Musical instruments of the Yusupov princes: On the history of existence

Abstract

Princes Yusupov — Nikolai Borisovich Sr. (1750–1831), his son Boris Nikolaevich (1794– 1849) and grandson Nikolai Borisovich Jr. (1827–1891) entered the original page in the history of Russian musical culture. However, the most effective in this activity was N.B.Yusupov, Jr. From his famous grandfather, he inherited not only the talent of a musician, but also a collector. In particular, he collected a unique collection for the country of stringed bow instruments of the violin family of famous Italian masters of the XVII–XVIII centuries, which before the October revolution was exhibited in the music room of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika River. The fate of the collection was dramatic. Its history has not been studied. For example, we still do not have an accurate knowledge not only of the actual composition of the collection, but also of where the absolute majority of its tools found their home. Some authors briefly mention that the collection went to the Museum of musical instruments in Leningrad, others — to the State collection of unique instruments in Moscow. This article examines the collection’s complicated history from the period of its dispersion, which began in 1919 and the early 1920s. According to the study of documents and literature, we note that today we know the fate of 29 instruments from the Yusupov collection (we are talking not only about violins, but also other instruments): two violins are stored in the State collection of unique stringed bowed instruments, 17 instruments — in the Sheremetev Palace — Museum of Music, 10 — in the Hermitage.