The Musical Legacy of Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya, Investigating Her Compositions and Influence in The Early 19th Century

Year 2025, Issue: 2, 1 - 22, 01.09.2025

Stacy Jarvis

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16920219

Abstract

This article examines the creative legacy of Zinaida Alexandrovna Volkonskaya (1789-1862), a distinguished figure in early 19th-century Russian culture, known as a singer, composer, and literary patroness. Despite her significant impact on the cultural milieu, scholarly attention to her musical contributions have been limited and often overshadowed by her literary and musical associations with eminent contemporaries. This study aims to address this oversight by conducting a detailed analysis of Volkonskaya’s compositions, particularly her romances, to explore her unique musical language. This study assesses the stylistic influences that shaped her oeuvre, emphasizing the synthesis of French and Italian musical elements within the development of a Russian identity. Utilizing archival materials, this study illuminates her multifaceted role as a cultural intermediary who bridges Russian and European artistic traditions. The findings of this research position Volkonskaya as a pivotal figure in the evolution of Russian music, highlighting her transitional style, which anticipated later developments in the field. By providing a comprehensive musical evaluation of her works, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of her influence on the Russian musical heritage.

Keywords

Zinaida Volkonskaya , salon music , 19th century , romance.

Музыкальное наследие княгини Зинаиды Волконской: исследование её композиций и влияния в начале XIX века

Abstract

В данной статье рассматривается творческое наследие Зинаиды Александровны Волконской (1789–1862) — выдающейся фигуры русской культуры начала XIX века, известной как певица, композитор и покровительница литературы. Несмотря на её значительное влияние на культурную среду, научное внимание к её музыкальному вкладу было ограниченным и часто затмевалось литературными и музыкальными связями с именитыми современниками.Настоящее исследование призвано восполнить этот пробел посредством детального анализа композиций Волконской, в частности её романсов, с целью выявления её уникального музыкального языка. В работе оцениваются стилистические влияния, сформировавшие её творчество, с акцентом на синтез французских и итальянских музыкальных элементов в контексте формирования русской идентичности. Используя архивные материалы, исследование раскрывает многогранную роль Волконской как культурного посредника, соединяющего русские и европейские художественные традиции. Результаты исследования позволяют рассматривать Волконскую как ключевую фигуру в развитии русской музыки, подчёркивая её переходный стиль, предвосхитивший дальнейшие тенденции в этой области. Предоставляя всестороннюю музыкальную оценку её произведений, работа способствует более глубокому пониманию её влияния на русское музыкальное наследие.

Keywords

Зинаида Волконская , салонная музыка , XIX век , романс.

Prenses Zinaida Volkonskaya’nın Müzikal Mirası: 19. Yüzyılın Başlarında Besteleri ve Etkisi Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Bu makale, şarkıcı, besteci ve edebiyat hamisi olarak tanınan, 19. yüzyılın başlarındaki Rus kültürünün seçkin bir figürü olan Zinaida Aleksandrovna Volkonskaya’nın (1789–1862) yaratıcı mirasını incelemektedir. Kültürel ortam üzerindeki önemli etkisine rağmen, onun müzikal katkılarına yönelik akademik ilgi sınırlı kalmış ve çoğu zaman dönemin ünlü çağdaşlarıyla olan edebî ve müzikal ilişkilerinin gölgesinde kalmıştır.
Bu çalışma, özellikle romansları olmak üzere Volkonskaya’nın bestelerinin ayrıntılı bir analizini yaparak, onun kendine özgü müzikal dilini keşfetmeyi amaçlamakta ve bu konudaki eksikliği gidermeye çalışmaktadır. Araştırma, eserlerini biçimlendiren üslup etkilerini değerlendirerek, Fransız ve İtalyan müzik unsurlarının Rus kimliği gelişimi içinde sentezini vurgulamaktadır. Arşiv materyallerinden yararlanan bu çalışma, Volkonskaya’nın Rus ve Avrupa sanat geleneklerini birleştiren çok yönlü bir kültürel aracı rolünü ortaya koymaktadır.
Araştırmanın bulguları, Volkonskaya’yı Rus müziğinin evriminde kilit bir figür olarak konumlandırmakta ve onun, alandaki sonraki gelişmeleri önceden haber veren geçiş üslubunu öne çıkarmaktadır. Onun eserlerinin kapsamlı bir müzikal değerlendirmesini sunarak, Rus müzik mirası üzerindeki etkisinin daha derinlemesine anlaşılmasına katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

Zinaida Volkonskaya , Salon müziği , 19. yüzyıl , Romans.

References

• Arapov, P. (1861). The chronicle of the history of the Russian theatre. Nicolas Thieblin and Co. Typography.
• Arutyunova, B. (2017). A life in letters, Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya and her correspondents. Russkaya Kultura.
• Belozerskaia, N. (1868). Princess Z. A. Volkonskaya. Sbornik Russkogo Istoricheskogo Obshchestva, 3, 314–315.
• Belozerskaia, N. (1897). Princess Z. A. Volkonskaya. Sbornik Russkogo Istoricheskogo Obshchestva, 67, 952.
• Brower, J., & Tick, J. M. (Eds.). (1987). Women making music, The Western art tradition, 1150–1950. University of Illinois Press. Carew, D. (2001). The consumption of music. In J. Samson (Ed.), The Cambridge history of nineteenth-century music (pp. 237–258). Cambridge University Press.
• DjeDje, J. C., & Koskoff, E. (1989). Women and music in cross-cultural perspective. Ethnomusicology, 33(3), 514.
• Fairweather, M. (1999). The pilgrim princess, A life of Princess Zinaida Volkonsky. Constable.
• Fridkin, V. (1991). Pushkin’s missing diary. Znanie.
• Glinka, M. (1963). Memoirs (R. B. Mudge, Trans.). University of Oklahoma Press.
• Golitsyn, N. (1889). Bibliographic dictionary of Russian women writers. Balashev’s Typography.
• Green, L. (1997). Music, gender, education. Cambridge University Press.
• Hammarberg, G. (1996). Creative license. In H. Goscilo & B. Holmgren (Eds.), Russia. Women. Culture (pp. 295–321). Indiana University Press.
• Harris, M. (1916). Volkonskaya and her time. Nekrassov Typography.
• Holsinger, B. (2001). Music, body, and desire in medieval culture, Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer. Stanford University Press.
• Kantarovich, I. (1996). ‘The most gentle sound of Moscow…’, Salon of Zinaida Volkonskaya. New Literary Review, 20, 177–219.
• Keeton, A. E. (1909). Russian music. In E. Singleton (Ed. & Trans.), Russia, as seen and described by famous writers (pp. 195–200). Dodd, Mead and Company.
• Kelly, C. (2001). Refining Russia, Advice literature, polite culture, and gender from Catherine to Yeltsin. University of Oxford.
• Koskoff, E. (2014). A feminist ethnomusicology, Writings on music and gender. University of Illinois Press.
• Lotman, J. (1987). The creation of Karamzin. Kniga.
• Lotman, J. (2009). Culture and explosion (M. Grishakova, Ed.; W. Clark, Trans.). Mouton de Gruyter. Mannherz, J. (2017). Nationalism, imperialism and cosmopolitanism in Russian nineteenth-century provincial amateur music-making. The Slavonic and East European Review, 95(2), 293–319.
• Mazur-Park, F. C. (2023, February). The liberation of women composers, Overcoming a history of sexism in the classical music world. Paper presented at the RAW Conference (Women, Art, Freedom), The University of Texas at Dallas.
• McClary, S. (1991). Feminine endings, Music, gender, and sexuality. University of Minnesota Press. Morozov, M. (2020). The new materials to the biography of Iosif Genishta, To the 225th birth anniversary. Music Academy, 3, 78–95.
• Muravyev, A. (1871). Familiarisation with Russian poets. Typography of I. and A. Davidenko.
• Muzalevsky, V. (1961). Russian piano art. Gosudarstvennoye Muzykalnoye Izdatelstvo.
• Ogarkova, N. (2020). The music salon in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Vestnik of the Saint Petersburg State University, 10(1), 17–40.
• Pushkin, A. (1928). Letters (B. Modzalevskiy, Ed.). Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel’stvo.
• Rycenga, J. (1994). Lesbian compositional process, One lover-composer’s perspective. In R. A. Solie (Ed.), Queering the pitch, The new gay and lesbian musicology (pp. 275–296). Routledge.
• Stendhal, H. (1993). Correspondence (1800–1842) (Vol. 5). Le Divan.
• Seaman, G. (1966). The rise of Russian piano music. The Music Review, 27, 177–193.
• Thames, J. (1981). John Field, the nearly forgotten Irishman. The American Music Teacher, 31(1), 34–37.
• Venevitinov, D. (1934). The complete works (B. Smirensky, Ed.). Academia.
• Vyazemsky, P. (1882). Complete works of Prince P. A. Vyazemsky (Vol. 7). Edition by Count S. D. Shermetev.
• Vyazemsky, P. (1899). Correspondence of Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky with Alexander Turgenev, 1824–1836 (Vol. 2). Prince Vyazemsky Archive.
• Vyazemsky, P. (1936). Letters of Vyazemsky to his wife (1830–1838). Nauka.
• Vyazemsky, P. (1963). Notes (1813–1848). Nauka.
• Wolkonsky, S. (1918). Archive of the Decembrist S. G. Wolkonsky. Ogni. Zhikharev, V. (2012). Dmitry Venevitinov and Mignato Ricci. In E. Belozertsev & Y. Borsyakov (Eds.), Dmitri Venevitinov, Personality and creativity in the context of Russian culture of the 19th–20th centuries (pp. 162–169). Voronezh State Pedagogical University Press.