“AYCHUROK” OPERA WRITTEN INSPIRED BY THE KYRGYZ EPIC SAGA SEMETEY

Abstract

In the research, the opera "Ayçürök", which was written, composed and staged in Kyrgyz in 1939, bearing the cultural characteristics of the Kyrgyz people, was discussed. Ayçürök" was written while the Kyrgyz people were living under the rule of the Soviet Union. "Ayçürök" continued to be staged after the Kyrgyz people left the union and became an independent state. Kyrgyzstan became a seceding state from the Soviet Union. Ayçürök opera has been staged for 85 years. The Opera Ayçurök takes its subject from the "Semetey" section of the Kyrgyz Manas Epic Trilogy. "Ayçürök" derives its cultural origin from the epic saga tradition of the Turkish World. "Ayçürök" is the most basic, pivotal character of the epic Semetey saga and has extraordinary features. The scope of the research, literature, and archive search was determined. The opera's libretto was written in Kyrgyz in 1939, and the musical score was written in Kyrgyz and Russian in 1958. Within the scope of the research, it was determined that the work was written as four acts and six scenes, the libretto of the work was in Kyrgyz, and the musical score was in Kyrgyz and Russian. In the study, the subject of the opera, the contents of the scenes, the characters in the work, and the voice groups of the characters were also determined. In our study, traditional folk dances of the Kyrgyz people in the Ayçurök opera, “Kiyiz”, “Dance with Handkerchiefs”, “Caş Kerbez”, “Dance of the Shepherds”, “Dream”, “Girls” etc. It has been determined that traditional Kyrgyz musical instruments (Komuz, mouth komuz) were used. In addition, it was determined that the stage design was made by using Kyrgyz material culture elements in the stage design and costumes. It has been determined that Kyrgyz women's and men's clothes, headdresses, "Ak Kalpak", "Eleçek", "Kaftan", "Tebetey" were used in the clothes of the artists. In conclusion; In the opera "Ayçurök", Kyrgyz cultural elements are clearly included in the work. The primary purpose of the research is to emphasize the universal and national importance of the opera "Ayçürök", a shared cultural heritage of the Turkish World, which is still being staged in 2024, thanks to all the topics discussed, and to introduce it to the academic music world.

Keywords

• aichurok opera
• epic semetey
• kyrgyz opera
• cultural elements
• folklore