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Governing the Moscow Conservatory, 1889-1905

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Governing the Moscow Conservatory, 1889-1905 Governing the Moscow Conservatory, 1889-1905 Mikhail Mazin, Department of Music Research McGill University, Montreal August 2020 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Mikhail Mazin, 2020 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Résumé ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Literature review ........................................................................................................................ 10 Thesis structure .......................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1 - The origins: System and management style of Nikolai Rubinstein............................ 13 Nikolai Rubinstein – the founder of the Moscow Conservatory ............................................... 13 First years of operation .............................................................................................................. 14 Growth problems ....................................................................................................................... 20 Finances, 1869-1872 .............................................................................................................. 20 The new charter, 1873-1878................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2 - Sergei Taneyev, Director, 1885-1889......................................................................... 25 Taneyev’s biography and personality ........................................................................................ 25 Taneyev the director .................................................................................................................. 28 Taneyev’s management style ................................................................................................. 34 Rubinstein’s successor ............................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 - Safonov’s appointment ............................................................................................... 38 Safonov’s biography and the contemporaries’ opinions about him........................................... 39 First steps as director and three indications of Safonov’s succession to previous directors...... 42 Prerequisites for the conflicts .................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 4 - The “Conus affair” in 1899-1900 Moscow ................................................................ 52 Three phases of the “Conus affair” ............................................................................................ 54 Premises ................................................................................................................................. 54 RMO and the Conservatory phase ......................................................................................... 56 Public phase............................................................................................................................ 60 The Legal Trial ....................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 5 - The intensification of authoritarian practices after the “Conus affair” ...................... 66 Safonov’s legislative activities .................................................................................................. 69 Administrative activities ............................................................................................................ 70 Silencing opponents ............................................................................................................... 71 Psychological tactics .............................................................................................................. 72 Using connections in high circles........................................................................................... 73 Professors’ loyalty and opposition ............................................................................................. 74 Being a student in Safonov’s Conservatory ............................................................................... 79 2 Similarities between Safonov and Rubinstein ........................................................................... 86 Chapter 6 – The 1905 Revolution and Safonov’s long-term impact in Moscow, Russia and beyond ........................................................................................................................................... 89 The 1905 Revolution within the walls of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories ....... 90 The premises for different reactions .......................................................................................... 96 Legislative activities of Safonov and Anton Rubinstein ........................................................ 96 “Black knights” and “White knights” .................................................................................. 100 Safonov’s hybrid regime and “sleeping institutions” ........................................................... 104 Consequences: the impact on artistic biographies of Safonov and Taneyev and the institutions ................................................................................................................................................. 109 Safonov’s impact on music education traditions.................................................................. 112 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 116 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 120 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................. 135 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................. 144 3 Abstract Understanding the genesis of power in music institutions is pivotal for understanding their further evolution. This study of the management practices in the fin-de-siècle Moscow Conservatory analyzes explosive institutional politics that brought about its modernization under the directorship of Vasily Safonov (1852-1918). He tried to replace the collegial management style of his predecessors with a one-man dictatorship in the Conservatory by using and manipulating his powerful connections in the upper classes, silencing opponents within the Conservatory walls, and attempting to change its charter. Applying political and social science methods and the tools of institutional analysis, the paper examines primary sources, charter drafts, memoirs, diaries, and correspondence and argues that the governing system Safonov established at the Moscow Conservatory was neither a collegiate, nor an authoritarian, but a hybrid regime. The support for this statement comes from a comparative analysis of managerial practices at the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories as seen in their respective reactions to the 1905 Russian revolution. This thesis contributes fresh angles to recent studies on the Moscow Conservatory’s development, hierarchy in music education, and the nineteenth century European conservatories’ structure. 4 Résumé Comprendre la genèse du pouvoir dans les institutions musicales est essentiel pour comprendre leur évolution. Cette étude des pratiques de gestion du Conservatoire de Moscou fin- de-siècle analyse la politique institutionnelle explosive qui a conduit à sa modernisation sous la direction de Vasily Safonov (1852-1918). Il a essayé de remplacer le style de gestion collégiale de ses prédécesseurs par une dictature d'un seul homme au Conservatoire en utilisant et en manipulant ses puissants liaisions dans les classes supérieures, en faisant taire les opposants dans les murs du Conservatoire et en essayant de changer sa charte. En appliquant les méthodes des sciences politiques et sociales et les outils d'analyse institutionnelle, la thèse examine les sources primaires, les projets de la charte, les mémoires, les journaux et la correspondance et soutient que le système de gestion que Safonov a établi au Conservatoire de Moscou n'était ni un régime collégial, ni un autoritaire, mais un régime hybride. Le soutien de cette affirmation provient d'une analyse comparative des pratiques managériales des conservatoires de Moscou et de Saint-Pétersbourg, comme ils se sont réfléchi dans leurs réactions respectives à la révolution russe de 1905. Cette thèse introduit des nouveaux perspectives aux études récentes sur le développement du Conservatoire de Moscou, la hiérarchie de l’éducation musicale et la structure des conservatoires européens du XIXe siècle. 5 Acknowledgements
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