The article briefly presents the history of the formation of a new direction of Russian science — musical Oriental studies, which was formed in the Soviet period and is acquiring new features in modern Russia. Attention is paid to scientific schools: Moscow, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Far East, the specifics of their research approach to the study of musical cultures of the East. Among the prospects, consolidation with Oriental scientists of all specialties is particularly noted. Keywords: Russian musical Oriental studies, schools of musical Oriental studies, study of Oriental music. Russian musicology has always shown great interest in studying the music of the East, although it has not declared musical Oriental studies as an independent scientific field. From the very beginning, it was of a complex nature and combined special musical branches of knowledge (theory, history of music, ethnomusicology, ethnoorganology), achievements of philology, ethnography, history, and cultural studies, using the methods and approaches developed in these areas. The formation of Russian musical Oriental studies took place within the framework of the tradition established in Russian science to combine "European scholarship with Asian scholarship" [Smilyanskaya, 1991, p.20]. In the West, the study of Eastern cultures is carried out within the framework of ethnomusicology (comparative musicology in Germany, musical ethnography in Poland). Ethnomusicologists are trained there at universities, which provides a close connection with other humanitarian fields, and in Russia — in conservatories, which has its strengths - a higher level of special musical training, and weaknesses - a certain isolation of musical Oriental studies from its other areas-sides. As an independent scientific field, musical Oriental studies began to take shape recently. In particular, in the author's doctoral dissertation [Yunusova, 1995], it was stated as a direction born in Western science. For a long time, musi ... Read more