The Impact of Social Media on the Lives of Young People
Nowadays, not only young people but almost everyone has become attached to social media. Many people even think that it is difficult to imagine life without social networks. Of course, modern life requires the use of the internet and social media. However, it is important to be careful when using them and to be able to distinguish useful information from unnecessary information. In particular, people should be able to analyze various unverified or fake news.Social media also has many advantages. For example, we can find almost any information we are looking for on the internet. It is also possible to keep up with daily news and follow events happening in different countries. In addition, there are many useful videos and lessons on social media for learning languages. Therefore, many young people have the opportunity to learn new knowledge and skills independently. However, the negative aspects of social media are also very serious. For instance, watching various short videos such as “shorts” can narrow people’s thinking ability, weaken speech fluency, cause them to waste time, reduce sleeping time, and even lead to memory decline. Moreover, the family environment may also be affected: instead of spending time with their families, many young people spend their time on social media. As a result, they may become unaware of feelings such as respect for parents and the importance of spending time together and having conversations with family members.
It is true that phones and the platforms or programs on them are created by humans and designed to function in a certain way. However, nowadays it seems that phones are controlling people. This is because many people easily become dependent on them. There are many young people who spend five to six hours or even more on their phones every day, wasting their time without any meaningful purpose. However, this does not mean that everyone is like that. There are also many young people who use social media properly and meaningfully. They have dreams and goals for their future and work hard to achieve them. Instead of wasting time, they use platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok in a productive way and organize their daily activities according to a schedule to continue their studies. In my opinion, young people who spend their days on social media in a useless way have become detached from reality and dependent on their virtual lives. Time passes very quickly, and I believe that wasting it inefficiently is wrong. In addition, such people may cast a shadow or darkness over their own bright and promising future.
Bekturdiyeva Nargizabonu was born on December 7, 2007, in Khiva city of Khorezm region. She won first place at the regional stage and participated in the national Olympiad. In 2025, she graduated from school with a gold medal.
Currently, she is a first-year student in the Geography program at Urgench State University. She has three journalistic articles and is the holder of a DGU certificate.
Her articles have been published in the famous “Synchronized Chaos” journal in the USA and in the “Ijodkorlar” journal in Uzbekistan, and she has also participated in an anthology. She is also a member of the Argentine international organization “Juntos por las Letras.”
Moon-aphor
Wait, the moon is a big pizza pie
in the sky? I don’t think so. Man
in the Moon, I never quite saw it.
A dinner plate, a saucer, a heavenly
body. (I’d like one of those.)
Mistaken for a lamppost
on a drunken stumble home.
That’s more like it.
An orb. A cue ball.
At times a mere crescent,
a meniscus, the Dreamworks logo
of the boy fishing off its edge.
The cutout in an outhouse door.
A half moon doesn’t know
which way it’s headed,
it’s useless in guiding me.
The moon aligns with nothing.
Planets can at least do that
from our perspective on Earth.
Let’s face it, the moon is a symbol.
Maybe a cymbal. That’s it.
The moon is our soul.
Stephen Schwei is a Pushcart-nominated Houston poet with Wisconsin roots, published in Wax Poetry & Art, RFD Magazine, GetOutMag.com, Hidden Constellation, Borfski Press, and Table//Feast and is the winner of the 2023 Kenan Ince Memorial Prize in Poetry. He has published one volume of poetry, Bluebonnet Whispers and a collaboration, Catch Me at the Carnival. A gay man with three grown children and four wonderful grandchildren, who worked in Information Technology most of his life, he can be a mass of contradictions. Poetry helps to sort all of this out. www.stephenschwei.com @steveschwei
Happy New Year to all women in the world. March 8 of each year is International Women’s Day or International Women’s Day is the eighth of March of each year, and it is a global celebration of women’s social, political and economic achievements. In some countries such as Palestine, since March 8, 2011, China, Russia and Cuba, women have been given a day off on this day.
The celebration of this occasion came as a result of the first conference of the International Democratic Women’s Federation, which was held in Paris in 1945. It is known that the International Democratic Women’s Federation consists of organizations affiliated with communist parties, and it was the first global celebration of International Women’s Day, although some researchers believe that International Women’s Day was the result of some women’s strikes that occurred in the United States before that year.
In 1857, thousands of women took to the streets of New York City to protest the inhumane conditions under which they were forced to work, and although the police intervened in a brutal manner to disperse the demonstrators, the march succeeded in pushing political officials to put the problem of working women on the daily agenda.
On March 8, 1908, thousands of female textile workers returned to demonstrate again in the streets of New York City, but this time they carried pieces of dry bread and bouquets of roses in a symbolic move with its significance, and they chose the slogan “Bread and Roses” for their protest movement. This time, the march demanded reducing working hours, stopping child labor, and granting women the right to vote.
The bread and roses demonstrations marked the beginning of the formation of an enthusiastic feminist movement within the United States, especially after middle-class women joined the wave of demands for equality and fairness, raising slogans demanding political rights, most notably the right to vote. The celebration of March 8 began as American Women’s Day in commemoration of the New York demonstrations in 1909. American women contributed to pushing European countries to designate March 8 as Women’s Day, and the proposal of the American delegation to designate one day a year to celebrate women on a global level was adopted after the success of the experiment in the United States. However, the designation of March 8 as International Women’s Day did not happen until many years later, because the United Nations did not agree to adopt this occasion until 1977, when the international organization issued a resolution calling on the countries of the world to adopt any day of the year they choose to celebrate women, and the majority of countries decided to choose March 8. Consequently, that day became a symbol of women’s struggle, with women around the world demonstrating to demand their just rights.
في اليوم العالمي للمرأةكل سنة وجميع نساء العالم بألف خير8 آذار من كل عاماليوم الدولي للمرأة أو اليوم العالمي للمرأة هو اليوم الثامن من شهر آذار/مارس من كل عام، وفيه يُحتفل عالميًا بالإنجازات الاجتماعية والسياسية والاقتصادية للنساء. وفي بعض الدول كفلسطين، منذ 8 آذار/مارس 2011، والصين وروسيا وكوبا تحصل النساء على إجازة في هذا اليوم.الاحتفال بهذه المناسبة جاء على إثر عقد أول مؤتمر للاتحاد النسائي الديمقراطي العالمي والذي عقد في باريس عام 1945. ومن المعروف أن اتحاد النساء الديمقراطي العالمي يتكون من المنظمات الرديفة للأحزاب الشيوعية، وكان أول احتفال عالمي بيوم المرأة العالمي رغم أن بعض الباحثين يرجح ان اليوم العالمي للمرأة كان على إثر بعض الإضرابات النسائية التي حدثت في الولايات المتحدة قبل ذلك العام.في عام 1857 خرج آلاف النساء للاحتجاج في شوارع مدينة نيويورك على الظروف اللاإنسانية التي كن يجبرن على العمل تحتها، ورغم أن الشرطة تدخلت بطريقة وحشية لتفريق المتظاهرات إلا أن المسيرة نجحت في دفع المسئولين السياسيين إلى طرح مشكلة المرأة العاملة على جداول الأعمال اليومية. وفي الثامن من آذار/مارس من سنة 1908 عادت الآلاف من عاملات النسيج للتظاهر من جديد في شوارع مدينة نيويورك لكنهن حملن هذه المرة قطعا من الخبز اليابس وباقات من الورود في خطوة رمزية لها دلالتها واخترن لحركتهن الاحتجاجية تلك شعار “خبز وورود”.طالبت المسيرة هذه المرة بتخفيض ساعات العمل ووقف تشغيل الأطفال ومنح النساء حق الاقتراع.شكلت مُظاهرات الخبز والورود بداية تشكل حركة نسوية متحمسة داخل الولايات المتحدة خصوصا بعد انضمام نساء من الطبقة المتوسطة إلى موجة المطالبة بالمساواة والإنصاف رفعن شعارات تطالب بالحقوق السياسية وعلى رأسها الحق في الانتخاب، وبدأ الاحتفال بالثامن من آذار/مارس كيوم المرأة الأمريكية تخليدا لخروج مظاهرات نيويورك سنة 1909 وقد ساهمت النساء الأمريكيات في دفع الدول الأوربية إلى تخصيص الثامن من آذار/مارس كيوم للمرأة وقد تم تبني اقتراح الوفد الأمريكي بتخصيص يوم واحد في السنة للاحتفال بالمرأة على الصعيد العالمي بعد نجاح التجربة داخل الولايات المتحدة. غير أن تخصيص يوم الثامن من آذار/مارس كعيد عالمي للمرأة لم يتم إلا بعد سنوات طويلة، ذلك لأن منظمة الأمم المتحدة لم توافق على تبني تلك المناسبة إلا سنة 1977 عندما أصدرت المنظمة الدولية قرارا يدعو دول العالم إلى اعتماد أي يوم من السنة يختارونه للاحتفال بالمرأة فقررت غالبية الدول اختيار الثامن من آذار/مارس. وتحول بالتالي ذلك اليوم إلى رمز لنضال المرأة تخرج فيه النساء عبر العالم في مظاهرات للمطالبة بحقوقهن العادلة.مجمود سعيد كعوش
Sevinch Rustamova Shukhrat qizi was born on October 13, 2005, Kashkadarya region, Uzbekistan. She is currently a third-year student of the Faculty of Medicine (Med-01U group) at Kimyo International University in Tashkent.
She has participated in several international Olympiads and has a strong interest in poetry and literature. Her poems and creative works have been published in international anthologies in Egypt and Qatar.
In addition, in 2025 she took part in an International Anthology in Turkey, where she presented her creative works and delivered a speech on an international platform.
Furthermore, her scientific articles and theses have been published in a number of high-level academic journals. She also actively participates in national conferences and scientific forums, contributing to academic and literary discussions.
The article discusses three types of understanding music, taking into account its existence on two levels: cosmic and actual. It is noted that the first type of understanding is offered by the West, the second by the East, and the third by Russia.
It is argued that according to the Western interpretation music is, in the ultimate sense, is non-sounding (silence), according to the Eastern interpretation, it is the sound of nature and according to the Russian interpretation, it is prayer.
In conclusion, it is stated that these three interpretations of music represent three possible paths to understanding its essence.
Keywords: music, understanding of music, West, East, Russia.
Preamble
For a long time, music has been perceived by people on two levels: the intelligible – cosmic, and the real – actual. But what is music that exists on these two levels, and what is it? We believe that there are three approaches to understanding music. The first is offered by the West, the second by the East, and the third by Russia. Let’s explore them.
West
In the West, in the perception of music, its cosmic level dominates over the real, actual, i.e. the cosmic predetermines the existence of the real musical sound. This understanding was formed in Ancient Greece, in the teachings of Pythagoras (6th century BC) about the sounding cosmos – the harmony of the spheres (Greek: ἁρμονία ἐν κόσμῳ).
According to Pythagoras, who passed this knowledge on to his Pythagorean students, the cosmos is a sound, and this sound is caused by the rapid movement of the planets. Each rapidly moving planet produces a specific sound. The relationship between these sounds (in terms of their pitch) is mathematically precise, corresponding to the distances between the planets that produce them. According to the Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus (3rd – 4th century) in his famous book “On the Life of Pythagoras” (“The Life of Pythagoras”), Pythagoras believed that the planets “emit a song… rich and full-sounding (due to their movement)… and this movement is composed of their different and diverse noises, speeds, sizes, and constellations, which are arranged in a certain… proportion” [12, p. 52].
Pythagoras believed that this pattern was the basis of music. According to Iamblichus, Pythagoras came to this conclusion after passing by a blacksmith’s shop. “As he was walking by, he heard the sound of iron being forged on an anvil, and the simultaneous strikes of the hammers produced a very harmonious sound. He discerned in them… consonances… Rejoicing (at his discovery. – A.K.), he ran into the forge and, by trial and error, discovered that the sound depended on the weight of the hammer, rather than on the force of the blow, the shape of the hammer, or the position of the iron being forged” [12, p. 78] (1).
Pythagoras’s idea of the dominance of cosmic music over real, actual music is further developed by Boethius (5th – 6th centuries).
In his treatise “The Elements of Music”, Boethius establishes that cosmic music, which he refers to as mundane, predetermines the existence of real music, which he calls instrumentalis. Boethius writes, “the music called mundane is most evident in the phenomena observed in the sky itself, in the unity of the [four] elements, and in the diversity of the seasons. And how is it possible for such a fast-moving heaven to move silently?” [2, p. 11]. “The order in music is inseparable from this celestial rotation” [2, p. 13] (2).
Further, the idea under consideration was developed by Regino of Prüm (9th – 10th centuries). In his treatise “On the Study of Harmony”, Regino refers to cosmic and actual music as natural and artificial, respectively, and writes that natural music “is not produced by any musical instrument, any touch of the fingers, blow, or stroke, but (is inspired by. – A.K.) by divine command” [34, p. 190], while artificial music “is invented… by the human mind and… is performed through the use of instruments”. “The power of natural music cannot be known except through artificial music” [34, p. 193].
The idea of the influence of cosmic music on actual music continued to develop in the West in the 15th and 16th centuries.
In the 15th century, this idea was developed by Adam of Fulda. In his work “On Music”, based on the ideas of Regino of Prüm, Adam notes that cosmic, or world, music belongs to the natural realm, while actual, or instrumental, music belongs to the artificial realm. He states, “there are two types of music: natural and artificial. Natural music is the sound of celestial bodies, arising from the movement of the spheres, where there is believed to be the most harmony. This kind of music is handled by mathematicians… artificial music is handled by musicians”. At the same time, as Adam believed, and this was his innovation, artificial music is divided into instrumental and vocal [34, p. 359].
In the 16th century, this topic was addressed by Josephfo Zarlino. In the first part of his work “The Establishment of Harmony”, he writes: “The extent to which music was glorified and revered as sacred is clearly evidenced by the writings of philosophers and especially Pythagoreans, since they believed that the world was created according to musical laws …”. The Pythagoreans established that “the movement of (celestial bodies. – A.K.) is the reason (why. – A.K.) our soul … awakens from songs and sounds, and they … have a life-giving effect on its properties” [1, p. 603].
The idea of the influence of cosmic music on real, actual music became more prominent in the West in the 17th century. Johann Kepler played a significant role in its development.
In Kepler’s reflections on this topic in Book V of his treatise “Harmony of the World”, there is a crucial point. Kepler argues that the cosmos governs music, and he supports this claim by suggesting that planets have human-like voices. He states: “Saturn and Jupiter in the sky have, in some way, the properties that nature has given, and custom has attributed to the bass, and we find the properties of the tenor on Mars, the properties of the alto on Earth and Venus, and the same properties as the treble on Mercury, if not in the equality of intervals, then certainly in proportionality…” [35, p. 185] (3).
The peculiar evolution of Western scientists’ ideas about the primacy of cosmic music over actual music continued further. So, in the 19th century, it received a response from I. Ritter.
I. Ritter, in one of the notes of the collection, entitled “Fragments from the legacy of a young physicist”, notes that the planets “are in very harmonious relations with each other”, and we can say that. that “whole rhythmic-periodic systems, ‘whole concerts’… are resolved… at a higher level (merging. – A.K.) into one – a higher – tone”. According to Ritter, this is observed in human-created music, where “each of our tones is a system of tones” [31, p. 337].
The topic under consideration continues to develop in the West in the 20th and 21st centuries. This development takes place in two directions.
The first direction, which originates from philosophical judgments, can be found in the works of R. Steiner, A. von Lange, M. Talbot and others. Thus, in his book “The Essence of Music and the Experience of Tone in Man” (“Das Wesen des Musikalischen und das Tonerlebnis im Menschen”), R. Steiner expresses the idea that there are “ideal forces (whose constructive activity is the music of the spheres) that lie behind the material world”. They “operate in a way that is most fully embodied in music” [39, pp. 46-47] (4).
The second approach is based on the achievements of science. Its main representatives are J. Godwin and J. James. For example, J. Godwin writes that in our time, when “physicists have questioned the assumptions of their predecessors” (such as the interchangeability of mass and energy, time and space, and the influence of the subject on objective experimentation), “it is only natural that ‘speculative music’ should be revived” [8, p. 374]. And then there’s the “revelation”: Godwin argues that we need to understand “music as a cosmos” [8, p. 373].
So, according to the Western model, the harmony of the spheres predetermines the existence of our real, actual music. But what’s interesting is that the harmony of the spheres is not audible, it is speculative (or, more precisely, it is heard). This is how the later Pythagoreans described it: “We do not hear this sound… the reason for this is that this sound is present immediately upon birth, so that it is not distinguishable from the opposite [silence]. For the distinction between sound and silence is relative [and depends on their relationship] to each other. Thus, just as it seems to the coppersmiths, due to habit, that there is no difference [between silence and knocking when they work], so the same thing happens to [all] people [when perceiving the harmony of the spheres]” [23, pp. 357-358]. From this we can conclude that in the Western dimension, music is ultimately non-sounding, silent (let us recall the famous “summary” of the development of music in the West – 4’33” by John Cage) (5).
East
In the East, in the understanding of music, its actual, physical, level dominates over the cosmic. This position was established in all the states of the Ancient East and was embodied in the doctrine of sound.
Most clearly, this doctrine manifested itself in Ancient India in the concept of two types of sounds: manifested – physical (Ahata Nada) and unmanifested – cosmic (Anahata Nada) [9; 10].
According to the ancient Indians, the physical sound (Ahata Nada) leads to the cosmic sound (Anahata Nada). This is confirmed by the interpretation of the sound (syllable) Om / Aum (Sanskrit: ॐ) (6).
Om is a mysterious and sacred sound. When a person speaks Om, it merges with the sound of the universe [44, p. 77]. Om is constantly mentioned in the Upanishads, and its mysterious purpose is revealed in the Mandukya Upanishad. This sacred text says:
“[Om] Aum! This sound is all of it. Here is its explanation:
The past, the present, and the future are all the sound [Om] Aum.
And the other things beyond the three times are also the sound [Om] Aum” [27, p. 201] (7).
The creative power of Om is especially evident when it is pronounced not only as a separate sound, but also as an element that connects ritual actions that occur over time (8).
At a certain stage of historical development, the interpretation of a specific musical composition called raga (Sanskrit: राग) emerged as a vivid embodiment of the realization of the movement of music from its actual (physical) level to the cosmic level in India. It was believed that raga reaches a universal scale due to the sounds that form it, known as swaras (Sanskrit: स्वर).
Given the importance of the swaras, it is not surprising that a large number of theoretical works have been devoted to their discussion in India.
The most authoritative of these is the treatise “The Composition on the Music of Different Localities” (“Brihaddeshi”) by Matangi (7th century).
In this treatise, Matanga writes about swara as follows:
“This word (swara) is derived from the root ‘rājr’
(meaning ‘to shine’) and the prefix ‘swa’ (meaning ‘self’).
Thus, we refer to swara as something that shines on its own” [33, p. 120].
The scale of a raga consists of seven swaras: Sa (shadja [ṣaḍja]), Ri (rishabha), Ga (gadhara), Ma (madhyama) Pa (panchama), Dha (dhayvata) and Ni (nishada). The most important of these is the first: Sa (shadja) (9).
Fundamentally, in India, swara was not only the sound of a raga, but the sound in general. Here, for example, is what he writes in his treatise “The Nectar of Music” (“Sangitamakaranda”) Narada (8th century):
“[It is known that] the peacock cries in the shadja swara,
the chataka in the rishabha,
the goat makes the gadhara swara,
the curlew manhyama
and the cuckoo at the time of flowering
cuckoos in the swara panchama,
the horse neighs in the dhayvata
and the elephant trumpets in the swara nishada” [33, p. 107].
It is obvious that swara is the way to the cosmic sound: the sound of the world. This is confirmed by Indian scholars. Thus, the sage Bharata (1st century BC) in his treatise “The Composition on the Beauty of Music” (“Gitalankara”) notes: “[swaras] embrace the whole world” [33, p. 92]. In his work “Musical Grammar” (the original title of the work is unknown), Irayanar (4th century) writes: “In the space of the world and the worlds… there is (only) sound; it constructs the entire space of the universe…” [33, p. 101]. Finally, Sharnagadeva (13th century) states in his work “The Ocean of Music” (“Sangitaratnakara”): “The world is built on sound” [33, p. 118].
This interpretation of sound / swara has become stable and has survived to the present day [37; 41].
But what is this somewhat abstract concept of the sound world? Of course, it is the sound of nature.
Thus, based on this explanation, we can say that in India, music is essentially the sound of nature (10). Since the Indian interpretation of music is the quintessence of the Eastern attitude to music in general, we can say that in the East, music is essentially the sound of nature [42; 43] (11).
Russia
In Russia, in the interpretation of music, its levels: cosmic and actual merge. There is no dominant, they are one. And such an understanding is associated with angel-like singing.
Angel-like singing is the singing in the Orthodox church of parishioners together with angels, who by their singing constantly glorify God (12). In Russia, such singing was formed by the 15th century. It was znamennoe chant (Church Slavonic: znamꙗ) (13).
The most significant expression of angel-likesinging is the Cherubic chant.
The Cherubic chant is a chant that is sung during the Liturgy. It serves as a preparation for the faithful to the Great Entrance.
In the Russian Church, this chant was established after the 15th century. Initially, it was a one-voice (monodic) chant characterized by a slow unfolding of extended melodic lines and a free, asymmetrical rhythm.
Since the 16th century, the Cherubic chant has been performed in three voices (three lines). It was recorded in lines, hence the name “line chant”.
The three-voice Cherubic chant is comparable to the polyphony that occurs when Russian lyrical long songs are performed. The combination of three voices created unique harmonic combinations similar to those found in Russian folk polyphony. The Cherubic chants of the 15th and 16th centuries were usually unattributed.
In the 17th century, an important event took place: the znamennoe chant was replaced by the partes chant (Latin: partes). Partes is a Western polyphonic chant that was introduced to Russia through Poland. As a result of this introduction, the znamennoe chants of the Cherubim in Russia acquired Western major-minor harmonization. The Cherubim also gained authorship. In the 17th century, V.P. Titov was a well-known composer of the Cherubim.
A special feature of the Cherubim Titovs was that the voices in them did not reunite or “befriend”, but rather represented, as N.P. Diletsky put it, “a struggle of voice with voice” [5, p. 66].
In the 18th century, when writing the Cherubic chants, they tried to bring the Western harmonization closer to the ancient chant. D.S. Bortnyansky achieved the greatest success in this regard. This was especially evident in his most famous Cherubic chant – Cherubic chant No 7. However, even in this chant, the Western style prevailed, proving that Bortnyansky was indeed “aligned with the Italian school of sacred music” [29].
It should be noted that as a result of the partes chant that was established in Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cherubim that were created for the church turned out to be concert compositions rather than works that should be performed during worship [4]. Angel-like singing disappeared from them (14).
The decisive change in the composition of the Cherubim belongs to M.I. Glinka. This change can be described as a “turn to the origins”.
Glinka conceived the composition of the Cherubim (which is the only one in his oeuvre) in an effort to revive the original sacred music in the church. According to the composer’s own admission, “[he] wanted to test his abilities in sacred music; he wrote the Cherubim…” [7, p. 77] (15).
In Cherubim, Glinka managed to recreate the image of liturgical singing as a language of communion with God. Angel-like singing “came to life” in it [22, p. 15].
Glinka’s Cherubic chant became the starting point for the composition of Cherubic chants by Russian composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including P.I. Tchaikovsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.V. Rakhmaninov, A.D. Kastalsky, A.T. Grechaninov, P.G. Chesnokov, V.S. Kalinnikov and many others (16).
Perhaps the most openly followed Glinka A.D. Kastalsky. His Cherubim (first of all the Cherubim of the znamennoe chant) Kastalsky, focusing on Glinka, sought to transform “into something musically sublime, strong in its expressiveness and close to the Russian heart” [14, p. 60].
Castalsky’s Cherubim became the true “Castalian Key” for Russian composers in the 20th and 21st centuries to write similar compositions: Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), Archimandrite Nafanail (Bachkalo), Archimandrite Matthew, Fr. Sergius Trubachev, A.A. Tretyakov and others.
They found an exceptionally vivid manifestation in the Cherubim of Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) (one of which was even written on the theme of J.S. Bach!).
The achievement of the Metropolitan’s Cherubim was the expression of the unfathomable depths of the spirit. It is significant that, when commenting on the figurative structure of the Cherubim (its archetypal appearance), the composer cites a passage from the description of the mysterious vision of the prophet Ezekiel:
“‘The Cherubim stood on the right side of the house… and a cloud filled the inner court… And the noise of the wings of the Cherubim was heard even in the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. And the Cherubim had the appearance of hands under their wings. And I saw four wheels near the Cherubim, one wheel near each Cherubim, and the wheels looked like they were made of topaz stone. And all four looked similar, as if a wheel were inside a wheel. When they walked, they walked in four directions; they did not turn around during their march, but they went in the direction of their heads. And all their bodies, and their backs, and their arms, and their wings, and their wheels, were full of eyes…’ (Ezekiel 10:3, 5, 8-12)” [11, pp. 425-426] (17).
Thus, Glinka’s Cherubic chant became the seed (“acorn”) of the development of Cherubim in Russia. It is important to emphasize that this development, in general, was expressed in the filling of Cherubim with angelic-like singing.
Indeed, the angelic-like singing in the Cherubim became more sublime and beautiful and finally reached its full power [24; 25] (18). This moment marked the birth of Russian music (19).
But what is Russian music, which has absorbed the angelic-like singing? It is a prayer. With this in mind, we can confidently say that in Russia, music, in its true form, is a prayer (20).
Conclusion
So, there are three models of music: Western, Eastern, and Russian. This means that there are three ways to understand the fundamental principles of music (I think the reader can guess which way the author of this article prefers). These paths are different. Is it possible for them to intersect? I believe it is possible, because these are the three paths of One Human Being, a Resident of the Earth…
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(1) This idea of Pythagoras has been substantiated in modern scientific research [19; 20].
(2) Boethius speaks about the existence of another level of music – the human one, caused by the mixing of the “disembodied liveliness of the mind with the body”. He calls this level humana. However, the humana level is associated with the mundane level. This was also noted in the Pythagorean school [12, pp. 51-56].
(3) For more information on Kepler’s interpretation of the connection between cosmic music and real music, see, for example: [3].
(4) A. von Lange’s statement is also expressive in its own way: “The entire spiritual organism of man, in which the depth of musical experience rests unconsciously, is formed from the cosmos through the harmony of the spheres” [21, p. 364].
(5) The philosophical justification of this position can be found in the works of P. Kivi. In particular, Kivi argues in one of his works that music is “devoid of semantics” and is a “quasi-syntactic structure” with no fixed meaning. He suggests that it is the inaudible aspects of music, such as its title or program, which are often not transformed into sound, that give it its significance [16]. The work has received a large number of laudatory reviews (https://philpapers.org/rec/KIVMAP).
(6) Om and Aum are one. The accents (matras) A, U, and M express the states of consciousness: A is awake, U is with sleep and dreams, and M is with deep sleep without dreams [26].
(7) See also: [40].
(8) “In every initial action… there is a ‘very first’ beginning; this beginning… is Om: this [sound] syllable begins (and ends) every chant, in fact, not only every chant, but also, apparently, every formula, hymn, etc… By means of a special pronunciation of this syllable, the ritual action was given the much-needed quality of ‘continuity’… Thus, all the pauses in the ritual could be filled with the syllable Om, and not only within the given rite, but also between one rite and the next, which could, in principle, take place at any time – in 2-3 hours, in 2 weeks, in a year…” That is, the sound of Om “was understood as something eternal” [38, p. 121].
(9) Its significance is emphasized by the fact that it is played by the tambura (a musical instrument used in the performance of a raga) throughout the entire raga. This significance is due to the fact that, according to the Indians, this sound is Om. In other words, Om is the core of raga. Here is how T.E. Morozova writes about this: “The sacred Om, as an inexhaustible source (akṣara), was a symbolic key element in the development of Indian… music. It became the prototype of the ‘ever-sounding’ fundamental… tone… the strongest ‘point of attraction’… the ‘sound epicenter’… in the rāgās” [30, p. 59].
(10) This statement is confirmed by H.I. Khan. “When we pay attention to [the sounds of] nature”, Khan notes, “we find that every thing on earth contributes (to these sounds. – A.K.). Trees joyfully wave their branches in rhythm with the wind; the sound of the sea, the murmur of the breeze, the whistling of the wind in the rocks, among the hills and mountains… a thunderclap… [And] insects have their concerts… and bird choirs sing their hymns of praise in unison.… Indian music is based on the principle of raga, which makes it similar to nature (because. – A.K.) ragas (are part of. – A.K.) nature songs (italics are mine. – A.K.)” [15, pp. 100, 102].
(11) As E.V. Vasilchenko notes, in the East “music itself is something secondary to sound” [43, p. 11].
(12) The first mentions of angel-likesinging in Russia are found in Metropolitan Hilarion’s “The Word of Law and Grace” (11 century), in Kirill Turovsky’s “The Word” (12 century), later in Joseph Volotsky’s “Enlightener” of the 15th – 16th centuries and others.
(13) The basis of Russian chanting is the Russian folk song. We can say that Russian chanting was born from the Russian folk song [18, p. 63].
(14) Believers were deeply affected by his loss. There are many testimonies to this. Here is one. In the “Report on a Trip to Smolensk to See Metropolitan Simeon for ‘Great Spiritual Affairs’” by Ignatius, Archimandrite of the Novospassky Monastery, and Karion Istomin, a printer, poet, and educator, it is stated: “And the bishop said: … ‘And which verses are added in the liturgy before the Cherubic Hymn, and after the kynonik, and they are sung for the sake of wasting time, because the verses are short, and after singing they stand idle, and people are bored standing without singing’” [32, p. 160].
(15) The composer’s desire to create works for the church was inspired by his conversations with St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). The article “The Christian shepherd and the Christian-artist” [13] became a kind of monument to the communication between two great people.
(16) The liturgical music of these composers has been called the “New Direction of Russian Sacred Music”. The term was proposed by S.A. Rachinsky in his article “Folk Art and Rural School”, which dealt with the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by P.I. Tchaikovsky (1878) [36, p. 357].
(17) Do these images of Ezekiel not evoke the mystery of the Russian spiritual poem “The Dove/Deep Book” (15th – 16th centuries)?
(18) Not everyone was pleased with this. I.A. Gardner expressed his negative opinion about this trend [6, p. 495].
(19) Yes, Russian music was born in the church. And, most likely, in the works of composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who received the appropriate impetus from Mikhail Glinka. At the same time, it should be noted that since Glinka’s time, composers who wrote music for the church have incorporated the vibrations and breath of this music into their secular compositions. This was done by Glinka, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov… Here, for example, is what V.V. Medushevsky writes about S.V. Rakhmaninov’s “Vocalise”: “In the tender lament of repentant love… The vocalise… (on. – A.K.) the melodies’ descents are answered by ascents, and in the coda, the broken lament is illuminated by a counterpoint that leads to the heavenly world, according to the promise (cf. Matthew 11:28)… Here… is the essential beginning of the music of the Orthodox civilization… The Heaven accompanies the soul, and the soul listens to the encouragement of the Heaven…” [28, pp. 352-353].(20) This is the understanding of music that Russian thinkers and philosophers, starting with Nil Sorsky to N.O. Lossky, I.I. Lapshin, E.N. Trubetskoy, P.A. Florensky and others, have expressed in their works. See the article: [17]. Translated by: Klujev A. Russian philosophers about music: 1) Proceedings of the International Science Conference “Science. Education. Practice” (May 5, 2023). Delhi, 2023, pp. 40-46; 2) [El.] Ethicsacademy.co.in. 2023. 24.07; 3) [El.] Homo Universalis. 2025. 25.04; 4) [El.] Sindh Courier. 2025. 27.04; 5) [El.] Polis Magazino. 2025. 14.05.
