The Connotations of 'Russian' in Music of Foreign Composers on 'a Russian Theme'

摘要

"Russian" seems to foreign composers very diverse in meaning. It is treated as designation of the state and is identified with the Russian Federation, it is interpreted as display of public and private life of the Russian acquiring "ethnographic" meaning, and it is consumed as concentrated in Orthodox religion and is marked as "confessional". Among the means of attribution of "Russian", the most reliable is the clarifying and explaining program title and citation of specific musical material of both folklore and authors, functioning in society as nameless folklore. A review of numerous examples of the implementation of the "Russian theme" by foreign composers in their music shows sufficient flexibility, and vagueness of the geographical and ethnic boundaries of the "Russian".