Each generation gives birth to its musicians. Among the modern Abazin youth there are real virtuosos playing the accordion - the most popular national musical instrument. But experts and accordionists themselves say that to this day no one has ever succeeded in surpassing Zuli Yerizheva, so virtuosic and original her manner of performance was.
Georgy Chekalov
A friend from childhood
«My accordion. Accordion, which I love with all my heart. Although it does not speak human language, it tells me many amazing stories. It tells me the history of our people, the chronicle of our time...», Zuli Dzhambotovna Yerizheva wrote in her «Tales of the Abazin accordion». Accordion was not just a musical instrument for her. It was a friend with whom you could talk, share joys and sorrows.
Zuli Erizheva was born in 1912 in the very Dudarukovsky village (now the village Psyzh - ed.) where, according to legend, Prince Dudarukov won a dispute with one Adyghe prince, promising a hundred horses if he finds in the village at least one house where they don’t play the accordion. There was no such house in the village. Not surprisingly, in such an environment, little Zuli since childhood was surrounded by music. It attracted and beckoned her.
As a child, she often ran to a neighbor to listen to melodies, which she played on an old accordion. And when a neighbor took up household chores, Zulia took the instrument and tried to repeat it. They say, having noticed the fascination of the daughter, the father Dzhambot sold the only cow and bought her the accordion. Since that day, Zuli has not parted with music.
She was self-taught - no one specifically taught her musical literacy. Watching and listening to the play of adults, the girl learned many dance tunes and songs. Zuli was only ten years old, when almost all the rural events began to pass under her accompaniment: the old-timers were amazed at how skillfully the little girl played old melodies. When in the thirties a dancing workshop appeared in Psyzh, nobody asked who will become its accordionist. Of course Zulia Yerizheva! The workshop worked so successfully that later on its basis the regional ensemble of song and dance of Circassia was created.
«Play my melody, Zuli!»
In the early 30's, Zuli married Kaplan Dzyba - born in the village of Kuvinsky (now the village of Staro-Kuvinsk - ed.). They had two daughters and a son Georgy, who also devoted his life to music.
Nation-wide recognition and glory will come to Zuli much later, after the Great Patriotic War, which left a deep trace in the fate of the whole generation that survived this tragedy. Zuli Yerizheva has always preserved in her heart the gratitude to the soldiers who defended the country. «Every time I touch the keys of my accordion, they remind me of our fellow heroes who have risen against the enemy,» she wrote in her memoirs. - «Play my melody, Zuli!» - They asked during the merry holidays. And I played for each of them their favorite motives.» Zuli herself, like all the women who remained in the rear, worked in the fields. But even here she did not leave her favorite
occupation, which somehow even saved her life and those who worked with her. One day, after returning from work, a group of crop growers lost their way in the night darkness. At that time, hordes of wolves wandered everywhere, which often attacked people. Staying at night in the field was dangerous. Zuli knew that they would be sought. But how will they be found in such darkness? And then she took out the accordion and played it. Thanks to these sounds, the villagers who have gone astray were found.
«The whole world» was dancing to the music of Zuli
After the war a new enrollment was announced in the state ensemble of song and dance of Circassia. «We held a competition. All the contestants danced to the accompaniment of Zuli Yerizheva,» recalled Magomet Mahozhev, who was then taking part in the selection. - Zuli was the concertmaster of the ensemble. And do you know what I'll say? I’ve spent 45 years in arts. Over the years, I have not seen anyone who would play an accordion as beautiful as she.»
Another member of the ensemble Konstantin Shkhagoshev remembered the first meeting with Zuli Yerizheva and working with her: «I was still a kid; I worked as a trailer hand in a collective farm. One day, after returning from work, I heard that neighbors were playing the accordion and dole (national drum - ed.) in the courtyard. There was some kind of joy, either the bride was brought into the house or something else - and Zuli with the dancer were invited. I went there. Zuli played, and only the dancer who came with her danced. I could not resist and also went out into the circle. Zuli played, I performed the dance. After that case she invited me to the ensemble. Zuli became for me as a mother, and she treated me like a son,» the dancer told.
In 1957, festivals were held in Moscow dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the joining of Circassia to Russia.
«By the decade of the culture of the peoples of Circassia, a huge carpet of 5 cm in thickness was ordered in Moscow, which was manufactured in China,» said Magomet Mahodzhev. - 500 people from all over the world danced on this carpet. And Zuli accompanied them all. Then she was also given the title of «Honored Artist of the RSFSR».
Zuli Yerizheva was one of the first female from the mountains to receive such a title. And the rarest case: the same decree the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR was awarded to her son Georgy Dzyba.
«Music breeds music»
Today, Zuli Erizheva has been deceased for a long time, but fortunately her records are available in the radio fund of Karachay-Cherkessia - 67 items of storage. Among them - not only folk melodies, but also her own musical works. «Zulia Yerizheva's records are the «Golden Fund» of our radio,» says Nina Kishmakhova, a longtime music editor at the regional radio committee. «They are stored as an invaluable asset, which must be transferred from generation to generation.»
Muayad Kharatokov worked for 40 years on the radio as a sound engineer, and he has recorded Zuli Yerizheva several times. «For the first time I saw Zuli in my village of Kubin, where she visited her relatives - Kishmakhovs,» he recalls. - Each of her visits was a holiday for all fellow-villagers, who were going to listen to her play. And then on the radio, we often invited her for recording. Before recording, she stretched fingers until they started running around the keys as easily as she wanted.»
Music editor Nina Kishmakhova also tells that Zuli was usually recorded on the radio without any accompaniment, but she once asked for one on the dole. «One day she asked for the musician to accompany her with a dole. We called Edik Khachukov from the ensemble «Abazinka» and recorded them together. After the recording, Zuli asked: «Whose son is this young man?» I explained to her that he was from Khachukov's family, the son of Lely Gonova (a well-known Abazin accordionist of the 1960s-1990s - ed.). «Ahhhhhhhh, - Zuli said with understanding, - music breeds music,» she recalls.
An orchestra in a single instrument
«Virtually all the best accordionists of Karachaevo-Circassia came to our radio, and I've managed to record, if not all, many of them,» continues the sound engineer Muayad Kharatokov. - Zulia's performance cannot be confused with anyone. Her accordion sounded like an orchestra.» Konstantin Shhagoshev also claimed that he could recognize Zuli's accordion from thousands of others. «As soon as I hear it on the radio, I immediately say: «This is Zuli,» he noted. «She used only one bass, and she played the melodies with some sort of twists», - analyzes the features of the performing skills of Zuli Yerizheva, a professional composer and teacher of the playing the national accordion Galina Gozheva. But the most important thing that experts and just listeners note is the soulfulness inherent in the play. Melodies performed by Zuli Yerizheva touch the hearts, generate tender feelings, bring sadness and inspire joy.
In those years, playing accordion was almost never taught, there were no professional accordionists. Magomet Mahodzhev says that mostly self-taught persons were coming to the ensemble. And they all became apprentices of Zuli. She, who herself in the past perfectly mastered the instrument, gladly shared the secrets of mastery with young musicians.
Zaryla Tsekova became one of such apprentices of Yerizheva. «Somehow I was directly taken from the field to the audition,» she recalled. «Zuli chose me to accompany the ensemble with her from all the other accordionists.» Ten years, which Zaryla Tsekova worked in tandem with Zuli Yerizheva, turned out to be a wonderful school for her, which allowed her to become one of the best Abazin accordionists.
The true companion of life
«There is wisdom in the accordion. Accordion is a seeker. From the time of my youth, my accordion is searching with me. It's in my blood, in my heart, in my soul. Accordion enters the human flesh, invigorates him and makes him sad and happy. And in a difficult moment for a person, it will come to his aid,» Zulia Yerizheva wrote in her memoirs. She had to go through hard challenges. She early buried her husband, survived all three of her children. Her favorite accordion helped her to bear this heaviness.
In a radio interview recorded in 1977 by Dina Gagieva (radio announcer of the 1960s-1990s-ed.), Zuli Dzhambotovna said: «Now I'm 64 years old. And although the illness has chained me to the bed, my eyes continue to look towards the accordion. I love the accordion, Dina. I ask my own people: when they put me in the grave, put my accordion next to me. They laugh ... I love her so much. And I love the accordion, and I love people, and I love our melodies.»
Zuli Dzhambotovna Yerizheva died in 1989. The street in Psyzh, where she lived, is named after her; there is a memorial plaque on her house. The folk festival-competition of Abazin music is held in her honor. And her accordion continues to please people: the records of the Erizheva’s performance are played on the radio, at various events, uploaded online. And yet people listen to this music, the memory of Zuli will live in their hearts.
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