Abstract: The article for the first time carries out a comparative study of variants of the Russian folk ballad "Prince Mikhailo" about the mother-in-law-destroyer. The study summarizes various sources of folk tunes – auditory recordings of the XIX century, publications from folklore archives of collectors of the XX century, previously unpublished folklore materials. Among them are tunes recorded in the Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda, Murmansk, and Arkhangelsk regions. The author draws attention to a little-known recording of the ballad made in the Novgorod region, and designates the role of this fact as an important evidence of the involvement of Novgorodians in the hit of "Prince Mikhailo" in the Northern Russian territories. The purpose of the study is the need to give a typological and historical assessment of the ballad tunes. A special perspective of the work is aimed at finding related musical forms in other genres of the Russian musical epic. The analysis showed that the ballad tunes recorded in various regions of Russia belong to the same musical type. It is based on a single-verse line of 8-complex composition with a choreographic ending, covering 10 or 12 musical-time units. The melodic features of the tunes testify to their fret unity associated with the narrative orientation of intonation. During the study, it was found that "Prince Mikhailo" is performed only with the melodies of the described structure. Moreover, it is the only proper ballad text assigned to this model.
In Russian musical folklore, a structural type with a choreic ending was revealed (in addition to the ballad "Prince Mikhailo") in spiritual poems, tall tales, and some church hymns. The article suggests that it has developed among the Russian professional singers – buffoons and kalik pererozhikh. The role of Ancient Novgorod in the formation of a special cultural environment that contributed to the formation of these social institutions and the musical repertoire of its representatives is indicated.

Abstract: The author is the first to raise the problem of reconstruction of the musical-epic traditions of Novgorod region. The research object is chant-declamation forms of folklore, typologically related to the bylina tradition. The research subject is their structural and stylistic peculiarities. For the first time, all facts of existence of musical epos, recorded in Novgorod region by various collectors, are gathered in one source - from the auditory notations of A.K. Lyadov (1890) to the latest evidence of existence of the musical-epic tradition (the recordings of Leningrad - St.Petersburg conservatory of the 1980s - 1990s). As the materials for comparison, the author uses the folklore images from Vologda, Arkhangelsk and Tver regions. Some musical texts are published for the first time. The author defines the genre composition of the musical-epic area of Novgorod folklore (buffoonery and takes, ballads, spiritual poems and memorial songs), describes the forms of composition of the main samples (one-line verses, long speeches and strophical). The research material gives reasons to assume that in Novgorod folklore traditions of the late 19th - the 20th centuries, the forms of recitation of music were widespread, typologically related to two North-Russian styles - the symbolic brief-chant and rhapsodical. The author concludes that the lake Ilmen basin and the adjacent territories was one of the places where these styles had been forming. On the one hand, the discovery of the typological relation of Novgorod and the North-Russian forms of musical narration helps define the structure and evaluate the style of single facts of Novgorod folklore. On the other hand, the parallels found are of key importance for the confirmation of Novgorod origins of the North-Russian bylina traditions. 
 

Abstract: The article focuses on calendar-ceremonial folklore of Novgorod region as an important component of folklore song traditions of the region. The musical and poetical forms of the calendar are considered in terms of type, genre and realm. The author is the first to systematize the data about calendar folklore recordings made in Novgorod region by various collectors in the 1960s - 1990s. The author gives special attention to the results of field studies of Saint Petersburg Conservatory named after N.A. Rimski-Korsakov. The author introduces into scientific discourse a range of items of calendar folklore from the archive of the Conservatory (Maslenitsa, Christmas and Easter carols and yells). The specificity of Novgorod calendar traditions is connected with a special role of intoned yells serving a function of calling over ceremonial characters, and Christmas carols combining the features of folk and church melodics. Some folklore forms, recorded in Novgorod region, can be considered unique (the North-East Maslenitsa chants, the “Piper” song, the Easter callings). Taking into account the peculiarities of a genre composition of the calendar, the types of chants and the style features, the author outlines three historical-cultural zones in Novgorod region - the North-East, the South-West and the Central. The research results can be used for mapping  the calendar folklore chants of Russia’s North-West, and for the further study of music folklore traditions of Novgorod region together with other folklore genres. 
 

Abstract: The article focuses on calendar-ceremonial folklore of Novgorod region as an important component of folklore song traditions of the region. The musical and poetical forms of the calendar are considered in terms of type, genre and realm. The author is the first to systematize the data about calendar folklore recordings made in Novgorod region by various collectors in the 1960s - 1990s. The author gives special attention to the results of field studies of Saint Petersburg Conservatory named after N.A. Rimski-Korsakov. The author introduces into scientific discourse a range of items of calendar folklore from the archive of the Conservatory (Maslenitsa, Christmas and Easter carols and yells). The specificity of Novgorod calendar traditions is connected with a special role of intoned yells serving a function of calling over ceremonial characters, and Christmas carols combining the features of folk and church melodics. Some folklore forms, recorded in Novgorod region, can be considered unique (the North-East Maslenitsa chants, the “Piper” song, the Easter callings). Taking into account the peculiarities of a genre composition of the calendar, the types of chants and the style features, the author outlines three historical-cultural zones in Novgorod region - the North-East, the South-West and the Central. The research results can be used for mapping  the calendar folklore chants of Russia’s North-West, and for the further study of music folklore traditions of Novgorod region together with other folklore genres.