SISTER BEATRICE IN BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS AND RUSSIA 20TH–21ST CENTURIES

Abstract

The article aims to trace the ways of transfer of the medieval Dutch story about Sister Beatrice (Beatrijs) into Russia and its reception by Russian culture in the 20th–21st centuries. To do this, the plot of the Legend about Beatrice (manuscript 14th century) is briefly outlined and three of the most outstanding works by Dutch and Belgian authors based on the same plot, are described. The story of Beatrijs reached Russia thanks to the play of Maeterlinck, a cult playwright among Russian symbolists. In 1906–1908, the performance of the Komissarzhevskaya Theater “Sister Beatrice” staged by V. E. Meyerhold was a huge success. This performance inspired at least three Russian composers to create operas based on this Western European story. The creation of Roerich’s masterpiece “In the Monastery’ (1914), which embodied his synesthetic experiences, is connected with the musical interpretation of the theme of Beatrice.