(b Erbol [now in Kokchetav province], 1831; d 1894). Kazakh traditional composer and singer. He was born to the family of Turlybai and began composing songs at the age of ten. He belonged to a special category of artists in Kazakh society known as sal and seri, masters of the art of song who usually functioned as part of a group which included those skilled in wrestling and horse-racing, dömbra players, storytellers, jewellers and masters of wit. Birjan was a talented aqyn (poet-singer) and took part in numerous aitys (contests), the most famous of which was with Sara Tastanbekova. He travelled throughout Kazakhstan and became well known. Many of his songs became widely popular, notably Birjan-sal (an autobiographical song), Leyailam-shrak (a girl's name meaning ‘my dear flame’) and Zhonïp aldï (literally ‘polished’, ‘shaved’). He also composed two songs based on verses by Abai Kunanbaev, in whose household he was on occasion a guest. Birjan's songs were characterized by a number of features including melodic originality, indissoluble unity of text and music, and the inclusion of his own name in the texts of his songs, many of which were autobiographical. Several legends concerning the creation of his songs also became well known. In 1947 the composer Mukhtan Tulebayev composed an opera about him entitled Birzhan i Sara, which became popular in Kazakhstan, and in 1983 Birjan's songs were published in a book entitled Birzhan-sal Kozhagululy: Lyailim-shrak. In 1987 a record was released which comprised performances of 14 of his songs by such distinguished traditional singers as Zhanibek Karlmenov and Kairat Baibosynov. Birjan was the founder of the Sary-Arki school and an important figure in the development of Kazakh traditional music.
A. Zhubanov: Zamana bïlbïldarï (Solov'i stoletii: ocherki o zhizni i tvorchestve kazakhskikh narodnïkh kompozitorov-pevtsov) [The nightingales of the centuries: essays on the life and work of Kazakh folk composer-singers] (Almaty, 1967, 2/1975 in Kazakh), 29–63
B. Erzakovich, ed.: Birzhan-sal Kozhagululy: Lyailim-shrak (Alma-Ata, 1983)
Pesni Birzhana [Songs of Birjan], Melodiya LP 30 26759 006 (1987)
ALMA KUNANBAYEVA