The Museum of Musical Instruments of Evgeny Nikolaevich Pushkin is a branch of the Volgograd Regional Museum of Local Lore. It began to form back in 1926 as a private collection of musical instruments. During his life, Evgeny Nikolaevich collected 262 unique tools that remain to this day in working condition. Due to the fact that the musician gave his collection to the city, all these instruments are now in the museum.
Content
- 1 History
- 2 Formation of the collection
- 3 About the museum
- 4 Our days
- 5 Location
- 6 References
History
Evgeny Nikolaevich Pushkin - a veteran of World War II, a collector and restorer of musical instruments, was born in the village of Rodnichok (Saratov province) in March 1904. Nature gave him an absolute ear for music. Evgeny Nikolaevich learned to play the accordion as a boy. Musical abilities were discovered quite by accident. Once the uncle of the future musician forgot the accordion in his brotherβs house. In the morning he returned after her and found a seven-year-old nephew playing folk tunes without a single fake. Uncle immediately decided to give the instrument to his nephew. According to the granddaughter of Pushkin, Lyudmila Kravchenko, he was able to master the instrument in just one night.
Collection Formation
Before the war, in 1926, Evgeny Nikolaevich began to collect a collection. He managed to collect almost 30 musical instruments, among them was even the Stradivarius violin, but during the war days almost the entire collection was destroyed. Only the Italian button accordion was preserved, which the Pushkin family guarded while he was at the front. The Victory Day came, and Evgeny Nikolaevich returned from the war. He did not despair, and again began to collect tools. Years passed, and the collection grew, occupying two rooms in a small three-room house. Pushkin managed to collect 262 musical instruments, among which were violins, guitars, button accordions, accordions, balalaikas and pianos. Some of the tools turned 150-200 years old, or even more. Evgeny Nikolaevich was often called the "doctor of music." Once, the rare instrument of gavioli was handed over to him - a mixture of harmonium and ariston , and the master could restore harmony-flute himself, having neither instructions nor experience playing this instrument. Pushkinβs talent is also indicated by the fact that he could restore a unique tool from slivers. He repaired tools and perfected them. So, for example, in order not to wake his family, he made a device that helped softly cover the strings to muffle sounds.
About the Museum
In 1986, Yevgeny Nikolaevich donated his collection to Volgograd, making a condition: only members of the Pushkin family can work in this museum. Until his death, Evgeni Nikolaevich conducted excursions in the museum, located in the room of his private house. He began excursions with a quote from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia about the nature of sound as a physical phenomenon, and then began the story of his collection, showing individual exhibits. Visitors listened to the sound of different harmonies. During the life of the collector, almost everyone in the country heard about the museum, but today few know about it. And the fact that the old mechanical piano from his museum was "shot" in Sergei Bondarchuk's film "Red Bells" is known only to a few.
Our days
In 1989, Yevgeny Nikolaevich passed away, and his priceless work was transferred to descendants. The museum works to this day. The son, granddaughter and great-grandson of Yevgeny Nikolaevich conduct fascinating excursions. They begin an excursion in the yard, as Pushkin did many years ago. Another hobby of this great man was the cultivation and breeding of new varieties of dahlias. In total, about four hundred varieties grew in his yard, and he was even awarded for achievements in floriculture.
Location
The museum is located in the Kirovsky district of Volgograd, on Bystrov street, 257.