THE FOLK SONG AS THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT AT THE TURKMEN EPIC ART

Abstract

The spiritual and cultural potential of the Turkmen people, which has been developing for thousands of years, has been embodied in the works of folk art and music. A living epic tradition represented by bakhshi-destanchi is a bright page in the rich heritage of the Turkmen people. Until today, in all corners of Turkmenistan, listeners feel very enthusiastic about the performances of epic storytellers. Their repertoire includes numerous folk destans, as well as the chapters from the monumental heroic epic “Gorogly”.

The purpose of the article is to trace the historical background of the origin and formation of Turkmen epic genres. The historical and chronological research methodology recreates the general panorama of the development of the Turkmen epic storytelling, characterizes this art in its modern existence, and identifies the importance of folk songs, which are the driving force of Turkmen epics and destans. The epic song focuses on the whole context of the genre. The essence of epic intonation comes through the folk melodies and features of bakhshi-destanchi performance. The distinctive style of local schools’ epic performance enriches the art of Turkmen storytellers with stylistic diversity and original colors. The style of each destanchi is deeply personal; however, it is closely connected to the sacred performance traditions. With all stylistic diversity, the structural basis of the songs, their location in the legend and dramatic development, as well as traditional prose formulas and poetic repetitions-clichés, performers’ specific faucal decorations indicate the proximity of various schools to the oral epic traditions. The continuity of the main components of music and style affects the inheritance of the musical tune from their master, which also speaks of the century-old traditional basis of the narrator. It does not prevent the manifestation of the individual beginning, but it keeps the performer in a clearly limited channel. Therefore, the performance of the epic is its reconstruction within the musical and stylistic tradition. As you can see, the development of the epic song, as well as the living existence of the Turkmen epic, moves and supports the tradition. While there is a tradition, the Turkmen epic heritage continues to exist.

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