Spring will help us...

 Batyrkhan Shukenov (1962-2015) is a Kazakh composer and singer. He is an Honored Art Worker of Kazakhstan. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in Kazakhstan. One of the founders and leading singer of the Kazakh-Russian pop music group A'Studio.

There is some tragic consistent pattern in the fact that the best are the first to leave. At the peak of fame, in the light of the footlights, on the rise! Gasping for air on the ascent to the top, sinking into an abyss of doubts, yearning for the ideal. As if there, in the sky, someone stops the impetuous ascent. Why?! There is no answer!

Listening to the words of Batyr late stuff and realizing that he cheated fate. He touched, he understood, he managed to find the secret of harmony that fills his velvet, rich and deep timbre. And I do not want to write clichéd phrases - "left a mark in culture and show-business", "managed to realize himself in creativity", "won the love of the people", etc. While all of this is true, he managed and won. But that is not the main thing.

He remained an instance, not a monument to himself, but a living, complex, different, but still a model of a man who managed to fill his way with meaning and service. To music and art!

Each of his songs is a part of his personal history. Common to all. The first chords of "Julia" fill the soul with nostalgic sadness. With the first notes of "White River" or "Soldier of Love" one wants to be carried away to the reckless student youth, when there was no bigger high than a disco on the Alma-Ata Old Square. "Unloved" and "Your Steps" remind you of your first crush. "Отан она," "Қайран көңіл-ай" and "Сағым дуние" give you the joy of meeting your native land. "Soul" and "Time of Love" fascinate with the depth of mature feeling. "So Far, So Close" and "Spring Will Help Me" offer hope for healing a wounded heart. There is not a single line in this "chronicle", not a note of falsity, all - precious diamonds of filigree cutting of the true master. Perhaps, that is why each of us has only one Batyr. For all times, for every part of life, for every day and hour...

Author: Svetlana Umirgalieva