| Summary: | This thesis explores the factors affecting the production of Russian and Soviet song inspired by the lyrics of Pushkin. In so doing, it emphasises three influences which have been alluded to in previous scholarship, but little explored: the songs of Pushkin's time, major Pushkin anniversary celebrations, and the 'public image' of Pushkin, cultivated primarily through the celebrations. These celebrations, and their cultural-political context, are used as a primary touchstone in a quantitative survey of song production. Part One covers the Imperial era, which established the principles on which the development of Pushkin song would be predicated: the song forms of the romance, the folk-inspired russkaia pesnia and the choral cantata; and the inauguration of state-organised mass Pushkin celebrations. Part Two considers the Stalinist era and the attempted cultivation of the 'Soviet romance', based on texts reflecting the Soviet image of Pushkin as a freedom-loving revolutionary and 'people's poet'. It explores the demands on Push kin song exacted by the campaigns of lhdanovshchina and the requirements of cultural conformity. Part Three, covering the late- and post-Soviet era, explores the attempted 'deconstruction' of the traditional romance aesthetic, and argues that this period prompted the production of some of the most diverse and innovative Pushkin songs yet seen. But it also argues that, whilst the most recent Pushkin celebration in 1999 provided a valuable opportunity to showcase the rich history of Pushkin song, it also marked the end of the genre's development. The thesis will suggest that the ubiquitous influence of Push kin-era romances, and those of Glinka in particular, has made them the archetype of Pushkin song. Moreover, it will argue that the combined influence of these early romances, the conformity imposed by the celebrations, and the constraining effect of images of Push kin, have fostered an indelible association between Pushkin song and creative conservatism.
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