Musical and poetic features of the ossetian religious and mythological song "Uastyrdzhiyy zaræg"

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 Other publications by this author

The mytho-religious system of the Ossetians is a complex phenomenon in its historical origin, which has repeatedly become the subject of scientific research by various authors. The first descriptions of religious holidays of Ossetians with the mention of special songs date back to the beginning of the XX century, however, more fundamental works belong to a later time and belong to such famous collectors and researchers as V. I. Abaev, B. A. Kaloev, L. A. Chibirov and V. S. Uarziati.

Since ancient times, the magic of singing has played a huge influencing role in various rituals. No celebration was complete without ritual and timed songs. According to the informants, the song dedicated to Uastyrji could be performed both during calendar holidays in honor of this patron, and during any ceremonial feast.

The song "Uastyrdjiyy zarg" / Uasgergiy zar ('The song of Uastyrdzhi') reflects the most ancient ideas and beliefs of the Ossetians. It is addressed to one of the celestials of the Ossetian pantheon – Uastyrji (ir.) [Uashtyrji] / Uasgergi [Uasgergi] (dig.), the patron saint of male travelers and warriors, as well as the defender of the weak and destitute.

According to V. I. Abaev, Uastyrji is "the most popular deity of Old Ossetian mythology. The patron saint of men and the main male occupation: military and robber campaigns (baltsyt). Over time, he is the patron saint of travelers in general. For women, his name was forbidden, they called him "Longty dzuar" – the God of men" ^{[1, pp. 55-56]}. The researcher ascribes theonym Uastyrji / Uasgergi to the name of the Christian Saint George (Was Gergi, where the prefix uac means saint) ^{[1, p. 215]}, clarifying that the pre-Christian patron took the name of a Christian saint ^{[2, p. 55-56]}.

However, there is another theory according to which "the name of the deified ancestor of the Scythians "Targitaya" according to Herodotus (History, IV, 5) was "Targi". And the ending "tai" indicates belonging to the genus of the first ancestor. And to the question: "Who is he", "what kind, tribe?" the Scythian would answer: "Targitai", i.e. from the Targi family, the Scythian. According to certain laws of phonetics, "g" turns into "j" (palatalization), and giving the name of the first ancestor the title of "saint" – "uac" – flawlessly gives "Uastyrji" in the end" ^{[3, p. 361]}.

V. S. Gazdanova also spoke about the identity of the cults of Uastyrji and Targitai: "The religious beliefs of the Ossetians, despite several stages of Christianization and the penetration of Islam, retained "pan-Aryan stencils." In this context, one of the central images of the religious pantheon of Ossetians — Uastyrdzhi — correlates with the Scythian Targitai and acts as the patron of all people ("Longty dzuar"), and not only as the patron of men and travelers, as it has been commonly believed in recent times" ^{[4, p.194]}.

Ethnographic materials on Ossetian holidays in honor of Uastyrji are found in the works of many authors: B. Gatiev, V. F. Miller, V. S. Uarziati, R. G. Dzattiaty, L. A. Chibirov. Regarding musicological works, it should be noted that until now there has not been a single study devoted to Ossetian religious and mythological songs in general and the musical and poetic features of "Uastyrdjiyy zarg" in particular. The only exceptions are some observations on the musical features of the song about Uastyrji, dedicated to the wedding ceremony, in our dissertation work "Dynamics of the historical development of Ossetian wedding folklore".

The song dedicated to Uastyrji is one of the most representative in number in various archival and published sources. This fact is due to the fact that "in Ossetia, almost every village has its own variant (or even several variants) her, and outstanding soloists from the people know and sing at least 5-6 versions of the song about Uastyrji" ^{[5, p. 36]}.

According to the informants, this song was the first to open any festive feast: "The first one was sung by the elder, Uastyrdjiy zaryag. Older [i.e. more important. – D. D.] this song was not at the feast, and even more so at the wedding feast. And after he sang it, everyone was allowed to sing other songs" (expedition fund of the author of the article: 002-024).

Interestingly, the researchers interpreted the genre essence of Uastyrdzhi zaryag in various ways, which can be seen in the rubrication of song collections. For example, F.S. Alborov in the work "Musical culture of Ossetians" ^[5], as well as the compiler of the collection of texts "Monuments of folk art of Ossetians" T.A. Khamitsaev ^[6], attributed the song to "mythological". The compiler of the collection "Iron adæmon sfældystad" Z.M. Salagaeva placed versions of this song in the section "Festive songs" ("Tsiny zarjyt") ^[7]. In B.A. Galaev's anthology "Ossetian folk Songs" ^[8] and in the collection "Digoron adæmon sfældistadæ" ^[9] their genre affiliation is designated as "Songs about mythological patrons" (Izædtæ mæ Idaugutæbæl zartæ). In earlier collections, such as "Ossetian Musical Folklore" ^[10] and "Monuments of Ossetian Folk Art, issue 2" ^[11], songs dedicated to Uastyrji are placed in the section "Ritual songs" and "Ancient Songs", respectively. To date, the issue of genre differentiation of Ossetian folk songs remains open. In this paper, we refer the song of Uastyrdjiy zarg / Uasgergiy zar to the genre of religious and mythological songs, based on the concept of "religious and mythological views", widely used in modern Ossetian folklore ^{[12; 13]}.

As noted above, songs dedicated to Uastyrji / Uasgergi can be performed during festive feasts in various ritual contexts of the calendar and life cycles. Their poetic features are to a certain extent regulated by belonging to various rituals. For example, in wedding versions, the song text includes requests for the blessing of the bride, guests and guests, to ensure the girl's happy journey to a new home.

Table 1

Wedding version of the text (with translation)

The songs performed during the holiday dedicated to Uastyrji include the glorification of the patron saint and requests for the bestowal of all kinds of benefits.

Table 2

Text version (with translation)

As can be seen from the examples, the poetic motifs associated with the request to Uastyrji for protection, patronage and bestow blessings on the participants of the ritual are common in the songs. Among the traditional images-symbols characterizing the patron saint of men and travelers are the conversion formulas based on the use of permanent epithets: syzgærinbazyrdzhyn/ sugzæriynnæbazurgin ('golden wings') ^{[6, p.38, p.39; 7, p. 352]}; syzgærin ('golden') ^{[8, p. 136]}; bærzondyl badæg / bærzondbæl badæg (sitting on the top) ^{[6, p.38, p. 39; 7, p. 352, p.353; 14, d. 241, A14]}; tsæhærtsæst ('sparkling eyes') ^{[6, p. 37]}; ursbocio ('white beard') ^{[8, p. 136]}; sygæg/sugdæg (light, clean); bærægæi bæhgænæg, læppuiæ læggænæg / læppo (bichceu) læg ka kænui, bayrag bæh ka kænui (the one who makes a horse out of a foal, and a man out of a boy) ^{[6, p.38]}, etc.

If samples of poetic lyrics of a song dedicated to Uastyrji are presented in sufficient volume in publications, then their musical recordings are very limited and practically not introduced into scientific circulation. Three samples were published in the collection "Ossetian folk Songs" ^[8], seven notations from among those collected in the 20s of the XX century were published in 1948 in the collection "Ossetian musical Folklore" ^[10]. This study uses 13 samples of melodies and texts from the Scientific Archive of the SOIGSI VNC RAS (recorded in different years, starting in the 1960s), as well as 5 examples from the audio archive of the author of the publication (collected from 2007 to 2024).

With regard to the texture and structure of the polyphony of Uastyrdjiyyah, zaryag has typical features peculiar to the Ossetian male choral song. As a rule, the song begins with the soloist's introduction, most often with a short exclamation, followed by a solo recitation, after which the choral chorus begins.

The basis of the poetic texts of Uastyrdzhi zarg is an uncesured verse of disordered syllabic composition – tirade ¹. The size of the tirade ranges from 5 to 21 syllables, but the verse indicators associated with the 10-18-syllable norm are quite stable:

Table 3

Syllabic indicators of tirades with accents

As can be seen from the table, there can be either one or several phrasal accents in a verse line. Their location may also vary. To some extent, the number of accents depends on the syllabic structure of the line and intonation, since in Ossetian songs it is allowed to change the stress in the word in accordance with musical accentuation.

The song stanza of Uastyrdzhi zaryag consists of several verse lines – tirades. Each of them may have semantic independence and correlate with a certain poetic motif. So, in the example recorded by us from H. Sabanti in 2007 (the expedition fund of the author of the article: EAF 001-008], the stanza consists of four tirades, the first of which is a call to sing a song (A), the second mentions the occasion on which the guests are gathered (C), the third contains a request for blessing and praise (C), and in the fourth praise of the patron (D).

Table 4

A version of the text with four tirades

In another entry stored in the Scientific Archive of the SOIGSI VNC RAS ^{[14, d.241, A14]}, the first and second stanzas consist of a different number of verse tirades. In the first stanza, the first and second tirades are in praise of the patron (A, B), and the third is to attract attention (C). In the second stanza, the first and second stanzas are praises of the patron (A, B), and the third and fourth are requests for protection and the bestowal of benefits that the worshippers ask for (C, D).

Table 5

A variant of the text with a different number of tirades in the pages

Thus, in the songs of Uastyrdzhi zaryag, the number of tirades in one stanza is mobile and depends on the poetic intent of a particular sample.

The song stanzas combine tirades of various lengths. Here are the syllabic parameters of several tunes:

Table 6

Syllabic parameters in different melodies

In some cases, each song stanza is emphasized by exclamations indicating the boundaries of tirades. These may be brief exclamations: oh ^{[14, d. 241, A65]}, gai (expedition fund of the author of the article: EAF, 003-001) uæy ^{[14, d. 241, A14]}, both single and twice repeated: oh, oh, gæy gæy ^{[14, d. 241, A14]}. Exclamations can open a tirade, stimulating musical movement, and end it by fixing a rhythmic stop.

In the example recorded in 2007 in the village of Erman (expedition fund of the author of the article:003-001), the exclamation insert is present only in the last tirade of the first stanza, whereas in the second stanza each tirade is isolated by exclamations:

Table 7

Variants of the position of the exclamation inserts

As can be seen from the examples, the location of the exclamations in the tirade is mobile both when comparing different versions of the melodies and at the level of different stanzas. However, the most common option is still the one where exclamation inserts are required at the beginning and at the end of the stanza.

Each stanza of the song of Uastyrdjiyy zarg differs both at the level of structure and at the level of rhythmic organization, only the longitude at the end of each tirade remains stable:

Scheme 1

Rhythmic indicators of tirades

As mentioned above, the song stanza begins with an exclamation, which can be either single, marked with longitude, or twice repeated, with longitude on the second sound ^{[14, D. 243, 96; 6, p.114]}. The declamation phase is characterized by the uniformity of syllabic pronunciation, realized by prosodic eighths or quarters. There are also samples in the rhythmization of which eighth and quarter durations are used.

All recorded samples of the song dedicated to Uastyrji are performed by the soloist and a group of singers, without instrumental accompaniment. The functional characteristics of the singing group in the organization of polyphony are revealed in the name of the voice – farsag. The literal meaning of this term from Ossetian is ‘singing along', ‘secondary, secondary'. In folk terminology, the term khyrnyn is also found in the designation of the function of backup singers – from the Ossetian ‘sing along'. This is a bourdon voice, sounding in the choir in a low tessitura. His melody develops in a narrow range of intonation around the main fret supports. The coordination of the solo voice and choral bourdon is carried out in the intervals of the fifth and octave unison at the reference points of the song form on the exclamations-markers "Oh" and "Hey", etc.

Example 1

The expedition fund of the author of the article: EAF, 003-001

As for the fret organization of Uastyrdjiyy zarg, it is worth noting that all songs, regardless of the time of fixation, have a similar intonation-fret nature, the general logic of which is based on the change of three fret functions, one main – thesis (T) and two side – (A1, A2)².

Most often, the Thesis is represented by an octave, a fifth or a unison, whereas A1 and A2 are the fifth consonances, traditional for Ossetian polyphony. In some cases, A1 is a second below T in the bass, and A2 is a third down or up from the main tone in the bass ^{[14, D. 241, A65]}. However, there are samples in which A2 is represented by different consonances: in the first tirade, it is removed from the main tone by a third up, and in the second by a third down (expedition fund of the author of the article: EAF, 003-002; EAF, 003-004).

Scheme 2

Variants of the fret development of the melodies of Uastyrdjiyy zarg

The combined scale of the Uastyrdzhi zarg takes from decimals to duodecimals due to the duplication of each of the fret-significant tones and active melodic chanting, while the range of the melodic line in most cases is no more than an octave:

Scheme 3

The scale of the melody

Summarizing the analytical observations, it should be noted that the performance of the song "Uastyrdjiyy zarg" by a soloist and a group of singers without instrumental accompaniment is typical for the entire corpus of Ossetian ritual songs. The poetic features of the melodies are associated with the timing of the song to various rituals. The principle of verse organization is based on a tirade-strophic form, where the number of tirades varies depending on the poetic intent of a particular sample. It is worth noting here that a similar form in the Ossetian folk vocal tradition is characteristic of the wedding song "Nanayy zaryag", as well as for lamentations. In the rhythmic organization of melodies, only the longitude at the end of each stanza is stable. All samples are characterized by short exclamation inserts at the beginning and end of the stanza, typical of all song genres of the Ossetian tradition. The melodies of "Uastyrdjiyy zarg", regardless of the time of fixation, have a similar intonation-fret nature, the general logic of which is based on the change of three fret functions, and the combined scale takes from decimals to duodecimals. Thus, it can be argued that all the studied samples of the song dedicated to the patron saint of men, travelers and warriors belong to the same song type.

The song "Uastyrdjiyy zarg" continues to function within the framework of various ritual situations, however, it is worth noting that there are fewer and fewer connoisseurs of musical folklore in Ossetia, and therefore folklore songs, as a rule, are performed by specially hired singers.

^[1] Here we rely on the definition of a tirade by B. B. Efimenkova.

^[2] To describe the stylistic properties of melodies, we applied a system of description of the fret associated with the distinction of fret functions, proposed in the work "Genetic prerequisites for genre classification of musical folklore" by V. V. Korguzalov.