The Presidential Library’s virtual tour presents two centuries of Russian music

Today one has an opportunity to learn more about the national musical culture thanks to a virtual tour of the exhibition The History of the Philharmona in the Collections of the Music Library. Making the 100th anniversary of the D. D. Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia, available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The virtual tour is based on the exhibition of the same name, which was held at the Presidential Library in 2021. The exposition was dedicated to two memorable dates at once, which were celebrated two years ago: the first philharmonic society in our country (at that time Petrograd) was established on May 13, 1921. On June 12 of the same year the first concert took place.

The Philharmonia traces its history back to 1882 - from the formation of the Court Orchestra (now - the honored ensemble of Russia). At the same time, the formation of a music depository began, which later became the basis of the modern collections of the Philharmonic Music Library.

Through the prism of this collection, which involves rare and valuable materials, one can see two centuries of Russian music - from the appearance of the first musical societies in Russia and the opening of the hall of the Noble Assembly to the present day.

The interactive exposition on the Presidential Library’s portal features copies of musical publications that belonged to Emperor Alexander III, a collection of materials from the orchestra of Count A. D. Sheremetev, the personal library of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, organizer and first chairman of the Russian Musical Society (1859). Many of these editions are exquisitely designed by such eminent masters as, for example, Ivan Bilibin. It is impossible not to mention the rarities of the 17th-18th centuries - opera scores by the court composer Louis XIV J.-B. Lully, claviers and scores by W. Mozart and J.-J. Rousseau.

For the past hundred years, the Music Library has been collecting documentary evidence of the Philharmonia's extensive activities: programs and posters of concerts, photographs of performers, clippings from periodicals, materials from tours, etc. A special group consists of special library materials that have accumulated in the collection since the time of the Court Orchestra: concert records, handwritten documents of the creative and economic activities of the library, handwritten catalogs and library cards - what can be called cultural memory.

The valuable collection of the Music Library opens up endless spaces for thoughtful research into Russian musical culture. Thus the development the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia plays an outstanding role.

Virtual projects are an actively developing area of the Presidential Library’s activity, thanks to which the collections of the electronic storage, along with paper, photo, audio and video materials, is entered with exhibits of exhibitions, items from museum holdings.

Today, more than forty virtual tours and excursions are available for remote visits. They are available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the Exhibitions section at the link https://www.prlib.ru/about_exhibition.