Music and Time Annotation << Back Ethical and Aesthetic Principles of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in Studies of Russian Musicologists (Based of the Libretto of Opera-bylina «Sadko») G.R. Konson The relevance of the study and its scientific novelty is characterized in that it attempts to analyze the extremely popular topic of Russian culture – opera Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s «Sadko» – from the standpoint of a new vision of the famous scientific and historical materials. The hypothesis of the study is in the interpretation of the myth of «Sadko» as a true national history. The object of the study was the structural and meaningful basis for the libretto Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s «Sadko», the subject of the study – the concept of the libretto. The purpose of research – revealing ethical and aesthetic principles of Nikolai A. Rimsky- Korsakov based of the analysis of the libretto of «Sadko» for that consider specific topics in its libretto. The research methodology used methods of historical, moral and aesthetic, comparative analysis types. The material of research – scientific texts of Russian scholars of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Viktor A. Zuckerman, Marina P. Rakhmanova, Alexey I. Kandinsky and also folkloric sources. Keywords: Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the ethical and aesthetic position, the opera «Sadko», the libretto, Veliky Novgorod, the Christianity and paganism, the theme and image of the people, the programness and the fantastic tales, Viktor A. Zuckerman, Marina P. Rakhmanova, Alexey I. Kandinsky. Contacts: E-mail: gkonson@yandex.ru Pp. 50-55.