Tomsk branch of the Imperial Russian Musical society as a sociocultural phenomenon Siberia late XIX - early XX centuries

The article considers the Tomsk Branch of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (TB IRMS) as a socio-cultural phenomenon in the entire Asian part of Russia in the last quarter of the 19 - early 20 centuries. The author identifies objective and subjective reasons for the successful activity of the TB IRMS. In this period of history Branches of IRMS were opened at many points in the area from the Urals to the Pacific: in Nerchinsk (1874/75), Omsk (1876), Tobolsk (1878), Tomsk (1879), Irkutsk (1901) and Vladivostok (1909). However, already by 1917 the Branches in Irkutsk and Nerchinsk had no longer existed, their activities stopped for different reasons. On this background, what explains the "viability" and especial success of the IRMS Tomsk Branch? In our view, this is accounted for by the presence of the three indispensable factors (elements): the individual enthusiast (idea carrier), society's willingness to accept this idea (i.e., the degree to which the society needs this idea), and, finally, the financial resources to implement this idea (or the given plan). It is this triad - "an individual, a carrier of the idea - the social environment with its spiritual needs - the availability of material resources for the implementation of the idea" that is the key to the success of each endeavor. In our case this endeavor was the establishment of the IRMS Branch. If at least one of these components is missing, the whole structure collapses which in the best case leads to the "tipping point" and in the worst case - to the point of no return (as it happened with the Nerchinsk and Irkutsk Branches of the IRMS). The article examines the impact of all these factors on the establishment and activities of the IRMS Branches in the cities of Siberia and the Russian Far East, such as Omsk, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, Vladivostok. Tomsk, as the first University city of Siberia, was lucky. Here, all the three components of the "triad" had combined in a "puzzle" by 1879. And the Tomsk Branch of the IRMS developed actively, opening in 1893 Classes of Music which were later transformed into a Musical College. In 2012 it celebrated its centenary (like many other musical colleges in the European part of Russia). After the IRMS, the "engendering of the Tsarism", was dissolved in 1917, its educational element proved to be rather viable. A bright example of this is the School of Music in Tomsk which had been opened before the revolution and continued to develop throughout the 20 century, earning a reputation of the most professional school in the cultural space not only of the city, but of the whole Siberian region.

Keywords

Authors

References