Problematic issues of the study and preparation of an academic edition of S.I. Taneev’s cantata John of Damascus

One of the promising research projects of the State Institute for Art Studies at the present stage is the preparation of the academic publication of S.I. Taneev’s cantata John of Damascus . Paradoxically, so far there has been no single holistic study of this choral masterpiece that reveals the creative process of the composer - from sketches to the lifetime edition of the score (1904) and the clavier (1886) of this composition. The authors of the article focus on the historical factors that prevented the appearance of an academic publication of the cantata, give a review of musical, verbal and epistolary sources, consider the history of the study and publication of S.I. Taneev’s heritage in the XXth century in connection with the current problems of Taneev’s work study.