MORDOVIAN ETHNIC SONG

MORDOVIAN ETHNIC SONG folklore of Bashkortostan people was influenced by Christianization and long-term integration with Bashkirs, Russians, Chuvashes. At the same time, it has elements of pagan beliefs. Calendar-ceremonial songs are the most constant. They are about: the universe and customs origins (“What is an ancient custom?”), sacred tree (“Apple tree”, “Think oak”), mythological protectors of living and unliving nature (“Notovava and Komlyava quarreled”). Lyrical songs about the universe and labor, family life, recruiters and soldiers, migrants play an important role in Mordovian musical art. Historical songs are widely presented: they are about Y.I. Pugachev, Nogais-conquerors, heroic struggle against foreign invaders (“On the forest fringe”, “Sister and brother in Nogai polon”). Folklore also include spells for rain, rainbow; vesnyankas. Family-ceremonial songs can be divided into wedding wishes and everyday praising songs. The works for children are very important: lullabies, joke-songs, foster songs, bywords etc. Round songs are very common. The genre of chastushkas was borrowed from Russian folklore. A.F. Yurtov was collecting E.s. at the end of the 19th c. He published “Samples of Mordovian ethnic literature. Volume 1. Songs in Erzya and Moksha dialects” book (1882, Kazan). M.Y. Yevsevyev’s collection called “Erzya songs” (1928) has data about folklore songs. Institute of ethnography of AS USSR (Moscow) and the research from Mordovia (folklorists N.I. Boyarkin, V.L. Imaykina, A.I. Maskayev, K.T. Samorodov, art historian V.S. Bryzhinskiy) led folklore expeditions to the republic in the 1950’s. The results are generalized in Maskaev’s book called “Mordovian ethnic epic song” (1964) and I.S. Sibiryak’s book called “Mordovian ethnic songs from Trans-Volga and Siberia regions” (1982). There are Mordovian folklore ensembles, such as “Vastoma”, “Erzya” (Kamenka village, Bizhbulyakskiy district, RB), etc., which were organized to preserve and revive the original Mordovian art of songs.

А.G. Karpova