early romances. General information Dargomyzhsky Alexander romances
Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was born on February 2, 1813 in a small estate in the Tula province. The early childhood years of the future composer were spent in the estate of his parents in the Smolensk province. In 1817 the family moved to Petersburg. Despite the modest income, the parents gave their children a good home upbringing and education. In addition to general education subjects, children played various musical instruments and learned to sing. In addition, they composed poems and dramatic plays, which they themselves performed in front of the guests.
Well-known writers and musicians often visited this cultural family, and children took an active part in literary and musical evenings. Young Dargomyzhsky began to play the piano at the age of 6. And at the age of 10-11 he already tried to compose music. But his first creative attempts were suppressed by the teacher.
After 1825, the position of his father was shaken and Dargomyzhsky had to start serving in one of the departments of St. Petersburg. But official duties could not interfere with his main passion, music. By this time, his studies with outstanding musician F. Schoberlechner. Since the beginning of the 30s, the young man has been visiting the best literary and artistic salons of St. Petersburg. And everywhere young Dargomyzhsky is a welcome guest. He plays the violin and piano a lot, participates in various ensembles, performs his romances, the number of which is rapidly increasing. He is surrounded by interesting people of that time, he is accepted into their circle as an equal.
In 1834 Dargomyzhsky met Glinka, who was working on his first opera. This acquaintance turned out to be decisive for Dargomyzhsky. If earlier he did not betray serious importance to his musical hobbies, now in the face of Glinka he saw a living example of an artistic feat. Before him was a man not only talented, but also devoted to his work. And the young composer reached out to him with all his heart. With gratitude, he accepted everything that his senior comrade could give him: his knowledge of composition, notes on music theory. Communication of friends also consisted in joint music-making. They played and parsed the best pieces of musical classics.
In the mid-1930s, Dargomyzhsky was already a well-known composer, the author of many romances, songs, piano pieces, and the symphonic work Bolero. His early romances are still close to the type of salon lyrics or urban song that existed in the democratic strata of Russian society. The influence of Glinka is also noticeable in them. But gradually Dargomyzhsky realizes an ever greater need for a different self-expression. He has a special interest in the obvious contrasts of reality, the clash of its various sides. This was most clearly manifested in the romances "Night Marshmallow" and "I Loved You".
In the late 1930s, Dargomyzhsky planned to write an opera based on the plot of V. Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris. Work on the opera lasted 3 years and was completed in 1841. At the same time, the composer composed the cantata "The Triumph of Bacchus" based on Pushkin's poems, which he soon remade into an opera.
Gradually, Dargomyzhsky becomes more and more famous as a major, original musician. In the early 1940s, he headed the St. Petersburg Society of Lovers of Instrumental and Vocal Music.
In 1844, Alexander Sergeevich went abroad, to major musical centers - Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Paris. The main purpose of the trip was Paris - the recognized center of European culture, where the young composer could satisfy his thirst for new artistic experiences. There he introduces the European public to his compositions. One of the best works of that time is the lyrical confession "Both boring and sad" to the verses of Lermontov. In this romance, a deep sad feeling is conveyed. The trip abroad played a big role in shaping Dargomyzhsky as an artist and citizen. Upon his return from abroad, Dargomyzhsky conceives the opera Rusalka. In the late 40s, the composer's work reached its greatest artistic maturity, especially in the field of romance.
At the end of the 1950s, great social changes were ripe in Russia. And Dargomyzhsky did not remain aloof from public life, which had a noticeable influence on his work. Elements of satire are intensified in his art. They appear in the songs: "Worm", "Old Corporal", "Titular Advisor". Their heroes are humiliated and offended people.
In the mid-60s, the composer undertook a new trip abroad - it brought him great creative satisfaction. There, in European capitals, he heard his works, which were accompanied by great success. In his music, as critics noted, there was "a lot of originality, great energy of thought, melodiousness, sharp harmony ...". Some concertos, composed entirely of works by Dargomyzhsky, caused a real triumph. It was joyful to return to his homeland - now, on the slope of his life, Dargomyzhsky was recognized by a wide mass of music lovers. These were new, democratic strata of the Russian intelligentsia, whose tastes were determined by love for everything Russian, national. Interest in the composer's work instilled new hopes in him, awakened new ideas. The best of these plans was the opera "The Stone Guest". Written to the text of one of Pushkin's "little tragedies", this opera was an unusually bold creative quest. It is all written in recitative, there is not a single aria in it and only two songs - like islands among recitative monologues and ensembles. Dargomyzhsky did not finish the opera The Stone Guest. Anticipating his imminent death, the composer instructed his young friends Ts.A. Cui and N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov to complete it. It was completed by them, and then staged in 1872, after the death of the composer.
The role of Dargomyzhsky in the history of Russian music is very great. Continuing the assertion of ideas of nationality and realism in Russian music begun by Glinka, he anticipated with his work the achievement of subsequent generations of Russian composers of the 19th century - members of the Mighty Handful and P.I. Tchaikovsky.
The main works of A.S. Dargomyzhsky:
Operas:
- "Esmeralda". Opera in four acts to own libretto based on Victor Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris. Written in 1838-1841. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, December 5 (17), 1847;
- "The Triumph of Bacchus." Opera-ballet based on the poem of the same name by Pushkin. Written in 1843-1848. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, January 11 (23), 1867;
- "Mermaid". Opera in four acts to its own libretto based on the unfinished play of the same name by Pushkin. Written in 1848-1855. First production: St. Petersburg, May 4 (16), 1856;
- Stone Guest. Opera in three acts based on the text of Pushkin's Little Tragedy of the same name. Written in 1866-1869, completed by Ts. A. Cui, orchestrated by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. First production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, February 16 (28), 1872;
- Mazepa. Sketches, 1860;
- "Rogdan". Fragments, 1860-1867.
Works for orchestra:
- Bolero. Late 1830s;
- "Baba Yaga" ("From the Volga to Riga"). Finished in 1862, first performed in 1870;
- "Cossack". Fantasy. 1864;
- "Chukhon fantasy". Written in 1863-1867, first performed in 1869.
Chamber vocal works:
Songs and romances for one voice and piano on the verses of Russian and foreign poets: "Old Corporal" (words by V. Kurochkin), "Paladin" (words by L. Uland, translated by V. Zhukovsky), "Worm" (words by P. Beranger in translated by V. Kurochkin), “Titular Advisor” (words by P. Weinberg), “I loved you ...” (words by A. S. Pushkin), “I am sad” (words by M. Yu. Lermontov), “I have passed sixteen years ”(words by A. Delvig) and others to the words of Koltsov, Kurochkin, Pushkin, Lermontov and other poets, including two inserted romances by Laura from the opera The Stone Guest.
Works for piano:
Five Pieces (1820s): March, Counterdance, "Melancholic Waltz", Waltz, "Cossack";
- "Brilliant Waltz". Around 1830;
Variations on a Russian Theme. Early 1830s;
- Esmeralda's Dreams. Fantasy. 1838;
Two mazurkas. Late 1830s;
Polka. 1844;
Scherzo. 1844;
- Tobacco waltz. 1845;
- "Eagerness and composure." Scherzo. 1847;
Fantasy on themes from Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar (mid-1850s);
Slavic tarantella (four hands, 1865);
Arrangements of symphonic fragments from the opera "Esmeralda", etc.
Opera "Mermaid"
Characters:
Melnik (bass);
Natasha (soprano);
Prince (tenor);
Princess (mezzo-soprano);
Olga (soprano);
Swat (baritone);
Huntsman (baritone);
Sang (tenor);
Little Mermaid (without singing).
History of creation:
The idea of "Mermaid" based on the plot of Pushkin's poem (1829-1832) came from Dargomyzhsky in the late 1840s. The first musical sketches date back to 1848. In the spring of 1855 the opera was finished. A year later, on May 4 (16), 1856, the premiere took place in St. Petersburg on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater.
The Mermaid was staged carelessly, with large banknotes, which reflected the hostile attitude of the theater management towards the new, democratic direction in operatic creativity. Ignored Dargomyzhsky's opera and "high society". Nevertheless, "Mermaid" withstood many performances, gaining recognition from the general public. Advanced music criticism in the person of A. N. Serov and Ts. A. Cui welcomed her appearance. But true recognition came in 1865. When resumed on the St. Petersburg stage, the opera met with an enthusiastic reception from a new audience - the democratically minded intelligentsia.
Dargomyzhsky left intact most of Pushkin's text. They introduced only the final scene of the death of the Prince. The changes also affected the interpretation of images. The composer freed the image of the Prince from the features of hypocrisy, which he is endowed with in the literary source. The emotional drama of the Princess, barely outlined by the poet, is developed in the opera. The image of Melnik is somewhat ennobled, in which the composer sought to emphasize not only greed, but also the power of love for his daughter. Following Pushkin, Dargomyzhsky shows profound changes in Natasha's character. He consistently displays her feelings: hidden sadness, thoughtfulness, stormy joy, vague anxiety, a premonition of impending disaster, mental shock and, finally, protest, anger, the decision to take revenge. Affectionate, loving girl turns into a formidable and vindictive Mermaid.
Opera features:
The drama underlying the "Mermaid" was recreated by the composer with great truth in life, deep penetration into the spiritual world of the characters. Dargomyzhsky shows the characters in development, conveys the subtlest shades of experiences. Images of the main actors, their relationship is revealed in tense dialogic scenes. Because of this, ensembles, along with arias, occupy a significant place in the opera. The events of the opera unfold against a simple and artless everyday background.
The opera opens with a dramatic overture. The music of the main (fast) section conveys the passion, impetuosity, determination of the heroine and, at the same time, her tenderness, femininity, purity of feelings.
A significant part of the first act consists of extended ensemble scenes. Melnik's comedy aria "Oh, that's it, all you young girls" is warmed by moments of warm feeling of caring love. The tercet's music vividly conveys Natasha's joyful excitement and sadness, the Prince's soft, soothing speech, and Miller's grouchy remarks. In the duet of Natasha and Prince, bright feelings gradually give way to anxiety and growing excitement. The music achieves high drama on Natasha's words "You're getting married!". The next episode of the duet is psychologically subtly resolved: short, as if unfinished melodic phrases in the orchestra, depict the confusion of the heroine. In the duet of Natasha and Melnik, confusion is replaced by bitterness, determination: Natasha's speech becomes more and more abrupt, agitated. The act ends with a dramatic choral finale.
The second act is a colorful domestic scene; choirs and dances occupy a large place here. The first half of the act has a festive flavor; the second is filled with worry and anxiety. The majestic choir sounds solemnly and widely, “Like in an upper room, at an honest feast.” Sadness marked the heartfelt aria of the Princess "Girlfriends of Childhood". The aria turns into a bright, joyful duet of the Prince and Princess. Dances follow: “Slavic”, combining light elegiacity with scope and prowess, and “Gypsy”, mobile and temperamental. Natasha's melancholy and sad song "On Pebbles, On Yellow Sand" is close to peasant lingering songs.
There are two scenes in the third act. In the first one, the Princess's aria "Days of Past Pleasures", which creates the image of a lonely, deeply suffering woman, is imbued with grief and heartache.
The Prince's cavatina “Involuntarily to these sad shores”, which opens the second picture, is distinguished by the beauty and plasticity of the melodious melody. The duet of the Prince and the Miller is one of the most dramatic pages of the opera; sadness and prayer, rage and despair, caustic irony and causeless gaiety - in the comparison of these contrasting states, the tragic image crazy Miller.
In the fourth act, fantastic and real scenes alternate. The first picture is preceded by a small colorfully pictorial orchestral introduction. Natasha's aria "The long-desired hour has come!" sounds majestic and menacing.
The aria of the Princess in the second picture "For many years already in severe suffering" is full of hot, sincere feelings. An enchantingly magical shade is given to the melody of the call of the Mermaid "My Prince". Tercet is imbued with anxiety, a premonition of an approaching disaster. In the quartet, the voltage reaches its highest limit. The opera ends with the enlightened sound of the Mermaid's call melody.
Women's choir "Svatushka" »
In it, the composer very colorfully conveyed the comic-everyday scene of the wedding ceremony. The girls sing a song that makes fun of the unlucky matchmaker.
Libretto by A. Dargomyzhsky based on the drama by A. Pushkin
Matchmaker, matchmaker, stupid matchmaker;
We went to the bride, we stopped in the garden,
They spilled a barrel of beer, poured all the cabbage.
They bowed to Tyn, prayed to faith;
Faith or faith, show the path,
Indicate the path for the bride to go.
Matchmaker, guess, take on the scrotum
Money moves in the purse, red girls strive,
Money moves in the purse, red girls strive,
Strives, red girls strives, strives, red
girls, strive.
Choir "Matchmaker" is playful. This wedding song sounds in the 2nd act.
Genre of the work: comic wedding song accompanied by accompaniment. The choir "Svatushka" is close to folk songs, as there are chants here.
In the third century BC, there lived and was a famous Greek thinker, physician and naturalist Hippocrates. And he once said - "Life is short, art is eternal." And everyone knew it was true. And this great aphorism lives for more than twenty-two centuries.
Romance is an art form that combines poetry and music. And in the art of romance, eternal creations are also created. "Nightingale" Alyabiev, I think, will be eternal. The romance "I loved you, love can still be ..." will also be eternal. And many other wonderful romances.
I will tell you a secret :-) that almost all (in fact, all without exception) well-known and not very well-known Russian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries loved to compose romances, i.e. compose music to the poetry they like, turning poetry into a vocal work.
Of the many composers of that time Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky(1813-1869), became a special phenomenon in the musical culture of the Russian romance for several reasons:
- Firstly, because he paid the main attention to the vocal genre. He wrote almost no other symphonic or instrumental works. The opera "Mermaid" is also a vocal work.
- Secondly, because for the first time he set himself the special goal of expressing the content of the word in music (later it will become much clearer what is meant here)
- Thirdly, because, among his other creations, he created a new genre of romance, which did not exist before him. This will also be discussed.
- Fourth, because he had a very strong influence on subsequent generations of Russian composers with the expressiveness and novelty of the music of his romances.
The composer and professor at the Moscow Conservatory Vladimir Tarnopolsky wrote: “If there hadn't been Dargomyzhsky, there wouldn't have been Mussorgsky, there wouldn't have been the Shostakovich we know today. The origin and first sprouts of the style of these composers are associated with Dargomyzhsky.”
In 2013, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Dargomyzhsky was celebrated. There was a post about this:
“On February 11 [Dargomyzhsky was born on February 14] in the Mirror Foyer of the Moscow Novaya Opera Theater, another chamber evening of theater artists was held, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the outstanding Russian composer, the creator of an original creative direction, characterized by the inextricable connection between deeply Russian music and the Russian word, the legendary master vocal-psychological sketch by Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky.
In connection with the bicentenary of Dargomyzhsky, on January 9, 2013, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative silver coin with a face value of 2 rubles from the series “ Prominent figures Russia".
I will not pay much attention to the biography of the composer, including childhood, studies, and so on. I will dwell only on the essential details of creativity.
One of specific features Dargomyzhsky as a composer is that he worked a lot with vocalists. Especially with singers. There is no subtext here. He wrote in his autobiography: “... Constantly addressing in the company of singers and singers, I practically managed to study both the properties and bends of human voices, and the art of dramatic singing.”
Solomon Volkov, in one of the sections of his extensive and versatile book "History of the Culture of St. Petersburg", among other things, wrote:
“The rich landowner Dargomyzhsky has long been gathering admirers of his work, mostly young and pretty amateur singers. With them, a small, mustachioed, cat-like Dargomyzhsky ... sat for hours at the piano, lit by two stearin candles, accompanying his polished and expressive romances to the lovely students, singing with pleasure to them with his strange, almost contralto voice. This is how the popular ... cycle of graceful, original and melodically rich vocal ensembles of Dargomyzhsky "Petersburg Serenades" sounded. After the success of Dargomyzhsky's opera Rusalak, novice composers also began to visit him more and more often. Among them ... Mily Balakirev, ... Caesar Cui. …. Modest Mussorgsky soon joined them. ... In the company of these young geniuses, Dargomyzhsky literally blossomed, his romances became more and more sharp and bold.
The famous musicologist and music writer of the past Sergey Alexandrovich Bazunov in the book “Alexander Dargomyzhsky. His life and musical activity" noted:
“In addition to creative works, to which the composer devoted his strength, in the era described, he put a lot of work into activities ... musical and pedagogical. As the author of a recently staged opera, as well as numerous romances and other works of vocal music, he constantly had to rotate among singers, singers and amateur amateurs. At the same time, of course, he managed to study very thoroughly all the properties and features of the human voice, as well as the art of dramatic singing in general, and gradually became the desired teacher of all the outstanding lovers of singing in St. Petersburg society. ... "
Dargomyzhsky himself wrote:“I can safely say that there was almost not a single famous and wonderful singing lover in St. Petersburg society who did not use my lessons or at least my advice ...” Half-jokingly he once said “If there were no female singers in the world, then I would never have been a composer”. By the way, Dargomyzhsky gave his numerous lessons for free.
Of course, it was not only female singers who pushed Dargomyzhsky to fruitful musical creativity (although there is apparently some truth in this), but first of all Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, whom Dargomyzhsky met in 1836. This acquaintance greatly influenced the development of Dargomyzhsky as a composer. About their first meeting Glinka M.I. with a bit of humor said:
"My friend, huge growth the captain, a lover of music, once brought me a little man in a blue frock coat and a red waistcoat, who spoke in a squeaky soprano. When he sat down at the piano, it turned out that this small man was a very lively piano player, and later a very talented composer - Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky.
Glinka and Dargomyzhsky became close friends. Glinka persuaded Dargomyzhsky to take music theory seriously. For this purpose, he gave Dargomyzhsky 5 notebooks containing lecture notes by the famous German theorist Z. Dehn, whom he himself listened to.
“The same education, the same love for art immediately brought us closer, - Dargomyzhsky later recalled. - For 22 years in a row we were with him constantly in the shortest, most friendly relations.. This close friendship lasted until Glinka's death. Dargomyzhsky attended Glinka's modest funeral.
After Glinka, Dargomyzhsky's vocal works became a new step forward in the development of Russian vocal music. The work of Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin was especially influenced by the new opera techniques of Dargomyzhsky, in which he put into practice the thesis expressed by him in a letter to one of his students: “I don't intend to reduce…music to fun. I want the sound to directly express the word; I want the truth."
Mussorgsky, on one of his vocal compositions, wrote a dedication to Dargomyzhsky: "To the great teacher of musical truth." Before Dargomyzhsky, cantilena reigned in vocal works - wide, freely flowing melodious music. Quote:
“Rejecting a continuous cantilena, Dargomyzhsky also rejected the ordinary, so-called “dry” recitative, which has little expressiveness and is devoid of pure musical beauty. He created a vocal style that lies between cantilena and recitative, a special melodious or melodic recitative, elastic enough to be in constant correspondence with speech, and at the same time rich in characteristic melodic twists, spiritualizing this speech, bringing into it a new, lacking emotional element. This vocal style, which fully corresponds to the peculiarities of the Russian language, is the merit of Dargomyzhsky.
A graduate of the Novosibirsk Conservatory, singer, teacher and writer Vera Pavlova wrote:“Singing romances by A.S. Dargomyzhsky is a great creative pleasure: they are full of subtle lyricism, vivid emotional expression, melodious, diverse, beautiful. Their execution requires a great return of creative forces.
In his striving for the maximum expressiveness of the music of the romance, for its maximum correspondence to the text and mood, with all their changes, the composer even made notes in the notes above individual words for the vocalists, such as: “sighing”, “very modestly”, “squinting his eyes ”, “smiling”, “stammering”, “with full respect” and the like.
According to the famous music critic VV Stasov Dargomyzhsky's romances, which appeared in the late 50s and early 60s, laid the foundation for a new kind of music. He wrote that these romances express reality, everyday life, with such depth, "with such unvarnished truthfulness and humor, ... which music has never tried before."
In our today's topic, I included three categories of romances by Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky:
- The first includes love and lyrical romances of the classical direction. You are most likely familiar with many of them, such as: “I don’t care”, “Don’t ask why”, “You were born to ignite”, “Young man and maiden”, “Legs” - all of the above in the words of Pushkin. K wide famous romances Dargomyzhsky to the words of Lermontov include “It’s both boring and sad”, “I’m sad because you have fun”, several romances to the words of Zhadovskaya and many others.
- The second category includes a group of romances created by Dargomyzhsky in the spirit of a folk song. Many of them are also related to the theme of love.
- The third category includes romances of a direction that did not exist before Dargomyzhsky and in which he is considered a recognized innovator. These are humorous-satirical and socially directed vocal works. They are well known and popular.
Although Dargomyzhsky's romances are at the center of today's topic, I, as always, will pay some attention to the authors of poetry and performers.
Let's start with the first category. And specifically from the romance to the words of Yulia Zhadovskaya "Charm me, enchant me."
Charm me, charm me
With what secret joy
I always take care of you!
Bliss is not better
How to listen to you!
And how many feelings of saints, beautiful
Your voice awakened in my heart!
And how many thoughts are high, clear
Your wonderful gaze gave birth to me!
Like friendship is a pure kiss,
Like a faint echo of paradise
Your holy speech sounds to me.
ABOUT! say oh! talk more!
Charm me! Charui!
Yulia Valerianovna Zhadovskaya, Russian writer and poetess lived from 1824 to 1883. Originally from the Yaroslavl province. She was born without a left hand and only three fingers on her right. Papa was a major provincial official from an old noble family, a retired naval officer, a petty tyrant and a family despot. This despot dad drove her mother into the grave early and Yulia was brought up first by her grandmother, and then by her aunt, an educated woman who loved literature very much, the mistress of a literary salon, who was in poetic correspondence with Pushkin and placed articles and poems in publications of the twenties of the XIX century.
When Julia entered a boarding school in Kostroma, her success in Russian literature attracted the special attention of a young teacher who taught this subject. (later a well-known writer and professor at the Alexander Lyceum). And as it sometimes happens, the young teacher and his student fell in love with each other. But the despot-tyrant pope did not want to hear about the marriage of a noble daughter with a former seminarian. Julia had to submit, she broke up with her loved one, and left with her father, she ended up in a rather difficult domestic captivity. However, the father, having learned about his daughter's poetic experiences, took her to Moscow and then to St. Petersburg to set in motion her talent.
In Moscow, the Muscovitian magazine published several poems. She met many famous writers and poets, including Turgenev and Vyazemsky. In 1846 she published a collection of poetry. She also wrote prose. Belinsky spoke very reservedly about Zhadovskaya's first collection. The second collection was much better received by critics. Dobrolyubov noted in Zhadovskaya's poems "sincerity, complete sincerity of feeling and calm simplicity of its expression." He, in his review of the second collection, referred it “to the best phenomena of our poetic literature the last time."
Julia once remarked: “I don’t compose poetry, but I throw it on paper, because these images, these thoughts do not give me rest, they haunt and torment me until I get rid of them, transferring them to paper.”
At the age of 38, Yulia Zhadovskaya married Dr. K.B. Seven. Dr. Seven, a Russified German, was an old friend of the Zhadovsky family, much older than her, a widower with five children who needed to be brought up and educated.
In the last years of her life, Yulia's eyesight deteriorated significantly, she was tormented by severe headaches. She wrote almost nothing, only made diary entries. After the death of Yulia, the complete works of Zhadovskaya in four volumes were published by her brother, also a writer, Pavel Zhadovsky. Quite a few romances by Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Varlamov and other composers were created to the verses of Yulia Zhadovskaya.
The romance “Charm me, enchant me”, created by Zhadovskaya and Dargomyzhsky, is sung for us by the People’s Artist of the USSR, the famous and honored 26-year-old veteran of the Bolshoi Theater Pogos Karapetovich, I’m sorry, Pavel Gerasimovich Lisitsian who passed away to a better world in 2004 at the age of 92. All four of his children have good genes. Their mother, sister Zara Dolukhanova, also probably had vocal genes :-). Lisitsian's daughters Ruzanna and Karina are singers and Honored Artists of Russia, son Ruben is also a singer and also Honored Artist, son Gerasim is a theater and film actor.
Let's move on to a series of romances in the spirit of folk songs.
Without a mind, without a mind
I got married
golden age girlish
Shortened by force.
Is it for youth
Observed, did not live,
Behind the glass from the sun
Beauty was cherished
So that I am married for my life
Crying, crying
Without love, without joy
Frustrated, tormented?
Relatives say:
“Profit - fall in love;
And choose according to your heart
Yes, it will have to be bitter.
Okay, getting old
Discuss, advise
And with you youth
No need to compare!
This Alexey Vasilievich Koltsov(1809-1842), many songs and romances were created to his words, he visited us with you. Let me just remind you that he was highly appreciated by many prominent poets and writers of that time, including Pushkin, there is even a painting of Pushkin's Rings. Saltykov-Shchedrin called the main feature of Koltsov's poetry "a burning sense of personality". He died of consumption at the age of 43.
sings Sofia Petrovna Preobrazhenskaya(1904-1966) - prominent Soviet mezzo-soprano, People's Artist USSR, two Stalin Prizes. Thirty Years at the Kirov Theatre. Quote:
“Her voice - strong, deep and somewhat sad - gives Russian romances a unique charm, and in the theater from the stage it sounds authoritative and dramatic. A representative of the Leningrad vocal school, this singer belongs to those artists who know how to make the listener cry over the bitter fate of an abandoned girl, and laugh at inept fortune-telling, and take revenge on an arrogant rival ... "
09 Bez uma, bez razuma - Preobrazhenskaya S
* * *
Dargomyzhsky's next romance is based on folk words. Notes have comments: "The words of the song, apparently, belong to Dargomyzhsky himself and are an imitation of folk poetry". A typical picture of Russian life in those days and, it seems, at all times :-).
How the husband came from under the hills,
How the husband came from under the hills
drunk drunk,
drunk drunk,
And how he began to play tricks,
And how he began to play tricks,
Break the bench
Break the bench.
And his wife thrashed him,
And his wife thrashed him:
"It's time for you to sleep
It's time for you to sleep."
For the hair pleased
For the hair pleased
"I need to beat you,
You have to be beaten."
It's not surprising that the wife beat,
It's not surprising that the wife beat,
It's a miracle - the husband was crying,
What a miracle - the husband was crying.
Sings talented in many ways Mikhail Mikhailovich Kizin(1968), People's Artist of Russia, Candidate of Art History, without a few minutes Doctor of Sciences, Professor of the Department of Academic Singing and Opera Training. Most recently, he sang the romance “Both boring and sad” by Lermontov and Gurilev with us. Actively collaborated with Elena Obraztsova and Lyudmila Zykina.
10 Kak prishyol muzh-Kizin M
* * *
Do not judge, good people,
Untalented little head;
Don't scold me boy
For my longing, kruchinushka.
Do not understand you, good people,
My evil longing, kruchinushki:
Not love killed the young man,
Not separation, not human slander.
Heart aches, aches day and night
Looking for, waiting for what - not knowing;
So everything would melt in tears,
So it would all be in tears and poured out.
Where are you, where are you, wild days,
Days of old, red spring? ..
Don't see you anymore young man
Do not make him the past!
Make way, you damp earth,
Dissolve, my wooden coffin!
Shelter me on a rainy day
Calm my weary spirit!
The author of the words Alexey Vasilievich Timofeev(1812-1883), a graduate of the moral and political department of Kazan University, a poet of average merit, but with the following characteristics:“... Timofeev's songs in the folk spirit stood out for their integrity, spontaneity and sincerity. Set to music the best composers they have become public property.
In 1837 (in honor of the centenary before my birthday :-)), Aleksey Timofeev published a collection of works in three volumes. Dargomyzhsky knows three romances to the words of Timofeev. sings Andrey Ivanov, he sang with us today.
11 Ne sudite, lyudi dobrye -Ivanov An
* * *
Give me migratory wings,
Give me free rein ... sweet free will!
I'll fly to a foreign country
To my dear friend I stealthily!
I am not afraid of the painful path,
I will run to him, wherever he is.
By the feel of my heart I will reach him
And I will find him wherever he hides!
I will sink into the water, I will throw myself into the flame!
I will overcome everything to see him,
I will rest with him from the evil torment,
I will flourish with my soul from his love! ..
And this is a poetess, translator, playwright and prose writer Evdokia Petrovna Rostopchina(1811-1858), nee Sushkova, cousin of Ekaterina Sushkova, whom, as you remember, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was very fond of.
Evdokia Sushkova published her first poem at the age of 20. Twenty-two years old, she married a young and wealthy Count Andrei Fedorovich Rostopchin. Quote:
“By her own admission, Rostopchina was, however, very unhappy with her rude and cynical husband and began to look for entertainment in the world, she was surrounded by a crowd of admirers, whom she treated far from cruelly. Scattered secular life, interrupted by frequent and lengthy travels in Russia and abroad, did not prevent Rostopchina from indulging in literary pursuits with enthusiasm.
In literary work, she was supported by such poets as Lermontov, Pushkin, Zhukovsky. Ogarev, May and Tyutchev dedicated their poems to her. The guests of her literary salon were Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky, Gogol, Myatlev, Pletnev, V.F. OdOevsky and others.
Another quote:
“Countess Rostopchina was as much known for her beauty as for her intelligence and poetic talent. According to contemporaries, small in stature, gracefully built, she had irregular, but expressive and beautiful facial features. Her large, dark and extremely short-sighted eyes "burned with fire." Her speech, passionate and captivating, flowed quickly and smoothly. In the world, she was the subject of many gossip and slander, to which her secular life often gave rise to. At the same time, being of extraordinary kindness, she helped the poor a lot and gave everything that she received from her writings to Prince OdOevsky for the charitable society he founded.
Evdokia Rostopchina published several collections of poems. She lived only 47 years. One of the famous contemporaries wrote in his diary:“Countess Rostopchina, young, died in Moscow of stomach cancer: she became famous for her poetry and his frivolous life.
Three children from her husband. Evil tongues claim that from an extramarital affair with Karamzin Andrei Nikolaevich, she had two daughters. (Andrei Karamzin was a hussar colonel and the son of the famous Russian historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, who wrote The History of the Russian State.) Plus illegitimate son from Peter Albedinsky, the Warsaw governor-general. When this talented woman managed to do everything, I can’t imagine :-).
Singing mezzo-soprano Marina Filippova about which very little is known. Born in Leningrad in an unknown year. She graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory and did an internship at the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. Performing since 1976. In 1980-1993 She was a soloist in an early music ensemble. For a number of years she was the host of the St. Petersburg Radio program dedicated to early music. Performs in Russia and abroad with leading orchestras and ensembles. Has released 6 CDs with the following programs:
Dedicated to Her Majesty. (Music written for Russian empresses in the period 1725-1805)
J.-B. Cardon. Compositions for voice and harp.
A. Pushkin in the music of his contemporaries.
A. Dargomyzhsky. `Love and life of a woman.`
M. Glinka. Italian songs. Seven Vocals.
P. Tchaikovsky. 16 songs for children.
12 Dajte kryl'ya mne -Filippova M
* * *
Dargomyzhsky's next romance has a folk-humorous character. It's called "Fever". Folk words.
fever
Is my head, you are a little head,
My head, you are violent!
Oh lu-li, lu-li, you are violent!
Father gave out for not nice,
For the ugly, for the jealous.
Oh lu-li, lu-li, for the jealous!
He lies, lies in the bed,
He is beaten, shaken by a fever,
Oh lu-li, lu-li, fever!
Oh you, mother fever
Shake your husband well
Oh lu-li, lu-li, good!
You shake more painfully to be kinder,
Knead the bones to let you visit
Oh lu-li, li-li, to let him visit!
sings Veronika Ivanovna Borisenko(1918-1995), from a remote Belarusian village, studied at the Minsk and Sverdlovsk conservatories. People's Artist of Russia, laureate of the Stalin Prize, sang for 31 years at the Bolshoi Theater.
Tamara Sinyavskaya wrote about her:
“It was a voice that you can hold in the palm of your hand - so dense, very beautiful, soft, but at the same time resilient. The beauty of this voice is that it is sunny, despite the fact that the mezzo-soprano ... Borisenko has everything ... in his voice: day and night, rain and sun ... "
She was widely known and popular as a chamber and pop performer. She recorded many romances, I have 60 of her recordings.
13 Lihoradushka-Borisenko V
* * *
We were not married in the church,
Not in crowns, not with candles;
We were not sung any hymns,
No wedding ceremonies!
We were crowned by midnight
In the midst of a gloomy forest;
Witness were
foggy sky
Yes dim stars;
Wedding songs
The violent wind sang
Yes, an ominous raven;
Were on guard
Cliffs and abysses
The bed was made
Love and freedom!
We didn't invite you to the party
No friends, no acquaintances;
Visited us guests
Of your own free will!
All night they raged
Thunderstorm and bad weather;
Feasted all night
Earth with heaven.
Guests were treated
Crimson clouds.
Forests and oak forests
Got drunk
century oaks
With a hangover fell;
The storm had fun
Until late morning.
It was not the father-in-law who woke us up,
Not mother-in-law, not daughter-in-law
Not an evil captive;
The morning woke us up!
East turned red
Bashful blush;
The earth was resting
From a violent feast;
cheerful sun
Played with dew;
The fields are discharged
In Sunday dress;
The forests rustled
salutary speech;
Nature is delighted
Sighing, smiling...
Interesting poem, good poetry. words again Alexey Timofeev. Vladimir Korolenko in his autobiographical "History of my contemporary", recalling the years of his youth - the 1870s-1880s. - writes that the romance was then very popular. He was popular before, especially among students.
sings Georgy Mikhailovich Nelepp(1904-1957), you probably remember this name. People's Artist of the USSR, three Stalin Prizes. A graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, he sang for 15 years at the Kirov Theater, 13 years at the Bolshoi Theatre, he did not live long. He was buried at Novodevichy - a sign of prestige.
Quote:
“Nelepp is one of the greatest Russian opera singers of his time. Possessing a beautiful, sonorous, soft voice, Nelepp created psychologically deep, embossed images. He had a bright personality as an actor."
Galina Vishnevskaya highly appreciated the performing skills of George Nelepp. At the same time, in her autobiographical book, “Galina” told a rather unusual, although by the way, even common for those times, case.
One day, at a rehearsal where Vishnevskaya was present, a poorly dressed woman appeared and asked Nelepp to be summoned to her for allegedly urgent business. The imposing and famous Nelepp came: "Hello, did you want to see me?" Then the woman spat in his face with the words: “Here you are, you bastard, for ruining my husband, for ruining my family! But I survived to spit in your face! Damn you!".
Nikandr Khanaev, the director of the acting group, allegedly told Vishnevskaya in his office afterwards: “Don’t worry, we’ll see something different now. And Zhorka killed many in his time, while still working at the Leningrad Theater. What doesn't look like it? That's just it, that, looking at him, such a thing would never occur to anyone ... "
The reliability of the facts and the circumstances that could lead to them are unknown. Nobody checked. It was about the years when denunciations and slanders to save one's life and career were a common event.
14 Svad'ba -Njelepp G
* * *
The most famous Russian bass profundo, People's Artist of the USSR and Archdeacon of the Russian Orthodox Church Maxim Dormidontovich Mikhailov(1893-1971) will sing us a half-joking-half-love-half-meaning piece with folk words and the music of Dargomyzhsky - "Vanka-Tanka". Mikhailov is helped by a high female voice, apparently from some kind of folk ensemble.
Vanka-Tanka
Vanka lived in the village of Maly,
Vanka fell in love with Tanka.
Whoa, yeah, yeah, ho-ha-go.
Vanka fell in love with Tanka.
Vanka sits with Tanka,
Tanya Vanke says:
“Vanka, dear falcon,
Sing a song to Tanka.
Vanka takes a pipe,
Tanya sings a song.
Whoa, yeah, yeah, ho-ha-go,
Tanya sings a song.
All in all! Such a “meaningful” text is easy to continue :-). For example like this:
Vanka Tanya says:
"My stomach hurts."
Whoa, yeah, yeah, ho-ha-go,
Maybe appendicitis? 🙂
Just kidding.
15 Van'ka Tan'ka -Mihajlov M
* * *
I will light a candle
Spring wax,
Unsolder the ring
Dear friend.
Ignite, ignite
fatal fire,
Unsolder, melt
Pure gold.
Without him - for me
You are unnecessary;
Without it on hand -
Heart stone.
What I look at, I breathe
I'm longing
And eyes will fill
Bitter grief of tears.
Will he return?
Or news
Will it revive me
Inconsolable?
There is no hope in the soul ...
You crumble
golden tear,
Sweet memory!
Intact, black
Ring on fire
And ringing on the table
Memory eternal.
Words by Alexei Koltsov. Marina Filippova sings, she just sang "Give me wings."
16 Ya zateplyu svechu-Filippova M
* * *
Here is another poem Alexey Timofeev with music by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. It's already much more serious. And with psychological overtones. About longing, which the poet called "an old woman." That sadness can kill.
Longing is an old woman.
I will twist my velvet hat on one side;
I’ll zagug, I’ll strum in the sonorous harp;
I'll run, I'll fly to the red girls,
I'll walk from the morning to the night star,
I drink from the star until midnight,
I will come running, I will fly with a song, with a whistle;
Longing does not recognize - an old woman!
“Enough, enough for you to boast, prince!
I am wise, longing, you will not bury:
I will turn into a dark forest red girls,
In the coffin board - sonorous psaltery,
I'll tear, I'll dry up my wild heart,
Before death I will drive from the light of God;
I'll take you out, old woman!"
“I will saddle a horse, a fast horse;
I'll fly, I'll fly like a light falcon
From melancholy, from a snake in a clean field;
I'll mark black curls on my shoulders,
I will kindle, I will inflame my clear eyes,
I toss and turn, I will be carried by a whirlwind, a blizzard;
Longing does not recognize - an old woman.
Not a bed is made in a bright chamber, -
A black coffin stands there with a good fellow,
At the head sits a red-haired girl,
She cries bitterly that the stream is noisy,
She weeps bitterly, saying:
“The longing of a dear friend has ruined!
You took him away, you old woman!”
Sings a good, but forgotten tenor Dmitry Fedorovich Tarkhov(1890-1966), originally from Penza. Dmitry Tarkhov was also a poet, translator and some composer. Honored Artist of Russia.
He studied at Moscow State University as a lawyer and at the Moscow Conservatory. From the beginning of the 1920s, he sang leading tenor parts both on the provincial stage and in Moscow theaters. In 1936-1958 he worked in the All-Union Radio Committee. It had its own opera group, which staged radio operas. From 1948 to 1966 Tarkhov taught solo singing at the Institute. Gnesins. He wrote poems, but during his lifetime they were not published. Tarkhov's solo disc, released in 1990, includes romances based on his own music and poetry. He translated the libretto of several operas. He translated romances by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and others.
I will read you one of his poems as an example:
Under the whisper of blossoming buds, -
Their dots of green chime, -
Down the street, among other passers-by,
There was a woman walking like a dream.
Only in it alone were enclosed, it seemed,
Charms of cooing spring:
And strength - and flirtatious lethargy,
And thunderstorms - and the bliss of silence.
And everyone who met her eyes
He remembered all his beloved ones, -
Forgotten or created by dreams
Embodied in it - and becoming young for a moment.
And he walked, already languishing with happiness, past, -
And went out, whispering that everything around
Intangible and inexpressible
Like a woman who suddenly thought up.
17 Toska Baba staraya-Tarhov D
* * *
We move on to the third category vocal works in which Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was an undoubted innovator.
I confess, uncle, the devil beguiled!
Be angry, don't be angry;
I'm in love, but how!
At least now climb into the loop ...
Not in beauty - God bless them!
What's in the beauties for the use.
Not a scientist - be damned
All scholarly female light!
I fell in love, uncle, with a miracle,
Into my double, into another I;
In a mixture of pretense and innocence,
With the safety of the blues
In a mixture of mind and freethinking,
indifference, fire,
Faith in the world, contempt for opinion, -
In short, a mixture of good and evil!
So I would listen to her all,
So everything would sit with her,
Angel in heart but like a demon
Both cunning and smart.
He will say the word - and it melts,
He will sing, - and he is not himself,
Uncle, uncle, that's all the glory
That all honors, ranks;
What is wealth, nobility, service?
Delirium of fever, magnificent nonsense!
I, she ... and in this circle
My whole world, my heaven and hell.
Laugh, uncle, at me,
Laugh all reasonable light;
Let me be an eccentric, I am satisfied;
I'm the happiest weirdo.
This one more time Alexey Timofeev. An unrhymed poem. Having “worked through” a fairly large professional musicological analysis of this romance, I will allow myself a very abbreviated presentation of the main ideas of this analysis. (Why can't I afford myself? :-))
So my retelling:
Among the vocal compositions written by A.S. Dargomyzhsky in the 1830s, an unusual impression is left by the miniature "I confess, uncle, the devil beguiled". Some researchers compare this composition with vaudeville couplets, others with a love confession, others with a humorous song and a parody.
Turning to Timofeev's poem, A.S. Dargomyzhsky did not touch the poetic text, although composers often allow themselves this to some extent. Composer with specific melodic and rhythmic touches managed to convey the self-irony of the hero, on whose behalf the presentation is being conducted.
In the genre of a friendly message, which is this romance, an appeal to the interlocutor immediately brings you up to date. Therefore, the composer practically abandoned the instrumental introduction. In each of the three verses, the extravagance of the text is emphasized witty musical tricks. They show a novel approach and combine very different elements. In the melodic endings of phrases, the composer uses motifs typical of lyrical romances, thereby creating a comic and parodic effect. In the romance, comedy and play are clearly felt.
The romance, written at the end of 1835 (the composer was only 22 years old), was dedicated to the talented, witty and noble relative of Dargomyzhsky, Pyotr Borisovich Kozlovsky. He, having listened to the romance, highly appreciated the masterfully stylized parody. The romance also aroused the approval of M.I. Glinka, who noticed a great talent and a penchant for parody and caricature in piece of music budding composer.
I have chosen as an executor for you Eduard Anatolyevich Khil(1934-2012). With his Soviet creativity you are well acquainted. With his post-Soviet fate, perhaps not very much. Wikipedia quote that(Wikipedia) sometimes includes in its texts and gossip:
“During the collapse of the USSR, Khil, left without a livelihood, left for France, where he worked for three years at the Rasputin cafe. Gil himself said that in the late 80s there was a lack of money. When Lenconcert collapsed, Khil began to give concerts in the provinces. However, artists were often deceived, and as a result, the artist simply had nothing to feed his family with. He made the decision to go to Paris and earn a living. A familiar artist from the Maly Opera House took Khil to the Rasputin cafe. The owner of Rasputin, Elena Afanasievna Martini, asked the singer to perform the song "Evening Bells", after which she asked the singer to stay. Martini allowed to perform all songs except thieves. The artists in Rasputin received little, but they could live on these funds. Gil rented an apartment from fellow emigrants for half the price. Saved on everything. As he later admitted, it was hard for him to live long apart from his loved ones, and in 1994 he decided to return to his homeland. In the same place in Paris, the first CD of the singer (“It's time for love”) was released.”
After returning to Russia, Khil was no less successful, and existed tolerably well. In 2010, a video clip of Khil for A. Ostrovsky's vocals was popular on the Internet. Gil participated in concerts until his illness in April 2012, from which he never recovered. Stroke.
18 Kayus', dyadya-Hil' Je
* * *
Pulls me into your arms
passionate anxiety,
And I want to tell you
Many, many, many.
But beloved heart
For answers sparingly.
And my sheep looks
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Crackling frost in my heart,
And on the cheeks of a rose I
And in the eyes, just in case,
Tears, tears, tears.
Love humor mixed with light sarcasm. This Vasily Kurochkin, he was already today. Here is a successful poetic device with a three-time repetition of a word in the fourth line of each stanza. sings again Andrey Ivanov, he sang and recorded a lot of Dargomyzhsky.
19 Mchit menya-Ivanov An
* * *
Paladin (Vengeance)
By treason, the paladin's servant killed:
The killer was envious of the dignity of a knight.
Murder happened at night sometimes -
And the corpse was swallowed up by a deep river.
And the killer put on spurs and armor
And in them he sat on a paladin's horse.
And he hurries to jump the bridge on a horse,
But the horse has reared up and is snoring.
He plunges spurs into steep sides -
A mad horse threw a rider into the river.
He swim out of all straining forces,
But the heavy shell drowned him.
There's nothing like romance here. This is already a socio-philosophical direction. This is more sarcasm. The author of the words is deservedly famous Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky(1783-1852), an outstanding Russian poet, one of the founders of romanticism in Russian poetry, translator, critic. With a Turkish twist. His mother was a captive Turkish woman.Member of the Imperial Russian Academy, Honorary Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Ordinary Academician in the Department of the Russian Language and Literature, Privy Councillor.
In September 1815, in St. Petersburg, Zhukovsky met with a 16-year-old lyceum student A. Pushkin. On March 26, 1820, on the occasion of the end of his poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, he presented Pushkin with his portrait with the inscription: “To the winner-student from the defeated teacher.” The friendship of the poets continued until the death of Pushkin in 1837.
Zhukovsky was very influential at court. Several times he asked for Pushkin, bought the poet Shevchenko from the serfs, thanks to Zhukovsky Herzen was returned from exile. Under his influence, the fate of the Decembrists was mitigated, for whom the hanging was replaced by exile in Siberia.
At least ten romances are known to the words of Vasily Zhukovsky, with music by Glinka, Rachmaninov, Alyabyev, Dargomyzhsky and others.
Sings the famous and now alive Alexander Filippovich Vedernikov(1927), 42 years old soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, since 2008 artistic director Theater "Russian Opera" in Moscow. Well, of course, People's Artist and a host of other regalia.
20 Paladin-Vedernikov A
* * *
He was a titular adviser,
She is a general's daughter;
He timidly declared his love,
She drove him away.
Chased him away
Went titular adviser
And drunk with grief all night
And in the wine fog rushed
Before him is the general's daughter.
General's daughter
The author of this poem, widely known thanks to Dargomyzhsky's romance, is Pyotr Isaevich Weinberg(1831-1908), poet, translator and literary historian, was a very significant figure in Russian literary life in the second half of the 19th century.
Ethnic Jewish parents converted to Orthodoxy even before the birth of Peter. Weinberg published magazines and contributed to magazines. He was a professor of Russian literature in Warsaw. For many years he taught Russian and foreign literature at the Higher Women's Pedagogical Courses and Drama Courses at the Theater School, for five years he was the inspector of the Kolomna Women's Gymnasium, later the director of the gymnasium and real school named after Ya.G. Gurevich. (Original, right? Imagine the school named after Yakov Gurevich in our time in Russia.)
He published profusely and translated a lot. The translations were distinguished by their sonorous and beautiful verse, and their closeness to the originals. For the translation of "Mary Stuart Schiller" he was awarded half the Pushkin Prize. Several dozen poems and translations by Weinberg became romances. There is a biographical element in the poem "He was a titular adviser". It reflected the unrequited love of the poet for the daughter of the Tambov governor.
A. Dargomyzhsky gave this very expressive romance a sharp characteristic and an accurate manner of depicting the characters. Here is the laconism of the form, the contrast of the images (the humiliated official and the proud "ruler of his thoughts"), and the subtle transfer of the details of the "action". In music, we feel the imperious gesture of the general's daughter, the unsteady gait of the "hero" due to intoxication and his weaving speech. This feature of A. Dargomyzhsky's style makes his works very difficult to perform. On the one hand, it seems that the vivid imagery of music can be easily conveyed in performance, on the other hand, it is easy to turn romances of this kind into a caricature. It takes great talent to perform these romances vividly, but not vulgarly.
This masterpiece will be sung for you again by Maxim Dormidontovich Mikhailov. Listen for changes in the character of the music and the expressiveness of the singer's intonations. And the accompaniment too. It was actually a revolutionary approach of A. Dargomyzhsky to the music of vocal works.
22 Titulyarnyj sovetnik-Mihajlov M
* * *
noble friend(Beranger/Kurochkin)
I am attached to my wife with all my heart;
I went out into the people ... Yes, what!
I owe the Count's friendship to her,
Is it easy! Count himself!
Governing the affairs of the kingdom,
He visits us like family.
What happiness! What an honor!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
Last, for example, winter
Appointed at the minister's ball;
The count comes for his wife -
As a husband, and I got there.
There, squeezing my hand with everyone,
Called my friend!
What happiness! What an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
Wife accidentally falls ill -
After all, he, my dear, is not himself:
Plays preference with me
And at night he goes for the sick.
Came, all in the stars shining,
Congratulations on my angel ...
What happiness! What an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
And what a subtlety!
Arrives in the evening, sits ...
“What are you all at home ... without movement?
You need air…” he says.
“The weather, count, is very bad ...”
- “Yes, we will give you a carriage!”
What a warning!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
He invited the boyars to his house;
Champagne flowed like a river ...
The wife fell asleep in the ladies' bedroom...
I'm in the best men's room.
Sleeping on a soft bed
Under a brocade blanket
I thought, basking: what an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
He called himself baptize without fail,
When the Lord gave me a son,
And smiled tenderly
When he took the baby.
Now I'm dying hoping
That the godson will be exacted by him ...
What happiness, what an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
And how sweet he is when he is in the spirit!
After all, I'm behind a glass of wine
Enough once: there are rumors ...
As if, Count... my wife...
Count, I say, acquiring ...
Working... I must be blind...
Yes, blind and such an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
This is a translation of Vasily Kurochkin from Beranger. Romances, as you know, are created by composers choosing the poetry they like to compose music for it. At the same time, they quite often change the original poetic material somewhat, can rearrange poetic stanzas, sometimes even replace individual words, sometimes reduce the number of original stanzas, often give the romance a name different from the author's name of the poem.
Beranger / Kurochkin's poem was called "A Noble Friend". Alexander Dargomyzhsky called his romance "Worm". In addition, out of seven poetic stanzas (that is, couplets), Dargomyzhsky chose only three for his romance, but at the same time did not violate the author's intention.
Another famous Russian bass sings Alexander Stepanovich Pirogov(1899-1964). With every conceivable regalia. Soloist of the Bolshoi Theater for 21 years.
23 Chervyak-Pirogov A
* * *
Miller
The miller returned at night ...
“Woman! What boots? -
“Oh, you drunkard, loafer!
Where do you see boots?
Does the evil one trouble you?
Those are buckets." - Bucket? Right?
I've been living for forty years
Not in a dream, not in reality
Haven't seen until now
I'm on buckets of copper spurs."
Pushkin, Pushkin, Pushkin. Genius in all genres.
Sings another without exaggeration coryphaeus of the Russian opera stage and a brilliant chamber and pop performer, the famous bass Artur Arturovich Eisen(1927-2008). He sang at the Bolshoi Theater for more than forty years. A million awards and titles.
24 Mel'nik-Jejzen A
* * *
And finally, a masterpiece of masterpieces, a peak of peaks, a merit from the merits of Alexander Dargomyzhsky, there is hardly a more expressive music of a psychological vocal work.
Old corporal. (Beranger/Kurochkin)
Keep up, guys, go
Come on, don't hang up your guns!
Pipe with me... swipe
On vacation last me.
I was a father to you guys...
All gray hair...
Here it is - the service of a soldier! ..
Keep up, guys! Once! Two!
Breastfeed!
Don't whine, get equal!
Once! Two! Once! Two!
I insulted the officer.
You're still young to offend
Old soldiers. For example
Should shoot me.
I drank ... The blood began to play ...
I hear bold words -
The emperor's shadow has risen...
Keep up, guys! Once! Two!
Breastfeed!
Don't whine, get equal!
Once! Two! Once! Two!
You, fellow countryman, hurry up
Return to our herds;
Our fields are greener
It's easier to breathe... Take a bow
Temples of the native village ...
God! The old woman is alive!
Don't say a word to her...
Keep up, guys! Once! Two!
Breastfeed!
Don't whine, get equal!
Once! Two! Once! Two!
Who is crying so loudly?
Oh! I recognize her...
Russian campaign recalls ...
I warmed the whole family ...
Snowy, heavy road
Carried her son ... Widow
Pray for peace from God...
Keep up, guys! Once! Two!
Breastfeed!
Don't whine, get equal!
Once! Two! Once! Two!
Did the tube burn out?
No, I'll take it one more time.
Close guys. For business!
Away! don't blindfold.
Aim better! Don't bend!
Listen to word commands!
God bless you to come back home.
Keep up, guys! Once! Two!
Chest go! ..
Don't whine, get equal!
Once! Two! Once! Two!
Surprisingly corresponding to the text and changing with the text in different stanzas of music. Best Performer among many and many is considered Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin(1873-1938). You will hear him. Listen to the music, to its intonations, to the performing skills.
25 Staryj kapral-Shalyapin F
* * *
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
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Among the high outstanding personalities, whose work and fate came into contact with A. S. Pushkin, was Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky, a Russian composer who, like Glinka, is the founder of the Russian classical school.
A. S. Dargomyzhsky was born (in our Tula land!) on February 2, 1813 in the village of Troitskoye (the old name of Dargomyzhka) in the Belevsky district. The life of his parents is connected with this village in the Tula province before they, after 4 years, settled in St. Petersburg. Interestingly, Alexander Sergeevich received exclusively home education. (He never studied at any educational institution!) His only educators, his only source of knowledge were his parents and home teachers. A large family is the environment in which the character, interests and tastes of the future great Russian composer were formed. In total, the Dargomyzhskys had six children. A particularly important place in their upbringing was occupied by art - poetry, theater, music.
Music was given great importance in the Dargomyzhskys' house: as "the beginning that softens morals", acting on feelings, educating the heart. Children were taught to play various instruments. By the age of seven, Alexander Sergeevich's interest in composing music was completely determined. At that time, as you know, songs, romances, arias, that is, vocal music, occupied an exceptional place in the practice of salon music-making.
On September 13, 1827, young Dargomyzhsky (14 years old) was enrolled in the office of the Ministry of the Court as a clerk without salary. He served in the Treasury (he retired in 1843 with the rank of titular adviser). At the age of seventeen, A. S. Dargomyzhsky was already known in St. Petersburg society as a strong pianist.
In 1834, A. S. Dargomyzhsky met Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. Despite the difference in age (Glinka was nine years older than Dargomyzhsky), close friendships developed between them. “For 22 years we were constantly on friendly terms with him,” Alexander Sergeevich will say about his friendship with Glinka.
Poetry plays an important role in the life of every composer working in the field of vocal genres. Note that Dargomyzhsky's mother was a poetess, she published a lot in the 1920s. The composer's father was also no stranger to literature. He wrote especially in his younger years. Composing poetry was widely practiced among children. And poetry from an early age became an integral part of the life of A. S. Dargomyzhsky. He was distinguished by a delicate poetic taste, a keen sense of the poetic word.
Perhaps that is why the composer's vocal heritage hardly knows any mediocre verses.
Of great artistic value are, first of all, such romances by Dargomyzhsky to poems by A.S. my days", "God help you, my friends."
We will try to analyze these works based on such literary sources as “A. S. Pushkin. School Encyclopedic Dictionary” and “Romances of A. S. Dargomyzhsky on the verses of A. S. Pushkin” by O. I. Afanasyeva, E. A. Anufrieva, S. P. Solomatin.
A. S. Pushkin's poem "I loved you" (1829) is an elegy. It embodies the “noble, meek, gentle, fragrant and graceful” (V. G. Belinsky) beginning, characteristic of the great poet’s mature love lyrics. The work reveals the drama of great unrequited love, conveys a sincere desire to see the beloved woman happy. Story great feeling recreated by the poet with extremely laconic means. Only one trope is used in the poem: the metaphor "love has faded away." With absence figurative meanings the imagery of words is of a dynamic-temporal nature, revealing the transformations and ups and downs of love feeling in three tenses (“loved”, “does not disturb”, “to be loved”) and faces (“I”, “you”, “other”). The poem has an amazingly fine syntactic, rhythmic-intonation and sound structure. The orderliness and symmetry of the organization of speech do not disturb the impression of its complete naturalness. The poem served as the basis for writing a huge number of romances, including A. A. Alyabyev, A. E. Varlamov, Ts. A. Cui.
Each composer reads this Pushkin's poem in his own way, places semantic accents in his own way, highlighting certain aspects of the artistic image.
So, for B. M. Sheremetev, this is a romance of a lyrically sublime warehouse: light, impetuous, entrancing. In the romance “I loved you” by A. S. Dargomyzhsky, the interaction of words and music creates a new facet of the artistic image. He has a dramatic monologue, lyrical reflection, reflection on the meaning of life.
The work is written in couplet form, but Pushkin's text is reproduced with extraordinary accuracy. The emotional tone of the romance is restrained, somewhat harsh, and at the same time surprisingly soulful and warm. The melody of the romance plastically follows Pushkin's verse; voice leading is very smooth, clear, aphoristic.
I would like to draw attention to the importance of pauses. Here they play the role not only of breathing, but also are semantic caesuras, emphasizing the significance of individual phrases. Let's pay attention: at the end of the verse, the semantic accents are placed differently (the first time is “I don’t want to sadden you with anything”, the second is “I don’t want to sadden you with anything”). The same accents are placed in the accompaniment.
The romance of A. S. Dargomyzhsky “The Youth and the Maiden” was written to the poem by A. S. Pushkin “The young man, weeping bitterly, the jealous maiden scolded” (1835; during the life of Pushkin it was not published). The poem is written in hexameter, which allows it to be classified as an "anthological epigram" - short poems in the spirit of "imitation of the ancients." A. S. Dargomyzhsky writes a romance in this style. The romance "The Youth and the Maiden" is an anthological romance, an idyllic play of a sentimental nature with a peculiar rhythm dictated by the poetic meter (hexameter).
The melody here is free from chant (each of its sounds corresponds to a syllable) and is based on equal eighths, due to which it reproduces the rhythm of the verse in detail. This feature of the melodic structure of the romance causes a change in time signatures (6/8 and 3/8).
Let us note two more features of A. S. Dargomyzhsky's "Youth and Maiden": the romance is written in a graphic manner; the curves of the melodic pattern are set off by the purity and transparency of the piano accompaniment.
In this romance, it seems to us, there is something simultaneously from a waltz and from a lullaby. The light, elastic sound of the bass, ben marcato in the left hand (“and smiled at him”) means not just an increase in sound, but the appearance of a melody in the bass that echoes the voice: the piano conclusion, as it were, sings the phrase.
"Vertograd" (oriental romance) - oriental romance. In the oriental theme, Dargomyzhsky chooses a fresh, unexpected aspect. "Vertograd" - biblical stylization (Pushkin's poem is included in "Imitation of the Song of Songs of Solomon"). In his text - a kind of landscape. There is no sensual coloring here. And Dargomyzhsky's music is pure and transparent, filled with softness, light, grace, spirituality, some exquisite fragility.
In the piano part, the right hand is a rehearsal movement of quiet chords that create vibration. In the bass - measured eighths, similar to drops. The whole piece does not have a single dynamic designation, except for the incandescent indication sempre pianissimo. The tonal plan of the romance is flexible and mobile, it is replete with frequent deviations.
In the I part from F-dur - C, A, E, A.
In the II part - D, C, B, F.
At the end of the first verse, a chromatic middle voice appears in the right hand. And this gives the harmonic language even greater subtlety and grace, bliss, languor. Very unusual, as if spicy accentuated dissonant weak beats sound at the end of the romance (“Fragrances”).
In this romance of Dargomyzhsky, the role of the pedal is great (for the whole piece, con Ped). Thanks to her, the overtones create a feeling of air and light. In this regard, "Vertograd" romance is considered a harbinger of impressionism in music. The melody is subtly intertwined with the piano accompaniment. Declamation here is organically combined with ornamentality, creating whimsical patterns (“clean, living waters run, rustle in my place”).
An amazing feature of the romance "Vertograd" is that the inner passion does not manifest itself externally in it.
Dargomyzhsky's romance "Night Zephyr" sounds quite different. This is a romance serenade, like a genre scene with real place actions and outlined characters.
The poem "Night Zephyr" was written by A. S. Pushkin on November 13, 1824; published in 1827. The text of the poem, titled at the time of publication "Spanish Romance", was accompanied by notes by A. N. Verstovsky, who set the poems to music. The strophicity of the structure of the poem is emphasized by Pushkin's alternation of iambic and choreic sizes.
Pushkin's text gives Dargomyzhsky a reason to create a landscape picture of a mysterious night, impenetrable, filled with velvet softness and, at the same time, restless from the noise of the Guadalquivir filling it.
The romance is written in the form of a rondo. The accompaniment of the refrain ("Night Marshmallow") has a sound-pictorial character: it is a softly flowing continuous wave.
After the noise of the Guadalquivir in the episode “the golden moon has risen” - the silence of the night street. The wide smooth sound of the refrain 6/8 melody gives way to a compressed collected rhythm ¾. The atmosphere of mystery, mystery is created by the elasticity and, as it were, alertness of the accompaniment chords, the air of pauses. The image of the beautiful Spaniard Dargomyzhsky draws in the dance genre of the bolero.
The second episode of the romance (Moderato, As-dur, “Throw off the mantilla”) consists, as it were, of two parts, and both are of a dance character. The first is written in the tempo of a minuet, the second is a bolero. This episode develops the storyline. In accordance with Pushkin's text, the image of an enthusiastic lover appears here. The ardent invocative intonations of the minuet take on an increasingly passionate character and the bolero reappears (“through the cast-iron railing”).
Thus, Dargomyzhsky turned the serenade into a dramatic miniature.
The romance "Burning in the blood" was written by A. S. Dargomyzhsky based on the poem by A. S. Pushkin "The fire of desire burns in the blood" (1825; published in 1829) and is a variation of the text "Song of Songs" (ch. I , stanzas 1-2). The lyrical situation here has an obvious erotic character. Pushkin stylizes the pompous and exotic style of a biblical source.
Oriental sensual flavor is achieved by the poet by combining the techniques of the Russian elegy at the turn of 1810-1820. (paraphrases: “fire of desire”, “until the fun day dies”, phrases like: “ night Shadow”,“ the head of the tender”) and high vocabulary as a stylistic dominant of the biblical lush syllable: “your kisses / I am sweeter than myrrh and wine”, “and let the rest be serene”, “the night shadow will move”.
Together with the miniature "My Sister's Vertograd", the poem was published under the general title "Imitations". The source could not be named for censorship reasons.
The romance “It burns in the blood” was written by Dargomyzhsky at the pace of Allegro passionate: this is an ardent, passionate declaration of love. The melodic ornament of the introduction is strung on an elastic, harmonic basis. Elastic rhythm, as it were, restrains an internal impulse. At the culmination of the first movement and the reprise (the romance is written in a three-part form), the sound takes on an assertive, masculine character, and then is replaced by a gentle repetition of the phrase "myrrh and wine are sweeter to me." It should be noted that in the accompaniment there is a change in dynamics, a change in the nature of the sound.
In the middle (p, docle, “bow down to me with your tender head”), the same texture appears in a different, more quivering, gentle sound. Sustained harmonies, a lower register create a gloomy, somewhat mysterious flavor. At the beginning of each part in the vocal part there is a grace note that gives sophistication, grace to the sound of the voice.
A special conversation is about the romance by A. S. Dargomyzhsky “The Lord of My Days”, written on the text of Pushkin’s “Prayer” (“The Hermit Father and the Wives are Immaculate”).
The poem "Prayer" was written by Pushkin six months before his death - in the summer of 1836. It is a kind of spiritual testament of the great poet.
From the book by I. Yu. Yurieva "Pushkin and Christianity" we learn that the cycle of poems by A. S. Pushkin of 1836 is associated with the recollection of the events of Holy Week: Wednesday is the last day when the prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin created its poetic arrangement. In the journal "Pushkin's Almanac" ("People's Education" - No. 5, 2004), in the article "Pushkin as a Christian", N. Ya. Borodina emphasizes that "of all Christian prayers, Pushkin most of all liked the one in which the Christian asks for completeness virtues; one that (among the very few) is read on their knees, with numerous bows to the ground!
Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky wrote an amazing romance for A.S. Pushkin’s “Prayer” (more precisely, for the second part of this poem, that is, for the poetic arrangement of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian) - “Lord of my days”.
What is the amazingness, the uniqueness of this romance?
The romance is distinguished by an extraordinary, amazing depth and sincerity of feeling, vivid imagery, cordiality, quite special - prayerful! - penetration.
The union of Pushkin's word and musical intonation becomes a revelation of pure and lofty thoughts about the spirit of "humility, patience, love", chastity, rejection of slander, arrogance, idle talk. Like the prayer of St. Ephraim the Sirin “strengthens with an unknown force”, so the creation of A. S. Pushkin and A. S. Dargomyzhsky opens and elevates our spirit, illuminates the human soul with the power of light.
God help you my friends
And in storms, and in worldly grief,
In a foreign land, in a desert sea,
And in the dark abysses of the earth!
It is characteristic that of all the "divine" our hearing, our excommunicated from Christian culture perception catches only the word "God". And the "gloomy abyss of the earth" got into this poem, it seems to us, only because there were Decembrists among Pushkin's lyceum friends. Meanwhile, this is not just a poem (we make such a discovery thanks to I. Yu. Yuryeva’s book “Pushkin and Christianity”, published with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'), this is a poem-prayer for the friends of youth. Pushkin supported his condemned comrades not politically at all, but Christianly - he prayed for them! And there is a specific source of this poem - the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: “Remember, Lord, who float floating in the deserts and abysses of the earth, who travel, descend to judgment, and in ores, and in imprisonment, and in bitter works, and remember all sorrow, and need, and the situation of those who exist, remember, God.”
Having torn off the poem from its spiritual source, we, of course, cannot comprehend its deep meaning. Agree, these are completely different, unequal things: to greet friends, to send them even the best wishes and - to pray for them, “to pray to Holy Providence”!
The musical intonation of Dargomyzhsky's romance "God help you", as it seems to us, extremely adequately expresses the meaning of Pushkin's work. The nature of music reveals a deep spiritual meaning poems, creating a secret, thoughtful, penetrating mood. The revelation “to pray to Holy Providence” comes to consciousness, understanding how to pray with the soul; holiness is born in the heart.
Romance music helps us experience the highest of feelings: feelings of love and compassion.
And how not to rejoice at the tradition established in our Pushkin school: to end the events with this extraordinary romance!
Summarizing our reflections, we highlight the following:
Consonance in the work of Pushkin and Dargomyzhsky is expressed (accidentally or not by chance?!) already in the same names and patronymics - Alexander Sergeevich.
The work of A. S. Dargomyzhsky is a striking phenomenon in the musical life of the 1840-1850s. Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky is the founder of Russian classical music.
Thanks to the brilliant poetry of A. S. Pushkin, A. S. Dargomyzhsky discovers new methods for the development of music in the vocal genre, embodying his main principle: “I want the sound to express the word. I want the truth."
We, Tula people, are proud that A. S. Dargomyzhsky is our countryman!
Dargomyzhsky worked on the genres of chamber vocal music throughout his musical life. He created over a hundred romances and songs, as well as a large number of vocal ensembles.
If chamber vocal art Glinka, in general, is distinguished by the unity of style (therefore, they spoke and wrote out the features of the style). Then in the work of Dargomyzhsky there is a variety of creative experiences, even some stylistic diversity. This can be explained by the fact that Dargomyzhsky's work took place at the time of the formation of new views on the role of art in society. The best works of Dargomyzhsky were written in the 40s - 60s of the XIX century. It was at this time that the principles of the so-called critical realism in art, especially in literature. The impetus for this was the release of Gogol's Dead Souls. Belinsky called this new work of Gogol “a creation purely Russian, national, ... mercilessly pulling the veil off reality ...; a creation that is immensely artistic in concept and execution, in terms of the characters of the characters and the details of Russian life, and at the same time deep in thought, social, public and historical ... ". These realistic foundations of creativity were also developed in the work of Nekrasov, Herzen, Turgenev, Grigorovich. The artist Fedotov was also close to these principles.
These realistic aspirations are also reflected in the work of Glinka - his last romances. However, Dargomyzhsky was a conscious and convinced exponent of these ideas. In a letter to his student Karmalina, the composer expressed the basic principle of his work - “I do not intend to reduce ... music to fun. I want the sound to directly express the word, I want the truth.
However, Dargomyzhsky did not immediately come to new themes, a new musical language. His chamber-vocal creativity developed, several stages can be distinguished in it: 1. these are simple salon songs of the early and mid-30s; 2. gradual formation of style - the end of the 30s and the beginning of the 40s; 3. The second half of the 40s - the originality of creativity is fully revealed - in the disclosure of "reduced reality", social injustice, psychologism; this period is associated with the formation of new expressive means, new genres. The last years (50s and until the mid-60s) are the last stage in which the socio-critical beginning, the response to the ideological and artistic trends of the 60s, is clearly manifested. Covers a variety of topics and genres.
Throughout the entire career of Dargomyzhsky, several figurative and stylistic lines develop in his vocal music. It is interesting to see the evolution of the development of the composer's work on the example of each of them.
Lyrical romances. This line originates in the miniatures of the first period (30s - 40s). They are characterized by cloudless moods, plastic melody, harmonious composition. Close in style to Glinka's romances. It seems that Glinka was directly inspired by an ardent romance-recognition "I'm in love, maiden-beauty" to the words of N. Yazykov. The main theme is close to the melodic drawing “I remember a wonderful moment” - the singing of a hexachord, expressive and full of grace chromaticisms in the cadences of phrases and constructions, already embedded in the fabric of the introductory two-bar, sound like Glinka. But the syncopated rhythm in the vocal part conveys speech choking with excitement; it is a characteristic sign of Dargomyzhsky's melody, based on a connection with expressive live speech.
Youth and maiden. Poem Pushkin refers to the number of "plastic" poems in the ancient genus. It recreates the visual "sculptural" image by poetic means. There is action here, but it is only outlined. The poem itself evokes an idea not of action, but rather of a sculptural group: a sleeping youth leaning on the shoulder of a girlfriend. This feeling of static in the poem is facilitated by a special ancient meter - hexameter (six-foot dactyl).
The music of Dargomyzhsky is in full accordance with the plastic nature of the poetic image. It is intentionally static. A static form that does not contain contrasts between parts is two-part. Staticism is also manifested in the melody, which is unusually soft, devoid of pronounced climaxes and rhythmic sharpness (the uniform movement of eighths is maintained all the time). The same is in harmony: throughout the romance there is only one short-term deviation from A minor to C major. This deviation falls at the beginning of the second couplet - "the maiden immediately fell silent." Features of Pushkin's hexameter are accurately reflected in music. Thus, deviations from the evenly scanned dactyl, “truncations” in each half-verse of the second and fourth verses in music are marked by a change in meter 6 8 - 3 8 .
The desire for continuity, gradualness of variant development manifested in this romance musical image as typical for Dargomyzhsky as the desire for contrasting compositions is for Glinka. In this case, it perfectly matches the poetic image. (V. A. Vasina-Grossman).
I loved you. Pushkin's words. A harbinger of a mature romance style. Deep in content and concise in means. The most remarkable thing in it is the organic combination of a smooth melodic cantilena with speech intonations dissolved in it. Textbook pp.235-237. He gave the romance the features of an elegy. A noble song melody slowly flows against the background of a calm arpeggiated accompaniment (typical for an elegy). The melody of the entire verse is a single, gradually developing line. Starting from the lowest sound, it gradually captures an ever wider range and, before the end of the verse, reaches the highest sound “up to 2”, highlighted by a rhythmic stop and tenuto designation. harmony. The melody also has a declamatory beginning. A single line grows out of a combination of short phrases-chants, different in structure and length. The pattern of each popevka is flexible and plastic. The first of them seemed to have grown out of speech intonation. Phrases-chants are separated from each other by pauses, according to the meaning of the words. The rhythm of the melody is distinguished in this way by a purely verbal freedom. This gives the music the character of a special depth and restraint.
Taken as a whole, these early lyrical romances by Dargomyzhsky seem to form a “wreath” in honor of Glinka.
At the next stage of creativity (mid-40s), the lyrical line becomes more and more original, individual in style. The composer deepens psychological basis romance, creates a special variety of it - vocal monologue.
Both boring and sad. Lermontov's words. (read poetry. About what?) Lermontov's poem sounds like a confession of a suffering soul, like a confession of a person tormented by a thirst for happiness, love, friendship, but devastated by fruitless longing and having lost faith in the ability to find sympathy from others. Deep sorrow for lost hopes is mixed with contempt for the crowd (soulless, empty and hypocritical dolls), in communication with which his life passes. The poem has an accusatory character. In what? - the empty life of society, the emptiness in the souls of people. I would like to note precisely in connection with this topic the choice of this poem by Dargomyzhsky.
We listen. The main means of expression? - melody. What is its peculiarity - a combination of song and declamation. Declamation is manifested in the fact that Dargomyzhsky seeks to emphasize in music the significance, the weightiness of each phrase, sometimes of a single word. In conveying the peculiar speech structure of Lermontov's poem, Dargomyzhsky finds extremely expressive musical intonations that grow directly from the intonations of speech. So we find here a growing interrogative intonation - “To love ... but whom? Time is not worth the trouble”; and a comparative intonation, where the semantic opposition is emphasized by the difference in the pitch level: “Both joy and torment.” The expressiveness of intonations is aggravated by pauses in the vocal part, subtly conveying the peculiarity of speech addressed to oneself, the peculiarity of “thinking aloud”. Along with this, the flexibility and mobility of the tonal plan create a feeling of artless human speech. The focus on the expressiveness of individual phrases, and not the melody as a whole, is quite obvious here.
Songness is manifested in repetitive melodic phrases close to everyday romance - “In a moment of spiritual adversity”; plastic outlines of the melody; the traditional texture of accompaniment from decomposed chords.
The form is through. The musical composition is distinguished by a special fluidity, blurring of the edges of the form. What unites the work into a single whole - the accompaniment - an unchanging rhythmic movement (triple figures), with smooth modulations and sliding changes of harmonies, even with the declamatory discontinuity of the vocal line, creates a feeling of fluidity and fusion (expressive means of elegy). There is a deformed reprise - “what passion”, only vaguely reminds of the main theme. The melody sounds in E-flat minor, includes an intonationally pointed move along the sounds UmVII 7 - a bitter underlined conclusion (summary) - marcato and accents. Only in the last measures (the second construction in the reprise) does the main melodic pattern return, closing the entire composition of the work: “And life, as you look around with cold attention, is such an empty and stupid joke!”
Dargomyzhsky
1813 - 1869
A.S. Dargomyzhsky was born on February 14, 1813. His father graduated from the University Noble Boarding School in Moscow. Family tradition has preserved the romantic story of his marriage to Maria Borisovna, who came from the family of the princes Kozlovsky. According to contemporaries, the young man “did not marry like all people, but kidnapped his bride, because Prince Kozlovsky did not want to marry his daughter to a little postal official. Namely, the postal department gave him the opportunity to gallop away from his pursuers on post horses, without a travel horse.
Sergei Nikolayevich was a capable and hardworking man, and therefore he quickly received the rank of collegiate secretary and an order, as well as an invitation to work in St. Petersburg, where the family moved in 1817.
Parents wanted to give their children a good education, they invited the best teachers. Sasha learned to play the piano, violin, tried to compose, took singing lessons. In addition to music, he studied history, literature, poetry, and foreign languages. At the age of 14, the boy was appointed to the public service, however, his salary began to be paid two years later.
In St. Petersburg, the young Dargomyzhsky was considered a strong pianist. He often visited the music salons of acquaintances. Here the circle of his acquaintances was very wide: Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, the Turgenev brothers, Lev Pushkin, Odoevsky, the widow of the historian Karamzin.
In 1834 Dargomyzhsky met Glinka. As Mikhail Ivanovich recalled in his Notes, a friend brought to him “a little man in a blue frock coat and a red waistcoat, who spoke in a squeaky soprano. When he sat down at the piano, it turned out that this little man was a lively piano player, and later a very talented composer - Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky.
Communication with Glinka left a huge mark on the life of Alexander Sergeevich. Glinka turned out to be not only a friend for him, but also a generous teacher. Dargomyzhsky was unable to travel abroad to continue his education. And Glinka handed him notebooks with his studies on counterpoint with Siegfried Dan. Studied Dargomyzhsky and the score of Ivan Susanin.
The composer's first work in the field of musical theater was the grand romantic opera Esmeralda based on V. Hugo's novel Notre Dame Cathedral. Although Dargomyzhsky gave the finished score to the directorate of the imperial theaters in 1842, the opera saw the light of day in Moscow only five years later. The opera was staged for a short time. Interest in it was soon lost, and the composer himself later treated the opera critically.
In the 1930s, Dargomyzhsky became more famous as a vocal teacher and composer. Three collections of his romances were published, among which the listeners especially loved "Night Marshmallow", "I Loved You" and "Sixteen Years".
In addition, Dargomyzhsky turned out to be the creator of the secular choral singing a cappella. For entertainment beloved by Petersburgers - "music on the water" - Dargomyzhsky wrote thirteen vocal trios. When published, they were called "Petersburg Serenades".
In 1844, the composer traveled abroad for the first time. His path lay in Berlin, then Brussels, the final goal was Paris - the musical capital of Europe. European impressions left a bright mark on the composer's soul. In 1853, a solemn concert dedicated to the composer's fortieth birthday took place. At the end of the concert, all his students and friends gathered on the stage and presented Alexander Sergeevich with a silver bandmaster's baton encrusted with emeralds with the names of admirers of his talent. And in 1855 the opera "Mermaid" was completed. Its premiere received good feedback, gradually the opera won the sincere sympathy and love of the public.
In 1860 A. S. Dargomyzhsky was elected an honorary member of the Russian Musical Society. At the same time, he began to collaborate with the Iskra magazine, the creators of which opposed Italian dominance in musical theaters, admiration for everything Western. These ideas were embodied in the best romances of that time - the dramatic romance "Old Corporal" and the satirical "Titular Counsellor".
They say that...
Already in the first years of his work, Dargomyzhsky showed a penchant for creating satirical works. The sarcastic nature of the composer inherited from his father, who brought up in his children a love of humor. It is known that the father even paid them twenty kopecks for each successful joke!
The mid-60s was a difficult time for the composer. His father, to whom Alexander Sergeevich was very attached, died. The composer did not have his own family, all his economic and financial affairs were conducted by his father. In addition, Dargomyzhsky was hard pressed by the cold attitude towards his work of the musical community. “I am not mistaken. My artistic position in Petersburg is unenviable. Most of our music lovers and newspaper hacks don't recognize me as an inspiration. Their routine glance is looking for melodies that are flattering to the ear, for which I am not chasing. I don't intend to reduce music to fun for them. I want the sound to directly express the word. I want the truth. They don’t know how to understand this,” the composer wrote.
In 1864 Dargomyzhsky traveled abroad again. He visited Warsaw, Leipzig. A concert of his works was successfully held in Brussels. Then, after visiting Paris, he returned to Petersburg.
In the spring of 1867, the composer took over as chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society. In this post, he did a lot to strengthen Russian music. In particular, he appointed M. Balakirev as a conductor of symphony concerts of the RMS. Members of the "Mighty Handful" gathered around Dargomyzhsky. Representatives of different generations of Russian musicians especially became friends during the work of Dargomyzhsky on a new opera based on the tragedy of A.S. Pushkin's Stone Guest. This opera is a unique example in the history of music. The libretto for her was a literary work - Pushkin's little tragedy, in which the composer did not change a single word. Suffering from a severe heart disease, Dargomyzhsky was in a hurry to work on the opera. In the last period he was bedridden, but continued to write, in a hurry, suffering from excruciating pain. And yet he did not have time to complete the work.
In the early morning of January 6, 1869, "the great teacher of musical truth" passed away. The Mighty Bunch have lost their mentor and friend. IN last way he was seen off by the whole artistic Petersburg.
At his request, The Stone Guest was completed by Cui and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1872, members of the "Mighty Handful" achieved the staging of the opera on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
Listening to music:
Dargomyzhsky A. Opera "Mermaid": Melnik's Aria, Chorus "Wattle the wattle fence", 1 d., Choir "Svatushka", 2 d.; Orchestral piece "Baba Yaga".
Romances and songs of Dargomyzhsky
The vocal heritage of Dargomyzhsky includes more than 100 romances and songs, as well as a huge number of vocal ensembles. The composer turned to this genre throughout his life. It formed the characteristic features of the composer's style, his musical language.
Of course, Glinka's romances had a great influence on Dargomyzhsky. But nevertheless, the everyday urban music of his era became the basis for the composer. He turned to popular genres from a simple "Russian song" to the most complex ballads and fantasies. At the same time, the composer rethought the usual genres, introduced new means into them, and new genres were born on this basis.
At the beginning of his career, Dargomyzhsky wrote works in the spirit of everyday romance, using the intonations of folk songs. But already at that time, compositions appeared that belonged to the best achievements of the composer.
A large place in the romances of this period is occupied by Pushkin's poetry, which attracted the composer with the depth of content and the beauty of images. These verses spoke of sublime and at the same time such understandable and close feelings. Of course, Pushkin's poetry left its mark on Dargomyzhsky's style, made him more sublime and noble.
Among the Pushkin romances of this time stands out "Night Zephyr". Glinka also has a romance for this text. But if Glinka's romance is a poetic picture in which the image of a young Spaniard is constant, Dargomyzhsky's "Night Marshmallow" is a real scene filled with action. Listening to it, one can imagine a picture of a night landscape, as if cut through by intermittent guitar chords, clearly defined images of a Spanish woman and her beau.
The features of Dargomyzhsky's style were even brighter in the romance "I loved you". For Pushkin, this is not just a love confession. It expresses both love, and great human friendship, and respect for a woman who was once dearly loved. Dargomyzhsky very subtly conveyed this in music. His romance is like an elegy.
Among Dargomyzhsky's favorite poets, the name of M.Yu. Lermontov. The composer's lyrical talent was clearly revealed in two monologues based on Lermontov's poems: "Both boring and sad" And "I'm upset" . These are really monologues. But if in the first of them we hear reflections alone with ourselves, the second is an appeal to our beloved, full of sincere warmth and affection. It sounds pain and anxiety for the fate of a loved one, doomed to suffering because of the soullessness and hypocrisy of the world.
Song "Sixteen years" to A. Delvig's verses - a vivid musical portrait. And here Dargomyzhsky remained true to himself. He somewhat rethought the image of a naive shepherd girl created by Delvig. Using the music of an unpretentious waltz, which were very popular at that time in home music-making, he gave the main character of the romance the real features of a modern, simple-minded bourgeois woman. So, we see that already in the early romances of Dargomyzhsky, character traits his vocal style. First of all, this is the desire in romances to show the most diverse human characters. In addition, the heroes of his vocal works are shown in motion, in action. In lyrical romances, the composer's desire was manifested to look deeply into the soul of the hero and, together with him, reflect on the complex contradictions of life.
Dargomyzhsky's innovation manifested itself especially brightly in romances and songs of the mature period.
Dargomyzhsky's ability to show opposite images within the framework of one romance was clearly manifested in his song "Titular Counselor" to the verses of the poet P. Weinberg. This song is a satirical story on behalf of the author, which speaks of the unfortunate love of a modest titular adviser (as one of the lowest ranks was called in Russia) for a general's daughter, who pushed him away with contempt. How timid and humble the titular councilor is depicted here. And how domineering and decisive is the melody that depicts the general's daughter. In romances based on poems by "Iskrov" poets (Weinberg is one of them), Dargomyzhsky showed himself to be a real satirist, denouncing the system that cripples people, makes them unhappy, encourages them to drop their human dignity for petty and selfish purposes.
Dargomyzhsky's art of painting portraits of people with his music reached its peak in the romance "Old Corporal" to the words of Kurochkin from Beranger. The composer defined the romance genre as a "dramatic song". This is both a monologue and a dramatic scene at the same time. Although Beranger's poem speaks of a French soldier, a participant in Napoleon's campaigns, many Russian soldiers had such a fate. The text of the romance is the appeal of an old soldier to his comrades leading him to be shot. How brightly the inner world of this simple, courageous person is revealed in the music. He insulted an officer, for which he was sentenced to death. But this was not just an insult, but a response to the insult inflicted on the old soldier. This romance is an angry accusation of the social system, which allows the violence of man against man.
Let's summarize. What new did Dargomyzhsky bring to the development of chamber vocal music?
First, it should be noted the emergence of new genres in his vocal work and the filling of traditional genres with new content. Among his romances there are lyrical, dramatic, humorous and satirical monologues - portraits, musical scenes, everyday sketches, dialogues.
Secondly, in his vocal compositions, Dargomyzhsky relied on the intonations of human speech, and speech is very diverse, allowing you to create contrasting images within one romance.
Thirdly, the composer in his romances does not simply depict the phenomena of reality. He deeply analyzes it, reveals its contradictory sides. Therefore, Dargomyzhsky's romances turn into serious philosophical monologues-reflections.
Another important feature of Dargomyzhsky's vocal work was his attitude to the poetic text. If Glinka in his romances sought to convey the general mood of the poem through a broad song melody, then Dargomyzhsky strove to follow the subtlest shades of human speech, giving the melody a free declamatory character. In his romances, the composer followed his main principle: "I want the sound to directly express the word."
Listening to music:
A. Dargomyzhsky “I loved you”, “I am sad”, “Night marshmallow”, “I have passed 16 years old”, “Old corporal”, “Titular adviser”.
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