From Kashgaria to a St Petersburg ballroom: this is Shokan Ualikhanov’s journey in the account of Kerbezim preserved on a family audio cassette. The radio programme Өнегелі өнер жолы presents Kenzhebek Kumysbekov’s kui-poem as a musical portrait of the Kazakh scholar and traveller. Within one work, three scenes evoke his life and the memory he left behind.
After announcing the work and letting the music play, the presenter explains its three-part conception. Youth and a distant journey give way to a waltz, while the finale brings together a luminous image of a man who served his people. This account helps the listener hear how Kumysbekov built a portrait: through movement, a change of setting and a closing thought.
The Young Traveller
The presenter connects the first part with Shokan’s youth and his journey to Kashgaria. A distant road opens the musical story. A person in motion appears before the listener.
In the same programme, Kumysbekov himself named Shokan among the historical figures he explored in his orchestral poems. He explained his interest in the genre through its ability to express an inner thought. Such a conception called for the character of its subject and the experience of his journey to be conveyed.
A St Petersburg Waltz
In the second part, both place and movement change. The radio account takes Shokan to a ballroom in St Petersburg. The presenter explicitly identifies the waltz rhythm of this scene. Of the three parts, this offers the clearest musical guide: the reader can listen for the arrival of a dance movement.
The St Petersburg ball belongs to the programme of the music as explained in the broadcast. Within the kui-poem, it places the same person in a new setting. The traveller from the first scene enters the social world of the capital, and his story continues through a different musical gesture.
A Luminous Finale
As the presenter explains, the third part affirms a luminous image of Shokan: a man who worked for his people and left valuable writings. The finale is described as optimistic. Here the account moves from individual episodes to what remained after a life had been lived.
The presenter develops this thought after the performance: a musical portrait of an outstanding person is difficult to create because the music must express their character and human qualities. In Kerbezim, the journey and the ball find a common conclusion: a reflection on what that life was lived for.
The museum plays the recording of Kerbezim from that very broadcast. The explanation of its three scenes has also survived. At the beginning of the story stood a young traveller; by the finale, the listener encounters a man whose writings endure. This is how the radio presenter reveals Shokan Ualikhanov’s portrait in the music.