From the History of Musical Culture of the Volga-¬Urals: The Regional Instrumental Tradition

The article examines the phenomenon of instrumental music of the Volga-Ural region and its position in the sociocultural structure of society. The author relies on the ideas of the Russian composer and musicologist J. K. Mikhailov. The issues of the connection between the instrumental and vocal traditions of the region, the influence of different ideological systems and religions on the formation of the binary opposition “voice — music instrument” are touched upon. In particular, examples of numerous multilingual names of music instruments, common at different times among different ethnic groups of the Volga-Ural region, are given. The music of high tradition during the period of the Kazan Khanate (1438–1552) is surveyed, with special attention to the status of instrumental principle. The author dwells on the vocal elements in Bashkir performance on the kurai and its connections with the Tatar and Bashkir vocal tradition of uzun-kuy. The question is raised concerning the relationship between the vocal and instrumental principles in the tunes played on Mongolian instruments related to the kuray. The study is based on samples of instrumental and vocal music of the Tatars, Bashkirs, Komi, Mordovians (Moksha/Erzya), Chuvash, Mari and Udmurts.