V. Vlasov, V. Fere, and others. The first significant achievements of the artists of the philharmonic were demonstrated at the decade of Kyrgyz art held in Moscow (1939). The performance of folk musicians, who introduced the broad public of the capital to the original art of the Kyrgyz people, was of particular interest.
The philharmonic is the largest creative organization in the republic. It has six artistic collectives: the State Orchestra of Folk Instruments named after Karamoldo Orozov, the Kyrgyz National Dance Ensemble, a folklore ensemble, two pop groups, and a music lecture hall. The routes of concert tours passed through the cities and villages of the union republics and foreign countries. There is no corner in Kyrgyzstan where the artists of the philharmonic have not performed.
The first to receive the title of People's Artist of the USSR in Kyrgyzstan was Abdylas Maldybaev, a renowned composer and the founder of professional music in the republic.
Zhyldyz Maldybaeva (daughter of the composer) is the first woman composer in Kyrgyzstan, a laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
Composer, educator, public figure, V. G. Fere lived in Kyrgyzstan for many years. He made an invaluable contribution to the creation and establishment of the national musical theater, was the artistic director of the opera theater, the republican philharmonic, and the organizer of several musical groups, rightfully earning the high title of People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR.
The first director to emerge from the Kyrgyz people is the People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR Amanqul Kuttubaev.
For many years he worked as the artistic director and director of the Kyrgyz State Lenin Order Theater of Opera and Ballet. He staged the musical drama "Ajal orduna," the opera "Aychurek," and participated in the productions of the operas "Eugene Onegin," "Carmen," "Kokul," "Patriots," and others.
Kuttubaev is also known as a playwright. He wrote the drama "Enemies of the Collective Farm" and, together with K. Malikov, the dramas "We Are Not Who We Were" and "Zhanil."
People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR Mukash Abdrayev is the author of four operas ("Toktogul," "Young Hearts," "Oldjobai and Kishiimjan," "Before the Storm"), many vocal-symphonic works, as well as a number of compositions that have entered the concert repertoire of soloists and performing groups of the republic. His monumental symphonic poem "The Greatness of Labor," the dramatically rich "The Tale of Ilyas" (based on the story by Ch. Aitmatov), the lyrical-epic cantata for choir and symphonic orchestra "The Indestructible Union," and the concert for voice (coloratura soprano) with orchestra have been awarded the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR named after Toktogul.
For the first time in the history of Kyrgyz opera, an artist of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater Bulat Minzhilkiyev underwent an internship at the famous Milan theater "La Scala." His repertoire includes the role of Mephistopheles from the opera "Faust," the Miller from the opera "Rusalka," Tomsky from "The Queen of Spades," Boris Godunov in the opera of the same name, and others.
He is a great original artist, possessing a rare voice, genuine musicality, and expressiveness in stage storytelling. Bulat Minzhilkiyev is a People's Artist of the USSR, a Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR, a laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize, and a winner of all-Union vocal competitions.
The head of the largest national collective of musicians — the orchestra of folk instruments named after Karamoldo Orozov — Asankhan Jumakhmatov, is a wonderful conductor and musician, a Honored Art Worker of the Kyrgyz SSR, People's Artist of the republic, and a laureate of the State Prize named after Toktogul.
The creative path of the conductor is broad and diverse: in his performance, the symphonies of P. I. Tchaikovsky and the works of Kyrgyz authors, arranged for the orchestra of folk instruments, sound equally bright and impressive.
He has arranged for the orchestra over 20 classical kuyis of Toktogul, Karamoldo Orozov, Murataaly Kurunkee, and others.
Asankhan Jumakhmatov has repeatedly performed with the orchestras of the Uzbek and Kazakh philharmonics, with the orchestra of the State Committee for Cinematography of the USSR, and the Great Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television. He has also staged operas "Aida," "Boris Godunov," "Tosca," "Jamilya," "The Tricks of Maisara."
For the opera "Manas" (in a new edition), composers V. Vlasov, A. Maldybaev, and V. Fere, and director A. Kuttubaev were awarded the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR named after Toktogul.
Among the leading musical figures of the republic, a prominent place is held by composer, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR, and laureate of the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR named after Toktogul N. Davlesov. The talent of the composer was noted by R. Shchedrin and D. Shostakovich when the musician was still studying at the Moscow Conservatory. N. Davlesov's work includes various genres — from songs, romances, and choirs to cantatas and operettas. He is the author of ten vocal-instrumental works, numerous cantatas, and choirs. A significant creative success of the composer is the musical comedy "Caution, Bride."
N. Davlesov is one of the few composers in the republic who also addresses pop genres. He writes music for pop-symphonic orchestras, for circus performances, pop songs, children's music, and film scores.
The name of Jumamudin Sheraliyev, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR, laureate of the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR named after Toktogul, is widely known in our republic and beyond. A talented composer of songs, he created his first works more than half a century ago. His voice first sounded before a wide audience in 1936 in Frunze at the republican review of artistic amateur performances. D. Sheraliyev is one of the first soloists of the Kyrgyz State Philharmonic, a participant in the first decade of Kyrgyz art in Moscow in 1939. Researchers have calculated that he has written more than 600 songs of various genres. Among them are solemn and majestic songs praising our Motherland, very melodic ones with flowing melodies ("Toktogul's Dream"), and lively, fiery ones ("Pakhtam"). These songs are a kind of musical chronicle that reflects the most important events.