Scientific and educational activities of the Jewish folk music society in St.Petersburg (1908-1921)

Abstract

The research subject is scientific and educational work of the Jewish folk music society established in St.Petersburg in 1908. Using the example of this Society, the author considers the realized ideas of public music education which became popular in Russia in the early 20th century. Special attention is given to the historic role of the folklore component in the music education of urban dwellers. In this context, the author considers the activities of the Society connected with ethnographic research of the pieces of Jewish folk music, their processing and usage in educational work. The author’s special contribution is the consideration of organization of the educational process in the Society. The author studies the activities of one-year music courses training Jewish folk music performers, and the well-known pedagogues: I.S. Tomars, I.Yu. Akhron, M.E. Bukinik. Besides, the information about music albums, issued by the Society, and Jewish folk music concerts, organized by it, which contained not only music performances, but also music lectures, is of great scientific and historical value.