Historical and stylistic aspect of the study of the musical fairy tale by students of the People’s Republic of China based on A. Borodin’s romances

Abstract

The article examines the historical and stylistic aspect of studying the musical fairy tale by students of the People’s Republic of China within the course of Russian music history. The research material consists of A. P. Borodin’s romances The Sleeping Princess, The Sea Princess, and Song of the Dark Forest, in which fairy-tale imagery is revealed through different artistic modes: enchanted stasis, a fantastical natural element, and epic-folkloric mystery. The aim of the study is to identify the artistic value of these works and their pedagogical potential in an intercultural educational environment. The article employs historical-stylistic and genre analysis, as well as a comparative-pedagogical approach. It is shown that the fairy-tale element in Borodin’s chamber-vocal works is connected not only with fantastic subject matter, but also with a national-romantic type of artistic thinking that combines folkloric origins, epic imagery, expressive piano texture, and psychological depth of vocal utterance. The article concludes that these romances should be included in the education of Chinese students as effective material for developing skills of historical-stylistic analysis and understanding the distinctive character of Russian musical culture. Particular attention is paid to the autonomous pictorial role of the piano part and to a step-by-step methodology of working with this material in a Chinese classroom.