Abstract:

The article deals with the issues of the Tolstoy family´s everyday life at Yasnaya Polyana.An important place in the Tolstoy way of life, along with amateur theater, home reading, drawing, needlework, was occupied by music making, vocals, and writing romances. Among the most favorite romances of the family were romances based on the poems of A. S. Pushkin, A. A. Fet, A. K. Tolstoy. The writer and his family were particularly interested in gypsy romances. The Tolstoys often listened to the singing of nomadic gypsies at Yasnaya Polyana and masterfully performed their music and dances themselves. Individual members of the noble family also became authors of romances. Tolstoy´s descendants, who were forced to leave the country, remained faithful to the musical traditions. Amateur singing continued to be a feature of their daily lives.

Keywords: musical traditions, amateur music, Russian and Gypsy romances, wife, grandchildren, his children, L. N. Tolstoy and his family