Giving Voice to a Nation: Choral Music and Russian Identity in St. Petersburg, 1861-1913

Abstract

This project examines the cultural practices surrounding choral singing and composition in St. Petersburg between 1861 and 1913, when boundaries of social classes realigned. Because people from a range of social classes experienced choral music, this repertoire and its practices played a vital role in the construction of identity during the second half of the nineteenth century. Despite the central socio-cultural role played by this repertoire, it has yet to be investigated as a source of cultural significance. This study contributes to three major areas of scholarship. First of all, advancing knowledge about lesser-known musical figures, unfamiliar choral repertoire, and the reception of choral music from late nineteenth-century Russia informs not only our portrayal of the choral scene in Russia, but also the international landscape of choral music. Secondly, by investigating musical networks thus far overlooked as participants in the construction of the musical scene in St. Petersburg, this document provides evidence about the people active in music making, both professional and amateur. Lastly, these observations expand on the current, still limited definition of Russian nationalism during the nineteenth century, as well as complement the importance of music as a social and ethnic identifier. Investigating choral institutions based in St. Petersburg between 1861 and 1913 as settings of identity negotiation reveals the complexity of defining Russianness within the fluctuating social classes and, likewise, how choral music shaped the emerging concepts of nation, state, and culture.