Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's use of the byliny (Russian oral epic narratives)

347 Pages·2017·16.35 MB·English

by  Christine Middleton

NIKOLAI RIMSKY·KORSAKOV'S USE OF THE BYLINY
(RUSSIAN ORAL EPIC NARRATIVES) IN HIS OPERA
SADKO
Brian Reeve, MA
Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
September 2005
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Boston Spa, Wetherby
West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ
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REQUEST OF THE
UNIVERSITY
Appendix II
Appendix III
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ABSTRACT OF THESIS
This thesis analyses the background in folk music, folk literature and folk art of Rimsky
Korsakov's sixth opera Sadko (1897). Attention is especially focused on the folk genre of the
bylina, or Russian legendary and mythical oral epic narrative, from the field of which, uniquely
in Russian opera, the plot of the opera is drawn. Furthermore, many incidental details of
libretto and staging are derived from these epics, and, too, lengthy vocal extracts declaimed in
the style of a typical Russian peasant bard. Rimsky-Korsakov also drew, however, on many
other genres of folk music and folk art for his opera, and this thesis demonstrates that there is
hardly one detail of this work, including cast list and stage directions, which does not derive
from the Russian folk tradition. However, some critics have maintained that the measured oral
unfolding of an epic narrative does not lend itself readily to adaptation for the stage, and that
there are long periods of stasis in the action of the opera. The thesis rebuts this assertion by
examining Rimsky-Korsakov's artistic and aesthetic conceptions, and by demonstrating that,
through his adaptation of such epic material for the musical theatre, the composer was
attempting to create a new genre of stage art, in which the conventional dramatic canons were
to be set aside.
This thesis, therefore, firstly analyses the genre of the by/ina in detail, then studies Rimsky
Korsakov's background in the culture of his period, which led to his profound immersion in
Russian folk culture. Subsequent to this, the other major sources of the opera Sadko are
examined, as are Rimsky-Korsakov's collaboration with Mamontov's Private Opera Company,
which premiered this work, owing to the composer's difficulties with the Imperial Theatres.
Following an analysis of the score and libretto to ascertain how the composer incorporated his
sources into his work, the thesis concludes with an evaluation of the alleged dramatic
weakness and static quality of the score, and an analysis of whether the attempt to transfer an
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oral linear narrative to the stage was in fact successful.
SYSTEM OF CITATION AND TRANSLITERATION USED THROUGHOUT THE THESIS
Generally speaking, full sourcing for any reference -that is, autho~s surname and initials, title,
place of publication, publisher, date, page number - is given in full in the footnotes on first
citation; any subsequent use of a reference is given by author surname alone, followed by page
number. When there is more than one author with the same surname -such as Miller V, or 0,
the initial too is given in all subsequent references to any text. A few authors such as Propp
and Speranskii have more than one work cited; when this occurs, the work will be referred to in
the footnotes, after the first reference, by author-name and date of publication.
All translations are by the writer of this thesis, including extracts from works which have already
been translated into English, either wholly, such as Rimsky-Korsakov's memoirs, or in part,
such as lastrebtsev's reminiscences of the composer.
The transliteration of titles from Russian which were first published before the orthographic
reform of 1918, and then in further editions subsequent to this reform, presents certain
problems of consistency, both in terms of orthography and grammar. This also applies to
authors' names. For example, on the title-page of the first edition of Gil'ferding's collection of
epics of 1873, the title and collector's name are rendered: Onezhskiia byliny, zapisannyia
Alexandrom Thedorovichem Gil'ferdingom etc (the initial letter of the middle name is the now
obsolete letter 9). However, the third edition of 1949-51 is entitled Onezhskie byliny,
zapisannye Alexandrom Fedorovichem GiJ'ferdingom "" etc. Similarly, on the title page of the
first edition of Bessonov's collection of religious epics (1861-63), the author's name is rendered
Bezsonov; however, of course, post-1918 editions print the name with an IS' replacing the II'.
Wherever these types of inconsistency have occurred, the post-1918 spelling has been tacitly
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adhered to throughout. However, if no edition exists post-1918, or if no reference is made to
such an edition in this thesis, the original spellings are maintained.
Furthermore, it is customary to indicate place of publication, and name of publishing house, for
any item in a bibliography on first citation. However, many of the early collections of Russian
folk-songs were published over a period of several years in numerous instalments (vypuskl),
often in different towns. Moreover, both these collections, and many of the scholarly articles
dealing with them, seem to have been published privately, in 'print-shops' (tipografil), rather
than by large-scale commercial publishers. For instance, Rybnikov's collection was published
between 1861 and 1867, in four instalments, at different print-shops, in different locations.
Where this piecemeal or private publication has occurred, names of print-shops and places of
publication have been omitted.
Further confusion arises when these 'instalments' were subsequently collated by publishers or
libraries into 'volumes' (tomy) which were then further combined into 'parts' (chasti) -or vice
versa. For instance, we may find two volumes, the first marked tom I, chast'I (volume I, part
I), and the second tom I, chast' 2; OR the books may be designated chast'l, tom I, or chast I,
tom 2. Where this type of inconsistency has occurred, the particular terminology has simply
been retained, since to alter it to consistency would have produced confusion for any future
readers searching for the volumes.
Generally, the system of transliteration from Russian used in this thesis has been that of the
British Library post-1975.1 It is the usual practice in tranSliterating Russian into English to
'e'
render both 'e' and by the use of 'e', since usually no distinction is made between these two
letters in Russian language volumes. However, frequently throughout our thesis we have
'e'
employed to render the latter, since even in Russian-language collections of folk-songs
1 'Transliteration of Cyrillic'; Humanities Reader Guide No 7 (London: British Library, 1999).
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(including modem editions), this letter is c~mmonly printed in full to indicate the correct
pronunciation of dialect and archaic words, such as sine more ('blue sea'), and of obsolete
personal names such as 'Khoten' and 'Plenko'. Where Russian-language editions have felt
the need for this letter to be printed in full, we too have transliterated it as such.
However, Russian names which have passed into English usage in a different rendering, and
have become established, such as 'Rimsky-Korsakov', 'Tchaikovsky', or 'Cesar Cui' have been
left in the familiar form.
The rendering 'Musorgsky' is adhered to in this thesis, since it is now considered preferable to
earlier illogical forms such as 'Mussorgsky', 'Moussorgsky', etc.
Familiar non-Russian names found in Russian sources are given their original spelling, rather
than transliterated - eg, Franz Liszt rather than Frants List, Mozart rather than Motsart, and
Richard Wagner rather than Rikhard Vagner.
ABBREVIATIONS
ANSSSR Akademiia Nauk Soiuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (from 1991 the
RAN - see below).
BlSA British Library Sound Archive (till Oct 2003, NSA: National Sound Archive), London, UK.
GMI Gosudarstvennoe muzykal'noe izdatel'stvo.
ed{s). editor{s).
edn{s). edition{s).
IAN Imperatorskaia Akademiia Nauk.
NSA National Sound Archive (British Library, london). (See BlSA above).
RAN Rossiiskaia Akademiia Nauk.
RMG Russkaia muzykal'naia gazeta.
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SM Sovetskaia muzyka.
NOTES
(1 )
Dates in Russia in the 19th century were 12 days behind those of the west, therefore on the few
occasions on which Russian dates are mentioned in the text, appropriate adjustment should
be made to arrive at the current date in the west. For example, the premiere of Sadko was
given on 26th December 1897 Russian Style, 7th January 1898 Western Style. Until 1918,
dates in the 20th century were 13 days behind the west.
(2) The frontispiece to this thesis, showing a skomorokh, or Russian strolling player, playing
a gus/i, prefaced both the 1897 full score and piano reduction of the opera Sadko (see page
55 for full discussion).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to acknowledge my gratitude here to Dr Cynthia Marsh, of the Department
of Russian, and Dr Robert Adlington, Department of Music, University of
Nottingham. Also I wish to express my gratitude to the staff of the British Library
and of Cambridge University Library.
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 11-21
SECTIONS
(1) THE BYLINA: DEFINITION, REDISCOVERY IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY, TYPOLOGY, AND ANALYSIS OF POETICS 22-44
(2) THE ORIGINAL SINGERS AND DISSEMINATORS OF THE STAR/NY:
THE SKOMOROK1II AND KALIKI PEREK1IOZHIE; THE LITERARY
AND MUSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE EPICS 45-83
(3) MAJOR INFLUENCES ON RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S COMPOSITIONAL
AESTHETIC 84-103
(4) THE SOURCES OF RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S OPERA SADKO 104-128
(5) THE MOSCOW PRIVATE THEATRE, AND ITS ROLE IN CREATING
THE OPERA-BYLINA SADKO 129-136
(6) RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S ADAPTATION OF HIS FOLK SOURCES FOR
HIS OPERA-BYLINA SADKO 137-156
(7) DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE FOLK SOURCES OF THE MUSIC AND