Korkut Ata and the Search for Immortality
Korkut Ata (also Dede Korkut) is the legendary father of Kazakh music and the creator of the kobyz (horsehair string instrument). Unable to accept the inevitability of death, Korkut fled from human society into nature, seeking immortality. But every element of nature — the trees, mountains, steppes, and rivers — told him that they too were subject to decay and death. In his solitary anguish, Korkut hollowed out a tree called shirgay to make the first kobyz, pulled horsehair strings across it, and began to play. The music was so transcendent that it brought him immortality through art. His melo