Симфоническое искусство в республиках Северного Кавказа и Абхазии: советский опыт и постсоветские вызовы (сравнительный анализ)

The article examines the patterns of formation of symphonic art in Abkhazia in the context of pan-Caucasian cultural processes. Existing studies mainly describe individual stages of the development of the Abkhazian musical culture, but do not consider it in a comparative perspective with other Caucasian republics, where symphonic traditions arose in similar historical conditions, but demonstrated different degrees of stability. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of the emergence and development of symphonic art in Abkhazia by comparative analysis with the processes of formation of the national school of composition in the republics of the North Caucasus (Adygea, Dagestan, Ossetia), as well as to identify the factors that contributed to the sustainable existence of symphonic art in Abkhazia. The materials were scientific works by Russian and Abkhaz musicologists devoted to the genesis of academic musical art in the Caucasus. The study uses the comparative historical method, the method of periodization, historical and cultural analysis and the biographical method. The article examines the formation of symphonic art in the republics chosen for study, which took place within the framework of the Soviet cultural policy of the 1920s and 1930s, with the key role played by "visiting" professional composers who collected and studied folklore material, created the first symphonic works on national themes and trained professional personnel from other countries. It is established that the further development of symphonic traditions was determined by two main factors: the presence of a stable composing school, ensuring the continuity of knowledge and skills, and constant institutional support, including symphony orchestras and musical educational institutions. The unique specificity of the Abkhazian situation is revealed — the double beginning and double interruption of symphonic traditions. The first stage associated with the activities of composer K. V. Kovach in the 1930s was interrupted by the repressions of 1936, after which his creative legacy became inaccessible to subsequent generations. The second stage (1957-1980) was marked by the restoration of the symphony orchestra and the formation of the national composer cohort, which included R. D. Gumba, A. C. Chichba, P. D. Petrov, and others. The Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia in 1992-1993 led to the transformation of the symphony orchestra into a chamber orchestra, the loss of the handwritten heritage and the disruption of the composer's continuity, which threatened the preservation of symphonic traditions.