Bookvica

[SHEET MUSIC] Fox-trot / Music by Zinaida Rikomi

Item #1999

Moscow: Izd. avtora, 1927. 3, [1] pp. 31,2×23,2 cm. In original illustrated publisher’s wrappers. Very good condition. Light soiling, Armenian SSR sheet music store stamp on every page.

One of 1,000 copies. An extremely scarce 1920s sheet music for Zinaida Rikomi’s “Fox-trot.”
Fox trot made its way to the USSR during the New Economic Policy era. Despite official disapproval as an “eccentric bourgeois dance,” it sparked enthusiasm among progressive youth in the early 20th century. This excitement led to the regular publication of numerous sheet music brochures featuring avant-garde and constructivist designs by innovative Soviet artists.
This particular music sheet stands out for its unique wrapper design, portraying a black man wearing gloves, a hat, and a white shirt, with the lower part of his body depicted in a skirt and heels. While book cover designs during the Soviet era often included friendly images of African and African American characters, such depictions were rare in sheet music designs. Artists like Gol’shein, Frolov, and Rogachev occasionally incorporated Black figures into their designs, but these instances remained extremely uncommon.
Zinaida Rikomi (1902-1984) completed her studies at the Petrograd Conservatory in 1924 and launched her career as an accompanist at the “Krivoye Zerkalo” theater. From there on, she performed on the stages of the “Volnaya Komediya” theater, cabaret “Balaganchik,” and the Leningrad Satire Theater as a singer, dancer, comedian, and parodist.
Overall, an extremely rare example of a 1920s Soviet music sheet.

Status: On Hold