Russian choirmasters in the city singing societies of Serbian Šabac (1918–1941)

Abstract

The cultural memory of Russian-Serbian cooperation preserves numerous historical facts that allow us to connect with the past, reconstruct it, and preserve important, even fateful, events that bind us together through a shared history and common spiritual values. Knowledge of these facts enhances our understanding of past experiences, reveals forgotten and half-forgotten names that contributed to strengthening cultural ties between peoples, and opens up prospects for exploring our shared heritage. Among these, the work of Russian choirmasters in the singing societies of the Serbian city of Šabac exemplifies fruitful collaboration. Choirmasters from Russia (Vasily Kuzenko, Vsevolod Dudnik, Sergei Krasovsky, and Vladimir Kuragin) brought with them and incorporated the technique of “big sound” into the ensemble’s work. Their educational activities, rooted in rich Russian culture, contributed to the artistic growth of residents of the cities of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and later Yugoslavia. Having received an influx of Russian talent during the interwar period (1918–1941), whose names have gone down in history, a musical environment began to emerge here that was responsive not only to church and folk music, but also to the classical music of European and Russian composers.