About how composers of romanticism were discovering Orient: one caucasian episode from M. I. Glinka’s biography.
Background. The discovery of exotic and fairytale Orient was one of the priorities of Romanticism. Many books and articles have been written about this. Russian music even has its own special term, “Russian Orient”. An extensive scientific literature is also devoted to revealing its meaning. This article is based on the author’s methodof culturological commentary. The material of an episode of Glinka’s trip to the Caucasus in 1823 is considered. Some of Sergey Tyshko’s materials from his multivolume study about Mikhail Glinka’s travels (namely, from the fourth part) are used. Results. Glinka began to discover the Orient beginning at age 19, first for himself, and then for subsequent listeners. It is symbolic that Pushkin was finishing his poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” in the Caucasus in the summer of 1820. And in the summer of 1823 the young Glinka experienced first impressions for the sake of his opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, which was premiered almost 20 years later! Caucasus was then considered a territory of freedom. This mountainous land was provided mane new opportunities for human development, for creative thought, which is not subject to traditional limitations. In addition, the feeling of a mountainous al-titude that evoked thoughts of the eternity and awakened a creative fantasy was also impressive. The article explores a number of issues. Where and when the future author of the “Ruslan and Lyudmila” could observe this oriental magnificence? Along with the wide-spread practice of traveling in the open air, there was a special custom of going to the neighboring auls of Caucasian mineral waters to celebrate Bayram. The description of the Cherkess Bayram was left by the Russian eyewitnesses of Circassian festivities (Uraza Bayram and Kurban Bayram), that caused admiration of young Glinka and his contemporaries. The common name of Bairam is the two most important Islamic holi-day. Uraza Bayram is the feast of breaking the fast, which is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. Kurban Bayram is the sacrifice feast, which is accompanied by “slaughter of rams and distribution of meat to the poor.” It is celebrated on two months and ten days after Uraza Bayram. Both events are accompanied by folk games, competitions, songs, dances, and jumps. Glinka could plunge into the elements of folk dances, songs and games in one of the peaceful auls. Another question, who were these Cherkess, so sur-prised both Glinka and his contemporaries? All Cherkess are probably related branches of one people. His story is complex, rich and rooted in antiquity. “The Diary” show that the most powerful impressions by Glinka were Circassian women’s dances and jumps. But the composer was attentive to the smallest details of everyday life, folk costumes, customs, Circassian folklore music, which certainly ac-companied any significant festive day. Composer’s contemporaries emphasized not only the belligerence and special natural beauty of Cherkess, but also their grace, elegance, strength. It was absolutely exotic for the northern man, and also allocated Cherkess among other Caucasian peoples. In the Russian culture there was a peculiar “Circassian fashion”. By the turn of the 1830-40s, “impeccable imitation of the external appearance of the Circassian” became “a sign of a true dandy.” It was the Caucasus that opened the door of Orient for the Russian music, and Glinka was certainly the pioneer here. For Glinka himself, the Caucasus, embodied in the songs and dances of the Circassians, was the first experience of careful listening foreign music folklore. Subsequently, with the same attention he will listen to folk songs, flamenco and folk festivals in Spain. Here, in Pyatigorye, on the national holiday of Bayram, he could see with his own eyes (and not only speculatively according to poems, novels or text-books of geography), how diverse and beautiful the world of people. For Glinka, the “eter-nal wanderer,” this first living impression was very important. Like other impressions, it taught, like Pushkin, to look at the life of others with an open mind and with love. Conclusions.The problem is considered in the context of the formation of romantic composers views in relation to the culture of the East and, in particular, to the ethnog-raphy, life and music of the peoples of the Caucasus. This opens both new prospects for studying the biography of M. Glinka, and a new perspective on the development of new cultural spaces in the era of Romanticism. The statements of Glinka’s contemporaries in the form of multiple eyewitness accounts create that unique environment where the composer’s voice sounded, whether it was musical compositions, memoirs or letters. The task of the author of the article is to admit them into his text and to comprehend, perhaps, as a style phenomenon.