A Tale of Music. Bylin and tales about music and musicians

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of music in a person's life. She accompanies him all her life, starting with the mother's lullabies. Music arose long ago - who does not know Orpheus, who descended into the underworld for his beloved and so captivated by his singing and playing on the lyre of Hades and Persephone, that they let Eurydice to the ground? The plot of the myths of ancient Greece, which for several thousand years, says only 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 truly talented, were the same legendary figures as the epic heroes. The stories about them were passed from mouth to mouth, forming into legends and legends. And thanks to the songwriters themselves, such as the well-known Boyan, which is described in the "Lay of Igor's Host", the names of the heroes of those ancient times have reached us. After musicians often accompanied the heroes in their campaigns, in order to delight their ears in moments of calm, to raise morale before the attacks, and then capture the feats in their songs.

Russian epics about musicians

Tales of music and musicians arose, as was said, a very long time. Already mentioned above, Orpheus, like the golden-haired cifader Apollo, like the god Pan, who played the flute, are heroes of the myths of ancient Greece, which existed three thousand years before our era. In our folklore, we talk about later times - the end of the XI - the beginning of the XII centuries. Russian epics and fairy tales about music tell, for example, about Sadko - the legendary Novgorod merchant, traveler and guslar.

The legendary Sadko

On the basis of these epic poems, the Soviet writer-folklorist AN Nechaev wrote a wonderful story, the meaning of which, like the epic, consists in stating the fact that the wonderful art of the singer and guslar Sadko was as a result stronger than power and wealth. According to the plot of this tale, the poor guslar loved his singing and playing Water, the owner of the Ilmen Lake, and he made Sadko rich and noble. There are other stories about this character, but in all of them, because of the ghuslar's game, the sea king embarks on such an exuberant dance that a storm rises up on the sea-ocean, and ships begin to perish. The magic power of music creates all kinds of miracles.

The first songbooks of Russia

Thanks to the epic we know the names of the instruments used by ancient musicians and buffoons. These include domra, spoons and flute, balalaika, bells and stings, gusli, ratchet and bagpipes, as well as a button accordion, a box and a shepherd's horn. The bells describe the first Russian musicians, the most famous of which were Boyan, Sadko and buffoons. The time of origin and existence of these works of folk art - XI-XII century, the era of the Middle Ages. Boyan sings Yaroslav the Wise, Sadko lived during the heyday of Veliky Novgorod and reduced the role of Kiev, that is, almost the same period. The oldest Russian musicians and songwriters, buffoons, carriers of synthetic art, from which not only music, but theater and circus originated, are mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years. It also tells about the hatred of the church, under pressure and at the insistence of which they ceased to exist in the XVII century.

Brothers Grimm about music and musicians

In the world literature tales about music and musicians occupy a special place. The most famous foreign work in our country is the fairy tale "The Bremen Town Musicians" of the Wilhelm brothers and Jacob Grimm. It's not even fame, but national love. It was due to the animation 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, moving from city to city and cheering the audience not only with singing, but also with circus numbers, dances, theatrical sketches. Peru of these famous German storytellers also owns a few sketches about music and musicians: "The eccentric musician" (a fairy tale, also known as the "Unusual Musician" or "The Marvelous Musician") and the "Singing Bone" - a sad story about the gullibility and insecurity of good, o Black envy and betrayal, but also about imminent retribution.

Musical tales of G. Kh. Andersen

World-wide known fairy tale about music "Nightingale" of the most revered in this genre of the author Hans Christian Andersen. This long and philosophical tale narrates about imaginary and true values. The main actors are the Chinese emperor and the nightingale, who was expelled from the palace, as soon as a parcel with a golden artificial bird came from Japan, but returned and chased away the Death that came for the emperor. The meaning of the work is that live music, in which there is a soul, no, even the most skilful mechanics can not be replaced. There is a famous children's writer and a fairy tale about music "The Bell", narrating about the search for an unknown bell, the sounds of which "grab for the heart".

The magic pipe

Every nation has its own tales and stories about music. Examples include the Belarusian fairy tale "The Musician-Wizard", or the Karelian "Matti the Merry", or the Kazakh fairy tale "Master Ali", which tells about the origin of the national musical instrument dombra. To the famous and often reproduced plots is the medieval church legend of a simple "dudar", which saves the city from the hordes of rats. This story is also mentioned in Selma Lagerlof's "The Miraculous Journey of Nils ...", and in the remarkable poem by Robert Browning "Flamist from Gameln", known in the translation of S. Ya. Marshak.

Russian fairy tales about music

And just do not find tales, stories, poems and poems dedicated to music and created by Russian authors. Of the classical works, except Sadko, you can call "Gusli-samogudy" or "Shepherd's pipe". A remarkable fairy tale about the music "Gusli-samogudy" in the treatment of AN Afanasyev tells of Ivan, who became a king thanks to the magical gusli. Another Ivanushka from "Magic pipe" punished the greedy masters who did not want to pay him money for a job well done, which was helped by a miraculous musical instrument.

Russian classics about music

Tales of music, musicians and their instruments were written by many famous Russian writers - Leo Tolstoy (The Heart of a Musician), A. P. Chekhov (The Contrabass and Flute), K. G. Paustovsky (The Old Cook (about Mozart) , "Music Canary", "Basket with fir cones" (about Grieg)), V. V. Bianchi ("Who sings what?"). The story of VG Korolenko, "The Blind Musician", published in 1886, tells about the boundless power of music that can make a blind and happy member of society blind from the birth of a boy. There are several wonderful stories about music from Russian writer Yevgeny Permyak: "On all colors of the rainbow", "The Shepherd and the Violin", "The Thin Strings" and "The 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 children are best acquainted with the world of music in a more familiar and accessible form. An example can serve as a wonderful modern work of this genre on musical instruments "No matter how it is." Or a fairy tale about the music of the wonderful children's writer VA Levshin "The Little Sorceress". To acquaint children with the works of these writers is definitely worth it. A modern children's writer Tatyana Domarenok writes wonderful stories about music for kids. Here are some of them: "Holy Music", "Musical Key", "Divine Violin" and many others. A remarkable work devoted to the topic under consideration was written by the Soviet writer Semyon Garin ("Singing Friends"). You can not ignore the beautiful tales of music that V. Suhomlinsky wrote. These are "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 the web has many interesting collections of modern tales about music, music, instruments and everything-everything-everything that relates to the world of music. There are also some little-known folk tales of the peoples of the world about music. For example, "The Magic Harp". In this fairy tale of the peoples of Burma, the unfortunate orphan Maun Sita is told and how he healed his queen with his music. The Algerian folk tale "The Wonderful Lute" also tells about the saving power of music. The Altai fairy tale "Little Rust" tells of a boy who transforms the sounds of nature into beautiful music. He was happy with freedom and almost died with the Khan. Saved him from death all the same sounds of nature.

Fairy Box

The most comprehensive information on this subject and, probably, all the tales and poems about music that exist in the world are collected in the remarkable book "The Magic World of Music". It lists all the authors, both domestic and foreign, who have ever written something about this kind of art. Among the most beautiful fairy tales I would like to highlight the following: "Chongurist" (Georgia), "Silver pipe of McCremons" (Scotland), "Embroiderer of birds" (Greece), "Queen of the Mountains" and "Sokolovskaya guitar" (gypsy legends). Although, of course, all the tales, stories, songs and legends of the peoples of the world about music deserve attention.