Russian musical “Petersburgiana”: a historical journey

Abstract

The article considers one of the most important topics of Russian discourse - the issue of St.Petersburg, particularly the understanding of the phenomenon of Petersburg in the works of composers. The purpose of the research is to trace back the process of formation of Russian musical “Petersburgiana”. The main task is to reconstruct segmentary materials related to the aspects of manifestation of Petersburg in the works of Russian composers. The research methods are determined by the interdisciplinary nature which synthesizes the approaches of comparative history, culturology, and music theory. As the key works, the author chooses the works related to the “Petersburg text”, particularly the work by V.Toporov who was the first to introduce this term into the literature studies. It serves as a basis for the understanding of the phenomenon of Petersburg in other forms of art. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that it is the first to study the evolution of Russian musical “Petersburgiana”, which started in the 18th century and during its 300-year history produced more than 800 opuses. The author outlines the key topics and images of Petersburg embodiment using the examples of the works of the composers of the 18th - 21st centuries, organized according to their genre and chronologically. These materials are the result of the research work; they outline promising concepts and aspects for the further comprehensive analysis of Petersburg in Russian music culture in terms of the works of its creators.