Preservation of the traditional culture of the Cossacks in the scientific and creative priorities of the Department of Folk Singing and Ethnomusicology of the Saratov State Conservatory named after L. V. Sobinov

Mikhailova Alevtina Anatol'evna Doctor of Art History Professor, Head of the Department of Folk Singing and Ethnomusicology, Saratov State Conservatory named after L.V. Sobinov 410012, Russia, Saratov region, Saratov, Stolypin ave., 1 jareshko@mail.ru

The turn of the 20th - 21st century in our country turned out to be very difficult in terms of understanding and setting cultural priorities. This also affected folk art. Globalization, the erosion of ethnic identity and the desire to join the pan-European family of peoples have been sharply replaced by the modern situation with multidirectional vectors of development, where an active interest in the enduring values of traditional art dominates. The coming period of turbulence forces us to look for certain "points of support" in traditional culture that would help us not to lose our "own face" and national identity. In the new historical situation, it is the education system in the field of art and culture that has largely assumed the mission of guardians of traditional intellectual values. Therefore, the training and education of folklorists and ethnomusicologists is becoming an important socio-cultural task.

Speaking about the Department of Folk Singing and Ethnomusicology of the L.V.Sobinov SSK, which turned 55 years old, about the priorities in the training and education of students of folklore, it is necessary to note the important role of researcher, teacher, musical and public figure A.M. Listopadov (1873-1949) in the history of folklore studies at the Saratov Conservatory. Since 1907, he lived in Saratov, where he taught at a number of secondary educational institutions. Later, from 1915 to 1920, almost from the moment the conservatory was opened in 1912, he worked there as a teacher of choral conducting and headed a choral class. Being an active public figure – a member of the Conservatory Management Committee, head of the music section of the Saratov City Department of Public Education, in 1919 he was the first to raise questions about the opening of a folk song class at the university and about the creation of an exemplary folk song choir, worked with amateur choirs. At the same time, on his initiative, courses on the study of Russian folk songs were opened at the extracurricular sub-department of Public Education ^[6].

During his life in Saratov, he carried out expeditions to record the folklore of the peoples of the Volga region, including to the areas of the Khoper and Medveditsa rivers – areas of preserved Cossack song traditions in the Saratov province. At the same time, A.M. Listopadov did not interrupt his research activities on Cossack folklore, published in various periodicals.In 1911, the first collection of A.M. Listopadov "Songs of the Don Cossacks" was published, which included 107 Cossack songs. The following year, the works are published: "1812 in folk songs" and "Folk songs – Don Cossack, Little Russian and Great Russian", with an appendix of 30 songs ^[6].

Listopadov's name is rightfully inscribed in the Encyclopedia of the History of the Saratov Conservatory. He anticipated and justified the creation of several important directions in the conservatory's educational system, which were realized many years later: he introduced choir management as an academic discipline, justified and developed projects for the opening of departments of playing folk instruments and folk singing at the conservatory. Long before the founding of the departments of choral conducting, folk instruments, and folk choir leaders, he laid the foundation for the foundation of these important specializations ^{[4, pp. 207-208]}.

In the 60s, Russian folk singing became one of the independent directions and began to develop in professional, amateur and educational forms. The history of our department begins with the opening of the department and the formation of a new specialty – the head of the folk choir in 1966, one of the founders of folk singing education in Russia, Professor LL. Christiansen (1910-1985). His name is known to us in connection with the activities of the Ural Russian Folk Choir, of which he was the founder (in 1943) and artistic director. All his practical work experience gained from meetings and communication with authentic singers and their work, with the selection of repertoire, direct rehearsal and performing work in the choir – all this created the foundation of knowledge in the field of folk art, a deep and solid professional base, which Lev Lvovich implemented in the course programs in the newly opened specialty – head folk choir. L. Christiansen's scientific research testifies to the search for a methodology for studying folk art. The key position of the author's school is the authentic principle of folk performance, understanding the artistic values of folklore. L.L. Christiansen laid the foundations of the methodology of working with folk voices – this is the spoken manner of singing as the basis of performance technique, preservation of dialectal features of poetic speech and singing style. Not to correct anything from folk singers, but to listen and learn from them was his main motto in his work ^[16].

For more than 40 recent years, the work of the department has been associated with the name of another outstanding figure of Russian folk art – Professor, Doctor of Art History, winner of the D.S. Likhachev Prize A.S. Yareshko (1943-2018), to whom Lev Lvovich transferred all the work on the education of students at the time. As evidence of complete trust and continuity in his activities, Lev Lvovich handed over his personal library to Alexander Sergeevich for use for educational purposes. For more than 50 years, A.S. Yareshko's research interests have been collecting and studying the song and instrumental folklore of the Astrakhan and Saratov Volga regions, where he regularly conducted numerous expeditions with students and the Cossack folklore of the Kuban. He is also the founder of the scientific direction "Russian campanology", being the author of five monographs, about two hundred articles, plates and discs of ringing recordings.

The name of A.S. Yareshko is associated with the modern stage of folk choral performance, which revealed new integrated approaches in the education of a folklorist researcher, in the study and preservation of folk singing art. The problem of adaptation of folklore education in the established academic system of education, improvement of forms and methods were the object of his attention and thoughtful reflections: "The system of professional folklore education was one of the forms of growth of national identity. The principles and methods of teaching, in fact, have become a system of cognition of folklore, its fundamental properties, patterns, and stages of its historical development. There were many problems along the way, which took decades to overcome. If the initial stage of the formation of curricula, programs, etc. differed in some generalized approach, which naturally characterized the first experiences of the educational process, then, perhaps, only decades later we came to the realization of what is necessary in the education of a future specialist" ^{[17, p. 22]}.

L.L. Christiansen and A.S.Yareshko, already at the present stage of the history of the department, the principles of studying a complex of disciplines on folk music, including the practical development of regional singing traditions, were laid, justified and introduced into the educational process by students. Initially, important importance was attached to expeditionary work, which students are actively involved in. This is, in the full sense of the word, practice-oriented work with logically structured interdisciplinary connections.

The department has developed a system of professional training, where the focus of priorities in research and further focus on performance is an important component of the education of a specialist. The preparation and subsequent defense of the WRC is based on the musical and ethnographic material collected by the graduate student in the region of his residence, in his "small homeland". His notation, analysis and scientific understanding, the creation of a folklore collection with the application of audio recordings and concert and stage embodiment are an effective form of obtaining qualifications.

In the process of mastering the curricula, students analyze and master various regional singing styles. Cossack traditions, as a vivid component of Russian folk culture, certainly intersect with the work of the department, with its creative and scientific interests.

Analyzing the archive of the department, which has developed over more than half a century, and this is about 400 theses and expedition records of teachers and graduates, about 20 percent of students' research graduation papers are devoted to various regional Cossack traditions.

Most of the records of the folklore of the Cossack areas represent the song heritage of the Don Cossack army (folk songs of the Cossacks of the upper, middle and lower Donevolgograd and Rostov regions); Kuban song folklore (Tbilisi station, Ust-Labinsk district, etc. Krasnodar Territory); Nekrasov Cossacks of the Stavropol Territory (including one of the first studies of the tradition of the wedding ceremony by L.A. Jacobi in 1979); song folklore of the Terek Cossacks (Cossack villages of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic). Samples of recordings made in the former Cossack settlements of the Astrakhan, Orenburg, Saratov regions and the Urals are also presented. The research topics of the theses are diverse: performing style, musical content of the wedding ceremony, genre composition of song folklore, poetics and musical language – melodic, rhythmic and fret forms, features of polyphony, the degree of preservation of folklore tradition at the present stage, etc.

Great importance is attached to research and publishing work at the department. Over the past five years, two folklore collections have been prepared and published at the department according to Cossack traditions: Kuznetsova D.A., Bondarenko M.V. Wedding Songs of the Terek Cossacks (Yekaterinogradskaya stanitsa of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic), Saratov, 2018; Samokhina V.A. Songs of the Riding Cossacks of the Volgograd region (Staropoltavsky and Kalachevsky districts), Saratov, 2021.

The department has prepared and successfully defended 17 dissertations for the degree of Candidate of Art History and one doctoral dissertation, two of them on the scientific understanding of regional Cossack traditions: Yareshko P.V. (Krasnodar), "Military folklore of the Kuban Cossacks: history, functionality, musical style" (2016), Nikitenko O.G., (Volgograd), "Song tradition of the Upper Don Cossacks: folklore intonation and speech dialect" (2018). The topic of the dissertations is aimed primarily at the study of the performing and musical stylistics of song folklore, since the authors themselves are performers who practically know the tradition.

Speaking about the Saratov Cossacks, it should be noted that in different historical periods, the military borders of the Cossack troops did not coincide with the borders of the provinces, and the territory of the Saratov region, before acquiring modern outlines, repeatedly changed its borders over five centuries. According to information from the GASO documents, referred to by a number of researchers ^{[14; 12]}, there was no separate Saratov Cossack army. However, Saratov, as a provincial city, was closely adjacent, and sometimes directly entered the borders of the Don Army in the southwest, Astrakhan in the south and Ural Cossack troops in the southeast. By the Highest Decree in 1870, the provincial cities of the border borders were obliged to maintain Cossack regiments on their territory for service. The deployment of Cossack regiments of the Don, Astrakhan, Ural and even Orenburg Cossack troops on the territory of the Saratov province was constant for carrying out various kinds of services: security, postal, border, convoy. Basically, there were Astrakhan and Don Cossack hundreds in Saratov ^{[14, p. 105]}.

According to the information provided by Stepanov S.A., the first mentions of serving people (Cossacks, Streltsy) on the territory of modern Saratov province date back to 1571, when the Karamanskaya stanitsa was founded on the left bank of the Volga^[1] – the first settlement of the Moscow state in our region^[2]. Local historians of the XIX century F.F. Chekalin and A.I. Shakhmatov attributed the existence of the village to the Right Bank (the area of the modern village of Pristannoye). The population of the Karamanskaya stanitsa consisted of serving people – Cossacks, streltsy, gunners – a total of 135 people. The garrison carried out the functions of border formation ^[12].

The State Archive of the Saratov region (GASO) contains supporting documents that by 1734 there was a mention of the Cossack hundred (team), which since 1721 was called the Saratov stanitsa. Initially, it belonged to the Don Army, later from 1734 to the Volga^{[3] [14, p. 105]}. In 1817 The village became part of the Astrakhan Cossack Army and became the northernmost military territorial unit ^{[1; 10]}.

If we consider the modern territory of the Saratov province, then it is the Prikhoperye and the basin of the Medveditsa River in the Balashovsky district that are considered areas where preserved echoes of the traditions of the Don and Volga Cossacks can be found^[5].

The archive of the department contains audio recordings and theses with notations of songs recorded in the village of Ternovka, Balashovsky district. The earliest of them are the work of Yekaterinushkina L.A., 1973 ^[3] and Tarkhov A.A., 1977 ^[13], in which there are no audio recordings. Thus, the earliest audio recordings of the area that are available in our archive are the materials of the folklore expedition of 1982 by L.Y. Serova ^[11] (thesis 1984).

According to Serova L.Yu., the village of Ternovka is divided into three parts: the Center, Kutok and Khokhly (where the descendants of immigrants from the Don and from Ukraine live). Of interest are recordings from the Kizyakovs family ensemble consisting of: two brothers – Mikhail Yakovlevich (born in 1910, sang) and Ivan Yakovlevich (born in 1913), Lyubov Yakovlevna (wife, born in 1917), they are joined by the Afanasievs – V.F., born in 1904 and Tatiana born in 1944.

The "players" of the songs of the Kizyakova couple: Ivan Yakovlevich and Lyubov Yakovlevna,

photo from the graduation collection of Tarkhov A.G., 1977 ^[13].

"In the village they are called "song players" nicknamed "bendyars". This nickname has been fixed for a long time, even about my grandfather and stuck to all descendants. "They sing songs of the Prikhoper Cossacks" - "draft": according to poetics, plots, genre affiliation, musical and performing style, it is possible to detect features of the Cossack song style: with very difficult rhythmic splitting, frequent meter changes, mostly two-, three-voice, everyone sings in a chest manner, head singing is not used at all. The songs are characterized by: wide chants, word breaks, often change the vowels inside the word (for example, in the song, instead of the word "piti" they sing "pi(a)-(i)-ti", instead of "navarity" they sing "navari-(a)-(i)-ti"). According to the "players" themselves, their songs are "draught" and not interesting..." ^{[11, p. 8]}. From the collection of soldiers' songs by Serova L.Y., we will give as an example "A Cossack walked along the Don" (soldier's drawl):

Free improvisational singing, intonation and phonemic ups and downs, expressive semantic accents, rich timbres in singing indicate the verbal nature of the singing tradition, where the word plays an important role, which is characteristic of the Cossack manner of singing. Also, an indicative element of the singing style of the Cossacks is a feature of the textural presentation in the form of the presence of a "dishant", syllabic asemantic vocalized inserts ("oh", "yes", "here") in the chanting samples of folklore – all this is perceived as a special expressive style of singing, which, in particular, O.G.Nikitenko writes. ^{[9, pp. 16-17]}.

Thus, in the territory of the modern Saratov Volga region, the Cossack song tradition in the form of a formed musical and ethnographic phenomenon as such has not been revealed. However, in local manifestations, one can find persistent stable root signs characteristic of the Cossack song culture: from a set of song genres and characteristic means of musical expression, a special melodic pattern, to vocal and performing techniques, which include specific features of folk speech, diphthongs, word breaks, "entrances"-gliding from below to the main sound, etc., The peculiarities of the phonetic structure of vocal speech are revealed. Similar genre, musical style and performance features of the song folklore of the Cossack tradition in the recordings of the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century are found locally as residual phenomena. Later archival records in this region demonstrate the all-Russian late urban tradition. There are many reasons for this: both the influence of mass pop culture and the result of the lack of social ties between generations of different ages, continuity within the family, within singing groups and the "blurring" of the indigenous population by immigrants from different regions.

Currently, we are working on digitizing the funds, bringing the archive to modern technical requirements, preparing materials for publication in the form of collections and discs, creating access to it for scientific work and performing practice. If we talk about the possible publication of this collection, then questions arise about the quality of the recording and, given modern requirements for notation, transcriptions sometimes need additional work by a scientific and technical editor.

The accumulated materials of repeated recordings of folklore works (for example, the Volgograd and Saratov regions) make it possible not only to study the traditions of research areas, but also, on the basis of comparative analysis, to trace the dynamics of the development of tradition, the degree of its preservation and analyze the ongoing processes. This is the undoubted value of the archives and funds of the department. Thus, a method is being developed that can be called longitudinal studies conducted over a long period, during which the original properties of the subject of research are sometimes already lost.

On the basis of transcriptions of traditional folklore, the choral group (artistic director G.N.Burdanov) creates thematic creative projects and concert programs reflecting Russian history, where the Cossack tradition is represented as an integral component: "Fatherland sacred feat", "Russian History in song", etc.

Back in the 80s, A.S. Yareshko, based on his practical activities, put forward the idea of creating a "Folk Song Theater", where the main character is the creative team itself with a program of a single thematic focus ^{[15, pp. 13-14]}, which, in fact, "hovered" in creative minds: the revival of traditions that were peculiar to the original folk art, which was embodied in the scenic embodiment of ritual forms and scenes of everyday life. According to the established requirements, each student of the department, graduating from the conservatory, passes the state exam "Staging a concert program" on the song material collected by himself. In fact, this is the final result of the graduate's work, where he implements his knowledge and competencies in an interdisciplinary complex: vocal training – working with a choir and ensemble, folk instruments of folklore tradition, folk dance, directing folk songs. This is a kind of mini-performance, a recreation of the rite, in which we see a manifestation of the syncretic unity of different genres of folk art. Programs based on recordings of Cossack traditions are distinguished by the special brightness of the musical material and positive performance expression.

The educational work of the department, interaction with Saratov regional Cossack structures is a separate area, including the preparation and holding of a series of annual folk art festivals, competitions, social and educational projects and open lectures, patronage of the educational school No. 43 with a Cossack bias in Saratov – concerts and lectures for schoolchildren, etc.

The annual festivals of the Cossack song "Razgulyai", "Songs of the Volga and the Don", including performances at outdoor venues, work on the jury of the competition-festival of children's creativity "Kazachok", held by the Ministry of Social Development of the Saratov region, participation in master classes by invited leading ensembles of Cossack traditions of Volgograd, Moscow and other cities.

Since 2017, the department has annually held the All-Russian Youth Competition–festival of patriotic folk songs "Songs born in battles ...", founded by A.S. Yareshko on the material of his unique folklore collection "Folk Songs of the Great Patriotic War" (since 2019 - in memory of A.S. Yareshko), which also features Cossack songs reflecting patriotic heroism, loyalty to the Fatherland, fortitude and high moral qualities of the defender of the Fatherland. A competition with such a theme is both patriotic education of young people through the emotional impact of heroic plots, soulful lyrics and preserving the memory of the feat of the people in a difficult historical period for the country. The department has held six All–Russian folk art festivals "The Saratov accordion sounds...", representing the musical folk symbol of the Volga region - the Saratov accordion, in which Cossack collectives from various regions take part.

Separately, it is necessary to say about the activities of A.S. Yareshko on the revival of the foundations of Orthodox culture – Russian Orthodox bells. Later, Alexander Sergeevich stood at the origins of the creation of the Association of Bell Art of Russia (1989) and for 25 years was its permanent president. His work in the field of bell art began in the 1970s, when several enthusiastic scientists independently began to study bell art.

Since the 1990s, Alexander Sergeevich's social and pedagogical activities have been associated with providing methodological and practical assistance to dioceses, museums, city and village administrations, musical groups from various regions of Russia in reviving bell art, organizing bell-making industries, implementing various forms of education: short-term courses and bell ringers' schools, master classes, construction consultations and equipping belfries with bells, holding all-Russian and international festivals of bell music, scientific and practical conferences and other events ^[8].

From his immense work, which included many directions, for more than 30 years he has been enthusiastically engaged in the professional training of bell ringers at the elective "Bell Performance" organized at the Department of the Conservatory. This was an urgent need, since in the 1990s, during the period of the beginning of the revival of Orthodox traditions, there were simply no bell ringers. As A.S. Yareshko recalled his trips to the south of Russia – Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Volgograd, Astrakhan regions, "where in the 90s up to a thousand churches were restored and built anew, while there was not a single (!) bell ringer in the whole region. It was necessary to open a bell ringers school at the University of Culture of Krasnodar, to hold a bell ringing festival in Krasnodar, at the request of the People's Artist of the Russian Federation V.G. Zakharchenko, to allocate several bell ringers for concert trips of the Kuban Choir, who accompanied a number of song numbers with ringing" ^{[7, p. 5]}.

All his experience gained on expeditions from hereditary bell ringers, with whom he managed to communicate in the 1970s in monasteries that were not closed under Soviet rule, bell ringers of small cemetery churches, he laid the basis for a practical elective course "Bell performance", courses and schools for the training of bell ringers.

Bell ringers' schools were especially effective and worked at churches and dioceses that interacted with Cossack associations, with atamans of villages who were interested in the revival of Orthodox art. The ideological attitude and life position of A.S. Yareshko, also a hereditary Kuban Cossack, is in tune with the Cossack mentality. The Orthodox faith and traditional holidays are an integral part of the life of the Cossacks. Orthodox bells as a stylistically vivid element of Orthodox culture were perceived in the Cossack culture very enthusiastically, as the return and rediscovery of what was originally lost.

In the main direction of the department's activity – the education of folklorists, ethnomusicologists, folk song performers and heads of creative groups of the folk song genre, the paradigm of educational work, including patriotic, is laid down in its practical manifestation: love for their country, folk culture, careful attitude to traditions, their preservation, respect for the older generation of cultural bearers, the continuity of knowledge about folk traditions and customs. This is realized in constant work – concert-creative, scientific, folklore-expedition, educational. In musical and stylistic terms, Cossack song folklore is a highly artistic example of folk song art. This direction is in demand in performing practice. Plots, characters and events – everything works to educate students of emotional and sensory intelligence, which is necessary for the future head of the creative team. Performing practice, educational themed concerts enlighten and educate our audience. Ultimately, we see this as our task.

This is a brief overview of the activities of the Department of Folk Singing and Ethnomusicology of the Saratov Conservatory. The traditions laid down by the founders are continued by the next generations of teachers and students. The team, preserving and embodying the best of folk culture, is open to creative cooperation in joint patriotic projects, which are currently gaining new relevance.

^[1] "Stanitsa" in the XVI century, in addition to designating a settled village, was also a group of mounted military men who "rode" over a large area, crossing the endless Volga steppes ("Wild Field"). The village was headed by a stolid head. Each village consisted of 6 people on horseback, including a "guide" - a guide, who performed the task of monitoring and notifying of approaching danger. In the middle of the village, a high watchtower was erected to monitor the "wild field", called a shikhan. However, it was difficult for serving people to be on the move without a permanent home. Therefore, over the years, the "equestrian village" has turned into a settled village. It was built by Cossacks and Streltsy on a small peninsula formed by the winding course of the Karaman and Saratovka rivers ^{[2; 12]}. 

^[2] Of the inhabitants who settled along the Volga after the fall of the Astrakhan Kingdom, the Volga Cossacks, who appeared in the second half of the XVI century from the Don Cossacks who crossed over to the Volga and fugitives from the Moscow Kingdom, had the most historical beginnings ^[12]. The history of the Cossacks of the Saratov Volga region is not simple. It is enough to cite a few historical facts to understand the heterogeneity of the Cossack class. In August 1670, Stepan Razin moved from Tsaritsyn up the Volga, declaring Cossack freedom everywhere, and Saratov surrendered to the rebel without resistance. For a while, the city adopted a Cossack structure ^[4].

^[3] In 1734, 1057 families of Don Cossacks were transferred to the Volga line for permanent service, they were settled along the Volga in four villages. The army created by the Donets on the Volga was named Volgsky, had its own banner, uniform and insignia. But for participating in the Pugachev rebellion (1773-1775), when the Cossacks supported Pugachev, the Volga Cossacks were disbanded by Decree of Empress Catherine II, most of the Cossacks were sent to the Terek, giving rise to the now famous Tersky To the Cossack army ^{[2; 4]}.

^[4] Stepanov A.S. gives an interesting fact: "In August 1919, near the village of Lopukhovka, Saratov province, the famous Don Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov, the first cavalier of St. George of the war of 1914, died in battle with the red troops. He is a native of the Ust-Khopersk village of the Donskoy army (now the Volgograd region)." ^[12].