Waltz comes first, followed by seven more numbers. Eight orchestral recordings by Kenzhebek Kumysbekov (1927–1997) stood in the old family player under the shared title I — Concert. Their order has survived: from a waltz to substantial poems, from Dala Syry to the closing Kerbezim.
The whole sequence lasts forty-one minutes and four seconds. It contains six titles: Sary Ozen and Kerbezim each appear in two recordings of different lengths. The family collection has preserved the opportunity to return to the same music in more than one recorded version.
Eight Numbers · 41:04
- Waltz — 4:16.
- Dala Syry — 8:49.
- Shalqyma — 4:22.
- Susamyr — 5:57.
- Sary Ozen — 4:19.
- Sary Ozen — 3:04.
- Kerbezim — 4:37.
- Kerbezim — 5:41.
What begins with a waltz ends with Kerbezim. The order remains the one in which the recordings stood in the family player.
Hearing the Story Behind a Title
The closing work has a story of its own. In the radio programme Өнегелі өнер жолы, Kerbezim unfolds as a musical portrait of Shokan Ualikhanov: youth and the journey to Kashgaria, a St Petersburg waltz, and a luminous finale. The article Shokan in Kerbezim explores this programme of the music alongside a separate radio recording.
Kumysbekov himself explained that a musical poem could express a person’s inner thought. Why He Chose the Poem tells how this choice grew from the folk kui, orchestral practice and professional study.