Preserving the romance tradition in the works of émigré musicians in a foreign cultural environment of the first half of the 20th century

The aim of this research is to substantiate the defining significance of the activities of Russian musical émigrés in the foreign cultural environment of the first half of the 20th century in preserving the romance tradition and the distinctiveness of Russian musical culture. The article examines the subtypes and styles of the Russian romance, identifies its typological features, the substantive and stylistic specifics of the Russian romance as performed by popular émigrés of the first half of the 20th century, and analyzes the influence of the concert and pedagogical activities of musicians who left Russia on the socio-cultural character of the European, Chinese, and American artistic space. The scientific novelty of the research lies in a comprehensive analysis of the preservation of the genre of the Russian romance by first-wave émigrés, which made a tangible contribution to the development of the romance tradition in the Soviet Union, especially from the period of the “thaw” to the present day. As a result, it is proven that the musicians of the Russian emigration preserved the romance tradition thanks to the social and genetic “code” of transmission of Russian culture, determined by mentality.