Khitrovka One of the most famous chapters from this classic work, about the seamy underbelly of Moscow at the turn of the last century. Memoir
The Song Babel’s “The Song” comes from his Red Cavalry cycle, a volume of short stories about the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921). As in many of these pieces, Babel contrasts the narrator’s intellectual, poetic outlook with the brutalities and horrors of war. Music
Moscow and St. Petersburg: 1842 Herzen's classic comparison of Russia's two capitals, in which he finds much to love and loathe in each. Moscow
A Pestilential Distemper in Russia On the Massacre of the Archbishop of Moscow and a fever running through the capital. History
Safe Conduct Before committing himself to poetry, Pasternak considered pursuing a career in music. In these early chapters from his memoir he recounts his early fascination with music and his relationship with the composer Alexander Scriabin. Memoir
Notes Upon Russia First published in 1549, von Herberstein’s account of Moscow (and Russia more generally) was the main early European source of information on Russia in the sixteenth century. Memoir
Moscow Believes It's harder, and easier, than one might think to put together an issue of Chtenia devoted to Moscow. Literature
Photography Dmitry Zverev's black and white photos in this issue capture the sense of the capital as a small village, a humming metropolis, a place of solitude amid chaos... Photography
Rothschild's Fiddle In this, one of Chekhov's last stories, a man nears the end of his life and finds that music is one of the few things that has ever given him comfort. And he uses it to make amends. Music
Music In this short story, Nabokov’s protagonist, Victor, encounters his ex-wife at a concert. Despite his proclamation that he has “no ear for music,” the experience awakens profound memories and feelings in him, as the music acts a shield from the chaos of the everyday world. Music
The Sixth Night This selection is taken from Russian Nights (1844), a novel by Odoyevsky that probes a great number of topics, genres, and philosophical questions. Odoyevsky was a talented music critic in his own right and a huge proponent of the works of Mikhail Glinka. Music
