Певческие празднества в Российской империи на рубеже XIX–ХХ столетий

Abstract

The article tells about the song celebrations in the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Starting with the Baltic Germans in the late 1850s, the festivities gradually spread to all the western provinces of the country — Estonia, Livonia, Courland, Finland; then they began to settle in Russian territories. The festivities contributed to the rise of the national movement in the regions, and had a beneficial effect on creativity and performance. The first festivity of Russian song took place in Pskov (1911), in subsequent years, song festivities among the Russian population were held in the town of Bela, Sedletskaya Province, (1912) and in Zamoć in the Kholmsk region (1913). A certain algorithm for holding the festivities was worked out: on the first day, sacred music sounded, on the second — secular choral music, on the third day — a competition of groups. The singing festivities were timed to coincide with events of state or provincial importance. Thanks to the singing festivals, various types of arts (music, architecture, theater, literature, music printing) received an impetus for development. Singing festivals enlightened the people, gave the necessary vector to leisure, directing it towards amateur music-making or theatrical activity. The pre-revolutionary tradition, interrupted after 1917, began to actively revive from the 70s of the twentieth century, and it is developing today.