The image of a fairy tale heroine Snow Maiden formed in the minds of the people gradually over the centuries. Initially, it appeared in Russian folk tales as an image of an ice girl - a granddaughter, who was blinded from the snow by a childless old man and an old woman to comfort themselves, and to people for joy. However, there is an assumption that the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden arose on the basis of the ancient Slavic rite funeral of Kostroma. And so it can be argued that Kostroma is not just the birthplace of the Snow Maiden - she is the very Snow Maiden.
Kostroma was depicted in different ways: it was either a young woman wrapped in white, with an oak branch in her hands, walking accompanied by a round dance, or a straw effigy of a woman. Kostroma means the playable character and the game itself, at the end of which Kostroma gets sick and dies, and then gets up and dances. The final episode of the game and the ceremony, the death and subsequent resurrection of Kostroma, gave rise to the perception of the image of Kostroma as a seasonal spirit (spirit of vegetation), which makes it related to the image of the Snow Maiden.
In the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden Girl” by V. I. Dahl, an old man and an old woman watched other people’s children, “how they roll lumps of snow, play snowballs” and decided to make a daughter for themselves. “The old man brought a lump of snow into the hut, put it in a pot, covered it with a rag and put it on the window. The sun rose, warmed the pot, and the snow began to melt. So there was a girl "white as a snowball, and round as a lump."
The fairy-tale Snow Maiden melts, jumping with her friends over a large hot fire, and turns into a small cloud flying into the sky.
Over time, the image of the heroine was transformed in the popular consciousness: the Snow Maiden becomes the granddaughter of Father Frost and is associated with the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The Snow Maiden is a purely Russian phenomenon and nowhere else in the world does such a character appear on New Year's and Christmas holidays.
The image acquires a new color under the influence of the spring fairy tale by A. N. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden". From a little girl - granddaughter, the heroine turns into a beautiful girl, able to ignite the hearts of young Berendeys with a burning feeling of love. It is no coincidence that A.N. Ostrovsky has a daughter of Frost and Spring. The compromise inherent in this contradiction makes the image of the Snow Maiden tragic, evokes sympathy, interest, makes it possible to compare it with other fairy-tale heroes of Russian folk tales, as well as draw analogies with the heroes of Russian and foreign literature.
The image of the Snow Maiden attracted many poets, writers, composers, and artists. Sketches by the artist M. A. Vrubel are known. V. M. Vasnetsov made the scenery for the production of the opera The Snow Maiden by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov at the Bolshoi Theater.
N. K. Roerich four times turned to the design of the play "The Snow Maiden" on the opera and drama stages.
Performances received life in the theaters of St. Petersburg, London, Chicago, Paris. B. M. Kustodiev drew sketches of scenery for the play "The Snow Maiden".
And each new understanding enriched the image of the Snow Maiden, making him beloved among the people. Today the Snow Maiden as a fabulous symbol can attract different categories tourists: children, youth and adult tourists, for whom it is a favorite image from childhood and provides an opportunity to take a break from their problems.
The description of the image of the Snow Maiden, compiled on the basis of its mythological, historical and literary roots, gives an idea of the significance of the topic for a wide range of people of different ages, different nationalities, and the direct involvement of Kostroma in this image.
Kostroma four times the birthplace of the Snow Maiden:
the first birth - the emergence of an image from the burial rite of Kostroma, which gave the name to the city,
the second birth of the Snow Maiden - in the spring tale of A. N. Ostrovsky - a writer and playwright who was born and created his creations in Kostroma land,
third birth - filming the film "The Snow Maiden" directed by Pavel Kadochnikov in Berendeevka (a forest park on the territory of Kostroma).
the fourth - the embodiment of the image in a living person, playing the role of the Snow Maiden, traveling with the Russian Santa Claus around Russia.
The image of the Snow Maiden is not recorded in the Russian folk rite. However, in Russian folklore, she appears as a character in a folk tale about a girl made of snow who came to life.
The tales of the Snow Maiden were studied by A. N. Afanasiev in the second volume of his work “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” (1867).
In 1873 A. N. Ostrovsky, influenced by the ideas of Afanasiev, wrote the play The Snow Maiden. In it, the Snow Maiden appears as the daughter of Father Frost and Spring-Red, who dies during the summer ritual of honoring the sun god Yarila. She has the appearance of a beautiful pale blonde girl. Dressed in white and blue clothes with fur trim (fur coat, fur hat, mittens). Initially, the play was not successful with the public.
In 1882, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov staged an opera of the same name based on the play, which was a huge success.
The image of the Snow Maiden was further developed in the works of teachers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who prepared scenarios for children's New Year trees. Even before the revolution, figures of the Snow Maiden were hung on a Christmas tree, girls dressed up in costumes of the Snow Maiden, fragments from fairy tales, Ostrovsky's play or opera were staged. At this time, the Snow Maiden did not act as a host.
Mine modern look the image of the Snow Maiden received in 1935 in Soviet Union, after the official resolution of the celebration of the New Year. In books on organizing Christmas trees of this period, the Snow Maiden appears on a par with Santa Claus, as his granddaughter, assistant and mediator in communication between him and the children. At the beginning of 1937, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden first appeared together at the Christmas tree festival at the Moscow House of Unions.
On the question of the origin of the Snow Maiden, there are 3 versions, and the 1st and 2nd points are connected.
1. the image of the daughter of Frost
2. image of Kostroma
3. symbol of frozen waters
More.
1. Dushechkina E.: The image of the Snow Maiden is known from a folk tale about a girl made of snow and coming to life. This snow girl in summer goes with her girlfriends to the forest for berries and either gets lost in the forest (and in this case, the animals save her, bringing her home on themselves), or melts, jumping over the fire (apparently, Kupala). The latter option is more indicative and, most likely, is the original one. It reflects the myth of nature spirits that die when the season changes (a creature born from snow in winter melts when summer comes, turning into a cloud). Here, a connection is found with the calendar (Kupala) rite of jumping over the fire, which is initiatory (at this moment the girl turns into a girl). The Snow Maiden, as a seasonal (winter) character, dies with the advent of summer ...
Sketch for the play by A. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden"
Vasnetsov V. Snegurochka 
It would be in vain to look for its analogues in Western New Year and Christmas mythology. Neither Malanka (participating in Galicia, Podolia and Bessarabia on December 31 in a ritual action), nor St. Catherine and St. Lucia, who on the day of their name-days act as donors among some European peoples, nor the Italian Befana, who throws gifts into the shoes of children on the night of the Epiphany, do not resemble the Russian Snow Maiden and none of them has a male “partner”. There are no female characters associated with the New Year and the Christmas tree in the West ...
2. worlds.ru: The tale of the Snow Maiden originated from the ancient Slavic funeral rite in Kostroma. Kostroma is buried in different ways. A straw effigy depicting the girl Kostroma is either drowned in the river or burned, like Shrovetide at the stake. The word Kostroma itself has the same root as the word fire. The burning of Kostroma is also a farewell to winter. The ceremony is designed to ensure the fertility of the land. In the same way, the Snow Maiden lived until spring and died at the stake. 
Recall the origin of the Snow Maiden. According to many versions of the tale, she is, in fact, a revived snowman. This means that the Snow Maiden was one of the symbols of winter / death, a force hostile to people and almost otherworldly, associated with the afterlife. After all, Kostroma also has two meanings. This, on the one hand, is an agrarian goddess, whose death is necessary for the future harvest. On the other hand, Kostroma is also a dead man, that is, a dead man who died an unnatural death and is dangerous for the living. According to the Slavs, a person who died not by his own death, unexpectedly or committed suicide, turns into a special kind evil spirits- mortgage. The mortgaged dead man lives out the term put to him on earth after death and at the same time tries in every possible way to harm people, especially his relatives and friends. Not only suicides become mortgages, but also unbaptized babies, children cursed by their parents, people who died from drunkenness.
The funeral rite of Kostroma and a similar children's game were recorded by folklorists in the Volga lands until the first half of the 20th century. In some versions of the rite, Kostroma was portrayed as suddenly dead. As a rule, she died, drunk on wine at a merry feast, that is, she was a pledged deceased. In one of the ritual songs, it is sung like this: “As Kostromin’s father began to gather guests, start a big feast, Kostroma went to dance. Kostromushka danced, Kostromushka played out. Merging in the image of Kostroma and the agrarian goddess, and the mortgaged dead man is not at all surprising. After all, a mortgaged dead man is one of the varieties of a deceased ancestor. And the veneration of dead ancestors and the opinion that they are the embodiment of a huge force, good or evil, are characteristic of all archaic myths. Of course, after the adoption of Christianity, which supplanted paganism in Russia, the dead began to be regarded exclusively as evil, devilish powers. Very little is known about the pantheon of Slavic gods. And therefore it is difficult to say what place Kostroma occupied in it. Judging by the games with elements of ancient ritual actions that have survived until recently, Kostroma could be the personification of evil forces hostile to man. Hence her role as a pawn dead. But it may be otherwise. Since Kostroma was burned or drowned in the name of future fertility and harvest, she could well belong to the number of dying and resurrecting good deities. Cults of such gods existed all over the world. Consider, for example, the Egyptian Osiris. Whatever 
was, Kostroma was clearly a powerful being. But its power was gradually forgotten. She herself eventually turned from a formidable goddess into a gentle Snow Maiden. And her solemn burning was an accidental jump over the fire. Now the ritual significance of the whole story is forgotten. From an ancient agrarian myth grew a sad romantic tale.
There is another interpretation of Kostroma, which also refers her to the mortgaged dead, but gives a different story to the image.
Kostroma is the daughter of Kupalnitsa and Simargl, the sister of Kupala. Once, when Kostroma and Kupala were still small, they ran into a pure meadow to listen to the bird of death Sirin, and misfortune happened there. The bird Sirin took Kupala to the Dark Kingdom. Many years passed, and now Kostroma (sister) walked along the river bank and wove a wreath. The wind tore off the wreath from the head and carried it into the water, where Kupala picked it up. Kupala and Kostroma fell in love and got married, not knowing about their relationship, and when they found out, they decided to drown themselves. Kostroma became a mermaid or mavka.
The image of Kostroma is associated with the celebration of "Green Christmas" - seeing off spring and meeting summer, rituals, sometimes taking the form of a funeral.
Kostroma could be portrayed by a young woman wrapped in white sheets, with an oak branch in her hands, walking accompanied by a round dance. At the ritual funeral of Kostroma, she is embodied by a straw effigy. The scarecrow is buried (burnt, torn apart) with ritual mourning and laughter, but Kostroma is resurrected. The ritual was intended to ensure fertility.
3. Version of Zharnikova S. Since the image of Santa Claus originates in the ancient mythological Varuna - the god of the night sky and waters, then the source of the image of the Snow Maiden, who constantly accompanies Santa Claus, must be sought next to Varuna. Apparently, this is a mythologized image of the winter state of the waters of the sacred river Aryan Dvina (Ardvi of the ancient Iranians). Thus, the Snow Maiden is the embodiment of frozen waters in general and the waters of the Northern Dvina in particular. She is dressed only in white clothes. No other color in the traditional symbolism is allowed. The ornament is made only with silver threads. The headdress is an eight-pointed crown, embroidered with silver and pearls.
FROM a tender girl who comes to us on New Year's Eve is a unique phenomenon. In no other New Year's mythology, except for Russian, there is a female character! However, we don't know much about her...
Pedigree
G they say it is made of snow... And it melts with love. So, at least, the writer Alexander Ostrovsky introduced the Snow Maiden in 1873, who can be safely considered the foster dad of the ice girl.
The true roots of the relationship of the Snow Maiden go to the pre-Christian mythology of the Slavs. In the northern regions of pagan Russia, there was a custom to make idols from snow and ice. And the image of a revived ice girl is often found in the legends of those times. A. N. Afanasiev studied the tales of the Snow Maiden in the second volume of "The Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature." The book fell into the hands of Ostrovsky, he was inspired and wrote the play "The Snow Maiden", where he shed light on the origin of the cold beauty.
The parents of the Snow Maiden turned out to be Frost and Spring-Krasna. The girl lived alone, in a dark cold forest, not showing her face to the sun, yearning and reaching out to people. And one day she came out of the thicket to them.
According to Ostrovsky's fairy tale, the icy Snow Maiden was distinguished by fearfulness and modesty, but there was not a trace of spiritual coldness in her. Being in frosty equanimity, longing gnawed at the beauty somewhere inside: the Snow Maiden wanted to experience real warm emotions. But if her heart falls in love and becomes hot, the Snow Maiden will die! She knew this, and yet she made up her mind: she begged from Mother Spring the ability to love passionately.
Sweet femininity, revealing real courage behind fragility and trembling - who will not be conquered by such a character? That is why the Snow Maiden took root among people.
How it looked was demonstrated by the artists Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Roerich. It was thanks to their paintings that we learned that the Snow Maiden wears a pale blue caftan and a cap with an edge, and sometimes a kokoshnik.
This was the first time children saw her at the festive tree of 1937 in the Moscow House of Unions.
Activity
FROM the maiden came to Santa Claus not immediately. Although even before the revolution, Christmas trees were decorated with figurines of a snow girl, girls dressed up in costumes of the Snow Maiden, and New Year's dramatizations were made from fragments of fairy tales, Ostrovsky's play or Rimsky-Korsakov's opera of the same name.
In Soviet Russia, officially celebrating the New Year was allowed only in 1935. Christmas trees began to be set up all over the country and Santa Claus was invited. But suddenly an assistant appeared next to him - a sweet, modest girl with a scythe over her shoulder, dressed in a blue fur coat. First a daughter, then - it is not known why - a granddaughter. The first joint appearance of Father Frost and the Snow Maiden took place in 1937 - since then it has been the custom. The Snow Maiden leads round dances with children, conveys their requests to Grandfather Frost, helps distribute gifts, sings songs and dances with birds and animals.
And the New Year is not the New Year without the glorious assistant of the main wizard of the country.
Location
R The residence of our Santa Claus, as everyone knows, is located in the Vologda region, in Veliky Ustyug. The Snow Maiden does not live with him. Where is it?
Two places claim the title of "family nest" of the daughter of Frost and Spring. In the Shchelykovo estate of the Kostroma region, Ostrovsky came up with his play based on an old fairy tale - this, it seems, is the birthplace of the Snow Maiden. But on the other hand, in the village of Abramtsevo near Moscow, Viktor Vasnetsov gave birth to the image of an icy beauty. Here the artist created the scenery for the first theatrical production based on Ostrovsky's play and, again in Abramtsevo, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera was performed for the first time on the stage of Savva Mamontov's home theater.
Dilemma. But the Snow Maiden is mysteriously silent and does not reveal the address of her residence. Probably afraid of annoying reporters.
In 2006, another residence of Father Frost was opened in Moscow's Kuzminki Park. A two-story house was also built here for his granddaughter. The wooden tower is made in the "onion" style according to the project of Kostroma craftsmen. They say that the Snow Maiden really likes it.
History of the Snow Maiden
The image of the Snow Maiden is not recorded in the Russian folk ritual. However, in Russian folklore, she appears as a character in a folk tale about a girl made of snow who came to life.
The tales of the Snow Maiden were studied by A. N. Afanasiev in the second volume of his work “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” (1867).
In 1873 A. N. Ostrovsky, influenced by the ideas of Afanasiev, wrote the play The Snow Maiden. In it, the Snow Maiden appears as the daughter of Father Frost and Spring-Red, who dies during the summer ritual of honoring the sun god Yarila. She has the appearance of a beautiful pale blonde girl. Dressed in white and blue clothes with fur trim (fur coat, fur hat, mittens). Initially, the play was not successful with the public.
In 1882, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov staged an opera of the same name based on the play, which was a huge success.
The image of the Snow Maiden was further developed in the works of teachers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who prepared scenarios for children's New Year trees. Even before the revolution, figures of the Snow Maiden were hung on a Christmas tree, girls dressed up in costumes of the Snow Maiden, fragments from fairy tales, Ostrovsky's play or opera were staged. At this time, the Snow Maiden did not act as a host.
The image of the Snow Maiden received its modern look in 1935 in the Soviet Union, after the official permission to celebrate the New Year. In books on organizing Christmas trees of this period, the Snow Maiden appears on a par with Santa Claus, as his granddaughter, assistant and mediator in communication between him and the children. At the beginning of 1937, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden first appeared together at the Christmas tree festival at the Moscow House of Unions.
Snow Maiden in folk art
The pedigree of the Snow Maiden is indistinct and obscure. It is impossible to say exactly when the Snow Maiden established herself in the status of Grandfather Frost's "granddaughter".
In Russian folklore, in particular in fairy tales, we meet with the girl Snegurushka, however, she is not connected with any blood ties with a bearded winter deity.
In some Great Russian regions, the “snow maiden” was called a snow woman.
Undoubtedly, the image of the Snow Maiden is a mutation and transformation of many pre-Christian beliefs, myths and customs. First of all, this applies to such holidays as Shrovetide, Krasnaya Gorka, when the villagers called out and called for spring, Yarilino Gulbishche, the funeral of Kostroma. All these holidays are united by the tradition of burning (earth, water) some kind of impromptu straw effigy-idol. Perhaps the Snow Maiden is somehow connected with the February Kumakh: Kostroma villagers believed that a girl lives in a dense forest Kumakh, who at the end of winter sends her sisters "to shiver people, torment a sinful body, crush white bones."
Russian Orthodoxy absorbed many pagan ideas. So, Orthodox holiday Trinity, celebrated as the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, in Russia merged with the ancient Slavic holiday Semik, associated with the veneration of the spirits of vegetation. That is why on Trinity it was customary to decorate houses with greenery, dance around birch trees, weave wreaths, and bake loaves.
Snow Maiden in literature
The most famous literary work about the Snow Maiden is the play of the same name by A.N. Ostrovsky, written in 1873.
In the drama "The Snow Maiden" (the writer defined its genre as a "spring tale") A.N. Ostrovsky makes an attempt to touch the deep sources of Russian and Slavic culture, to learn the secrets of folk mythology. The very first author's note to the text reads: "The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in prehistoric times." "Snow Maiden" A.N. Ostrovsky is both a mystery, and a national legend, and a parable, and a beautiful utopia about a happy fairy-tale kingdom. The story of the daughter of Santa Claus and Spring-Krasna, who lives among simple and good-natured Berendeys, immerses us in the harmonious world of ancient pagan beliefs, spiritualized nature. The finale of the "spring tale" is tragic: the meek Snow Maiden pays with her life for the joy and "sweet gift" of love. The merchant Mizgir, who is in love with the Snow Maiden, also dies. Everything that falls out of the usual, natural way of life is doomed to perish. It is significant that the death of the heroes does not sadden the Berendeys. Thus, conceived as an extravaganza, as a cheerful fairy-tale performance, the play grows to the limits of a deep philosophical and symbolic drama.
Spring fairy tale by A.N. Ostrovsky was highly appreciated by A.I. Goncharov and I.S. Turgenev, however, many responses from contemporaries were sharply negative. The playwright was reproached for his departure from social problems and "progressive ideals". So, the caustic critic V.P. Burenin complained about A.N. Ostrovsky to false, "ghostly-meaningless" images of Snow Maidens, Lelei, Mizgiri. In the great Russian playwright, critics wanted to see, first of all, an accuser of the “dark kingdom”.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the theatrical production of The Snow Maiden by the Moscow Maly Theater (Maly 11, 1873) actually failed. Despite the fact that all three troupes were involved in the performance: drama, opera and ballet, and the music for it was written by P.I. Tchaikovsky, despite the use of technical curiosities: moving clouds, electric lighting, beating fountains that hide the disappearance of the “melting” Snow Maiden in the hatch, the play was mostly scolded. The public, like the critics, was not ready for the poetic pirouette of the author of The Storm and The Deep. Only at the beginning of the 20th century did A.N. Ostrovsky was appreciated. A.P. Lensky, who staged The Snow Maiden in September 1900 in Moscow, remarked: “Ostrovsky would have had plenty of imagination in order to fill his fairy tale to the brim with native devilry. But he, apparently, deliberately saved fantastic elements, saved them in order not to overshadow another, more complex element - the poetic one - with the enchantment.
Snow Maiden in musical art
In 1873, music for the “spring tale” by A.N. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden" was written by P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). The composer's work was easy and unconstrained. In three weeks, he wrote 19 numbers that made up the score of the musical performance.
Responses to the musical accompaniment of the play were mixed. A certain P. Akilov in his "Theatrical Notes" noticed that the music for "The Snow Maiden" is monotonous "to the point of falling asleep." Banality and clumsiness, lack of grace and taste were discovered in the music by P.I. Tchaikovsky Caesar Cui. Perhaps this impression was facilitated by the disgusting performance of musical numbers by the orchestra conducted by I.O. Shramek.
Today, the above estimates have relegated to the category of historical incidents. Solar music for the spring fairy tale by A.N. Ostrovsky cannot but evoke positive emotions. It is no coincidence that P.I. Tchaikovsky defined his idea as follows: “In this music there should be noticeably joyful, spring mood".
In 1900, A.T. Grechaninov (1864-1956). The premiere took place on September 24, 1900 at the Moscow Art Theater. The roles were played by: Tsar Berendey - V.I. Kachalov, Snegurochka - M.P. Lilina, Lel - M.F. Andreeva.
In 1880, from the pen of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), the opera The Snow Maiden was released - one of the pinnacles of Russian musical classics.
The composer was completely captured by the themes and images of A.N. Ostrovsky. Having rented a dacha for the summer in the Stelevo estate in the St. Petersburg province, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov indulged in the quiet joys of village life: he went picking mushrooms and berries, swam in the river, helped his wife make jam. “I liked everything here, admired everything,” the composer recalled. - Everything somehow especially harmonized with my then pantheistic mood and with falling in love with the plot of The Snow Maiden. Some thick and gnarled branch or stump, overgrown with moss, seemed to me a goblin or his dwelling; forest “Volchinets” - a reserved forest; naked Kopytetskaya hill - Yarilina mountain ... . Not a single composition has so far been given to me with such ease and speed as “The Snow Maiden”.
Music N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov is permeated with the fragrance of spring, warmth and light, warmed by song folk motifs.
The first performance of the opera took place on January 29, 1882 at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre. Conducted by E.F. Guide. The roles were performed by: The Snow Maiden Girl - F.N. Velinskaya, Spring-Krasna - M.D. Kamenskaya, Kupava - M.A. Makarova, Lel - A.A. Bichurin, Tsar Berendey - M.D. Vasiliev, Mizgir - I.P. Pryanishnikov, Santa Claus - F.I. Stravinsky.
October 8, 1885 The Snow Maiden was staged in Moscow on the stage of the Private Russian Opera S.I. Mamontov. Party of the Snow Maiden on the recommendation of P.I. Tchaikovsky was sung by N.V. Salina. This production is notable for the magnificent decoration carried out by V.M. Vasnetsov, I.I. Levintan and K.A. Korovin.
Opera N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov was successfully staged in the best Russian theaters. IN different time M.A. shone in the role of the Snow Maiden. Eikhenwald, N.I. Zabela, E.Ya. Tsvetkova, A.V. Nezhdanova, E.K. Katulskaya, N.A. Obukhov.
Snow Maiden in the cinema
In the late 1960s, the famous Soviet actor Pavel Kadochnikov realized his director's plan - he directed the film "The Snow Maiden" based on the play of the same name by A.N. Ostrovsky. The picture was released in 1970.
Roles played: Evgenia Filonova (Snegurochka), Pavel Kadochnikov (Tsar Berendey), Evgeny Zharikov (Lel), Irina Gubanova (Kupava), Boris Khimichev (Mizgir), Sergey Filippov (Bermyata), Natalia Klimova (Spring-Krasna), Lyubov Malinovskaya (bobylikha) , Valery Malyshev (Brusilo), Gennady Nilov (Smoking room).
Filming took place near Kostroma. On the outskirts of the city, Berendeyev Posad was built: chopped lubok houses of the Berendeys, the peaked palace of Tsar Berendey.
After the filming was completed, it was decided not to dismantle Berendeev Posad. Today, Berendeevka Park is one of the favorite places for recreation of Kostroma residents.
1. The origin of the image of the Snow Maiden. pagan roots.
The Snow Maiden is our purely Russian heritage, the offspring of the great and generous truly Russian spirit. The image of the Snow Maiden is unique for Russian culture. In the New Year and Christmas mythology of other peoples of the world there are no female characters. Snow Maiden - this is how the Russian Snow Maiden is called abroad. In Japanese folklore, there is a snow woman - Yuki-Onna, but this is a different type - a demonic character personifying a snow storm.
The life of the Snow Maiden is shrouded in secrets and legends. It is not even very clear where this young companion of Santa Claus came from. In Russian folk tales, the Snow Maiden has nothing to do with him. According to one source, Big Spruce gave birth to her. The girl suddenly appeared from under a fluffy spruce branch, according to others, she is the daughter of Spring Red and Frost, and perhaps childless old people Ivan and Marya fashioned her from the snow. They fashioned themselves for joy, but they could not save ...
The Snow Maiden fell in love with many and soon became a constant companion of Santa Claus. Only now their family ties have undergone some changes over time - from a daughter she turned into a granddaughter, but she did not lose her charm.
The description of the image of the Snow Maiden, compiled on the basis of its mythological, historical and literary roots, gives an idea of the significance of the topic for a wide range of people of all ages.
On the question of the origin of the Snow Maiden, there are 3 versions.
1. The image of the daughter of Frost. The image of the Snow Maiden is known from a folk tale about a girl made of snow and revived. This snow girl in summer goes with her girlfriends to the forest for berries and either gets lost in the forest (and in this case, the animals save her, bringing her home on themselves), or melts, jumping over the fire (apparently, Kupala). The latter option is more indicative and, most likely, is the original one. It reflects the myth of nature spirits that die when the season changes (a creature born from snow in winter melts when summer comes, turning into a cloud). Here, a connection is found with the calendar (Kupala) rite of jumping over the fire, which is initiatory (at this moment the girl turns into a girl). The Snow Maiden, as a seasonal (winter) character, dies with the advent of summer ...
It would be in vain to look for its analogues in Western New Year and Christmas mythology. Neither Malanka (participating in Galicia, Podolia and Bessarabia on December 31 in a ritual action), nor St. Catherine and St. Lucia, who on the day of their name-days act as donors among some European peoples, nor the Italian Befana, who throws gifts into the shoes of children on the night of the Epiphany, do not resemble the Russian Snow Maiden and none of them has a male “partner”. There are no female characters associated with the New Year and the Christmas tree in the West ...
2. Image of Kostroma. The tale of the Snow Maiden originated from the ancient Slavic ritual of the funeral of Kostroma. Kostroma is buried in different ways. A straw effigy depicting the girl Kostroma is either drowned in the river or burned, like Shrovetide at the stake. The word Kostroma itself has the same root as the word fire. The burning of Kostroma is also a farewell to winter. The ceremony is designed to ensure the fertility of the land. In the same way, the Snow Maiden lived until spring and died at the stake.
Recall the origin of the Snow Maiden. According to many versions of the tale, she is, in fact, a revived snowman. This means that the Snow Maiden was one of the symbols of winter / death, a force hostile to people and almost otherworldly, associated with the afterlife. After all, Kostroma also has two meanings. This, on the one hand, is an agrarian goddess, whose death is necessary for the future harvest. On the other hand, Kostroma is also a dead man, that is, a dead man who died an unnatural death and is dangerous for the living. According to the Slavs, a person who died not by his own death, unexpectedly or committed suicide, turns into a special kind of evil spirit - mortgaged. The mortgaged dead man lives out the term put to him on earth after death and at the same time tries in every possible way to harm people, especially his relatives and friends. Not only suicides become mortgages, but also unbaptized babies, children cursed by their parents, people who died from drunkenness.
The funeral rite of Kostroma and a similar children's game were recorded by folklorists in the Volga lands until the first half of the 20th century. In some versions of the rite, Kostroma was portrayed as suddenly dead. As a rule, she died, drunk on wine at a merry feast, that is, she was a pledged deceased. In one of the ritual songs, it is sung like this: “As Kostromin’s father began to gather guests, start a big feast, Kostroma went to dance. Kostromushka danced, Kostromushka played out. Merging in the image of Kostroma and the agrarian goddess, and the mortgaged dead man is not at all surprising. After all, a mortgaged dead man is one of the varieties of a deceased ancestor. And the veneration of dead ancestors and the opinion that they are the embodiment of a huge force, good or evil, are characteristic of all archaic myths. Of course, after the adoption of Christianity, which supplanted paganism in Russia, the dead began to be regarded solely as evil, diabolical forces. Very little is known about the pantheon of Slavic gods. And therefore it is difficult to say what place Kostroma occupied in it. Judging by the games with elements of ancient ritual actions that have survived until recently, Kostroma could be the personification of evil forces hostile to man. Hence her role as a pawn dead. But it may be otherwise. Since Kostroma was burned or drowned in the name of future fertility and harvest, she could well belong to the number of dying and resurrecting good deities. Cults of such gods existed all over the world. Consider, for example, the Egyptian Osiris. Be that as it may, Kostroma was clearly a powerful being. But its power was gradually forgotten. She herself eventually turned from a formidable goddess into a gentle Snow Maiden. And her solemn burning was an accidental jump over the fire. Now the ritual significance of the whole story is forgotten. From an ancient agrarian myth grew a sad romantic tale.
There is another interpretation of Kostroma, which also refers her to the mortgaged dead, but gives a different story to the image.
Kostroma is the daughter of Kupalnitsa and Simargl, the sister of Kupala. Once, when Kostroma and Kupala were still small, they ran into a pure meadow to listen to the bird of death Sirin, and misfortune happened there. The bird Sirin took Kupala to the Dark Kingdom. Many years passed, and now Kostroma (sister) walked along the river bank and wove a wreath. The wind tore off the wreath from the head and carried it into the water, where Kupala picked it up. Kupala and Kostroma fell in love and got married, not knowing about their relationship, and when they found out, they decided to drown themselves. Kostroma became a mermaid or mavka.
The image of Kostroma is associated with the celebration of "Green Christmas" - seeing off spring and meeting summer, rituals, sometimes taking the form of a funeral.
Kostroma could be portrayed by a young woman wrapped in white sheets, with an oak branch in her hands, walking accompanied by a round dance. At the ritual funeral of Kostroma, she is embodied by a straw effigy. The scarecrow is buried (burnt, torn apart) with ritual mourning and laughter, but Kostroma is resurrected. The ritual was intended to ensure fertility.
3. Glyph of frozen waters. Version of Zharnikova S.: Since the image of Santa Claus originates in the ancient mythological Varuna - the god of the night sky and waters, then the source of the image of the Snow Maiden, who constantly accompanies Santa Claus, must be sought next to Varuna. Apparently, this is a mythologized image of the winter state of the waters of the sacred river Aryan Dvina (Ardvi of the ancient Iranians). Thus, the Snow Maiden is the embodiment of frozen waters in general and the waters of the Northern Dvina in particular. She is dressed only in white clothes. No other color in the traditional symbolism is allowed. The ornament is made only with silver threads. The headdress is an eight-pointed crown, embroidered with silver and pearls.
2. The image of the Snow Maiden in Russian fine art
The image of the Snow Maiden attracted many artists, and everyone found their own unique features in this image. Many of Ostrovsky's contemporaries did not accept the play, reproaching him for "departure from social problems." But there were also opposite opinions. The tale was extremely liked by I.S. Turgenev and A.I. Goncharov. The Russian businessman and philanthropist Savva Mamontov turned out to be not indifferent to her, who staged a performance based on the play on the home stage in Abramtsevo, and then, in 1885, an opera in his Private Russian Opera. Sketches of costumes and scenery for the performance, and then for the opera, were made by V.M. Vasnetsov in collaboration with I.I. Levintan and K.A. Korovin.
In his memoirs, Korovin writes how, after meeting with Ostrovsky, V. M. Vasnetsov said: “He said the truth, the truth, no one will understand. It's hard, sad, that's it, people live differently. This art is not needed. And this poem "The Snow Maiden" is the best there is. Russian prayer and wisdom, the wisdom of the prophet…”.
In the process of creating the scenery of the fabulous royal chambers, Vasnetsov used the architectural details of ancient Russian architecture, the motifs of Russian folk embroideries, carvings and wood painting. The scenery, created in the process of general preparation of the performance, determined many of the mise-en-scenes and provided an artistic solution for entire scenes. As well as sketches of costumes, they outlined the future images of the performance. The basis for all the costumes was white homespun canvas, in combination with which various color schemes of the ornaments created expressive characteristics of the characters and a bright decorative effect. For the first time, it was Vasnetsov who portrayed the Snow Maiden in a sundress and with a hoop on her head. The artist with pleasure delved into the details of the smallest pattern on a girl's sundress and independently, without any technical assistants, painted huge panels of scenery, depicting pictures of a reserved forest or a royal palace. Many years later, admiring art critics will say that it was precisely in the design of The Snow Maiden that Vasnetsov turned out to be the first Russian artist who, on the stage, became an equal co-author of the play, in fact, the first real theater artist.
Vasnetsov, following the author, created an amazing gallery of the ancient Russian people, in all its wonderful and beautiful appearance. Half a century later, the artist Grabar will say: “The drawings for The Snow Maiden, which are in the Tretyakov Gallery, in terms of the penetration and flair of the Russian spirit, have not been surpassed so far, despite the fact that half a century separates them from our days.” Almost twenty years later, Vasnetsov painted a portrait of the Snow Maiden, capturing her at the edge of the forest. The coat of the Snow Maiden in the picture is one-piece, slightly flared, going back to the fashionable late XIX century silhouette of the “princess”. The brocade on the fur coat is embroidered in an amazing way. It would seem that snowflakes are appropriate here, and Vasnetsov painted strawberries. Alexander Benois said that it was in this picture that the artist managed to discover the “law of ancient Russian beauty”. Another contemporary turned out to be even more categorical: “There is no other artist for the Snow Maiden, except for Vasnetsov.” This statement can be disputed.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the production of The Snow Maiden, both an opera and a dramatic performance, was a significant event. As if competing with each other, many serious artists were looking for their own image of an image already loved by everyone. Composer N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote many operas based on fairy tales, but he considered The Snow Maiden to be the most successful. And he recognized Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela - Vrubel as the best performer of this opera part. Rimsky - Korsakov wrote to her husband, the artist Mikhail Vrubel: "I have never heard such a sung Snow Maiden as Nadezhda Ivanovna before." The Vrubels were infinitely devoted to each other, and since the day of their wedding, Nadezhda Zabela has never turned to another theater artist to create her stage images. And Vrubel wrote it tirelessly, turning either into a modest model for a realistic portrait, or into the Swan Princess. His sketches of costumes for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera are also portraits of his wife. The charm of the opera and the fairy tale itself was so great that Vrubel did not stop at the design of the performance. He created a whole series of majolica sculptures. There are both Mizgir and Lel. And Tsar Berendey, according to many experts, is just a stylized portrait of Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom Vrubel was friends and whom he respected immensely.
The artist Nicholas Roerich fell in love with The Snow Maiden in his youth. Roerich and Rimsky-Korsakov had much in common in their world outlook: they both found true values in nature, Russian antiquity, history, and folklore. The Snow Maiden, like all the work of Rimsky-Korsakov, is close to me, "Roerich admitted. Four times (in 1908, 1912, 1919 and 1921) Nicholas Roerich turned to the design of the Snow Maiden for the opera and drama stage. The performances were realized in Petersburg, London and Chicago. proposal to stage the opera "The Snow Maiden" for the Chicago theater Opera Compani. The artist created dozens of sketches and drawings for this production. The previous stage versions of 1908 and 1912 took the audience to the fabulous world of pagan Russia. The works of 1921 were completely new, in some way an unexpected approach to the dramatic material and a different characterization of the characters.
In the new interpretation of The Snow Maiden, "all elements of influence on Russia" are mixed up: Byzantium (Tsar Berendey and his court life), East (trading guest Mizgir and Spring, arriving from warm countries), North (Frost, Snow Maiden, goblin). The artist found much in common with the legendary shepherd Lel and the Hindu Krishna. "Outside of excessive historicity, outside of contrivedness, The Snow Maiden reveals so much real meaning of Russia that all its elements are already within the limits of a universal legend and understandable to every heart," Roerich explained his interpretation. That is why the appearance of the characters in the opera is so diverse. The sketch "Berendey and the Snow Maiden" is stylized by the author as an old Russian icon. In the works "Lel and the Snow Maiden" and "Kupava" a well-defined Asian ethnic type is created.
The design of the opera was such a success with the American public that the lines and ornaments of the costumes based on Roerich's drawings were introduced into the everyday fashion of the current season. Roerich recalled how in "Chicago, during the production of The Snow Maiden, the workshops of Marshal Field made an interesting experiment by building modern costumes on the ornaments of prehistoric Slavic robes." “It was instructive to see,” the artist noted, “how many modern forms naturally merged with ancient ornaments.”
Currently, theatrical scenery of the artist K.A. Korovin, for the most part, have already been lost. Most of the surviving works by Korovin are located in St. Petersburg at the academic Maly Opera and Ballet Theater. Four operas currently running at the theater are associated with the name of Korovin. These are “Snegurochka” and “May Night” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, "La Boheme" and "Cio-Cio-San" by G. Puccini.
In 1910, the leadership of the imperial theaters had a question about the resumption of The Snow Maiden, which had not been in the repertoire for several years. At first, the design of the opera was entrusted to D.S. Stelletsky - an artist passionately in love with Ancient Russia. However, his sketches, kept in the tradition of icon painting, did not at all fit Ostrovsky-Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden. After long wrangling with Stelletsky, who defended his plan, the order was transferred to Konstantin Korovin. At the same time, it was decided to resume the opera not in St. Petersburg, but in the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. Unfortunately, in the spring of 1914, almost all the scenery burned down during a fire. In April 1915, Korovin, together with his assistants G.I. Golovym and N.A. Klodt began to resume the design of the Snow Maiden. But only the costumes were left unchanged, while the sketches of the scenery, apparently, were thoroughly revised by the artists. From these originals in 1916, scenery and costumes for the Mariinsky Theater were made, and then transferred to the Maly Opera House.
The years that have passed since the production of the opera, of course, have left a mark on its design. However, mainly only the decorative canvas itself has aged, and especially the fragile nets combined with it. The painting, the colors, as in Korovin's easel works, still amaze with amazing freshness. Despite the long-term operation of the scenery, they do not have any craquelure or scree. The theater restorers repeatedly changed the decorative nets, the torn places on the panels were glued on the back side, while the whole painting remained untouched. Of course, Korovin's perfect knowledge of painting technology also played a huge role in the preservation of Korovin's theatrical painting.
Other artists were involved in the design of the performance. For example, a talented writer of everyday life, a master of psychological portrait, author of book illustrations and theater decorator B.M. Kustodiev. In 1911, Kustodiev first began working in the theater. The work on the creation of scenery captured the artist. With particular brightness, the talent of Kustodiev, the decorator, manifested itself in the design of the plays by A.N. Ostrovsky: "Our people - we will settle", "Wolves and sheep", "Thunderstorm" and others. He demonstrated a deep insight into the essence of the author's intention. Scenery Kustodiev wrote easily and quickly.
We can say that all the works of Kustodiev are poetic paintings on themes folk life in which the artist managed to convey the inexhaustible strength and beauty of the Russian soul. “I don’t know,” wrote Kustodiev, “whether I managed to do and express in my things what I wanted, love for life, joy and cheerfulness, love for my Russian language - this was always the only “plot” of my paintings ... In full, these words of the artist can be attributed to his work on the scenery and costumes for the play based on Ostrovsky's play "The Snow Maiden". Many other artists also captured the image of the Snow Maiden in their work: V. Perov, V. Nesterov, I. Glazunov, A. Shabalin.
3. Russian folk tale"Snow Maiden" in the work of illustrators
Even in the years of study at the Higher Art School at the Imperial Academy of Arts, the original style of the Russian artist, book illustrator and theater designer I.Ya. Bilibin. He developed a whole system of graphic techniques that allow you to combine illustrations and book design in one style. All the artist's work was devoted to the Russian fairy-tale theme. To do this, he had to seriously prepare.
Bilibin traveled a lot around Russia, especially in the North, studying Russian folk and decorative art with interest. On the instructions of the ethnographic department of the Russian Museum at the very beginning of the twentieth century, the artist visited the Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Olonets and Tver provinces. And in 1904, Kizhi, which he called "the threshold of the distant kingdom." On trips to remote provinces, Bilibin studied Russian architecture, folk ornaments, peasant embroidery, lace, patterns, old wooden carvings, popular prints. He collected works of folk art and photographed monuments of wooden architecture. The collected materials became the basis for several articles, and the photographs brought were included in I. Grabar's book "History of Russian Art".
Patriarchal peasant life, utensils, supposedly preserved from the time of ancient Russia, gave Bilibin the richest material for reflection and for further use in artistic practice. A new artistic style - the style of Russian antiquity not only enriched art vivid images, but also contributed to the development of theatrical scenery and book graphics.
Bilibin's illustrations decorate such Russian fairy tales as "Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka", "The Frog Princess", "Vasilisa the Beautiful", "Marya Morevna", "Feather Finista - Yasna Sokol", "White Duck". And also fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin - "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel", "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" and many others. In 1904, the Prague National Theater ordered Bilibin, sketches of scenery for N. Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden. Bilibin turned out to be perhaps the first Russian artist who took up the design of scenery for a foreign stage. The fairy-tale themes of Rimsky-Korsakov's operas were very close to the artist. In the theatrical sketches for the opera The Snow Maiden, Bilibin's bright talent and his original style manifested themselves to the fullest.
The artist Boris Vasilyevich Zworykin is one of the brightest representatives of the Russian tradition of illustrating books. However, until recently, his name was known only to specialist scribes and collectors, mostly Western ones. Books published during the artist's lifetime have long been dismantled abroad into separate striped illustrations and sold as prints. It so happened that Zvorykin had to live his creative life in the shadow of a more famous contemporary - Ivan Bilibin, unfairly receiving the label of a Bilibino imitator. There was no imitation. It's just that both masters, inspired by common ideals, went in parallel. The “Russian theme” fascinated Zworykin in his youth. The core on which the creative destiny of the artist was then built was: love for Russian antiquity, Russian history, legends and folklore, arts and crafts, icon painting and wooden architecture, ancient calligraphy, ornamentation and book miniatures.
After the 1917 revolution, Zworykin emigrated to France. In exile, fate favored the artist. He did not have to deviate from his favorite subjects and aesthetic ideals. Thanks to the triumph of Diaghilev's seasons, the "Russian theme" was well known and popular with the Parisian public. In Parisian publishing houses, one after another, books designed by Zworykin came out: Moscow and the Village in Engravings and Lithographs by G.K. Lukomsky, M.A. Bakunin’s Confession, The Golden Cockerel and Other Tales by A.S. "Boris Godunov"... Standing apart in this list is the book "Firebird. Russian Tales". It was created by Boris Zworykin independently from beginning to end. He translated into French four Russian fairy tales. And the fairy tale "The Snow Maiden", based on the text of a Russian folk tale and a fairy tale in Ostrovsky's verse, rewrote in his own words. I wrote it down in calligraphic handwriting, drew illustrations and designed it in leather binding with patterned embossing. He presented this unique book in all respects to the director of the Piazza publishing house, Louis Fricotel, his new employer. So in Paris - the realm of the gray sky and mansard roofs - the Russian "Firebird" was born, embodying everything that the artist loved so much in his former life and what he yearned for far from his homeland. However, the artist did not have a chance to see the "Firebird" published. The book was published thirty-six years after his death. And not in Paris, but in New York. The publication was carried out by the widow of the American President, Jacqueline Onassis-Kennedy, an admirer of the work of Boris Zworykin. It happened in 1978 - in the midst of cold war between the USA and the USSR.
4. Modern image of the Snow Maiden
The image of the Snow Maiden received its modern look in 1935 in the Soviet Union, after the official permission to celebrate the New Year. In books on organizing Christmas trees of this period, the Snow Maiden appears on a par with Santa Claus, as his granddaughter, assistant and mediator in communication between him and the children.
At the beginning of 1937, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden first appeared together at the Christmas tree festival at the Moscow House of Unions. It is curious that in early Soviet images the Snow Maiden is more often depicted as a little girl; later, they began to represent her in the form of a girl. Why is still unknown.
During the war period, the Snow Maiden was again forgotten. As an obligatory constant companion of Santa Claus, she was revived only in the early 1950s thanks to the efforts of children's classics Lev Kassil and Sergei Mikhalkov, who wrote scripts for the Kremlin Christmas trees.
For the film "The Snow Maiden" (1968), a whole "village of the Berendeys" was built near the Mera River. The choice of location was not accidental: in these parts, in Shchelykovo, Ostrovsky wrote his play. After the filming was completed, the wooden scenery was moved near Kostroma, where the Berendeevka park arose. In addition, in Kostroma there is now the "Terem of the Snow Maiden", in which she receives guests all year round.
In 2009, for the first time, the birthday of the Snow Maiden was officially celebrated, which they decided to consider the night from April 4 to April 5. This does not correspond to the plot of the fairy tale in which the Snow Maiden is born in winter. However, according to the explanations of the organizers, “Snegurochka’s father is Father Frost, and her mother is Spring, and therefore her birthday is in the spring.” In 2010, Santa Claus himself arrived at his granddaughter's birthday from his residence in Veliky Ustyug, officially confirming the status of Kostroma as the main residence of his companion and assistant.
Under New Year a kind wizard comes to children from all over the world - Santa Claus, Joulupukki, Bobo Natale, Sinterklass, Pierre Noel and others. Each nationality has its own heroes. Well, Russian children are waiting for gifts from Santa Claus in the New Year.
Many of the New Year's characters have helpers, like our Santa Claus. And if all Russian children are waiting for Grandfather in the New Year with great impatience, then the Snow Maiden is deprived of attention. Often Santa Claus "forgets" his assistant at home and comes to visit alone.
However, this character is very interesting in its own way, so we will talk about the Snow Maiden.
Folk image of the Snow Maiden
The origin of the Snow Maiden is not entirely clear. It is assumed that its prototype was ice idols, which were built by the ancient pagan Slavs who lived in the northern regions of Russia. The legends of those times often told about ice girls who came to life. Obviously, over the course of many centuries this image was transformed and by the 18th-19th centuries took shape in the Snegurka (Snezhevinochka) - the granddaughter of a lonely old man and old woman, who made a girl out of snow as a consolation, who then came to life. Later, the Snow Maiden begins to be associated with the Christmas and New Year holidays and is proclaimed the granddaughter of Father Frost.
According to another theory, the tale of the Snow Maiden originated from the ancient ritual of the funeral of Kostroma, and in fact the Snow Maiden personifies Kostroma.
It is significant that in Russian folk tales the Snow Maiden is presented as a living person. And A.N. made her a Slavic goddess. Ostrovsky.
new year tradition
The Snow Maiden appeared on Russian Christmas trees along with Santa Claus, but only in the form of Christmas tree decorations. And together with him, it was forgotten after 1929, when the Christmas and New Year holidays were canceled.
In 1935, the celebration of the new year resumed. They also remembered the Snow Maiden. Here she appeared before the audience as a full-fledged character of the holiday - Santa Claus's assistant. But at first she was considered his daughter. Only a couple of years later, the Snow Maiden began to be considered his granddaughter. At the same time, the process of "growing up" of the Snow Maiden was going on. Initially, girls played her role, but for practical reasons, girls and young women gradually began to play the image of the Snow Maiden.
The war also affected the Snow Maiden - they forgot about her again. Only in the early 1950s did Father Frost's granddaughter become his constant companion and the heroine of New Year's performances. An important role in this was played by children's writers Lev Kassil and Sergei Mikhalkov, who wrote scripts for the Kremlin Christmas trees.
The image of the Snow Maiden in literature and art
But for the first time in Russian literature, the Snow Maiden appeared with V. Dahl in the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden Girl”. In fact, the writer retold a folk legend.
In 1873, the play The Snow Maiden appeared, in which Ostrovsky re-arranged the story of the ice girl in his own way. He has a Snow Maiden - a girl of extraordinary beauty. Nine years later, in 1882, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov staged an opera based on the play, which was a huge success.
Since then, the image of the Snow Maiden has become one of the most beloved and sought after on New Year's holidays.
The Snow Maiden also attracted the attention of Russian artists. Under the influence of the work of Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Roerich, the idea of her appearance- about beauty and clothes.
Films with the Snow Maiden:
- « Snow Maiden "(1952) - a cartoon based on the play by A.N. Ostrovsky to the music of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, edited by L.A. Schwartz
- « The Tale of the Snow Maiden "(1957) - cartoon
- « Snow Maiden (1968)
- « Snow Maiden "(1969) - cartoon
- « Spring Tale "(1971)
- « New Year's Adventures of Masha and Vitya (1975)
- « Partisan Snow Maiden "(1981) - cartoon
- « Did you call the Snow Maiden? (1985)
- « Snow Maiden "(2006) - cartoon
- « The Irony of Fate. Continued "(2007)
- "My mother is the Snow Maiden" (2007)
- "Urgently required Santa Claus" (2007)
- "Snow Maiden. Easter tale» (2010)
Where does the Snow Maiden live
The image of the Snow Maiden in literature and music
Boldyreva Daria Sergeevna
Municipal budgetary educational institution
"Secondary school No. 6"
Ashurkin Tatyana Ivanovna,
teacher of Russian language and literature, MBOU secondary school No. 6, Gubkinsky
Klimenko Tatiana Viktorovna,
teacher of music and art, MBOU secondary school No. 6, Gubkinsky
The old man put on a hat, they went out into the garden and began to sculpt a daughter from the snow. They rolled up a snowball, adjusted the handles, legs, put a snow head on top. The old man fashioned his nose, mouth, chin. Look - and the Snow Maiden's lips turned pink, her eyes opened; she looks at the old people and smiles. Then she nodded her head, moved her arms and legs, shook off the snow - and a living girl came out of the snowdrift.
What meaning did A.N. Ostrovsky introduce into the development of the image of the Snow Maiden, making her the daughter of Frost and Red Spring?
Frost and Spring are contrasting images.
freezing
Spring
The Appearance of Frost
Frost begins to fall on the dancing birds from the forest, then snow flakes, the wind rises, clouds run in, cover the moon, darkness completely covers the distance. Birds huddle close to Spring with a cry.
The Appearance of Spring-Red
The whole sky is covered with birds that have flown in from the sea.Spring-Redon cranes, swans and geese descends to the ground, surrounded by a retinue of birds.
Evil
Good
"Heart chill"
"Heart Warmth"
Immobility, stiffness, numbness
Creative living beginning
Opera by Rimsky-Korsakov
The bass is harsh and muffled. Terrible, jerky, slightly disturbed theme melody
Opera by Rimsky-Korsakov
Through the trembling motifs of the bird's voice (cock crow) one hears the bright, gentle, full of warmth and life melody of Spring. At first, her music seems to merge with the voices of nature, reminiscent of bird calls in spring. But out of joyful chirping grows a melodious, captivating melody of cellos.
Happiness is not to love
Daughter doesn't know
Love at all, in her cold heart
There is not a spark of destructive feeling;
Happiness is in love
All living things in the world
Must love.
Thus, the appearance of the Snow Maiden is a violation of the laws of nature, because a fatal contradiction is combined in her: the “spring”, restless, creative beginning of Spring and coldness, the “chill of feelings” inherited from Frost, live in her.
The Snow Maiden lives in remote forest slums, is guarded by animals and fairy creatures:
freezing
Our daughter
At an age, without nannies will do.
Neither on foot nor on horseback
And there is no trace in her tower. The Bears
Oatmeal and seasoned wolves
Around the yard they walk on patrol; owl
On the top of a pine tree on a hundred-year-old night,
And in the daytime, capercaillie stretch their necks,
A passer-by, a passer-by is observed.
And the terem servant!
In the servants at her errands
Crafty fox-sivodushka,
Bunnies get cabbage for her;
Than the light runs on the marten's fontanel
With a jug; squirrels gnaw nuts,
Sitting down on his haunches; stoats
In the minions of the hay in her service.
What does she do? Needlework, housework - the main occupations of the Snow Maiden.
freezing
Work,
A wave of strands, a beaver edge
Sheath your sheepskin coat and hats,
Lines of motley reindeer mittens.
Sushi mushrooms, cranberries and cloudberries
Prepare about winter breadlessness;
From boredom, sing, dance, if there is a hunt,
What else?
Why is Frost hiding her from people? Frost is afraid of predictions:
…like the sun
He is going to destroy the Snow Maiden; only
And waiting to plant in her heart
Beam the fire of love; then
There is no salvation for the Snow Maiden, Yarilo
Burn it, incinerate it, melt it.
I don't know how, but it will die.
Those. unlike the fairy tale, the Snow Maiden must die not just from the sun, but from the fire of love.
Spring believes that the time has come for the Snow Maiden to leave her tower, to know life among people.
Spring
Longing will take between the owls and goblin
One to sit.
Spring
Eh, old! The girl will
Sweetest of all. Neither your chiseled tower,
No sables, beavers, no sleeves
Stitched are not expensive; on thought
The Snow Maiden girl has something else:
live with people; she needs girlfriends
Funny yes games until midnight,
Spring parties and burners
As long as you guys...
Spring
Insane
And the bad old man! All living things in the world
Must love. Snow Maiden in captivity
Your own mother will not let you languish.
The decision must be made by the Snow Maiden. Captivated by Lelya's songs, which are dearer to her than "the singing of larks", the Snow Maiden does not want to stay in the wilderness, she reaches out to people, dreams of singing with the girls and dancing round dances. And Frost reluctantly gives her to the bean family.
The Snow Maiden goes to people with the words:
Mom, happiness
Whether I find it or not, I'll look for it.
Thus, Ostrovsky's innovation lies in the fact that his Snow Maiden is an adult girl who is looking for happiness, love.
The Snow Maiden comes to the Berendei during the ancient rite of seeing off Maslenitsa, which helps to make the transition from the invisible world created by folk fantasy and come to life under the artist’s pen (arrival of Spring), into the real world.
The family in which the Snow Maiden lives is not able to appreciate either her beauty or hard work.Bobyl is even able to trade it, and this is manifested in his attitude towards the Snow Maiden. Together with Bobilikha, envious and cunning, in whose eyes only “horned kika with rounded pearls”, they use the Snow Maiden and her beauty for their own selfish purposes, not loving her at all.
In this, among other things, Tsar Berendey sees the cause of all the misfortunes of his country - in human selfishness, in the loss of human kinship, in the loss of love and a sense of beauty.
In the hearts of people I noticed I will cool
Considerable; fervor of love
I haven't seen the Berendeys for a long time,
The service to beauty disappeared in them.
The ethical beauty of a person is determined by the relationship with nature and other people. Berendey's ideas about her are closely connected with the feeling of love. Tsar Berendey mourns the disappearance of the "ardor of love" from the life of his subjects, he understands that people are "torn apart" by completely different passions: "Vanity, envy of other people's outfits ...". But love, in his words, is “a good feeling, a great gift of nature”, before which one should bow, the “service” of love is “the service of beauty”.
Snow Maiden is beautiful:
Bobylikha
Your girlish beauty is wealth.
Because of her beauty:
from matchmakers and matchmakers
There is no end, the thresholds have been trampled.
But the Snow Maiden does not know love, her heart is cold - this is an inheritance from her father Frost:
Snow Maiden
My problem is that there is no affection in me.
They interpret everything that is love in the world,
That a girl cannot escape love;
And I don't know love; What a word
Heart friend and what is cute,
I don't know. And tears at parting
And the joy of meeting a dear friend
Before love, she experiences jealousy, bitterness, resentment:
How painful it is here, how heavy the heart has become!
Heavy resentment, like a stone,
A flower crumpled by Lelem fell on my heart
And abandoned. And I seem to be too
Abandoned and abandoned, wilted
From his mocking words.
She has to experience a lot: Kupava's undeserved accusation that she separated her from Mizgir, who, having seen the Snow Maiden, was so captivated by her beauty that he abandoned Kupava. Disappointment with the act of Lel, who kisses not her, but Kupava. With fear, she listens to Mizgir's declaration of love, and then watches the happiness of Lel and Kupava.
Her words reproach Mizgir:
Snow Maiden
You can't buy my love.
Snow Maiden
Priceless pearl
Leave yourself; I don't value much
My love, but I will not sell:
I change from love to love
But not with you, Mizgir.
The desire to love, as people love, makes her make a decision that is detrimental to her: Snow Maiden
Deceived, hurt, killed
Snow Maiden. Oh mother, Spring-Red!
I run to you with a complaint and a request:
I ask for love, I want to love! give back
Snow Maiden girl's heart, mom!
Give me love or take my life!
Snow Maiden
Mother,
Let me die, one moment of love
More dear to me years of anguish and tears.
The power of love lies in the magic wreath of Spring-Red, which she puts on the Snow Maiden.
The Snow Maiden takes on a completely different look at the world:
Oh mama, what's wrong with me? What beauty
The green forest is dressed! Shores
And the lake is not to be missed.
The water beckons, the bushes are calling me
Under your shade; and the sky, mother, the sky!
Dawn spilling in quicksand waves
swaying.
Now she notices the beauty around her, before she admired only her own beauty.
Spring-Krasna gives her a great gift of nature - love:
Snow Maiden
Oh honey
Forgive me! I was afraid of something
It's funny and ashamed, cherished
Some kind of treasure without knowing
That everything that is dear in the world,
Lives in just one word. This word:
Love.
A miracle happened:
Oh wow, I love it
Snow Maiden.
The Snow Maiden begs Mizgir to hide her love from the sun, but all in vain:
But what about me: bliss or death?
What a delight! What feelings of languor!
Oh Mother Spring, thank you for the joy,
For the sweet gift of love! What a bliss
Languishing flows in me! Oh Lel,
Your enchanting songs are in my ears,
Fire in the eyes... and in the heart... and in the blood
All over the fire. I love and melt, melt
From the sweet feelings of love! Goodbye everyone
Girlfriends, farewell, groom! Oh honey
The last look of the Snow Maiden to you.
Ostrovsky's tale has a sad ending, as in a folk tale: the Snow Maiden dies.
But if the readers are sad, sorry for the Snow Maiden, the death of the Snow Maiden does not darken the mood for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Berendey:
Snow Maiden sad death
And the terrible death of Mizgir
They cannot disturb us; The sun knows
Whom to punish and pardon. Happened
Righteous Judgment! Frost spawn -
The cold Snow Maiden died.
Now, with her miraculous death,
Frost's interference has ceased.
Let's drive out the last cold trace
From our souls and turn to the sun.
And I believe it will look welcome
To the devotion of the obedient Berendeys.
The sun returned to the Berendeys, and with it life. And this is more important for them. The impossible happened: the cold Snow Maiden fell in love like a man, and this transformation should lead her to death.The feeling that the heroine of the fairy tale so desired to receive, and ruined her. But she died, not died, dreaming of being like living people. And this miracle happened. I think that this tale by A. N. Ostrovsky is not only about the Snow Maiden, but about the meaning of life for any person. Being happy is very difficult, but possible. The Snow Maiden cannot live without love, but love turns out to be fatal for her.
The image of the Snow Maiden in the opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov
In 1879, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov took on the creation of an opera based on the play by A. N. Ostrovsky, who did not like it in the first reading. “... The kingdom of the Berendeys seemed strange to me,” the composer later recalled. - In the winter of 1879-1880, I again read The Snow Maiden and as if I saw the light of her amazing poetic beauty. I immediately wanted to write an opera based on this story…”.The composer had a thick book of music paper, and he began to write down in it in the form of sketches the musical thoughts that came to mind.
Inspired by the new plot, Rimsky-Korsakov went to Moscow to meet with Ostrovsky and ask him for permission to use his work as a libretto with the right to make the necessary changes to the drama when working on the opera. The playwright received the composer very kindly, granted him the right to properly dispose of the text, and even gave him a copy of his fairy tale.
Rimsky-Korsakov spent the summer of 1880 in the village of Stelevo. It was his first summer in a real Russian village. And everything - the landscape, the singing of birds, the atmosphere - unusually inspired him to this work. He worked all day long. “Musical thoughts and their processing haunted me relentlessly,” the composer later wrote. He recorded the progress of the work literally by the day: the beginning on June 1 (the introduction to the prologue was written), the end - on August 12 (the final chorus). Not a single work was given to him with such ease and speed as the Snow Maiden. “No one knew about the composition of the Snow Maiden,” wrote the composer, “because I kept this matter a secret, and by announcing my relatives on arrival in St. Petersburg about the completion of the sketch, I thereby surprised them a lot.” The composer spent another six months on the instrumentation of the opera, and finally, on February 10, the opera was given on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Since then, it has remained one of the composer's most beloved works by the public.
Completed in 1881 and first staged in 1882, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera was a huge success...“The inspiration of Rimsky-Korsakov glows with an even light, but at other moments the music deepens to comprehend only the audible secrets and sources of life, about which the word, being connected with reality, involuntarily SHOULD be silent ...” - B. Asafiev wrote about The Snow Maiden. One of these moments is the musical scene of the Snow Maiden melting. The insecurity of the Snow Maiden, her doom seem especially tragic.And yet there is no darkness and bitterness in music. A wonderful, mysterious feeling is created by the theme of the Snow Maiden. Her last appeal to her beloved: “Oh my dear, yours, yours ...” It sounds touching and light, like a farewell to newfound love and life. Finally, this melody, becoming more and more transparent, airy, slowly disappears, melts away, like the Snow Maiden herself. Music leaves a feeling of enchanting beauty, awe, trembling of the air, a flowing stream of light.The music of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the opera The Snow Maiden gives rise to many different feelings: it made you wonder, admire, and feel sad. It helps to imagine better fairytale heroes: Goblin, Spring, Frost. Listening to her, you imagine a cheerful, beautiful, talented Lel, offended Kupava, proud Mizgir, wise Berendey.Ostrovsky very accurately called Rimsky-Korsakov's music "wonderful" and "amazing", because it is about the most beautiful human feeling - about love. What Ostrovsky expressed in words, Rimsky-Korsakov managed to convey in music. This music is about the fate and death of the Snow Maiden. But life doesn't stop. The Snow Maiden melts with love, because she does not want to know other laws, except for the laws of real human life.The Snow Maiden is Rimsky-Korsakov's most poetic opera. The composer considered it his best creation. The Snow Maiden impresses with its surprisingly sensitive, loving reproduction of pictures of folk life, rituals of ancient paganism, wonderful images of folk tales. The music of the opera, imbued with unfading freshness and wise simplicity of folk songs, is colored with soft lyrics, spring tones of blossoming nature. “This is precisely a spring fairy tale - with all the beauty, the poetry of spring, all the warmth, all the fragrance,” wrote A.P. Borodin about the opera.
In the aria of the Snow Maiden “Walking on the berry with her girlfriends”, the light and graceful play of the voice echoes the transparent and chilly tunes of the flute.
In the lyrically penetrating arietta of the Snow Maiden “I Heard, I Heard”, the expressive melody of the oboe echoes the affectionately tender and fragile vocal phrases. In the Snow Maiden's aria "The Great Tsar" again sounds, this time warmly and excitedly, the melody of her arietta "I Heard" (from the prologue). The scene of the melting of the Snow Maiden is one of the most touching episodes in world opera literature. The fragile tenderness of the image of the Snow Maiden is set off by the majestic, radiant sound of the final choral hymn “Light and Power, God Yarilo”.
Conclusion
So, A.N. Ostrovsky, using the fabulous image of the Snow Maiden, made some changes to its development:
The Snow Maiden is the daughter of Frost and Spring-Red, the appearance of the Snow Maiden is a violation of the laws of nature, because a fatal contradiction is combined in her: the “spring”, restless, creative beginning of Spring and coldness, the “chill of feelings” inherited from Frost, live in her.
Bobyl and Bobylikha - the people with whom the Snow Maiden lives do not appreciate her beauty; they do not like it, they use it for selfish interests, they are driven by human envy, the desire to enrich themselves at the expense of others.
The Snow Maiden is an adult girl who wants to know human life, feelings, emotions associated with it, and above all, girlish happiness, love.
The Snow Maiden is destined to die, to melt not just from the sun, but from the fire of love.
The icy heart of the Snow Maiden melted thanks to magic, she fell in love and paid for love with her life.
The image of the Snow Maiden is close to other female images created by A.N. Ostrovsky, Larisa Ogudalova, Ekaterina, because the meaning of their life lies in love. No love, no life. This is a topic for another study.
Love is a good feeling, a great gift of nature, before which one should bow.
The death of the Snow Maiden cannot stop the eternal cycle of life, therefore her death does not overshadow the Berendey holiday; the sun Yarilo returns to the Berendeys, which means life.
The tale of the Snow Maiden is about the eternal struggle between good and evil, but the real hardships and troubles of people come from their indifference, unwillingness to help each other.
The meaning of people's lives is in love and harmony with everything earthly.
Rimsky-Korsakov's opera helps us understand the meaning of Ostrovsky's fairy tale. This is music about the fate and death of the Snow Maiden. But life doesn't stop. The Snow Maiden melts with love, because she does not want to know other laws, except for the laws of real human life.
Bibliographic list:
1.A.N. Ostrovsky. Snow Maiden, http://ilibrary.ru/text
2. Russian folk tale. Snow Maiden,