Leonid Maksimenkov - about the 70-year history of disputes on this issue

Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky proposed returning the remains of composer Sergei Rachmaninov to Russia. As Ogonyok found out, this is not the first battle for the ashes of a famous compatriot

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Rachmaninov was the last non-commercial composer. But the people around him tried to earn at least political dividends from him

Photo: Photo archive of the magazine "Ogonyok" / Photo archive of the magazine

Rachmaninov's grave at Kensico Cemetery near New York

Photo: Wikipedia

Leonid Maksimenkov

It is assumed that the burial place of Rachmaninov should be the Oneg estate in the Novgorod region, where the composer spent his childhood. It is unclear, however, whether the composer will be followed by the remains of his wife and daughter, who rest in the same American grave. There is no answer to the essential question: what is the condition of the Novgorod “estate” where Rachmaninoff is going to be accommodated? A couple of years ago it was reported that all that remained of the estate were the foundation, an overgrown park and a granite slab in memory of the composer.

Otherwise, the idea of the action is clear. Apparently, the event is planned to coincide with the upcoming centenary of the 1917 revolution. The message is obvious: returning the ashes of the great composer to his homeland will be a significant act of national reconciliation.

The minister initially gave the funeral project a historical and ideological reading: “If you look at American sources, you will see that Sergei Rachmaninov is a great American composer of Russian origin. The Americans are arrogantly privatizing the name of Rachmaninov, as well as the names of dozens and hundreds of Russians who, by the will of fate, ended up abroad after the events of the revolution."

Will of fate

I wonder if the reburial project includes the publication of a book about the reasons that pushed the composer into emigration? It’s unlikely, because documents from the archives of the GPU and the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs are still tightly closed. However, it is known that the Bolsheviks did not just consider Rachmaninov an ideological and political opponent. They hated him fiercely.

Back on June 10, 1921, literary critic and plenipotentiary representative of Soviet Russia in Italy Vaclav Vorovsky complained from Rome to Vyacheslav Menzhinsky, a member of the Cheka presidium: “The family of the composer Rachmaninov was released from Moscow. Do you know that Rachmaninov is one of the most malicious counter-revolutionaries and haters of Bolshevism?”

At the height of the Great Terror of 1937, denunciations such as this one, received by the Committee on Arts Affairs of the Council of People's Commissars from the Moscow Conservatory, were not uncommon: “Associate Professor Keldysh tried to distort the wonderful past of Russian music (blurring the progressive role of the largest Russian classics, the exorbitant role , given to the White Guards - emigrants Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, etc.)".

After this “signal”, only one thing saved the brother of the future president of the Academy of Sciences from the wall: by the 37th, the Leninist generation of Bolsheviks was almost completely destroyed, and the Stalinist cohort was not interested in a composer with alien views. Interest came later, when the Great Patriotic War began. And he was... different.

Rehabilitated during his lifetime

At the end of October 1941, when the enemy stood at the walls of the capital, the second secretary of the USSR Embassy in the USA, Vladimir Bazykin, wrote to Moscow. The addressee is the head of the Anglo-American department of the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (VOKS):

“Dear comrade Kislova! You obviously know what a huge position Rachmaninov occupies in the musical world... The American audience greets and sees him off enthusiastically; he has a lot of “fans” and friends here... and, despite this, even According to the American press, Rachmaninov is lonely. No warm welcomes and friends in a foreign land can dispel the sadness of this Russian composer; his huge estates near New York and in Switzerland do not create a real home for him. The sadness for his homeland is visible in his works.

Further, Bazykin reports information received from Soviet embassy informants from the composer’s entourage:

“Rachmaninov played one record produced in the Union all day long. We also know that the composer was greatly impressed by the specially selected and transmitted through our friends magazines “Soviet Music”, which contained articles about the production of his opera “Francesca da Rimini” and about the concert of Flier, who performed his piano concert. We know that the Rachmaninov family is friendly to the USSR. A clear proof of this is the fact that Comrade Gromov and Yumashev received scarves knitted by members of the Rachmaninov family (Gromov and Yumashev are pilots who committed non-stop flight from Moscow to the USA. - "O" ) We ask for help in attracting Rachmaninov's sympathy to our country, and this is especially important during the war. It would be good to publish an article about Rachmaninov in the magazine "Soviet Music" and send the magazine to us. with the diplomatic post. It would be very valuable to receive from you records with his romances, a set of Soviet sheet music with his works. It would be nice to include a performance of Rachmaninov’s works in the program of the film magazines “Soviet Art,” and maybe build one issue entirely on his works.”

Resolving the issue goes through all levels of approval and takes two months. Former USSR prosecutor and now Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Andrei Vyshinsky orders the head of VOKS Vladimir Kemenov: “Do as much as possible (except for filming).” And he not only endorses the project, but also turns to the second person in the state - Vyacheslav Molotov:

"January 16, 1942 Secret.

The authorized representative of VOKS in the USA reports on the changed attitude of the composer Rachmaninov towards the USSR. Rachmaninov gave a special concert in favor of the Red Army, inviting the USSR Consul Comrade Fedyushin to it and donated the full collection - 4000 US dollars. dollars for the purchase of medicines for the Red Army. People close to Rachmaninov report that he feels lonely and misses his homeland. Considering the influence of Rachmaninov in wide circles of American society, VOKS offers:

1. Place in the next issue of the newspaper “Literature and Art” an article about the work of Rachmaninov and about the performance of Rachmaninov’s works in the USSR. Send the newspaper issue by diplomatic mail to the USA.

2. Organize letters to Rachmaninov from the best performers of his music in the USSR (Oborin, Flier, Igumnov).

3. Select Rachmaninov’s sheet music published in the USSR, posters and programs of his concerts, records of his romances and send them by diplomatic mail to the USA for delivery to the author.

4. In the 1942 concert season, perform several major works by Rachmaninoff.

I consider it possible to approve these events. I ask for your consent."

Molotov, and only Stalin stood above him in the hierarchical pyramid, agrees. This meant the lifetime rehabilitation of the “hater of Bolshevism.”

Sudden death

In March 1943, Rachmaninov died suddenly. Then a collision begins, the end of which, alas, is not in sight today.

The characters in the first act of the intrigue are the sister of the composer's widow, Sofya Satina, and the same Soviet diplomat Bazykin.

It is known that his closest relatives did not have a clear answer about whether Rachmaninov wanted to be buried in his homeland. Bazykin quotes Sophia Satina:

“I don’t know if Sergei Vasilyevich said that he would be buried in Russia. He simply could not say, because he did not intend to die. His will has not yet been opened, since the lawyers have not finally agreed where and when It's better to perform an autopsy."

Before this, Bazykin reported to Moscow: “Comrade K[...] asked me to inform you about whether it is possible to publish in the Soviet press a message about Rachmaninov’s desire to bury his body in the USSR. I have already informed you that the Rachmaninoffs have not yet confirmed this statement of the composer In response to my question from Satina whether the late Rachmaninov really expressed a desire to bury him in his native land, Satina evasively stated: “I don’t know who spread this rumor, I heard that Metropolitan Fiofil announced this, but I don’t know where he came from. took it." She further stated that since Rachmaninov’s daughter is in the hands of the Germans and that they are very worried about the fate of the family members remaining in Paris, and for all of Rachmaninov’s property remaining in Paris, they do not want to make it public under any circumstances. the Rachmaninovs' intention to transfer the composer's archives and his belongings to a museum in the USSR. It seems to me that after the end of the war, Rachmaninoff’s body, which is sealed in a stainless steel coffin and can be removed from the grave and transported at any moment, can be buried in the USSR. Until the end of the war, no press reports about the intention of the Rachmaninov family to transfer the composer’s archives and belongings to us should be published.”

The diplomat, coming to certain conclusions based on his own assumptions, carefully proposes a possible scenario to the Instance:

“After Rachmaninov’s death, his wife Natalia Alexandrovna was ill almost all the time. Considering her age and painful condition, it should be assumed that her life would not be long either. In a conversation with Satina, I felt that Rachmaninov’s family, that is, his wife and Satina, was interested the question of traveling to the USSR in order to spend the rest of his life in his homeland and help organize the Rachmaninov Museum. Perhaps this refers to the idea of burying Rachmaninov in the USSR. Satina does not openly express these thoughts, but it seems to me that they are thinking about this now. “It is quite timely for you to probe the waters and find out the opinion of the relevant organizations on this issue... If there are no objections to Rachmaninoff’s funeral in the USSR and his family’s trip to the USSR, then I would be able to better find out all their intentions when meeting with the Rachmaninoffs.” .

Bazykin again refers to Satina, the main Russophile in Rachmaninov’s circle:

“Natalia Alexandrovna (Rachmaninov’s wife) would be happy if Rachmaninov was buried in his homeland. Rachmaninov’s daughter, who now lives in Paris, always dreamed of returning to her homeland. Another daughter treated Soviet Russia worse, but when I told her about it , that I was writing a manuscript about the life of SV, which I was going to send to Moscow, she exclaimed: “Oh, how right and good this is.” We have not taken root abroad, we will never be able to understand the Americans, but they only know us. at home, only the Russian people truly love and appreciate Rachmaninov, not only as a pianist, but also as a composer. Here, in America, music critics wrote all sorts of nonsense about Rachmaninov as a composer, because they do not understand the soul of the Russian artist."

All this, we note once again, is retold and “from the words” of a third person. The widow herself and the composer’s daughters are silent.

Battle for Rachmaninov

All these behind-the-scenes negotiations nevertheless leaked into the emigrant community, most of which remained anti-Bolshevik. In the USA they decided to urgently publish a book about the exiled composer. The idea was promoted by emigrant writer Mark Aldanov.

In order to “prevent the appearance” of an unwanted book abroad, they decided to hastily publish “our” book about Rachmaninoff. At the same time, Satina quickly prepared the first parcel of the composer’s memorial items for Moscow. Electric hand warmer pad. Ribbons from wreaths presented by the Russian Swedish colony to them. Bunin and the Russian colony of the Belgian city of Liege. Sergei Vasilyevich’s favorite ashtray, which stood on his piano on the right side next to the clock with the initials “SV”. Night shoes. Two old wallets. One contains a Russian paper royal ruble, kept by Sergei Vasilyevich, and old business cards, one with an inscription made by Rachmaninov (“Glazunov”).

On May 9, 1944, Satina adds: “I forgot to write down the watch - stop watch, which the SV took to rehearsals to check the time.” And a request that has become annoying: not to make all this public because of the composer’s daughter and grandson, who are still in occupied Paris.

Post-war frosts

The family's indecisiveness and fears, Soviet bureaucracy and fear of making the wrong step could not compete with American decision-making speeds and, of course, budgets. On May 13, 1944, the Rachmaninov Memorial Fund was already created in the United States. The Foundation intends to organize Rachmaninov competitions. In a word, the “American Russians” seized the initiative. Now Vyshinsky no longer dares to turn to Molotov (read: Stalin). And he sends a dispatch from the head of VOKS to the head of agitprop of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Georgy Alexandrov.

"17.VIII.44

After the death of Rachmaninov, a special organization was created in the United States to perpetuate the memory of Rachmaninov - the Rachmaninoff Memorial Foundation, headed by the largest representatives of the American musical world (Koussevitzky, Horowitz, etc.). The Foundation sets one of its goals to organize all-American competitions for performers of Rachmaninoff's works. As a reward, the foundation offers to organize a concert tour for the winners of the competition in the USA and then in the USSR. In turn, the Americans offer us to hold Rachmaninoff competitions in the USSR so that the winners of these competitions will then go on a concert tour of the USA.

Even in the preliminary plans for the work of the foundation, there is a desire to appropriate Rachmaninov for itself, to emphasize in every possible way his connections with the United States, which is quite feasible (in the eyes of the Americans) given the scope and publicity given to this matter.

Rachmaninov first of all continues the great traditions of Russian music. All the best in his work is connected with Russian soil and culture. However, what is currently happening a kind of struggle for Rachmaninov’s legacy. It would be wrong to allow the Americans to act to perpetuate the memory of Rachmaninov, while almost nothing would be done in the USSR.

I consider it necessary for the Arts Committee to develop a plan of events (art evenings, competitions, etc.) to perpetuate the memory of Rachmaninov.

Chairman of the Board of VOKS (V. Kemenov)."

From the authorities, however, in response to the dispatch there was silence. At that time there was no more eloquent symbol than this hardware sign.

Soon Rachmaninov's widow, sister-in-law, daughters and grandchildren ceased contact with the Soviet authorities.

Nikita Khrushchev will also have no time for Rachmaninov. It is known that Van Cliburn, apparently continuing the tradition of “American privatization” of Rachmaninoff, after winning the Tchaikovsky Competition, planted a lilac bush on the composer’s grave. And a little later, “musicologist in civilian clothes” Konstantin Sakva, having visited the USA in 1961, reported: “I think that Rachmaninov’s legacy has disappeared without a trace for us. There were wrong steps.”

Project "Oneg"

The next attempt to transport the composer’s body to the USSR was made by Tikhon Khrennikov in 1974. The political climate then softened, Nixon visited Moscow, and Brezhnev Washington. But Rachmaninov’s family again did not come to a common decision: this time the grandchildren of the composer’s second daughter were against it.

As they say, years have passed. And now, in August 2015, a new act of Rachmaninov’s drama, the initiative of the minister himself.

Although no, wait! Quite recently, Rachmaninov’s project was already in the news, although not a funeral one. Two years ago, the Presidential Council on Culture and Art was held, and here it is, instruction No. 2699, paragraph 5, subparagraph “a”. We read: “The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, is to study the possibility of acquiring into the ownership of the Russian Federation the archive of S.V. Rachmaninov and the Senard estate (Swiss Confederation), belonging to the heirs of A.B. Rachmaninov.”

The deadline for fulfilling this order has long passed. And frankly speaking, the order was to “study the issue.” Well, apparently, they studied it... And, without taking a breath, they moved on to the reburial project. In the non-existent Oneg estate in the Novgorod region.

Apparently, the Rachmaninov saga is far from over - after the initiative has been voiced, the stage of responses and clarification of the position of interested parties begins. This may be a long period: there is no consensus among relatives, the point of view of the American authorities is unknown. What do they have to do with it? With formal law: Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov received American citizenship shortly before his death...

Where should Rachmaninov lie?