MUSICAL EDUCATION IN URBAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF RUSSIA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

Abstract

In this article, in order to find ways to develop modern music education, the experience of musical education of pupils in primary schools in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries, in particular, in urban primary schools under the “Regulation of 1872”, is examined. Despite the fact that singing and playing musical instruments were not included in the curriculum of urban schools and were taught outside the classroom time, various examples of teaching singing and playing musical instruments to pupils of urban schools in different regions of Russia are given in the work. The work shows that in a number of schools, for example, in Moscow urban schools, serious attention was paid to music education, singing was a compulsory subject. In some schools, for those who wish, in addition to basic subjects and more often for a small fee, training in playing musical instruments was organized. The article addresses the purpose, content, methods, forms of teaching singing, teaching aids, the use of musical instruments in the lessons, the educational level of teachers, analyzes the change in the status of the subject of singing in the process of reforming the primary education system and transforming urban schools into higher primary schools. The study shows, for example, that one of the main goals of the training was to develop and strengthen the morals of pupils. The content of the training was composed of church chants, prayers, hymns, secular patriotic songs, folk songs, and musical deed. This article may be may be interesting to music education historians, scientists and teachers, university students.