T. Batagova

Poetry by K. Khetagurov in the Ossetian vocal music

The article is devoted to vocal works by Ossetian composers based on the poems by the classic of Ossetian literature – Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov (1859–1906). The poems from the poetry collection “Ossetian Lyre” (“Ирон фæндыр”) by K. Khetagurov were turned into folk songs during the poet’s life. As they were sung in various social strata of the Ossetian society, they expressed the mood of spiritual unity of people and were associated with the processes of national renaissance. The popular songs formed from the Ossetian poems by Kosta Khetagurov present a model of melodious, poetic lyrics, as the author notes. The musicality of the Kosta’s poems brought to life the folk and quasi-folk songs and romances. They associate the formation of national vocal music with the composers’ adaptations of folk poems in 1920s-1930s. During the next stage (1940s–1970s) composers were in the process of mastering poetic themes such as love, civil and landscape lyrics, images of childhood. Also there took place the expanding of the vocal music’s boundaries, the appearance of ballads, romances and vocal cycles. The vocal compositions of the last third of the XX – beginning of the XXI century are the sphere where the Ossetian composers use postromantic and jazz styles. These compositiont are remarkable for the novelty of interpretation of Khetagurov’s poetry.

Key words

Kosta Khetagurov, melodious lyric poetry, vocal music by Ossetian composers, romance.

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