In 1741 the Russian throne ascended Elizabeth, the 32-year-old daughter
of Peter the Great. According to contemporary accounts, Elizabeth was a
“smart, playful and a very able woman very fond of all things opulent and
orderly.”
After the dark decade-long reign of Anna Ioannovna who surrounded herself
with Germans and was notorious for her ruthless ways, the ascension of
the lively and benign-looking Elizabeth came like a Godsend triggering
a wealth of laudatory chants.
Emperor Peter the Great wanted his daughter to marry France’s King Louis
XV and, for that purpose, had given her excellent education. Elizabeth
was fluent in the French, German, Italian, Swedish and Finnish languages,
was equally good in music and, to top it all, she was a fine dancer too.
Even though she never married the French King, Elizabeth retained lifelong
affection for everything French. She made French a court language
in St. Petersburg, a tradition that became widespread in Russia for a whole
150 years. Emulating the royal French tradition, she turned her court
into one of the most dazzling ones in Europe, never saving on fun and pleasure,
including, of course, music…
Equally in love with modern European music and Russian folk songs, Elizabeth
boasted a beautiful voice, took pleasure in singing Russian songs and even
composed melodies “a-la Russe.”
Elizabeth inherited her strong predilection for choir singing from her
father and just like him, she would often join the choristers adding her
high-pitched voice to their well-measured church incantations.
Always caring about the Royal Choir, the Empress made sure there was always
an influx of fresh new blood there. Under Elizabeth, the singers were a
privileged lot earning good money and enjoying first-class medical service.
The Empress had them dressed in specially designed uniforms and one singer
was even knighted for his long and excellent service. All this added much
to the choir’s performing quality and even though many Russian aristocrats
had fine choirs all their own, none of them came anywhere near their colleagues
singing in the Royal Choir.
By the way, it was right among members of her palace choir that Elizabeth
eventually met her would-be husband, Alexei Rozum, brought in from a specialized
school that supplied new singers for the Royal Choir, apparently impressed
by his wonderful voice and good looks. Granting him the title of
Count Razumovsky, Elizabeth married her beloved in a secret ceremony.
The great Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli was commissioned to build
for Razumovsky a palace on the city’s central Nevsky Avenue. The place
was always alight with music, operas, balls and concerts given by foreign
celebrities.
The Ukrainian bandura and Russian psaltery were a fixture during royal
celebrations along with organs and winds Elizabeth loved so much, above
all the trumpet. A devoted opera-lover, the Empress organized performances
whose lush décor invariably stunned the city’s foreign guests…
Back then the city of St. Petersburg had a resident Italian opera company
that was hugely popular with the local theatergoing public. Besides the
Winter and Summer Palaces, the Italians performed in specially built opera
houses and royal summer residences out of town.
On August 30, 1756, Empress Elizabeth decreed the establishment in St.Petersburg
of a Russian Theater Company. Even though it was a drama theater, music
was very much in there and the actors were good recital artists, singers
and dancers all. It came to be the first professional national repertory
theater in Russia.
It was also during Elizabeth’s reign that Russia got its first Arts Academy,
initiated by leading Russian educator Count Ivan Shuvalov. Besides
painting and sculpting, the students were also taught music there. Among
them was the outstanding 18th century composer Yevstignei Fomin…
By the mid-18th century music was already widely played in the city’s parks
and gardens, above all played by horn orchestras whose sound was very much
reminiscent of an ensemble of modern-day French horns. A mid-18th century
horn player worked really hard because each instrument produced only one
sound. Meaning that playing a chord or a melody involved dozens of instruments.
Each player was supposed to memorize the entire score not to miss his entrance,
which lasted for just a brief moment. Big horn orchestras often comprised
200 and even 300 players, mostly serfs, because no one else would go through
the daily drag of playing one’s part again and again and again, and also
the superhuman emotional strain the musicians went though during each concert…
The horn orchestras existed up until the early 19th century. The tradition
has been lost ever since. There are only two sets of instruments now on
display in a local museum, but it will hardly be possible to reproduce
the sound of such an orchestra again…
During Elizabeth’s reign, there were all kinds of balls and masquerades
happening in Russia, each played to music expressly written for it by court
composers with Minuet and Polonaise being the best loved dances of the
time. Popular dance rhythms seamlessly blended with chamber music that
was a must feature of palace functions and private happenings enjoyed by
Russia’s high and mighty…
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