ABSTRACT
Contemporary audiences often accept performances of Russian folk music and dance as representations of ancient rural traditions. However, many aspects of folk performance were drawn directly from nineteenth century productions that musicians consciously constructed to appeal to the tastes of elite and/or middle-class audiences and to further Slavophile and populist agendas. Musical producers not only sought to engender ‘Russian character’ through their performances, but aimed to define and evoke ‘authenticity’ through their manipulation of potent symbols of untouched folk nature. Their actions had direct effects upon the ways that folk music is viewed and constructed today.
