About the role of topshuur – a musical instrument in the performance of Altai tales

In the article, the subject of the study is the consideration of the role of the Altai musical instrument, the topshuur, in the performing practice of storytellers, since in the unified connection between the playing of a musical instrument and the presentation of the content of the legends, there is a reflection of worldviews and archaic rituals. The relevance of the article lies in the study of the manifestation of one of the oldest aspects of the performing practice of Altai legends – the magical characteristics of topshuur in the context of the performance of the tales of “ellu kaichi” (“the narrator initiated by the spirits”). The purpose of the research in the article is to systematize the characteristic features of the instrument in the performance of heroic tales in order to clarify the archaic phenomena associated with it. To achieve this goal, the following task is being solved: to identify the narrator’s connections with spirits and with a musical instrument. The research material included publications of Altaic myths, good wishes, epics, legends, and other materials, including from the collections of the Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic, as well as transcripts of video recordings from interviews with the narrator N. K. Yalatova from the funds of the branch of the All-Russian State Television in the Altai Republic. The research methods were descriptive, the systematization of factual material for scientific understanding. A comprehensive analysis of the materials involved contributes to a broader approach to the perception of the ritual content of the legends. Scientific novelty of the research. The article examines the issue of complementing the magical practice of storytelling from the point of view of revealing a musical attribute in it – topshuur. The result of the article is that, firstly, information about the mythological facts of the performance of heroic tales accompanied by a topshuur supplemented the knowledge about the syncretic relationship between text and music. Secondly, the description of the manufacture of the topshuur contributed to the deciphering of the concept of “living topshuur” involved in accompanying the course of the legend. In the future the study will make it possible to complement similar aspects of the performing practices of the epic traditions of other Turkic-Mongolian peoples.

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