The tradition of Orthodox singing of the baptized Tatars of the Laish and Mamadysh districts of Kazan province: the historical background

Abstract

The research object is church singing of the Kryashens (baptized Tatars), a sub-ethnic community of the Tatars following Eastern Christianity. The Kryashens are the bearers of a unique Orthodox singing tradition combining church chants and prayer texts in the Tatar language. The research subject is the historical background of church singing of baptized Tatars which inhabited the Laish and Mamadysh districts of Kazan province. The chronological framework covers the period of generation of the tradition - the late 19th - the early 20th century, which was the period of active missionary efforts of the Russian Orthodox church in the region. The author uses the historical, culturological and source study methods which help to detect the ways of formation of the singing tradition: they are connected with the introduction of a new system of religious and school education of “aliens” in the region, and the start of holding church services in the Tatar language. The research contains the information about the work of schools for the baptized Tatars and parishes in the late 19th - the early 20th century. The author evaluates the modern condition of the Kryashens’ Orthodox singing tradition in the region under consideration and detects the prerequisites of its development which had been established by missionaries in the pre-revolutionary period. The author arrives at a conclusion about an important role of music in the process of christian education of the baptized Tatars, and about significant contribution of the pre-revolutionary missionaries to the formation of spiritual and singing practice of the ethnos, which is currently an important component of its music culture. This ethno-regional tradition of Orthodox singing is considered in Russian musicology for the first time.