Musical Alma Mater

The Moscow Conservatory, alma mater of numerous Russian and non-Russian musicians, composers and soloists, was officially opened September 1, 1866.

The creation of the Conservatory was the lifetime dream of its founder — the pianist, composer, conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Rubinshtein (1835-1881). Rubinshtein approached this ambitious project gradually, first setting up in Moscow a department of the Russian Music Society and then in 1863 beginning musical classes there.

Rubinshtein was clearly inspired by the example of his elder brother Anton (1829-1894) — a brilliant pianist whose concerts in Europe and America earned him world-wide fame. He also wrote 15 operas, of which Demon is the most well known.

In 1858 he organized music classes in St. Petersburg, and in 1859 set up the Russian Music Society . Three years later, his tenacity and efforts bore fruit with the opening of Russia’s first conservatory in the city, with a staff of first-class professors, some of whom were invited from abroad.

From the very beginning, the Moscow Conservatory gained world recognition for the seriousness of its approach to musical education. Both foreign and Russian musicians taught there. Nikolai Rubinshtein himself, as well as being its first director, also taught piano classes, while continuing to conduct in his spare time.

The list of the Conservatory’s first pedagogues includes some truly distinguished names, of which the most outstanding is surely  the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Initially, the lengths of courses varied, with singers studying for 5 years and musicians for 6 years. As of 1879, these increased to 7 years and to 9 for violinists, pianists and cellists.

Graduates from the senior department received the title of ‘free artist.’ During the first years of its existence, the conservatory was plagued by financial and organizational problems. Thus, students had to pay 100 rubles for their education, in those days a great deal of money.

As the conservatory developed, the number of students grew from 200 in 1870 to 849 in 1917.

The result was overcrowding — students were packed like sardines in the tiny building leased by the Conservatory on Vozdvizhenka street. Therefore, in 1871 it moved to its current home, a spacious mansion on Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, which then belonged to Prince Vorontsov.

The Moscow conservatory has undergone many structural and organizational changes over the past 130 years. Today it is considered the treasury of Russian musical culture. Hundreds of students study at its six faculties — piano, vocal, orchestral, composition and theory, a special faculty for upgrading of qualifications, and military conducting (opened in 1960).

The conservatory works closely with special secondary musical schools and the Central Children’s Music School. It also has a special rehearsal studio for vocalists and conductors.

Many visitors to Moscow — whether from the Russian provinces or from abroad — take pleasure in seeing its majestic building or attending concerts there. Indeed, the tiny square at its front makes for one of Moscow’s most pleasant sights, circled by cast-iron railings and dominated by the pensive figure of Tchaikovsky in the middle (sculpted by Vera Mukhina in 1954). The keen observer can make out the musical notes cast in the railings. They come from the famous opus Glory to the Russian People from the Mikhail Glinka opera Ivan Susanin.

— Valentina Kolesnikova