Following the Footsteps of Russian Tuvian Folk Music Scientists

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the significance of song folklore recordings when documenting the scientific heritage of the first scientists and researchers of Tuvan musical folklore—A. N. Aksenov and E. V. Gippius—during the period 1927 to 1965. The methodological basis consists of the principles of historical continuity, objectivity, a holistic approach to the analysis of the history of the development of traditional Tuvan vocal music and the prospects for its development. The study of folk music is inextricably linked with the development of professional art. Currently, the works of visiting Soviet composers, melodically associated with Tuvan folklore, are practically not performed in the repertoire of concert programs of creative collectives of the city of Kyzyl. One of the main obstacles to their further application is the absence of these works in the curricula in music educational institutions. The issues of the prospects for the use of preserved sources in the digital archive of the Academy "Xөөmei" are analyzed. The question is raised about the need to create a single institutional repository of works and materials on the work of Russian specialists, musicologists, and scientists who studied the musical culture of Tuvinians in the Soviet period. Modern Tuvan musical folklore was largely based on the results of Aksenov's research, whose activities served as the main reference point for the study of Tuvan folk music and contributed to the flourishing of Tuvan musical art in Tuva.