A STIMULATING FACTOR OR AN ARTIFICIAL SELECTION: THE SCHOLARSHIPS AT THE MOSCOW CONSERVATORY BEFORE 1917

Abstract

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of scholarships at the Moscow Conservatory before 1917. Scholarships in the period were considered as a kind of grant that allowed talented low-income young people to get a decent education in this famous institution. On the basis of materials from the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the article analyzes in detail the conditions and procedure for assigning the scholarships. For example, there is found a difference in the purposes of philanthropists, which influenced the conditions for allocation of the scholarship funds. The founders of the scholarships are divided into two groups: public organizations (Moscow Branch of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (IRMO, RMO), Moscow City Administration, Empress Maria’s Department) and individuals (usually large patrons). Each group had its own characteristics in the selection of scholars. The scholarships were assigned solely on the criteria of talent and zeal. Thus, many individual scholarship founders had their own goals (to perpetuate the memory of their loved ones or provide education to their descendants). Among the restrictions (conditions) put forward by them for future scholars, there were the following: specialty, gender, social origin, place of birth, religion. Deprivation of scholarship was subordinated to more objective criteria: mainly taken into account the negligence of the scholar or their noncompliance with learning standards. The procedure of scholarship deprivation was not clearly spelled out in legal terms, but in most cases it was decided by the Artistic Council or personally by the Director of the Conservatory. In conclusion, the article puts forward the idea of updating the motivating role of scholarships in the modern Russian education.