Vera Dulova’s Artistic Life in the 1930s: A Freelance Artist in the Epoch of Socialist Realism

Abstract

The article, for the first time in Russian musicology, analyzes the life and work of the great Russian harpist Vera Dulova in the 1930s. A number of historical documents, archival materials, and letters by V. Dulova of that time, previously unpublished, were studied, revealing important details of the musician’s biography to introduce them into scientific use. The carried out analytical work made possible a chronological organization of the information found; also some appropriate generalizations were done. The harpist’s artistic life has been considered not isolatedly, but in the context of socialist realism that was then prevalent in art. When comparing archival materials and contemporary art studies, the figure of Vera Dulova of the 1930s acquires the special and particular significance in the Russian performing art history.

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