Correspondence as a source for studying the history of musical culture of Altai (on the example of the heritage of composers from the collections of the National museum named after A.V. Anokhin)

In the collections of the National museum named after A.V. Anokhin (Gorno-Altaisk, the Republic of Altai) stored objects documenting the history of the musical culture of the region. Among the various types of memorial objects in the heritage of composers there are materials of correspondence. The study of the letters allows recreating events in the life personalities, allows tracing the dynamics of their creative activity, allows determining the circle of communications of composers and allows reconstructing the emotional atmosphere of the past. Analysis of the heritage of composers from the collections of the National museum named after A.V. Anokhin, carried out in accordance with the «Guidelines for reception, registration and description of documents of a personal origin» showed that the letters are concentrated in personal funds of composers A.V. Anokhin, A.M. Ilyin and B.M. Shulgin. The personal fund of composer A.V. Anokhin is characterized by a wide spectrum of materials. Its special feature is the presence of the letters containing the story about learning at the St. Petersburg Imperial Chapel Choir in the first person. Official and unofficial letters addressed to A.V. Anokhin indicate high levels of professionalism of the composer, ethnographer and teacher. Official and unofficial letters in the heritage of composer A.M. Ilyin contain a positive assessment of activity of composer, show personality as an expert in the field of musical culture of Siberia, describe the process creating works (for example, the ballet «Torko-Chachak»), reflect information about the publication of scientific articles, of musical compositions. Official letters in the heritage of composer B.M. Shulgin are a reflection of his professional contacts in the world of music; unofficial letters represent an estimate of personality through the prism of convictions and views known figure of musical culture of the XX century. The letters of composer N.G. Zhiganov contain not only the personal opinion of the author about the addressee, but also factual material about the life and creative activity of the addresser. The study of these sources allows us to introduce into science new factual material associated with the development of musical culture of Altai, to recreate the scientific and creative communications of composers, to reconstruct the personality characteristics of art workers through the characteristics of their contemporaries. The letters as museum objects are highly informative, and therefore the information enclosed in the letters, require a broad introduction to the scientific space. A content of correspondence (mainly of unofficial letters) influences the emotional sphere of the human person. This leads to the use of the correspondence in the space of museum communication.

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