Museum of Music

Categories / Science. Education/Museums
MUSEUM OF MUSIC (34 Fontanka River Embankment) is a branch of the Museum of Theatre and Music Art. The Museum of Music is housed in Sheremetev Palace which was given to the museum in 1990. The history of the palace is closely connected to the history of theatre and music. The Sheremetevs owned the best peasant theatre in Russia. Peasant actress P. I. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova (1769-1803) married N. P. Sheremetev and was created Countess, and made owner of the mansion, where she later died. There was a workshop of violin-maker Ivan Batov (1767-1841) at the palace. The palace also housed a choir. Its director, composer Stepan Degtyarev (1766-1813) was the author of the first ever Russian oratorio. Later the choir and the male choir were directed by G. Y. Lomakin (1811-88). F. Liszt, G. Sontag, P. Viardot-Garcia, and F. I. Chaliapin performed in the palace. In 1994, the first exhibition dedicated to the history of the Sheremetev clan and their role in the history of Russian music culture was opened on the first floor of the palace. Works of arts and crafts of the 18th - 20th centuries, which belonged to the Sheremetevs, and which came from private collections of V. V. Strekalov-Obolensky and V. M. Golod are exhibited in the gala rooms of the palace. The collection of music instruments of the Museum of Court Orchestra founded by Baron K. K. Stakelberg (1848-1925) numbering 3,000 pieces, one of the largest collections in the world, has been housed in the Gallery Wing since 1997. Instruments of the Imperial Family, a set of Old Russian horn orchestra, music instruments of African peoples, Chinese gongs, Spanish guitars, instruments owned by Russian composers and other rarities are on display. Music soirees and concerts of old music are arranged in the White Hall.

References: Великанова О. Фонтанный дом: Музыка, люди, судьбы // Скрипич. ключ. 1996. № 1. С. 21-26; Белякаева-Казанская Л. В. Силуэты музыкального Петербурга. СПб., 2001. С. 66-95, 354-361; Великанова О., Кошелев В. Музей музыки в Шереметевском дворце // Saint-Petersburg Business Guide. 2002. N 5. P. 29-31.

N. L. Korsakova. Batov Ivan Andreevich
Chaliapin Fedor Ivanovich
Degtyarev Stepan Anikievich
Golod V.M.
Kovaleva-Zhemchugova Praskovya Ivanovna, Countess Sheremeteva
Liszt Ferenc
Lomakin Gavriil Yakimovich (Ioakimovich)
Sheremetev Nikolay Petrovich, Count
Sontag Henrietta
Stakelberg K.K., Baron
Strekalov-Obolensky V.V.
the Sheremetevs
Viardot-Garcia Michele Pauline Fernanda
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 34
Белякаева-Казанская Л. В. Силуэты музыкального Петербурга. СПб., 2001
Великанова О. Фонтанный дом: Музыка, люди, судьбы // Скрипич. ключ., 1996
Великанова О., Кошелев В. Музей музыки в Шереметевском дворце // Saint-Petersburg Business Guide, 2002 Museum of Theatre and Music Art
Sheremetev Palace