The research is devoted to a particular genre of Kazakh classical music--Symphonic kuy. This article is the first attempt to understand not the phenomenon of kuy itself, but its belonging to a certain historical era and culture, therefore reflecting their characteristic properties. The area of Kazakh ethnic music is little studied yet, as is the issue of specific historical origins of the interaction between European and Kazakh traditions. Particular attention is paid to a number of controversial issues, such as the ambiguity of the genre of kuy, cultural complexity, the variety of forms of "Symphonic kuy". Still, the comparative analysis is of great scientific interest concerning the ways of development of the Kazakh traditional music. The appearance of kuy as a cultural phenomenon of musical and linguistic canons determined the "language" character of this study. It means it is not aimed at the search for individual uniqueness of music, but at the principles and code of kuy's musical organization.