The Museum received 40 sheet-music books of the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries donated by Ekaterina Stadler, our Metalwork Curator.

Her varied genre collection of popular waltzes, mazurkas, operettas, study guides, as well as romances by Tchaikovsky, preludes by Rachmaninoff and pieces by Gretchaninov, is a great help in replacing war-inflicted losses in a music library from the rooms of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children in the Alexander Palace.

Their library counted over 1,000 books. “We know from archival sources that in Empress Alexandra’s rooms there were two grand pianos, a reed organ, a piano, two zithers, a harmonica and a gramophone by Rebikov and Co with a set of records—a novelty of the time,” says Ekaterina. “No wonder various sheet music was obtained, including that for violin, cello, organ and flute.”

Musical education was important in the imperial family. Alexandra sang and played duets with her daughters and friends. Tsesarevich Alexei liked his three-string balalaika. Nicholas II was fond of opera and ballet and preferred works by Tchaikovsky and Taneev and religious music by Bortnyansky, Turchaninov and Ljvov.

The Museum’s prewar inventories show that besides German, French and British publications, the Romanov collection included sheet music from Russia’s renowned and less known publishers such as Peter Jurgenson, Alexander Gutheil, Vasily Bessel (Bessel & C-ie), J. H. Zimmermann, Nikolay Davingof, Mitrofan P. Belaieff, Alexander Johansen, Carl Leopas and many others. Some of them were purveyors to the Imperial Court.

Carl Leopas published a series of then very popular Gypsy songs and romances. Its Edition No.102 with a romance titled I’m craving rendezvous, I’m craving kisses was among the music books in the Alexander Palace. Thanks to Ms Stadler’s donation, now the Museum has it too.