Creativity of the Mari professional composers as a factor of national identity preservation

The article considers a national component of creativity of the Mari republic composers. The author analyzes in what form the composers introduce the Mari folklore in their creative works: from processing and citing in large art forms (symphony, opera, ballet) to creative interpretation of specific folk songs (polyphony techniques, tonal and modal specifics), popular and religious rites in the original compositions. The undertaken researches show that the Mari composers' creativity is deeply ethnic, which becomes ever more relevant for preservation of a cultural unique identity of a nation during the present epoch.