Historiography of the study of mytho-religious songs of Ossetians before the 1930s.

Dzlieva Dzerassa Mairamovna ORCID: 0009-0006-5295-4983 PhD in Art History Senior Researcher, V.I. Abaev North Ossetian Institute for Humanitarian and Social Studies - the branch of the Vladikavkaz Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences 362044, Russia, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Vladikavkaz, Magkayeva str., 12/4, sq. 40 gegusa@gmail.com

The historiography of Ossetian folklore has repeatedly become part of research works. In particular, some issues of collecting and studying Ossetian songs are covered by such scientists as K. G. Tskhurbayeva ^[1], F. Sh. Alborov ^[2], V. I. Bekoev ^[3] and E. A. Dzhagarova ^[4]. However, to date, there is not a single special work in musical folklore on the study of songs dedicated to representatives of the ethnoreligious pantheon of Ossetians. This article uses a frontal method of reviewing both published and archival sources (tunes with and without texts, including audio recordings), where samples of this genre are published.

For the first time, the question of distinguishing religious and mythological songs as an independent genre of Ossetian traditional musical culture was raised by us in the work "Musical and poetic features of calendar and ritual folklore of Ossetians" ^[5]. These songs are united by ideas about the world order, addressed to God and the spirits of the upper world – the patrons of various aspects of people's lives. They do not have strict timing, but they can be performed during calendar holidays, each of which is dedicated to a particular representative of the religious pantheon, and be updated in other festive situations. The figurative and poetic basis of these songs necessarily includes a prayer appeal to God and individual patrons, a request for well-being and protection from various adversities.

When publishing religious and mythological songs, the compilers offered variants of their scientific and terminological designation and placed them in various classification categories. In the 1927 edition "Monuments of Ossetian folk Art" these songs were included in the section "Ancient Songs" ^{[6, p.119]}, in the collection of B. A. Galaev "Ossetian folk Songs" they form a separate group "Songs about mythological patrons" ^{[7, 127]}, in the collection of texts "Monuments of Ossetian folk art" is "Mythological poetry" ^{[8, 190]}, in the collection "Iron ad?mon sf?ldystad" – songs about heavenly patrons are presented in the category "Festive songs and prayers ^{[9, 298]}; in the work of V. Bekoev they are inscribed in the section "Calendar-ritual poetry" ^[3], finally in the article Takazova F.M., devoted to the semiosis of the narrative, these songs are considered within the genre of mythological songs ^[10].

Here are the names of representatives of the Ossetian religious and mythological pantheon, to whom the main body of songs is dedicated:

1) Huitsau (Iron dialect) / Khutsau (Digor dialect) (‘Khusau / Khutsau') – God;

2) Uastyrji (ir.) / Uasgergi (dig.) (‘Uashtyrji / Uasgergi') – patron saint of men, travelers and warriors;

3) Mady Mayr?m (ir.) / Mady Mayr?n (dig.) (‘Mady Mayram / Made Mayren') – patroness of women and children;

4) Alardy (ir.) / Alaurdiy (dig.) (‘Alardy / Alaurdiy’) – patron saint of smallpox, measles and eye diseases;

5) Uacilla (ir.) / Uacella (dig.) (‘Alardy / Alaurdiy’) – the patron saint of cereals;

6) Tutyr (ir.) / Totur (dig.) (‘Tutyr / Tutyr') – patron of wolves;

7) F?lv?ra (ir.) / F?lv?Ra (dig.) (‘Falvara / Falvara’) – patron of livestock;

6) Mykalgabyrt? (ir.) Mukalgaburt? (dig.) (‘Mykalgabyrte /Mukalgaburte’) – patron of fertility and abundance;

7) ?fsati (ir.) / ?fsati (dig.) (‘Efshati / Efsati') – patron saint of hunters and wild animals;

8) Fyduani (ir.) / Fuduani (dig.) (‘Fyduani / Fuduani’) – patron of the weather;

9) Zdt? (ir.) / Izdt? (dig.) (‘Zhedte / Izedte’) – spirits of the upper world.

The emergence of interest in religious and mythological songs dates back to the end of the nineteenth century. The first auditory recordings of Ossetian folk songs were made by the composers of the Moscow school – M. M. Ippolitov?Ivanov and S. I. Taneyev. It was Sergei Ivanovich who recorded the chant of the religious and mythological "Song about Afsati", which was published much later in the memorial collection "In Memory of Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev" ^[11].

In the first decades of the twentieth century, a phonograph began to be used for folklore purposes, and samples of Ossetian folk song culture of Ossetians began to be recorded on rollers. In 1907-1909, the Gramophone joint-stock company recorded and published 32 records, on which Ossetian songs performed by folk ensembles and solo performances by folk singers were published: A. Alikov, S. Medoeva, B. Medoeva, D. Temiraeva. A complete annotated index of these recordings was published in 1911 ^[12], but it has not yet been possible to establish where the original recordings are located.

From religious and mythological songs, a fairly extensive and diverse repertoire was recorded on the records. Some samples are represented by single recordings of musical folklore: Uatsillayy zarg (‘The song of Uacilla’) and ?fsatiy zar?g (‘The song of Afsati’) performed by an amateur choir conducted by A. Varziev; Z?dty zar?g (‘The song of the spirits of the Upper World’) was recorded by A. Tomaev; Mykalygabyrty zarg (‘The song Mykalgabyrta’) is recorded by the choir, led by Kuraev (the name of the folk musician is not specified). The most famous religious and mythological songs are presented in several versions of the recording: Uastyrdjiyy zarg (‘The song of Uastyrdzhi’) – in 5 versions from different local traditions of Ossetia, and Alardyy zarg (‘Alarda's Song’) – in 3 versions.

Despite the obvious value of phonographic recordings of the early twentieth century, the well-known researcher of Ossetian folklore B. A. Alborov severely criticized both the recordings themselves and the conditions in which they were conducted: "There was no preliminary thorough preparation for the performance of songs: although the recordings mention a "choir under the direction" of one or another person, but it is clear that that the conductor was not coping with the task. <...> This defect is reinforced by the fact that the voices are transmitted weakly and due to the fact that the singers could not adapt to the performance of songs in front of a megaphone: the voices sometimes squeal, then barely audible. The names of the songs on many records are mixed up" ^{[13, 20]}. Despite the identified shortcomings, it is difficult to overestimate the historical significance of these materials both in the study of musical folklore of the Ossetians and in order to study the stated topic.

Of particular importance in the history of the fixation of texts and melodies of religious and mythological songs are the 1920s - the time when Ossetian folklore, including music, was born. During these years, the first purposeful folklore expeditions to Ossetia were carried out, collectors recorded samples of the traditional folk musical culture of the ethnic group by ear and with the help of a phonograph, the first results of such activities were published.

In the 1920s, a whole galaxy of figures who made a significant contribution to the development of Ossetian ethnomusicology was formed: Akhpolat Alikov (1877-1949), Viktor Dolidze (1890-1933); Alexander Polyanichenko (1895-1968); Efim Kolesnikov (1891-1975); Andrey Totiev (1907-19948); Tatarkan Kokoity (1908-1980) and Leonid Kuliyev (1916-1962). The activities of these collectors were organized on the basis of the North Ossetian regional branch of the USSR Union of Composers. The generation of collectors of the 1920s not only left behind valuable samples of traditional Ossetian music, but also contributed to the popularization of the national musical culture. Samples of many traditional songs were processed for various compositions and entered into concert practice in this form. Let's name, among others, the arrangement of the religious-mythological song "Aefsati", performed by E. A. Kolesnikov for the mixed choir a'capella. It is a vivid example of the national-characteristic style of arrangement of authentic folklore and is still successfully performed by performing groups, both professional and amateur.

One of the most competent collectors and researchers of Ossetian music of the 1920s was V. I. Dolidze. The enormous work he has carried out has not been sufficiently studied to date, but "certainly represents a new and significant stage in the study of Ossetian folk music" ^{[1, 23]}. V. Dolidze collected about 200 Ossetian folk songs and tunes, but most of them have not yet been published (his collection is divided into repositories Georgia, South Ossetia and North Ossetia–Alania).

Not all the records of the collectors of the 1920s were made public at the same time. Most of the materials were included in publications of later times, namely in two books: "Ossetian musical folklore" ^[14] and "Collection of songs for Ossetian schools" ^[15]. The first of these publications was prepared for publication by the North Ossetian Branch of the Union of Soviet Composers and was published in 1948. It was conceived as the first volume of the anthology of song and dance folklore of Ossetians, but the second volume was never published. "Ossetian musical folklore" includes 280 auditory notations, 14 of which (including variants) belong to the group of religious and mythological songs (5% of the total number of examples).

In this work we find 3 variants of the Alardy zarreg ('Alardy's Song'), 7 variants of the Uastyrdzhi zarreg ('Uastyrdzhi's Song') and 2 samples of the song Huycau dzuar ('Bogu's Song'). In addition, archaic and rarely encountered song plots dedicated to Fydyuani and Huacilla are recorded in isolated examples. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative data indicate that the share of religious and mythological songs and their specific weight in the overall picture of the genres of Ossetian folklore is very significant.

At the same time, the peculiarities of the organization of the 1948 anthology are such that the inclusion of these materials as full-fledged sources for the scientific study of religious and mythological songs is very difficult. The main disadvantages of the publication can be considered the presentation of musical material without subtexts or in the volume of one stanza, careless certification, editing of poetic texts, leveling and even distorting the stylistic originality of the traditional Ossetian song. The introduction of these materials into scientific circulation is a serious textual problem, since it requires reconstruction based on the results of structural and typological analysis.

Researchers of the North Ossetian Research Institute of Local Lore in Vladikavkaz (now SOIGSI VNC RAS), mainly philologists, have done a tremendous job in the field of studying and popularizing Ossetian folk culture. The scientific archive of SOIGSI contains a huge manuscript fund including, among other things, texts of religious and mythological songs. It is worth noting that the layer of textual archival materials is so large that it goes beyond the scope of this study. 

Among the publications, the series "Monuments of Folk Art of Ossetians deserves special attention" ^{[16] [6] [17]}. In these collections, field materials are given in the original language without melodies. From the religious and mythological songs, we will pay attention to such rare subjects as: Mad? Mayr?n ?m? fid? Huycau ('Mayr?m and Father God') ^{[6, 136]}; Uasgergiy zar, h?dzari arfi tukhh?i ('Uastyrji's song, in connection with the good wishes of the house') ^{[6, 137]}.

In the late 1920s - early 1930s, Leningrad musicologists and folklorists joined the collection of musical folklore of the republics of the USSR. Under the patronage of the famous Russian scientist-ethnomusicologist E. V. Gippius, several specialized trips to Ossetia take place. The most impressive collection of field materials on the traditional musical culture of Ossetians was collected by the Honored Artist, famous composer B. A. Galaev (1889-1974). In 1928, on the initiative and with the support of E. V. Gippius, B. A. Galaev went on his first scientific expedition to North Ossetia, equipped with a phonograph and rollers. As a result of this trip, Galaev made about 300 audio recordings in North Ossetia, and a year later, in 1929, together with a student of the Pedagogical Institute A. E. Dumkaev, he already recorded folk songs in South Ossetia.

 The phonographic recordings collected by B. A. Galaev make up the main body of materials on the folk musical culture of Ossetians. Recorded folklore materials are now stored in various archives. Recordings of 1928-30 and 1935-37 are in the Phonogram Archive of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) [IRLI, Phonogram Archive: 007F FV 428-568 and FV 5113-5120(21); 119 F: FV 3778-3845; 125 F: FV 4019-4038].

The volume of religious and mythological songs is slightly more than 5% of the total number of materials recorded by the collector. Out of 700 samples, 38 belong to this genre, of which: songs of Uastyrdzhi (24); Alards (7); ?fsati (3); Mada Mayr?m (2). Finally, one song is addressed to Huycau and F?lv?r. In the fundamental publication "Ossetian Folk Songs" ^[7] Galaev published the most revealing examples of musical folklore, including religious and mythological songs.  The collector included in the publication 9 examples of songs of this circle: Uastyrdzhi zar?g (3), Alardyy zar?g (3), ?fsatiyy zar?g (2) and Uatsillayy zar?g (1). In this publication Galaev used the principles of analytical notation and primary genre systematization of Ossetian songs, where he applied the ideas of E. V. Gippius, who performed music editor of the publication. The activity of B. A. Galaev in the field of collecting, studying and publishing Ossetian folklore for many years laid the foundations of scientific methodology and formulated approaches that are taken into account and developed at the next stages of the development of Ossetian ethnomusicology.

Among the archival materials of the 1930s, phonographic recordings made by the Swedish scientist E. Emsheimer are of particular interest. In 1936, he recorded about 200 samples of Ossetian folk songs and plays [IRLI, Phonogrammarchiv: 203F FV 5304-5352]. From the category of religious and mythological songs in the Emsheimer collection are presented: Uastyrdjyi zar?g ('The Song of Uastyrdzhi') (12); Alardyy zar?g ('The Song of Alardy') (4); F?lv?rayi zar?g ('The song of F?lv?ra') (2). In addition, single examples are dedicated to Uacilla, Fyduani, Mykalgabyrta, ?fsati, and Mady Mayr?m.

The IRLI Phonogram Archive also contains recordings of Ossetian folklore made by T. Kokoity in 1939 [IRLI, Phonogram Archive: 217 FF 5489-5515]. Among 80 samples of different genres, only 2 belong to religious and mythological songs (Uastyrdzhi and Alardy).

The main trends in the collection and study of the Ossetian song tradition of the studied period, such as the appearance of the first auditory recordings of folk songs and the use of a phonograph to record the original sound of Ossetian songs, went in parallel with Russian folklore as a whole, forming an important part of its unified historical path. The powerful expedition work that unfolded in the 1920s and 1930s brought the first serious results, gave science a voluminous corpus of sources, including religious and mythological songs.

After the 1930s, for well-known political reasons, the activity of collecting and studying Ossetian folklore practically ceased. Only a decade after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the collection and study of Ossetian folk music culture resumed. The activation of all spheres of research activity in this direction is associated with the last quarter of the twentieth century and the names of K. G. Tskhurbayeva, D. S. Khakhanov and F. S. Alborov. A feature of this period of scientific research is the formulation of general questions concerning the system of musical genres and linguistic features of Ossetian folklore. The analysis and study of this stage of the history of science will be carried out in the following studies of the author.