Terra sebv s acta mvsei sabesiensi s

Revisiting the Collection of Tatar Musical-Ethnographic 

 

51

“having softened, guttural sounds [which could be] likened to the light 

sound of the flute; all singing took on an expression of some solemnity, so 

that its listeners seemed to feel the same pleasure a European experiences 

under the influence of the magical sounds of Rossini or Beethoven.”

39

 

This is a very important observation by the academic, who noted the 

characteristics of Koran chanting and made an analogy with European 

music. Islamic culture and Oriental languages were Sablukov’s main 

academic fields and he was, notably, the first person to translate the Koran 

from Arabic to Russian.

40

 

As a active figure in missionary education in the Kazan Ecclesiastical 

Academy, Sablukov was tasked to compile a brief manual for priests of the 

Kazan eparchy

41

 to deny Mohammedanism and to improve the missionary 

anti-Muslim department because it was deemed that “under the 

circumstances of the quite considerable detachment of Mohammedans, 

Christened Tatars of the Kazan eparchy ... from Christianity, the manual 

was necessary.”

42

 The reconversion of Christened Tatars back to Islam (or 

as it was known at that time, Mohammedanism) was one of the religious 

and political problems in the Volga region in that period, hence Sablukov 

participated in the work of various commissions, regularly visiting villages 

of Christened Tatars to persuade them of the genuineness of Christianity. 

It is clear that the collection of Tatar musical-ethnographic material 

by the teachers of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy was closely connected 

with their missionary-educative activity. However, despite these ideological 

purposes, the investigations of these researchers are of great historical value 

and take an important place in the history of Tatar musical ethnography. 

 

 

Revisiting the Collection of Tatar Musical-Ethnographic Materials by the  

Teachers of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy in the Context of  

Their Missionary-Educative Activity (19

th

 Century) 

 

(Abstract) 

 

Musical and ethnographic observations of the Tatars by the research faculty of the Kazan 

Ecclesiastical Academy are discussed in this article. Their scholarly works allow us to 

consider the specifics of national traditions and culture of the 

19

th

 

century Tatars, reveal 

features of Tatar holidays and folk music performance, and understand the distinctiveness 

of their songs and instrumental music. Questions concerning collection of Tatar musical 

and ethnographic material by Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy faculty members are discussed 

in connection with their mission and educational work.  

                                                 

39

 Sablukov 1845, p. 187. 

40

 Sablukov 1878. 

41

 Kazan eparchy: the eparchy of Russian Orthodox Church, Kazan.  

42

 NATR, fund 10, folder 25, list 1, p. 6. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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E. I. Safiullina 

 

52

The nature of these first forays into Tatar musical ethnography as an independent 

academic direction is related to the specific context of the mid-19

th

 century. In this era, the 

collection and study of Tatar musical and ethnographic material had a goal-oriented 

character, due to the active efforts of many academic and educational institutions including 

the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy. This institution was a science and educational centre for 

the study of the history, culture, ethnography and languages of the non-Russian nations of 

pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1854, special missionary departments were created whose 

activities focused on the conversion of Tatars and other nations of the Volga region, the 

Transurals and Siberia, to the system of Christianity. To fulfil this mission, specialists with 

sufficient knowledge not only in language but also the history, culture, ethnography of the 

non-Russian nations were required. Therefore teachers and scholars of Kazan Ecclesiastical 

Academy went on the ethnographic expeditions to various localities, where they collected 

information on national holidays, customs, rituals and the musical culture of non-Russian 

nations.  

Teachers of the Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy regularly published historical and 

religious works, tutorials with a spiritual and religious content, ethnographic, reference and 

bibliographic materials. As a research and educational centre, the Academy contributed 

greatly to Tatar musical ethnography. The gathering of Tatar musical ethnographic material 

by the academics and teachers of Kazan Ecclesiastical Academy was closely related to their 

missionary outreach.  

 

 

Bibliographical Abbreviations 

 

 

Berdnikov 1892 

- Ilya Stepanovich Berdnikov, Kratkiy ocherk uchebnoy i uchenoy 

deyatelnosti Kazanskoy duhovnoy akademii za 50 let ee 

suschestvovaniya, 1842-1892 gg., Kazan, 1892. 

Filippov 1915  

- G. A. Filippov, Tatarsko-chuvashskie devichi horovodyi v 

Tetyushskom i Tsivilskom uezdah Kazanskoy gubernii, in 

Inorodcheskoe obozrenie, vol. 1, book 10, 1915, p. 753-760. 

Gusterin 2014 

- Pavel Vyacheslavovich Gusterin, Koran kak ob’ekt izucheniya, 

Saarbruecken, 2014. 

Ilminskiy 1887 

- Nikilay Ivanovich Ilminskiy, Kazanskaya tsentralnaya krescheno-

tatarskaya shkola, Kazan, 1887. 

Khabibullin 2009 

- Mars Zabirovich Khabibullin, Vklad prepodavateley Kazanskoy 

duhovnoy akademii v izuchenie istorii, yazyika i etnografii nerusskih 

narodov Povolzhya i Priuralya v 1854-1881 gg., in Vestnik Ufa, 6 

(44), 2009, p. 84-91. 

Kharlampovich 1907 

-  Konstantin  Vasilievich Kharlampovich, Kazanskaya 

Duhovnaya akademiya (1842-1907). Istoricheskiy ocherk, in 

Pravoslavnaya Bogoslovskaya Entsiklopediya, vol. VIII, Saint 

Petersburg, 1907, p. 702-853. 

Khurmatullina, Salpykova 2014 

-  Rezeda  Kamilevna  Khurmatullina, Indira Maratovna 

Salpykova, Tatar Folklore in the Creative Work of Сomposer Rafael 

Belyalov, in MEJSR, 19, 2014, 1, p. 29-41. 

Malov 

1892 

- Yevfimiy Aleksandrovich Malov, Missionerstvo sredi 

muhammedan i kreschenyih tatar: Sb. statey, Kazan, 1892. 

NATR 

- National Archive of Tatarstan Republic. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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