WHAT DO CHILDREN SING?

Today, in any book or record store you can find a rich selection of audio books, records and special collections of songs designed for the youngest listeners. Unfortunately, most of these products are in Russian, English or Turkish.

Where to find something new?

A salesman in a children's goods store, Taleh Qurbanov, argues that there is, and will be, demand for children's songs, movies and cartoons, just like for baby food, toys or children's games. "It is the kind of product that is always in demand. People ask for music CDs of children's songs, cartoons and movies very often. From children's products we can often offer discs only in Russian, Turkish and English. Azerbaijani products are behind by these parameters. Available films and cartoons, like children's songs, are mostly from the Soviet era. Collections of cartoons or modern Azerbaijani children's songs written in the past are rare. The quality of the goods also leaves much to be desired. Apparently, our children are forgotten as new products come on the shelves rarely. And if they come, then in small quantities and are sold out very quickly," he states.

Parents also complain about the lack of children's songs. They are also dissatisfied with the quality of the new repertoire for kids, which has to be memorized in kindergartens and schools. Vusala Mirzayeva, whose 12-year-old daughter Nigar goes to school and 4-year-old Fidan goes to the kindergarten, says that the teaching of music as part of the school curriculum is at a very low level. In the kindergarten they only learn patriotic songs and the national anthem.

"Previously in the classroom of the school attended by my oldest daughter there was a piano. After the refurbishment, it was taken to the assembly hall, where children are allowed only on significant dates. She remembers all the children's songs she sings from the kindergarten. With my youngest daughter, things are much worse. After moving, I had to change the kindergarten, where children are only taught to sing a march, the national anthem, and a number of patriotic songs. It's good. But in life, there are other areas to which you should draw children's attention. In our childhood, in addition to patriotic songs there were other equally important topics. Today, we are not seeing old Soviet or new children's songs. And in general, little attention is being paid to the spiritual education of children in kindergartens and schools. No children's cartoons and movies are being filmed, and I have not heard new children's songs. Children now swot second-rate songs sung by contemporary singers, while it is more important to memorize and sing songs of their age. Well, there are poems and songs of my age. And we learn them with my daughter. But we should recognize that things have changed since then. It's time to create something new," Vusala Mirzayeva says.

Teaching good music to a child is a complex task that requires a comprehensive approach. The curriculum for the elementary and partially for the middle school provides for music lessons designed not to make a child a musician or a music historian and theoretician, but to raise his cultural level. However, it is clear that this important chain now has its weaknesses.

"In order to become familiar with the school curriculum on the subject Music, you just need to look at the textbook of the 1st or 2nd grades. My daughter is in the second grade of the Azerbaijani sector. At singing lessons they learn new songs, but the lyrics are so difficult for the child's perception that children cannot remember them for a long time. I still remember our children's songs. They were all easy to remember and play, not the songs we have now. As a result, the music lesson, which gave us pleasure before, becomes rote learning of texts. The musical motif, on which poems are placed, does not matter at all. By the way, if the child does not learn the lyrics, he gets a poor. I remember that we memorized the texts of simple songs directly in the classroom and were not required to learn them at home," said Raqsana Quliyeva, the mother of 8-year-old Svetlana.

What do we have today? The role of children's songs in human development cannot be overstated. Today, it is generally underestimated. It is important to give a child a positive outlook. Merry children's songs carry kindness, justice and love for people around them. Through them, the child understands how to behave, how important it is to help and support each other, what behaviour and actions should be avoided and what should be done. They are a major factor in the education of the little man. Singing brings joy and sometimes sadness, and suggests serious thoughts. The little man is learning to draw conclusions. That's why society is obliged to pay a lot of attention to the creation of children's songs.

Audience

Children's songs can be popular - taken from oral folklore. There are also songs that are created by authors and those written for cartoons or movies. They praise honesty, friendship, loyalty, devotion, strength and courage. They orient the child in the adult world and show him what they should and should not be like. Both forms of songs deserve attention, respect, and a caring attitude.

A professor, distinguished writer and author of children's books, Zahid Xalil, argues in an interview with R+ that today the problem is not only about children's songs, but almost about all fields associated with creative work for children.

"With the development of high technology and computerization, the pace and rhythm of life have accelerated, and children are an integral part of that life. We cannot ban children from using computers, playing games, etc. Consequently, we need to adapt to modern realities in our creative work. We need to compose and write so that the child can feel the dynamics he traces in games and cartoons created for a foreign audience. But we must recognize that our children's audience has its own particularities. We need something like that, but our own. And this requires contests. Only through them can we reveal new talents and high quality products for children. Writing for kids is a tricky business. It is not enough to be a poet or a writer. You need to feel the child and the subtlety of his age features. Therefore, you also need to be a teacher. Therefore, writers and poets come to the children's literature after a period of creative work. If the child goes to school, it does not mean that he grew up. He remains a child at school. He needs simple works for children's perception. Poems and texts should contain a plot and an unpretentious joke, because they are primarily intended for special children's thinking," he said. Children's brains are very sensitive, flexible and easily absorb everything that is happening around them, the expert said.

A people's artist, composer, author of more than 500 songs for kids and chairman of the children's department of the Union of Composers of Azerbaijan, Oqtay Zulfuqarov, also noted in conversation with R+ that children's songs are a painful subject for him.

"Children demand a serious and reverent approach. Many do not realize how important the song is. And kids feel each other when they sing. They develop in creative work and form a picture of the world. Moreover, songs cement friendship between children and their parents - they are a bridge of generations. And today the problem is not only the absence of new children's songs. Previously, most songs were written for cartoons and movies. These cartoons were popular. It was enough to write "Cucalarim" - and all of the 250 million people in the country sang, because everyone had watched the cartoon "Nu, pogodi!" many, many times. Today there are no more such cartoons, especially music cartoons, and new ones do not have such a wide audience. Consequently, it is necessary to popularize and make movies, cartoons and write music for them, broadcast good, quality products rather than the cheap stuff with which they are now overflowing."

The ice is broken?

According to Zulfuqarov, music and songs can be either good or bad. "Can we call the song 'The Doll' bad or old just because it was written long ago? It is still relevant. Therefore, the problem is not that the song was written long ago. The problem is how it is written and by whom. We need to find topics, and write and popularize songs that are easily accepted by children."

The expert sees the way out of the situation in the organization of competitions of children's songs as was the case, for example, in the Soviet era when they were held every year and when composers were awarded. Today, these traditions are not supported. However, Zulfuqarov intends to take the lead in this field and organize in September of this year a contest of children's songs, which he will head himself. The composer is confident that as part of this enterprise, the best works written for children will be selected.

As for the creation of songs in animation and children's films, in the Soviet era this business involved the powerful and unique Gorky children's film studio and the Soyuzmultfilm animated films studio. Each, even a small Soviet town definitely had a children's theatre and houses of pioneers where the whole country grew up. A lot of attention was paid to the spiritual education of children. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a niche took shape in this area in all the Soviet republics. Today, experts agree that the situation can be corrected only after children and their moral perception of life become the national idea of the country. The future of the country, where, according to the State Statistics Committee, 29% of the population is younger than 18 years, depends on this. However, only two animated films are produced for this large audience.

"The problem is not only in the children's song. It lurks in all sectors, with which children's music intertwines," says the director of the Azan studio of animated films, Arif Maharramov.

According to him, currently music plays only a supporting role in animation films. "There are no songs as such for animated films. Films are not shot in the quantities in which they were shot before. The field of animated cartoons is going through a hard time. There is not enough staff and funding. It requires a large investment. And it's worth it. After all, we are investing in our future, the future of our children. We also need to advertise domestically produced films on local TV channels. Films can be made, but who needs them, if they are not broadcast and the air is full of foreign cartoons. It's mostly mindless, mechanical cartoons similar to computer games. I'm not saying that they do not have the right to live. But they should not completely monopolize airtime designed for children, they should co-exist in parallel with instructive cartoons, which will contribute to the creation of images and thoughts in the mind of children, will be loved, remembered and carry kind, humane ideas, not aggression and violence," the director said.

Maharramov pleased us with the news about the production of the animated film "The Strongest", designed for children aged 5-7 years, and most importantly, it will also feature a new children's song.

Alas, the problem of children's songs, as well as children's books, animation and cinematography still exists today. Therefore, parents have no other choice but turn to their past in order to protect their children from the negative effects of the music that floods domestic and foreign channels. State agencies, modern poets, composers, filmmakers, animators and TV employees should not remain indifferent to the musical education of future generations. Thus, the issue of children's songs requires an integrated approach. Let us hope that in the near future this issue will find its favourable solution.