The Guitar of the Czars

      This is a revision of an article of mine published in the Italian bimonthly "Seicorde" [ Note 1 ], a guitar magazine that ended its life in 1995. To my knowledge it was the first article about this subject published in the Italian language (after the most significant article by Matanya Ophee in a concurrent magazine, which was published some 7 years before mine [ Note 2 ]). I was induced to republish it in English not only to make it available to a wider audience, but also because for editorial purposes part of the original text and all the end notes were cut in the first publication, so I could not give due credit to my references. But it was my first published article, so I was glad for it to appear anyhow. Some years later I noticed also that some of the information contained therein was not completely exact.
      I decided to leave the text in a form close to its first version, cutting only the interviews with the Russian guitarist M. Goldort and Italian Professor P. Bonaguri, these now having become dated. I preferred to replace almost all the accompanying images with new ones that I have discovered in the following years.

      Since the collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989, the countries of eastern European have exploded in a painful big-bang that has changed the geography of Europe and Asia drastically. The new Russia was born, now being part of the Community of Independent States (CIS) that replaces the former USSR. The guitar fraternity in Russia has been living for more than 70 years in total isolation, prevented from being in touch with the West. The presence of many types of the instrument that we call "guitar" has been a constant one in Russian music life in all periods, having very old origins. But only recently has this guitar world started opening to western Europe, and we still know far too little about Russian composers for guitar and Russian guitarists.

      The guitar was not the only known plucked instrument in Russia; two other instruments at least are worthy of mention: the domra and the balalaika. The domra is nowadays known in two variants with three or four metallic strings and in different sizes. It has a triangular shape, is tuned by fourths, and is played by means of a plectrum. It is the most ancient plucked instrument, having been imported by the Mongols during the 13th century. Its tremolo is similar to the one of the Neapolitan mandolin and its range is large, due to its having 16 frets up to the junction of the neck. It is now employed both as a solo instrument and in an orchestra, together with the balalaika .
      The balalaika has a peculiar triangular shape and three strings, among which two are tuned in unison and the other a fourth up. It appeared first during the 17th century. It was able to oust the domra in popularity, thanks to the preference of the Czars. It is played both by fingers and with the plectrum; from the last years of the Nineteenth Century it has existed in different sizes which cover all the frequency spectrum of the orchestra. [ Note 3 ]

      The guitar appeared in Russia during the 18th century, in a society far behind the European one in development. However, at the first half of the 19th century it was already known as a national instrument: the Russian guitar. Its own peculiarities were the tuning by thirds on the notes of the G scale, and having seven strings. It is known by the tender-sounding name of "semistrunaia" (a composite noun made from "sem' " = seven and "struny" = strings). Its popularity grew among the people of all ranks, both middle and upper class, as described by many Russian poets and writers.
      There are also many variants of this main type, in number of strings and dimensions. By studying the surviving photos of Russian guitarists of the last century, re-published in the volume Guitar in Russia and USSR (see photo), we see that the guitar with 7 strings on the neck and 4 strings outside of the neck was very popular. The famous photograph of Valerian Rusanov, one of the first Russian guitar historians, with his 11-string guitar is significant in this respect [ Note 4 ]. This instrument shared favor with the six string guitar (the so-called "shestistrunaia", from "shest," which means "six" ) tuned as in the West, and many other types.

      It is well known that the prominent composer Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) knew at Villadolid the skillful flamenco guitarist Felix Castilla, who gave him the inspiration for the First Spanish Overture [ Note 8 ]. His interest in the guitar would have been known to Russian guitarists of his epoch: it is not by chance that the patriarch of the seven-string guitar, the Lithuanian Andrei Sychra, transcribed in full for two guitars two of Glinka's greatest operas: A life for the Czar and Ruslan i Ludmila.
      The transcription of folklorist themes is the main feature of the repertory of the Russian guitar.

      After the revolution of 1917 and the events that followed, the closing off to the majority of important western musical experiences instituted by the USSR initiated a critical period in the history of the 6-string guitar, which was already showing a tradition of open sharing with the West. That year, a talented painter by the name of Vladimir Bobritzki (1898-1986) left his Ukrainian birthland forever, as did many other artists from all over Russia. The western world then afforded him Segovia's friendship and a new name: Bobri [ Note 10 ].
      The fact that, regardless of the official position, a large amount of letters was exchanged by Russian virtuosos and western guitarists, is quite valuable. The sporadic recitals in Russia by Andrés Segovia (in 1926 and 1927, then in the season 1935/36), thanks to their glamour, gave an impulse to Soviet guitarists. However, for students studying during the Soviet regime, the only way to study the 6-string guitar at approved institutions was to pass through a method written by a Russian author.
      The 7-string guitarist Piotr Agafoshin (1874-1950), already old at the time of the Revolution, was able to publish the most well-known first Soviet method for the 6-string guitar, after his conversion to the Western instrument. But this happened only in 1934.

      Nowadays the interest for the guitar in Russia is in a renewal phase. The number of festivals, courses and competitions is on the increase in all the Republics. Unluckily the main problems are always the poor availability of scores and the high prices of good guitars. One finds that, in 1993, a guitar for study cost at least 1,000,000 rubles and a discreet concert instrument at least the double, a sum equal to about two years of a medium-level salary [ Note 13 ].
      At the end of the course of study, the opportunities for employment for young musicians are basically in the institutional channels, such as in the Theaters, Philharmonics, etc. Their economic and sometimes their professional status is not very high. In fact, manual work in Russia has traditionally been recognized as greater than and has paid more than intellectual professions. This aspect is particularly keen as regards the guitar, an instrument that has no orchestral function.
      The impression we get from those persons involved in the present guitar life in Russia is one of great excitement. A young Siberian guitarist, Mikhail Goldort, with some appreciable on-the-road experience behind him, gave me his impressions about the Russian guitar world today by normal correspondence, e-mail, and telephone.

      In the former USSR there were about 30 conservatories of music [ Note 14 ].
      The Russian conservatory is a university level school that gives performers, theoreticians, musicologists and future teachers a full professional preparation in five years. The student usually starts at the age of 18 years and receives the diploma at 23. We need to consider that the student who enters a conservatory has already had technical preparation established in the previous 11 years--6 years of primary school and 5 years at a secondary musical school.
      One can enter the conservatory by means of an admittance examination that imposes different kinds of attitudinal tests to evaluate the preparation received at the secondary school. There are batteries of psychological tests that evaluate the capacity of self-control and physiological attitudes, and these are given serious consideration.
      The music courses are unified and centrally controlled by the Education Minister, even if some local differences may be found. Most of the conservatories have a "Central School of Music" where the particularly gifted younger pupils, from the age of 7/8 years, receive a musical education integrated with general subjects. The main effort of the Russian Conservatories is always to form competent soloists on the different instruments. On the other hand, some other matters such as the history of music are underdeveloped for lack of institutional funds, though they are considered as important as the other subjects.
      As to teaching, there are three main ranks: professor (the highest), lecturer and assistant. The teachers have to submit themselves to an exam every 5 years, which includes an evaluation from the students. Regarding the internal organization, there is great flexibility, even in availability: the conservatory operates 24 hours a day. Students can always study there. Pupils are also free to attend any course on any subject taught there that interests them.
      A small number of students are admitted to post-diploma courses (called the "aspirantura" ). These are offered in the most of the conservatories and at the prestigious Russian Musical Academy in Moscow, a section of the "Ciaikovsky" Conservatory of Moscow. The student who gets through the two or three-year course receive a degree that is comparable to the American master's degree.
      The classical guitar studio is not regarded as an independent chair in the conservatory, but is included under the responsibilities of the Chair of Popular Instruments and is relatively recent.

End Notes

I wish to thank Dr. Michael Penny, Assoc. Professor of Voice at Union University of Jackson, Tennesse (USA), for his valuable help in assisting me during the phase of translation and reconstruction of this article and Prof. Filippo Michelangeli, director of the magazine Suonare News (and formerly Seicorde) for his permission for the republication and redistribution of the former original Italian article published in his Seicorde.