Concerning the playwriting of A. M. Remizov. The Drama of St. George the Brave

The article traces the history of the first publication of the play The Drama of St. George the Brave, drawing on the writer’s correspondence with V. Ya. Bryusov, R. V. Ivanov-Razumnik and E. A. Znosko-Borovsky, analyzes its sources and outlines the efforts of the composer V. A. Senilov to compose the opera of the same name. The Drama of St. George the Brave is based on the apocryphal tales of the torment of St. George and of St. George and the Dragon (Serpent), that were also reflected in the Russian spiritual poems. Specific examples show that the sources were not limited to the works cited by the writer in his notes to the play. In his work, Remizov used the following sources: Arkhangelsk Epics and Historical Songs Collected by A. D. Grigoriev, N. E. Onchukov’s book Pechora Epics, various editions of the Songs Collected by P. V. Kireevsky, etc. The visual source for The Drama of St. George the Brave was the icon with the stamps The Life of St. George, mentioned by Remizov in a letter to I. A. Ryazanovsky.