It is impossible to overestimate the importance of music in human life. She accompanies him all his life, starting with his mother's lullaby. Music arose long ago - who does not know Orpheus, who descended into the underworld for his beloved and who captivated Hades and Persephone with his singing and playing the lyre so much that they let Eurydice go to earth? The plot from the myths of Ancient Greece, which is already several thousand years old, only says that music, like musicians, has existed since time immemorial, as well as epics and tales of music.
Keepers of history
In ancient times, musicians, at least really talented, were as legendary personalities as epic heroes. Stories about them were passed from mouth to mouth, developing into legends and legends. And thanks to the songwriters themselves, such as the notorious Boyan, which is described in the "Word on Igor's Regiment", the names of heroes from those ancient times have come down to us. After all, musicians often accompanied heroes on their campaigns in order to delight their ears in moments of calm, raise morale before attacks, and then capture the exploits in their songs.
Russian epics about musicians
Tales of music and musicians arose, as was said, a very long time ago. Orpheus already mentioned above, like the golden-haired cifared Apollo, like the god Pan, who played the flute, are the heroes of the myths of Ancient Greece that existed three thousand years before our era. Our folklore tells of later times - the end of the XI - the beginning of the XII centuries. Russian epics and tales of music tell, for example, about Sadko - the legendary Novgorod merchant, traveler and guslar.
Legendary Sadko
On the basis of these epics, the Soviet folklorist writer A.N. Nechaev wrote a wonderful story, the meaning of which, like the epic itself, is to state the fact that the remarkable art of the singer and gusli Sadko turned out to be stronger than power and wealth. According to the plot of this tale, the poor ghouslar fell in love with his singing and playing Vodyany, the owner of Lake Ilmen, and he made Sadko rich and noble. There are other stories about this character, but in all of them, due to the play of the harp, the sea ​​king starts such a violent dance that a storm rises on the sea-ocean, and ships begin to die. The magical power of music works all kinds of miracles.
The first songwriters of Russia
Thanks to epics, we know the names of the instruments used by ancient musicians and buffoons. These include domra, spoons and flute, balalaika, bells and pity, harp, rattle and bagpipes, as well as button accordion, box and shepherd’s horn. Epics tell of the first Russian musicians, the most famous of which were Boyan, Sadko and buffoons. The time of the emergence and existence of these works of folk art - XI-XII century, the Middle Ages. Boyan sings of Yaroslav the Wise, Sadko lived during the heyday of Veliky Novgorod and the declining role of Kiev, that is, almost in the same period. The oldest Russian musicians and buffoon songwriters, carriers of synthetic art, from which not only music, but theater and the circus arose, are mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. It also tells of the hatred of the church towards them, under the pressure and insistence of which they ceased to exist in the 17th century.
Brothers Grimm about music and musicians
In world literature, tales of music and musicians occupy a special place. The most famous foreign work in our country is the fairy tale "Bremen Town Musicians" by the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. This is not even fame, but popular love. It arose thanks to the animated film of the same name and its continuation, which appeared on the screens of the country in 1969 and 1973, respectively.
The German fairy tale tells about the same, in fact, buffoons who move from city to city and amuse the audience not only with singing, but also with circus numbers, dances, and theater sketches. Several famous sketches of music and musicians by Peru belong to these famous German storytellers: “The Faddish Musician” (a fairy tale, also known as “The Extraordinary Musician” or “The Wonderful Musician”) and “The Singing Bone” - a sad story about the credulity and insecurity of kindness, about black envy and betrayal, but also about inevitable retribution.
Musical Tales by H. H. Andersen
The world famous tale of the music of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, the most revered author in this genre. This long and philosophical tale tells of imaginary and true values. The main characters are the Chinese emperor and the nightingale, who was expelled from the palace as soon as a parcel arrived from Japan with a golden artificial bird, but returned and banished with his singing the Death that came for the emperor. The meaning of the work is that live music, in which there is a soul, cannot be replaced even by the most skilled mechanics. The famous children's writer also has a tale of music “The Bell”, which tells of the search for an unknown bell, the sounds of which “are seized right by the heart”.
Magic pipe
Each nation has its own tales and stories about music. Examples include the Belarusian fairy tale “The Wizard Musician”, or the Karelian “Matti the Fun”, or the Kazakh fairy tale “Master Ali”, which tells about the emergence of the national musical instrument dombra. Famous and often reproduced plots include the medieval church legend about a simple “dudara” that saves the city from hordes of rats. This story is mentioned both in Selma Lagerlöf's beloved fairy tale “A wonderful journey of Niels ...” and in Robert Browning’s wonderful poem “The Flutist from Hammiel”, known in the translation by S. Ya. Marshak.
Russian tales of music
And just do not count fairy tales, short stories, poems and poems dedicated to music and created by Russian authors. From the classical works, besides “Sadko”, one can name “Gusli-Samogudy” or “Shepherd’s pipe”. A wonderful tale about the music of “Gusli-Samoguda”, edited by A. N. Afanasyev, tells about Ivan, who became king thanks to the magical gusli. Another Ivanushka from The Magic Pipe punished greedy owners who did not want to pay him money for a job well done, which a miraculous musical instrument helped him to do.
Russian classics about music
Many famous Russian writers wrote stories about music, musicians and their instruments - Leo Tolstoy (“The Heart of a Musician”), A. P. Chekhov (“Double Bass and Flute”), K. G. Paustovsky (“The Old Chef” (about Mozart) , “The Musical Canary”, “A Basket with Fir Cones” (about Grieg)), V.V. Bianchi (“Who sings what?”). The story of V. G. Korolenko “The Blind Musician”, published in 1886, tells about the unlimited power of music that can make a boy blind from birth a happy and full member of society. Russian writer Yevgeny Permyak has some wonderful stories about music: “For all the colors of the rainbow”, “Shepherd and violin”, “Thin string” and “Happy trumpet”.
Modern tales of music
The fairy tale on the theme of music has not died, but continues to live in our time, because it is best to introduce children to the world of music in a more familiar and accessible way. An example is the wonderful modern work of this genre about musical instruments, “No matter how.” Or a fairy tale about the music of the wonderful children's writer V. A. Levshin, “The Little Sorceress”. To acquaint children with the works of these writers is definitely worth it. And the modern children's writer Tatyana Domarenok writes wonderful fairy tales about music for kids. Here are some of them: “Holy music”, “Musical key”, “Divine violin” and many others. A remarkable work on the subject under consideration was written by the Soviet writer Semyon Garin (“Singing Friends”). One cannot ignore the beautiful tales of music written by V. Sukhomlinsky. This “Music of spring meadows”, and “Child of the Sun”, and “Forest twilight”, and “Grasshopper musician”, and others.
Little-known tales of the peoples of the world
Now on the web there are many interesting collections of modern fairy tales about music, notes, instruments and about everything, everything, everything that relates to the world of music. There are also listed some little-known folk tales of the peoples of the world about music. For example, "Magic Harp". This tale of the peoples of Burma tells of the unfortunate orphan of Maun Sith and how he healed the queen with his music. The Algerian folk tale “The Miraculous Lute” also talks about the saving power of music. The Altai fairy tale "Baby Rystu" tells the story of a boy who transforms the sounds of nature into beautiful music. He was happy free and nearly died at the khan. All the same sounds of nature saved him from death.
Fairy box
The most comprehensive information on this subject and, probably, all the tales and poems about music existing in the world are collected in the wonderful book “The Magic World of Music”. It lists all the authors, both domestic and foreign, who have ever written something about this art form. Among the most beautiful fairy tales, I would like to highlight the following: “Chongurist” (Georgia), “McCrimmons Silver Pipe” (Scotland), “Bird Embroiderer” (Greece), “Queen of the Mountains” and “Sokolovskaya Guitar” (gypsy legends). Although, of course, all the tales, tales, songs and legends of the peoples of the world about music deserve attention.