The Thorny Path of Tatar Musicology

Abstract

The beginning of the 20th century is marked by an active process of formation of Tatar professional music and scholarly thought. The initial stage of Tatar musicology is associated with the activities of Sultan Gabyashi (1891–1942). This present article elaborates on the almost 80-year-long development of scholarly thought on Tatar music, starting from the first days of the functioning of the Kazan State Conservatory (1945) headed by Nazhib Zhiganov, and also highlights the initial stage of studying the history of Tatar music, associated with the activities of Khalima Teregulova, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory in 1938. An analysis is made of the subsequent years of the development of Tatar ethnomusicology up to the present day, an assessment is made of the activities of the profiling department at the Kazan State Conservatory.