Russia's love of classical music is well known, both the music they made and the music they played. Chopin was very popular—revered even—in Russia after the 1830's. Tchaikovsky, for one, was quite familiar with the Polish composer and Chopin may have influenced the Russian's work yet to come. It is no surprise, then, that the Polish maestro would be commemorated at the Muzeon Park of Arts, an attractive sculpture garden sited along the Moskva River's Southbank.
Chopin, on the other hand, had a more complicated feeling about the Russians (or "Moskali" as they were known in Poland). The Invasion of Warsaw (sometimes called "The Uprising") ended the Polish-Russian War of 1830 - 1831. During the two day siege, Poland collapsed and evacuated the city, effectively ending he two year war.
The large bronze bust, shown here, was cast in 1964 by sculptor Aleksei Iliich Teneta (1899-1972). It is one of some 700 varied sculptures in the Muzeon Park of Arts—the final resting place for many pieces from the Soviet period.
More from Moscow tomorrow.
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