Article

Name: Song folklore of the Kryashen settlers in the Irkutsk region: genre and style attribution based on the 1971 recordings of L. S. Zamaletdinov

Authors: N. Yu. Al’meeva

Russian Institute of Arts History, St. Petersburg, Russia

In the section Этномузыковедение

Abstract:

This article examines the song folklore of the Kryashen Tatars, an Orthodox, Tatar-speaking subethnic group whose history is marked by both migration and cultural synthesis. Originating in the Volga-Ural region during the Christianization period (16th–18th centuries), the Kryashen identity emerged from a complex interplay of Turkic-Tatar elements with local Chuvash, Mari, and Udmurt communities. A significant chapter in their history unfolded in 1912–1913, when a segment of this population relocated to Siberia from Ufa Province as part of Pyotr Stolypin’s agrarian reforms. Today, residing primarily in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Udmurtia, they maintain their distinct identity as an ethno-religious minority. The analysis presented here is based on unique archival recordings of Siberian Kryashen singing (33 items). The recordings were made in 1971 by the Tatar philologist and folklorist L. S. Zamaletdinov during an expedition to the villages of Kharioty and Bokhan (Irkutsk Region) and subsequently entrusted to the author. Previously undescribed, these materials represent a rare source for the study of Kryashen folklore. Eleven representative samples, transcribed and translated by the author, form the musical appendix to the article. Their analysis reveals features characteristic of Kryashen song culture, rhythmic and intonational structures, vocal timbre, stanzaic form, and poetic content, allowing for a comprehensive attribution of genre and style.

Keywords: Kryashen tatars, Kryashens of Siberia, songs, genre, style, verse, two-voice texture, attribution of tunes

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