The Abkhazian School of Composition. On the Problem of Composition

- · 30.09.2026

Review article
DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2026-3-100-111

Adam A. Khagba

Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage,
Southern Branch, Krasnodar, Russia,
adamhagba@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1129-9302
Abstract: The subject of the study is the existence of the phenomenon of a compositional school in the musical culture of Abkhazia. The problem is examined through the analysis of the development of professional music in the republic, the interaction of national traditions with European principles of composition, and the role of personal and institutional factors.
The methodological basis of the study includes historical and cultural, comparative and typological, theoretical and conceptual, systemic and structural, and personalistic methods.
The scientific novelty of the study lies in the application of the term «national compositional school» and its extrapolation to Abkhazian academic music. It has been established that the republic has developed a unique professional tradition based on the synthesis of folk intonations and academic principles, but the lack of pedagogical institutionalization and of the ongoing training of new composers does not allow us to speak of a fully-fledged school. The phenomenon of the Abkhazian compositional school should be considered more as a cultural and scholarly concept reflecting the desire for the self-identification of national musical art than as a fully formed phenomenon.

Keywords: Abkhazia; Abkhazian music; school of composition; national musical culture; national traditions; academic music; cultural identity; musical education

For citation: Khagba А. А. The Abkhazian School of Composition. On the Problem of Com­position. Scholarly papers of Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. 2026;(3):100-111. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2026-3-100-111
References

  1. Natsional’nyy [National]. Tekst: elektronnyy [sayt]. URL: https://gramota.ru/meta/natsionalnyy (accessed: 04.06.2026).
  2. Shkola [School]. Tekst: elektronnyy [sayt]. URL: https://gramota.ru/meta/shkola (accessed: 04.06.2026).
  3. Suvorov D. V. K voprosu o «natsional’nykh kompozitorskikh shkolakh» i ikh «osnovopolozhnikakh» [On «national compositional schools» and their «founders»] // Vestnik Gumanitarnogo universiteta. 2020. № 3 (30). P. 139–145.
  4. Suvorov D. V. Algoritm vzaimosvyazi «evropeyskogo» i «neyevropeyskogo» v natsional’nykh kompozitorskikh shkolakh XIX–XX vv.: vzglyad cherez prizmu dialogovogo podkhoda i memetiki [Algorithm of the interrelation of «European» and «non-European» in national compositional schools of the 19th–20th centuries] // Vestnik Gumanitarnogo universiteta. 2023. № 1 (40). P. 167–175. DOI: 10.35853/vestnik.gu.2023.1(40).12.
  5. Suvorov D. V. Kompozitor kak tvorets simvolicheskogo universuma: k voprosu o granitsakh esteticheskogo i sotsial’nogo [The composer as creator of a symbolic universe: on the boundaries of the aesthetic and the social] // Rossiya v epokhu revolyutsiy 1917–2017: opyt osmysleniya rossiyskogo samosoznaniya [Russia in the era of revolutions 1917–2017: experience of reflection on Russian identity]: sbornik nauchnykh statey. Saint Petersburg, 2018. P. 211–216.
  6. Drozhzhina M. N. Molodyye natsional’nyye kompozitorskiye shkoly Vostoka kak yavleniye muzykal’nogo iskusstva XX veka [Young national compositional schools of the East as a phenomenon of musical art of the 20th century]: avtoreferat dissertatsii … doktora iskusstvovedeniya. Novosibirsk, 2005. 49 p.
  7. Drozhzhina M. N. Tadzhikskaya natsional’naya kompozitorskaya shkola: etap vosstanovleniya i opredeleniya putey razvitiya [Tajik national compositional school: stage of restoration and development] // Pan-Art. 2023. T. 3. № 1. P. 21–31. DOI: 10.30853/pa20230004.
  8. Zakrzhevskaya S. A. K probleme stanovleniya natsional’nykh kompozitorskikh shkol [On the problem of the formation of national compositional schools] // Vestnik Magnitogorskoy konservatorii. 2018. № 3. P. 15–25.
  9. Ostankovich M. A., Ostankovich D. V. Stanovleniye professional’noy kompozitorskoy shkoly yevropeyskogo tipa v Yuzhnom Kazakhstane [Formation of a professional compositional school of the European type in Southern Kazakhstan] // Khudozhestvennoye proizvedeniye v sovremennoy kul’ture: tvorchestvo — ispolnitel’stvo – gumanitarnoye znaniye [Artistic work in modern culture: creativity — performance — humanitarian knowledge]: sbornik statey i materialov. Chelyabinsk, 2023. P. 13–16.
  10. Pyl’neva L. L. Natsional’nyye kompozitorskiye shkoly Sibiri: k postanovke problemy [National compositional schools of Siberia: towards the formulation of the problem] // Gumanitarnyye nauki v Sibiri. 2009. № 3. P. 124–127.
  11. Dorofeyeva V. Yu. Sovremennaya ukrainskaya kompozitorskaya shkola: novaya muzyka [Contemporary Ukrainian compositional school: new music] // Vestnik Mariupol’skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Filosofiya, kul’turologiya, sotsiologiya. 2015. № 9. P. 59–65.
  12. Vishnevskaya L. A. U istokov cherkesskoy kompozitorskoy shkoly [At the origins of the Circassian compositional school] // Philharmonica. International Music Journal. 2018. № 1. P. 46–51.
  13. Maslovskaya T. Yu. Yevreyskaya natsional’naya shkola v muzyke [Jewish national school in music] // Uchenyye zapiski Rossiyskoy akademii muzyki im. Gnesinykh. 2020. № 2 (33). P. 54–65.
  14. Sadykova N. V. Formirovaniye kompozitorskoy shkoly na Sakhaline: problemy i perspektivy [Formation of a compositional school in Sakhalin: problems and prospects] // Vestnik Adygeyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2: Filologiya i iskusstvovedeniye. 2020. № 1 (252). P. 197–203.
  15. Abdrakhmanova E. Ya., Dzhumalieva T. Yaponskaya kompozitorskaya shkola vtoroy poloviny XX — nachala XXI veka: predstaviteli i vedushchiye tendentsii [Japanese compositional school of the second half of the 20th – early 21st century: representatives and leading trends] // Saryn. 2022. T. 10. № 4. P. 11–20.
  16. Talipov I. F. Anatoliy Luppov i printsipy yego kompozitorskoy pedagogiki [Anatoly Luppov and the principles of his compositional pedagogy] // Vestnik Saratovskoy konservatorii. Voprosy iskusstvoznaniya. 2023. № 4 (22). P. 89–96.
  17. Talipov I. F. Kazanskaya kompozitorskaya shkola i yeyo rol’ v razvitii tuvinskoy professional’noy muzyki [Kazan compositional school and its role in the development of Tuvan professional music] // Slovo o muzyke. 2023. № 1 (12). P. 40–43.
  18. Ashkharua A. G. Muzyka i zhizn’. O razvitii abkhazskogo professional’nogo muzykal’nogo iskusstva [Music and life. On the development of Abkhaz professional musical art]. Sukhum, 2002. 246 p.
  19. Khashba M. M. Cherez ternii k zvezdam (k 75-letiyu A. Ch. Chichba) [Through thorns to the stars (to the 75th anniversary of A. Ch. Chichba)]. Sukhum, 2001. 33 p.
  20. Gumba A. R. Abkhazskaya pesnya Razhdena Gumba [Abkhaz song of Razhden Gumba]. Sukhum, 2016. 317 p.
  21. Khagba V. A. Perspektivy razvitiya sistemy muzykal’nogo obrazovaniya v Respublike Abkhaziya [Prospects for the development of the system of musical education in the Republic of Abkhazia] // Ab ovo: studencheskiy nauchnyy zhurnal Adygeyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2018. T. 2. № 19. P. 117–126.
  22. Khagba V. A. Simfonicheskiy orkestr – vazhneyshaya gran’ muzykal’noy kul’tury sovremennoy Abkhazii [The symphony orchestra as an essential facet of the modern musical culture of Abkhazia] // Ab ovo: studencheskiy nauchnyy zhurnal Adygeyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2013. T. 1. № 14. P. 168–171.
  23. Khagba V. A., Mitus I. V. Muzykal’noye obrazovaniye v Abkhazii: istoriya muzykal’nogo uchilishcha [Musical education in Abkhazia: the history of the music college] // Muzykal’naya letopis’ rossiyskikh regionov: sbornik nauchnykh statey VI mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii [Musical chronicle of Russian regions: proceedings of the 6th international scientific and practical conference]. Maykop, 2016. P. 154–163.
  24. Khagba A. A. Kompozitor Petr Dmitriyevich Petrov kak vyrazitel’ natsional’noy muzykal’noy kul’tury Abkhazii [Composer Petr Dmitriyevich Petrov as a representative of the national musical culture of Abkhazia] // Observatoriya kul’tury. 2025. T. 22. № 3. P. 238–247. DOI: 10.25281/2072-3156-2025-22-3-238-247.
  25. Khagba A. A. Simfonicheskoye iskusstvo v respublikakh Severnogo Kavkaza i Abkhazii: sovetskiy opyt i postsovetskiye vyzovy (sravnitel’nyy analiz) [Symphonic art in the republics of the North Caucasus and Abkhazia: Soviet experience and post-Soviet challenges (a comparative analysis)] // Naslediye vekov. 2025. № 4. P. 13–29. DOI: 10.36343/SB.2025.44.4.001.
  26. Khagba A. A. Simfonicheskoye naslediye Abkhazii: istoriya formirovaniya i perspektivy sokhraneniya [Symphonic heritage of Abkhazia: history of formation and prospects for preservation] // Naslediye vekov. 2023. № 2 (34). P. 15–30. DOI: 10.36343/SB.2023.34.2.001.
  27. Khagba A. A. Simfonicheskoye tvorchestvo v Abkhazii: sotsiokul’turnyy aspekt [Symphonic creativity in Abkhazia: a sociocultural aspect] // Zhurnal instituta naslediya. 2025. № 4 (43). P. 60–67. DOI: 10.34685/HI.2025.58.62.005.
  28. Yamakova M. A. Stranitsy istorii abkhazskoy professional’noy muzyki [Pages of the history of Abkhaz professional music] // Integratsiya iskusstv v sovremennom khudozhestvennom obrazovanii [Integration of arts in modern art education]: materialy VIII Vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii. Oryol, 2025. P. 275–283.
  29. Segodnya yubiley — 70 let — otmechayet Nodar Viktorovich Chanba, narodnyy artist Respubliki Abkhaziya [Today Nodar Viktorovich Chanba, People’s Artist of the Republic of Abkhazia, celebrates his 70th anniversary]. Tekst: elektronnyy [sayt]. URL: https://gazeta-ra.info/obshchestvo/item/2699-segodnya-yubilej-70-let-otmechaet-nodar-viktorovich-chanba-narodnyj-artist-respubliki-abkhaziya (accessed: 04.06.2026).

 

Вам может также понравиться...