Sounds familiar :
In Suzanne Massie's 'PAVLOVSK', she tells of a small experimental rail line built from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo and then to Pavlovsk. "To bring the railraod to Pavlovsk, a way was cut straight through the park, passing through the green meadows and glades of Gonzaga's and Cameron's carefully sculptured vistas and cutting the park into two unequal halves. Tracks were laid in front of what had been the former Music or Circular Hall. Considering the care for preservation lavished on Pavlovsk by its owners, astonishingly no one seems to have worried about this - perhaps because railroads were the newest rage and considered a path to progress.
Despite many construction difficulties, the line was officially opened on October 30, 1837, with Gerstner proudly at the throttle of the locomotive pulling eight cars, which carried the Tsar and an entourage of foreign dignitaries over the twenty-six kilometers to Pavlovsk.
The travelers arrived at a large, elegant circular station building with a tower and an illuminated clock, designed by a British architect which included game rooms, gardens and a restaurant. Called the Vauxhall in Russian, Voksal, it quickly became so popular with the public that the name passed into the launguage and remained the Russian word for all railroad stations. With the coming of the railroad, Pavlovsk already a fashionable retreat for elegant summer residents, quickly became a favorite excusion spot for the Petersburg pulic of all classes.
Wanting to attract passengers for the railroad, the directors advertised in the newspapers of the capital, stressing the "pleasantness and ease of the means of transportation," and hit on the idea of inviting foreign conductors for the restaurant orchestra........Glinka, who is considered the father of Russian music....'A Life For The Tsar' had it's premiere in St. Petersburg on December 9, 1836 and both the Tsar and the public were delighted. Glinka was hailed as the greatest composer of the land. In the summertime, whenever he was in Russia, Glinka came to Tsarskoe and Pavlovsk....While at Pavlovsk in the summer of 1839, he was inspired to write his beautiful and haunting "Waltz Fantasie," dedicating it to his latest flame, Ekaterina Kern....At the Voksal, Herman arranged Glinka's walts for his orchestra and introduced it at his Pavlovsk concerts, where it soon became so popular that is was called "The Pavlovsk Waltz"....during his summertimes visits, Glinka took the baton and conduced the Voksal orchestra himself."
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Updated On: 8/3/05 at 07:15 AM
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