Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. Free classical music Glinka's creative principles

Russian composer, the first classic of Russian music, whose name is inextricably linked with the name of A. S. Pushkin. Glinka did as much for Russian music as Pushkin did for Russian literature.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on June 1, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, the estate of his parents, located a hundred miles from Smolensk and twenty miles from the small town of Yelnya. The systematic teaching of music began rather late and in much the same spirit as the teaching of general disciplines. Glinka's first teacher was a governess Varvara Fyodorovna Klamer invited from St. Petersburg.

Glinka's first experience in composing music dates back to 1822, the end of the boarding school. These were variations for harp or piano on a theme from the Austrian composer Weigl's opera The Swiss Family, which was fashionable at the time. From that moment on, continuing to improve in playing the piano, Glinka paid more and more attention to composition and soon composed a lot, trying his hand at various genres. For a long time he remains dissatisfied with his work. But it was during this period that well-known romances and songs were written today: “Do not tempt me without need” to the words of E.A. Baratynsky, “Do not sing, beauty, with me” to the words of A.S. Pushkin, “Autumn Night, Dear Night” to the words of A.Ya. Rimsky-Korsakov and others.

However, the main thing is not the creative victories of the young composer, no matter how highly they are valued. Glinka "with constant and deep tension" is looking for himself in music and at the same time comprehends the secrets of composer's skill in practice. He writes a number of romances and songs, honing the vocal melody, but at the same time persistently looking for ways to go beyond the forms and genres of everyday music. Already in 1823 he was working on a string septet, an adagio and a rondo for orchestra, and on two orchestral overtures.

Gradually, Glinka's circle of acquaintances goes beyond secular relations. He meets Zhukovsky, Griboyedov, Mitskevich, Delvig. In the same years, he met Odoevsky, who later became his friend.

All sorts of secular entertainment, numerous artistic impressions of various kinds, and even the state of health, which was increasingly deteriorating by the end of the 1820s (the result of an extremely unsuccessful treatment) - all this could not interfere with the composer's work, which Glinka devoted himself to with the same "constant and deep tension" . Composing music became an inner need for him.

During these years, Glinka began to seriously think about traveling abroad. He was motivated to do this by various reasons. First of all, the journey could give him such musical impressions, such new knowledge in the field of art and creative experience, which he could not have acquired in his homeland. Glinka also hoped to improve his health in other climatic conditions.

At the end of April 1830, Glinka left for Italy. On the way, he stopped in Germany, where he spent the summer months. Arriving in Italy, Glinka settled in Milan, which at that time was a major center of musical culture. The opera season of 1830-1831 was unusually eventful. Glinka was completely in the grip of new impressions: “After each opera, returning home, we picked up sounds to remember our favorite places we heard.” As in St. Petersburg, Glinka still works hard on his compositions. There is nothing student left in them - these are masterfully executed compositions. A significant part of the works of this period are plays on the themes of popular operas. Glinka pays special attention to instrumental ensembles. He writes two original compositions: the Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass and the Pathetic Trio for piano, clarinet and bassoon - works in which the features of Glinka's composer's style are especially clearly manifested.

In July 1833 Glinka left Italy. On his way to Berlin, he stopped for a while in Vienna. Of the impressions associated with his stay in this city, Glinka notes little in Zapiski. He often and with pleasure listened to the orchestras of Lanner and Strauss, read Schiller a lot and rewrote his favorite plays. Glinka arrived in Berlin in October of the same year. The months spent here led him to reflect on the deep national roots of the culture of each people. This issue is now of particular relevance to him. He is ready to take a decisive step in his work. “The idea of ​​national music (not to mention opera music) became clearer and clearer,” notes Glinka in Zapiski.

The most important task facing the composer in Berlin was to put in order his musical and theoretical knowledge and, as he himself writes, ideas about art in general. In this matter, Glinka assigns a special role to Siegfried Dehn, a famous music theorist in his time, under whose guidance he studied a lot.

Glinka's studies in Berlin were interrupted by the news of his father's death. Glinka decided to immediately go to Russia. The foreign trip ended unexpectedly, but he basically managed to carry out his plans. In any case, the nature of his creative aspirations had already been determined. We find confirmation of this, in particular, in the haste with which Glinka, having returned to his homeland, begins composing an opera, without even waiting for the final choice of plot - the nature of the music of the future work is so clearly presented to him: “The thought of Russian opera sunk into me; I didn’t have words, but “Maryina Grove” was spinning in my head.

This opera briefly captured the attention of Glinka. Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, he became a frequent visitor to Zhukovsky, at whom an elected society met weekly; predominantly engaged in literature and music. Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Gogol, Pletnev were regular visitors to these evenings.

“When I expressed my desire to take on Russian opera,” writes Glinka, “Zhukovsky sincerely approved of my intention and offered me the plot of Ivan Susanin. The scene in the forest was deeply engraved in my imagination; I found in it a lot of originality, characteristic of Russians.

Glinka's enthusiasm was so great that "as if by magic action ... the plan of an entire opera was suddenly created ...". Glinka writes that his imagination "warned" the librettist; "... many topics and even development details - all this flashed in my head at once."

But not only creative problems concern Glinka at this time. He is thinking about marriage. The chosen one of Mikhail Ivanovich was Marya Petrovna Ivanova, a pretty girl, his distant relative. “In addition to a kind and pure heart,” Glinka writes to her mother immediately after her marriage, “I managed to notice in her the properties that I always wanted to find in my wife: order and frugality ... despite her youth and liveliness of character, she is very reasonable and extremely moderate in desires. But the future wife knew nothing about music. However, Glinka's feeling for Marya Petrovna was so strong and sincere that the circumstances that subsequently led to the incompatibility of their fates at that time might not seem so significant.

The young people got married at the end of April 1835. Shortly thereafter, Glinka and his wife went to Novospasskoye. Happiness in his personal life spurred his creative activity, he set to opera with even greater zeal.

The opera advanced rapidly, but getting it staged at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater proved to be a difficult task. Director of the Imperial Theaters A.M. Gedeonov stubbornly prevented the acceptance of the new opera for staging. Apparently, in an effort to protect himself from any surprises, he gave it to the judgment of Kapellmeister Kavos, who, as already mentioned, was the author of an opera on the same plot. However, Kavos gave Glinka's work the most flattering review and withdrew his own opera from the repertoire. Thus, Ivan Susanin was accepted for production, but Glinka was obliged not to demand remuneration for the opera.

The premiere of Ivan Susanin took place on November 27, 1836. The success was enormous, Glinka wrote to his mother the next day: “Last night my desires finally came true, and my long work was crowned with the most brilliant success. The audience accepted my opera with extraordinary enthusiasm, the actors lost their temper with zeal... the sovereign-emperor... thanked me and talked with me for a long time..."

The sharpness of the perception of the novelty of Glinka's music is remarkably expressed in Henri Merimee's Letters on Russia: Mr. Glinka's Life for the Tsar is distinguished by its extraordinary originality ... This is such a truthful summary of everything that Russia has suffered and poured out in the song; in this music one can hear such a complete expression of Russian hatred and love, grief and joy, complete darkness and a shining dawn ... This is more than an opera, this is a national epic, this is a lyrical drama raised to the noble height of its original purpose, when it was frivolous fun, but a patriotic and religious ceremony.

The idea of ​​a new opera based on the plot of the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" came to the composer during Pushkin's lifetime. Glinka recalls in "Notes": "... I hoped to draw up a plan at the direction of Pushkin, his premature death prevented the fulfillment of my intention."

The first performance of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" took place on November 27, 1842, exactly - to the day - six years after the premiere of "Ivan Susanin". With Glinka's uncompromising support, as six years ago, Odoevsky spoke, expressing his unconditional admiration for the genius of the composer in the following few, but bright, poetic lines: “... a luxurious flower has grown on Russian musical soil - it is your joy, your glory . Let the worms try to crawl up onto its stem and stain it - the worms will fall to the ground, but the flower will remain. Take care of him: he is a delicate flower and blooms only once in a century.

However, Glinka's new opera, in comparison with Ivan Susanin, aroused stronger criticism. F. Bulgarin, at that time still a very influential journalist, came out as the most violent opponent of Glinka in the press.

The composer takes it hard. In the middle of 1844, he undertook a new long trip abroad - this time to France and Spain. Soon, vivid and varied impressions return Glinka's high vitality.

Glinka's works were soon crowned with a new great creative success: in the fall of 1845, he created the Jota of Aragon overture. In a letter from List to V.P. Engelhardt, we find a vivid description of this work: “... I am very pleased ... to inform you that “Hota” has just been performed with the greatest success ... Already at the rehearsal, understanding musicians ... were amazed and delighted with the lively and sharp originality this lovely piece, minted in such delicate contours, trimmed and finished with such taste and art! What delightful episodes, witty connected with the main motive... what subtle shades of color, distributed over the different timbres of the orchestra! What the happiest surprises, abundantly emanating from the very logic of development!”

Having finished work on the Jota of Aragon, Glinka is in no hurry to take on the next composition, but devotes herself entirely to a further in-depth study of Spanish folk music. In 1848, after returning to Russia, another overture appeared on a Spanish theme - "Night in Madrid".

Remaining in a foreign land, Glinka cannot but turn his thoughts to a distant homeland. He writes "Kamarinskaya". This symphonic fantasy on the themes of two Russian songs: a wedding lyric (“Because of the mountains, high mountains”) and a lively dance song, was a new word in Russian music.

In "Kamarinskaya" Glinka approved a new type of symphonic music and laid the foundations for its further development. Everything here is deeply national, original. He skillfully creates an unusually bold combination of different rhythms, characters and moods.

In recent years, Glinka lived in St. Petersburg, then in Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. The composer was full of creative plans, but the atmosphere of enmity and persecution to which he was subjected hindered his creativity. He burned several of the scores he had begun.

A close, devoted friend of the last years of the composer's life was his beloved younger sister Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova. For her little daughter Oli Glinka composed some of his piano pieces.

Glinka died on February 15, 1857 in Berlin. His ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

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There is a touching legend - the birth of the genius of Russian music was heralded by the flooding singing of a nightingale, which came from the park surrounding the manor house. It happened at dawn on May 20 (June 1, according to a new style) in 1804 in the Novospassky estate, not far from the county town of Yelnya, Smolensk province. The estate belonged to the father of the future composer, retired captain I.N. Glinka.

Mikhail grew up as an inquisitive and impressionable boy. He had an early passion for drawing and reading books, but his greatest passion was music. She surrounded Michael from childhood. It was the singing of birds in the garden, the ringing of church bells, the chants of the choir in the Novospassky Church.

The main musical impression of the young Glinka was the songs of his native Smolensk region. They were sung to him by their nanny Avdotya Ivanovna, famous throughout the district as the best songwriter and talented storyteller of fairy tales.

Later, the orchestra of serf musicians, which belonged to his mother's brother A.A., had a huge influence on the formation of the musical interests of the future composer. Glinka, who lived nearby in the Shmakovo family estate. The orchestra often came to Novospasskoye, and each of its performances left a deep imprint on the boy's soul. Since then, the uncle's orchestra, according to Glinka, has become for him "a source of the liveliest delights."

The repertoire of the Shmakov orchestra, along with the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and other Western composers, included arrangements of Russian songs, which later led the composer to the development of folk music.

Glinka's musical training began in an unusual way. His first music teacher was a Smolensk serf violinist from the Shmakov orchestra. Little Glinka passed the initial stages of playing the piano under the guidance of a governess invited to Novospasskoye.

In the fall of 1815, eleven-year-old Misha Glinka was taken to St. Petersburg. In the spring of 1816, he was admitted to a preparatory boarding school at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, from where, in February 1818, his father transferred him to the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg, which had opened for children of the nobility.

Glinka began composing music shortly before graduating from the Noble Boarding School. His first experiments as a composer were piano variations on a theme by Mozart and a waltz for piano, written in 1822.

Of great importance for the development of young Glinka's musical talent was attendance at opera performances, concerts and participation in evenings arranged by St. Petersburg music lovers, which brought him fame in the capital's salons as an excellent pianist and talented improviser.

But the young man was always attracted to his native Smolensk region. While studying at a boarding school, Glinka spent almost every summer vacation in Novospasskoye, dear to his heart. Here, living in communion with wonderful nature, eagerly absorbing the life-giving sounds of the songs of his native land, participating in the concerts of the Shmakov orchestra, Glinka drew strength for the creative feat that awaited him.

After graduating from the boarding school, in March 1823 Glinka left for the Caucasus. Mountain landscapes with wild majestic nature left an indelible impression in his soul.

The composer spent the autumn and winter of 1923-24 in Novospasskoye. Here he again plunged into music lessons and worked a lot with the Shmakov orchestra, which became for him a kind of creative laboratory, which made it possible to study in practice the laws of instrumentation of orchestral works and the subtleties of orchestral sound.

In the spring of 1824, at the insistence of his father, Glinka enters the service, but music lessons remain for him the main business of life. As secretary of the Chancellery of the Council of Railways, he continued to improve in playing the violin and piano and achieved significant success in singing. This period of Glinka's work is marked by the creation of several chamber and a large number of vocal works, including the "Georgian Song" and the full of inexplicable charm of the romance "Do not tempt" to the words of the poet E.A. Baratynsky.

In the winter of 1826, the composer leaves St. Petersburg, filled with anxiety after the uprising of the Decembrists, in order to find the lost peace in the peaceful silence of his native Smolensk region. Until the spring, Glinka remained in Novospasskoye, only occasionally getting out to Smolensk. He plunges headlong into work. At this time, he wrote several vocal works and a prologue cantata, which Glinka considered his "first successful experience in large-scale vocal music."

Finally, in 1828, Mikhail Ivanovich finds an excuse to leave the service and devote himself entirely to music, and in April 1830 his first trip abroad began. After visiting a number of German and Swiss cities, Glinka settled in Italy, where he spent about three years. Staying in Italy gave him the opportunity to thoroughly get acquainted with Italian opera in its best samples and in the best performance, to comprehend the secrets of the famous Italian vocal art and acquire the fame of a talented Russian composer, pianist and singer in the circles of Italian composers, musicians and vocalists.

In Italy, Glinka composes the "Pathetic Trio", serenades, romances. Despite the success of his works with the demanding Italian public, the composer experienced a sense of creative dissatisfaction: with each new work, with growing success, he was imbued with the conviction that tormented him that he was “not going his own way.”

Longing for the homeland gradually led the composer to the idea of ​​"writing in Russian." The desire to create truly Russian national music in spirit and form prompted him to return to his homeland.

Upon his return to Russia, Mikhail Ivanovich devoted himself to work on the creation of a "domestic heroic-tragic opera." Glinka chose the immortal feat of the Russian peasant Ivan Susanin as the theme of the opera. In the summer of 1835 he arrived in Novospasskoye and completely devoted himself to writing.

The composer gave the image of Susanin the features of a monumental epic. The scene of Susanin's death is permeated with deep tragedy, but Glinka does not end the opera with this scene. In the brilliant choral epilogue "Glory!" it affirms the strength of the people's spirit, the inexhaustibility of its forces, its solidity and selflessness in the struggle for the freedom of the Motherland.

The premiere of the opera, renamed A Life for the Tsar, took place on November 27, 1836. This date was destined to be the beginning of the powerful development and establishment of Russian national classical music.

Inspired by the success of the opera, Glinka experienced an unusually high creative enthusiasm. Within a relatively short time, he creates almost half of his romances, captivating with sincerity and melodiousness, such as “The fire of desire burns in the blood”, “I remember a wonderful moment”, “The Lark”, the poetic “Waltz-Fantasy” and many other famous works.

Simultaneously with the romances, Glinka writes his second opera based on the plot of Pushkin's youthful poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Work on it continued until 1842. Many fragments and separate numbers of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" were written by the composer in the Smolensk region. Here, in particular, Ruslan's famous aria "Oh, field, field" was written and the solemnly majestic opera overture was born.

In the new creation, Glinka, using his amazing gift of multi-color sound painting, expressed the high ideals and true passions of real people in a fabulously fantastic form, glorified the beauty and grandeur of the heroic spirit of the Russian people. Glinka's new opera continued the main patriotic, Russian line of Ivan Susanin.

However, the premiere of "Ruslan and Lyudmila", which took place on November 27, 1842, was a dubious success. This happened mainly due to the poor preparation of the performers and unsatisfactory staging.

In June 1844, Glinka again undertook a trip abroad. For about a year he lived in Paris, then in May 1845 he went to Spain, where he remained until the summer of 1847. Passion for Spanish folk music, songs and dances prompted him to create two symphonic overtures that vividly convey the national flavor and temperament of Spanish folk song and music - the famous Jota of Aragon and the medley Night in Madrid. The second of these plays was written by Glinka after returning from Spain, during a trip to Warsaw in 1848. At the same time, Glinka wrote a number of romances and piano pieces and created the ingenious Kamarinskaya, a symphonic fantasy based on two contrasting Russian folk themes heard by him in the Smolensk region: a drawn-out wedding and a dance.

Arriving in the summer of 1847 from abroad, Glinka hurried to his native Smolensk region. Until autumn, he lived in Novospasskoye, and with the onset of rainy days he moved to Smolensk, where, together with his sister L.I. Shestakova settled near the Nikolsky Gates in Sokolov's house. Here he wrote "Prayer", "Greetings to the Fatherland", variations on a Scottish theme and romances "You will soon forget me" and "Darling".

The life of the composer in Smolensk flowed quietly and measuredly. In the morning he composed, and in the evenings acquaintances came. On January 23, 1848, a significant event took place - in the hall of the Smolensk Noble Assembly, a public honoring of Glinka took place. The composer was greeted with a polonaise from Ivan Susanin performed by the orchestra. During the gala dinner in honor of the composer, many enthusiastic words were uttered. The memory of this celebration, which became for Glinka farewell to the Smolensk region, is a memorial plaque on the building of the former Smolensk Noble Assembly (today's Smolensk Regional Philharmonic).

In the spring of 1852, Glinka leaves St. Petersburg for Paris, where he leads the life of a homebody. Returning to St. Petersburg after a two-year inactive stay in Paris somewhat revived the composer, which was greatly facilitated by the care of his sister, Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova, who settled with him. But he was no longer able to avoid the decline of creative forces.

In a difficult state of mind, Glinka undertook his last journey. He travels to Berlin with the intention of studying the church modes necessary for working on sacred music. Here, in a foreign land, the great Russian composer died on February 3, 1857. His ashes were subsequently transported to St. Petersburg and on May 24, 1857, they were buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Speaking about the historical significance of Glinka's creative heritage, the outstanding Russian art critic V.V. Stasov wrote: “In many respects Glinka is of the same importance in Russian music as Pushkin is in Russian poetry. Both are great talents, both are the founders of the new Russian artistic creativity, both are national and draw their great strength directly from the fundamental elements of their people, both created a new Russian language - one in poetry, the other in music.

On May 20, 1885, on Blonye in Smolensk, opposite the building of the Noble Assembly, the grand opening of the monument to M.I. Glinka. The opening was attended by famous composers P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.T. Taneev, M.A. Balakirev, A.K. Glazunov. The money for the erection of the monument was collected through an all-Russian subscription. Concerts for the fund of the monument were organized by figures of Russian culture V.V. Stasov and G.A. Laroche, composer A.G. Rubinstein.

On the front side of the pedestal, framed by a bronze wreath, there is an inscription: “Glinka Russia. 1885". On the opposite side is inscribed: “M.I. Glinka was born on May 20, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, Elninsk district, died on February 3, 1857 in Berlin, and was buried in St. Petersburg in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. On the other two sides of the pedestal, you can read the names of the main works of the composer.

The monument is fenced with an elegant cast-iron grating. It was designed by Academician I.S. Bogomolov. The lattice represents the notes of Glinka's immortal creations - the operas Ivan Susanin, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Prince Kholmsky and others.

Nowadays, the most famous cultural event on the Smolensk land is the International Music Festival named after M.I. Glinka. The history of the festival begins in 1957, when it was organized on the initiative of the great Russian singer I.S. Kozlovsky. Since that time, it was decided to celebrate the birthday of M.I. Glinka, June 1, is a great musical holiday in his small homeland. The main content of the festival was the preservation and development of the traditions of the musical heritage of M.I. Glinka as a national treasure, the national idea of ​​Russian music.

Every year the festival becomes a significant event for musicians and lovers of classical music. Traditionally, the festival opens on the last Friday of May with a concert of a symphony orchestra in Smolensk, and ends on the first Sunday of June with a gala concert in M.I. Glinka in the village of Novospasskoye.

The history of the festival is the performance of a whole constellation of outstanding performers and world-famous creative teams from Russia and many foreign countries, it is the joy of meeting the highest achievements of human genius and the discovery of new names and phenomena of contemporary art.

In 1982, the world's first and only museum of the great Russian composer was opened in Novospasskoye. On the former foundations and with the former layout, a wooden main house with outbuildings in the forms of classicism, wooden residential and outbuildings were recreated. In five rooms of the house there is an exposition telling about the life and creative activity of M.I. Glinka. The hall, the dining room, the billiard room, the offices of the father and the composer himself have been restored. And children and adults are delighted with the room of songbirds on the second floor of the manor house.

From the once lush park that surrounded the manor's house, about three hundred centuries-old trees have been preserved in Novospasskoye, among which are nine oaks planted by the composer himself. The huge oak tree, under which Glinka composed the score of Ruslan and Lyudmila, has also been preserved. The special charm of the park is given by the system of ponds, through which graceful bridges are thrown. In 2004, a bronze bust of M.I. was installed opposite the manor house. Glinka.

On September 22, 2015, the Smolensk Regional Local History Society installed a memorial plaque on the wall of house No. 6 on Lenin Street in Smolensk, in memory of the composer who lived in this building in the winter of 1826 and in 1847.

The founder of Russian classical music, Russian bel canto. M.I. Glinka was born on June 1, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, on the estate of his parents, which belonged to his father, retired captain Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka, located a hundred miles * from Smolensk and twenty miles * from the small town of Yelnya. From 1817 Glinka lived in St. Petersburg. He studied at the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical School (his tutor was the poet, Decembrist V. K. Küchelbecker). He took piano lessons from J. Field and S. Mayer, violin lessons from F. Bem; later he studied singing with Belloli, the theory of composition - with Z. Den. In the 20s. In the 19th century, he was famous among St. Petersburg music lovers as a singer and pianist. In 1830-33. Glinka made a trip to Italy and Germany, where he met with outstanding composers: G. Berlioz, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti. In 1836 Glinka was bandmaster of the Court Singing Chapel (retired from 1839).
Mastering the experience of domestic and world musical culture, the impact of progressive ideas that spread during the Patriotic War of 1812 and the preparation of the Decembrist uprising, communication with prominent representatives of literature (A. S. Pushkin, A. S. Griboedov, etc.), art, art criticism contributed expanding the horizons of the composer and developing innovative aesthetic foundations for his work. Folk-realistic in its aspirations, Glinka's work influenced the further development of Russian music.
In 1836 Glinka's heroic-patriotic historical opera Ivan Susanin was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg. Contrary to the concept imposed on the composer (the libretto was compiled by Baron G. F. Rosen in the spirit of monarchical officialdom, at the insistence of the court the opera was called “Life for the Tsar”), Glinka emphasized the folk beginning of the opera, glorified the patriotic peasant, the greatness of character, courage and unbending stamina of the people . In 1842, the premiere of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila took place in the same theater. In this work, colorful pictures of Slavic life are intertwined with fairy-tale fantasy, pronounced Russian national features with oriental motifs (hence the origin of orientalism in Russian classical opera). Rethinking the content of Pushkin's playful, ironic youthful poem, taken as the basis of the libretto, Glinka brought to the fore the majestic images of Ancient Rus', the heroic spirit and the multifaceted emotionally rich lyrics. Glinka's operas laid the foundation and outlined the paths for the development of Russian opera classics. "Ivan Susanin" is a folk musical tragedy based on a historical plot, with a tense, effective musical and dramatic development, "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is a magical opera-oratorio with a measured alternation of wide, closed vocal-symphonic scenes, with a predominance of epic, narrative elements. Glinka's operas confirmed the world significance of Russian music. In the field of theatrical music, Glinka's music for N. V. Kukolnik's tragedy "Prince Kholmsky" (posted in 1841, Alexandrinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg) is of great artistic value. In 1844-1848. the composer spends in France and Spain. This trip confirmed the European popularity of the Russian genius. Berlioz, who performed Glinka's works in the spring of 1845 at his concert, became a great admirer of his talent. The author's concert of Glinka in Paris was a success. In the same place, in 1848, he wrote a symphonic fantasy "Kamarinskaya" with Russian folk themes. This is an unusually cheerful fantasy full of humor, enjoying which brings up associations with Russian folk holidays, folk instruments and folk choral singing. "Kamarinskaya" is also a brilliant masterful orchestration. In Spain, Mikhail Ivanovich studied the culture, customs, language of the Spanish people, recorded Spanish folklore melodies, observed folk festivals and traditions. The result of these impressions were 2 symphonic overtures: "Jota of Aragon" (1845) and "Memories of Castile" (1848, 2nd edition - "Memories of a summer night in Madrid", 1851 ).
Glinka's musical art is characterized by the completeness and versatility of the coverage of life phenomena, the generalization and convexity of artistic images, the perfection of architectonics and the general light, life-affirming tone. His orchestral writing, combining transparency and impressiveness of sound, has a vivid imagery, brilliance and richness of colors. Mastery of the orchestra was revealed in many ways in stage music (overture "Ruslan and Lyudmila") and in symphonic pieces. "Waltz-Fantasy" for orchestra (originally for piano, 1839; orchestral editions 1845, 1856) is the first classical example of the Russian symphonic waltz. "Spanish overtures" - "Jota of Aragon" (1845) and "Night in Madrid" (1848, 2nd edition 1851) - laid the foundation for the development of Spanish musical folklore in world symphonic music. The scherzo for orchestra "Kamarinskaya" (1848) synthesized the wealth of Russian folk music and the highest achievements of professional skill.

Glinka's vocal lyrics are marked by the harmony of the worldview. Diverse in themes and forms, it included, in addition to Russian songwriting - the foundation of Glinka's melody - also Ukrainian, Polish, Finnish, Georgian, Spanish, Italian motifs, intonations, genres. His romances to the words of Pushkin stand out (including “Don’t sing, beauty, with me”, “I remember a wonderful moment”, “The fire of desire burns in the blood”, “Night marshmallow”), Zhukovsky (ballad “Night review” ), Baratynsky (“Do not tempt me unnecessarily”), Puppeteer (“Doubt” and a cycle of 12 romances “Farewell to St. Petersburg”). Glinka created about 80 works for voice and piano (romances, songs, arias, canzonettes), vocal ensembles, vocal etudes and exercises, choruses. He owns chamber instrumental ensembles, including 2 string quartets, the Pathétique Trio (for piano, clarinet and bassoon, 1832).

The following generations of Russian composers remained faithful to the basic creative principles of Glinka, enriching the national musical style with new content and new means of expression. Under the direct influence of Glinka, a composer and vocal teacher, the Russian vocal school was formed. Singing lessons were taken from Glinka and singers N. K. Ivanov, O. A. Petrov, A. Ya. M. Leonova and others A. N. Serov wrote down his Notes on Instrumentation (1852, published 1856). Glinka left memoirs ("Notes", 1854-55, published 1870).

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka - Russian composer, founder of Russian classical music.

He was the author of the operas A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin, 1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842), which laid the foundation for two directions of Russian opera - folk musical drama and opera-fairy tale, opera-epic. Symphonic compositions: "Kamarinskaya" (1848), "Spanish Overtures" ("Jota of Aragon", 1845, and "Night in Madrid", 1851), laid the foundations of Russian symphony. Classic of Russian romance. Glinka's "Patriotic Song" became the musical basis of the national anthem of the Russian Federation (1991-2000). The Glinka Prizes were established (by Mitrofan Petrovich Belyaev; 1884-1917), the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (in 1965-1990); the Glinka Vocal Competition has been held (since 1960).
Childhood. Studying at the Noble Boarding School

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on June 1 (May 20, old style), 1804, in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, in the family of Smolensk landowners I. N. and E. A. Glinka (former second cousins ​​and sisters). He received his primary education at home. Listening to the singing of serfs and the ringing of the bells of the local church, he showed an early passion for music. Misha was fond of playing the orchestra of serf musicians on the estate of his uncle, Afanasy Andreevich Glinka. Musical lessons - playing the violin and piano - began rather late (in 1815-1816) and were of an amateur nature. However, music had such a strong influence on Glinka that once he remarked on a remark about absent-mindedness: “What should I do? ... Music is my soul!”.

In 1818, Mikhail Ivanovich entered the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg (in 1819 it was renamed the Noble Boarding School at St. "He used to visit us at the boarding house with his brother." Glinka's tutor was the Russian poet and Decembrist Wilhelm Karlovich Küchelbecker, who taught Russian literature at the boarding school. In parallel with his studies, Glinka took piano lessons (first from the English composer John Field, and after his departure to Moscow - from his students Oman, Zeiner and Sh. Mayr - a fairly well-known musician). He graduated from the boarding school in 1822 as a second student. On the graduation day, Johann Nepomuk Hummel's public piano concerto (Austrian musician, pianist, composer, author of concertos for piano and orchestra, chamber and instrumental ensembles, sonatas) was successfully played in public.
The beginning of an independent life

After graduating from the pension, Mikhail Glinka did not immediately enter the service. In 1823, he went to the Caucasian Mineral Waters for treatment, then went to Novospasskoye, where he sometimes "led his uncle's orchestra, playing the violin", then he began to compose orchestral music. In 1824 he was hired as assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways (he resigned in June 1828). The main place in his work was occupied by romances. Among the works of that time are "The Poor Singer" to the verses of the Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky (1826), "Do not sing, beauty, with me" to the verses of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (1828). One of the best romances of the early period is an elegy on poems by Yevgeny Abramovich Baratynsky "Do not tempt me without need" (1825). In 1829 Glinka and N. Pavlishchev published the Lyric Album, which included Glinka's plays among the works of various authors.
Glinka's first trip abroad (1830-1834)

In the spring of 1830, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka went on a long trip abroad, the purpose of which was both treatment (on the waters of Germany and in the warm climate of Italy) and acquaintance with Western European art. After spending several months in Aachen and Frankfurt, he arrived in Milan, where he studied composition and vocals, visited theaters, and traveled to other Italian cities. In Italy, the composer met the composers Vincenzo Bellini, Felix Mendelssohn and Hector Berlioz. Among the composer's experiments of those years (chamber-instrumental compositions, romances), the romance "Venetian Night" to the verses of the poet Ivan Ivanovich Kozlov stands out. M. Glinka spent the winter and spring of 1834 in Berlin, devoting himself to serious studies in music theory and composition under the guidance of the famous scholar Siegfried Dehn. At the same time, he had the idea of ​​creating a national Russian opera.
Stay in Russia (1834-1842)

Returning to Russia, Mikhail Glinka settled in St. Petersburg. Attending evenings with the poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, he met Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky and others. The composer was carried away by the idea submitted by Zhukovsky to write an opera based on the story of Ivan Susanin, whom he learned about in his youth, having read " Duma" by the poet and Decembrist Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev. The premiere of the work, named at the insistence of the directorate of theaters "A Life for the Tsar", on January 27, 1836, became the birthday of the Russian heroic-patriotic opera. The performance was a great success, the royal family was present, and Pushkin was among Glinka's many friends in the hall. Soon after the premiere, Glinka was appointed head of the Court Choir.

In 1835 M.I. Glinka married his distant relative Marya Petrovna Ivanova. The marriage was extremely unsuccessful and overshadowed the life of the composer for many years. Glinka spent the spring and summer of 1838 in the Ukraine, selecting choristers for the chapel. Among the newcomers was Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky - subsequently not only a famous singer, but also a composer, author of the popular Ukrainian opera Zaporozhets beyond the Danube.

Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Glinka often visited the house of the brothers Platon and Nestor Vasilyevich Kukolnikov, where a circle gathered, consisting mostly of people of art. The marine painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky and the painter and draftsman Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, who left many wonderful caricatures of members of the circle, including Glinka, were there. On the verses of N. Kukolnik Glinka wrote a cycle of romances "Farewell to St. Petersburg" (1840). Subsequently, he moved to the brothers' house because of the unbearable domestic atmosphere.

Back in 1837, Mikhail Glinka had conversations with Alexander Pushkin about creating an opera based on the plot of Ruslan and Lyudmila. In 1838, work began on the essay, which premiered on November 27, 1842 in St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that the royal family left the box before the end of the performance, leading cultural figures greeted the work with delight (although there was no unanimity of opinion this time - due to the deeply innovative nature of the dramaturgy). The Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor Franz Liszt attended one of Ruslan's performances, highly appreciating not only this opera by Glinka, but also his role in Russian music in general.

In 1838, M. Glinka met Ekaterina Kern, the daughter of the heroine of the famous Pushkin poem, and dedicated his most inspirational works to her: “Waltz-Fantasy” (1839) and a marvelous romance based on Pushkin’s poems “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” (1840).
New wanderings of the composer in 1844-1847.

In the spring of 1844 M.I. Glinka went on a new trip abroad. After spending several days in Berlin, he stopped in Paris, where he met with Hector Berlioz, who included several of Glinka's compositions in his concert program. The success that fell to their lot prompted the composer to give an idea to give a charity concert in Paris from his own works, which was carried out on April 10, 1845. The concert was highly appreciated by the press.

In May 1845 Glinka went to Spain, where he stayed until the middle of 1847. Spanish impressions formed the basis of two brilliant orchestral pieces: Jota of Aragon (1845) and Memoirs of a Summer Night in Madrid (1848, 2nd edition - 1851). In 1848, the composer spent several months in Warsaw, where he wrote "Kamarinskaya" - a composition about which the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky noted that it, "like an oak in a stomach, contains all Russian symphonic music."
The last decade of Glinka's work

Glinka spent the winter of 1851-1852 in St. Petersburg, where he became close to a group of young cultural figures, and in 1855 he met Mily Alekseevich Balakirev, who later became the head of the "New Russian School" (or "Mighty Handful"), which creatively developed the traditions laid down by Glinka .

In 1852, the composer again left for Paris for several months, from 1856 he lived in Berlin until his death.
Glinka and Pushkin. Glinka's meaning

“In many ways, Glinka has the same significance in Russian music as Pushkin has in Russian poetry. Both are great talents, both are the founders of the new Russian artistic creativity, both created a new Russian language - one in poetry, the other in music, ”wrote the famous critic Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov.

In the work of Glinka, two most important directions of Russian opera were determined: folk musical drama and fairy tale opera; he laid the foundations of Russian symphonism, became the first classic of Russian romance. All subsequent generations of Russian musicians considered him their teacher, and for many, the impetus for choosing a musical career was acquaintance with the works of the great master, the deeply moral content of which is combined with a perfect form.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka died on February 3 (February 15 according to the old style), 1857, in Berlin and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery. In May of the same year, his ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. (V. M. Zarudko)

As P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote: “Just as an oak grows from an acorn, so all Russian symphonic music originated from Glinka’s Kamarinskaya.” Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka loved the orchestra from childhood and preferred symphonic music to any other (the orchestra of serf musicians was owned by the uncle of the future composer, who lived not far from his family estate Novospasskoye). The first half of the 1820s includes the first attempts at writing in orchestral music; already in them, the young author moves away from simple arrangements of popular songs and dances in the spirit of "ballroom music". Focusing on samples of high classicism (the music of Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini), he seeks to master the form of overture and symphony using folk song material. These experiments, which remained unfinished, were only educational "sketches" for Glinka, but they played an important role in shaping his composing style.

Already in the overtures and ballet fragments of the operas (A Life for the Tsar, 1836 and Ruslan and Lyudmila, 1842), Glinka demonstrates a brilliant mastery of orchestral writing. Particularly characteristic in this respect is the overture to Ruslan: truly Mozartian dynamism, a “sunny” cheerful tone (according to the author, it “flies in full sail”) is combined in it with intensive thematic development. Like "Oriental Dances" from the fourth act, it turned into a bright concert number. An unsurpassed example of character-fantastic music was given by Glinka in Chernomor's March. But Glinka turned to genuine symphonic work only in the last decade of his life.

Having made a long journey to France and Spain, where he had the opportunity to get acquainted in detail with the works of Berlioz and deeply study Spanish folklore, Glinka accumulated a lot of musical material. On the other hand, the composer found confirmation of his intuitive search for the freedom of orchestral thinking. He returned to Russia with sketches for two "Spanish overtures", but his first completed composition was "Kamarinskaya" (1848), called by the author "Fantasy on two Russian themes, wedding and dance." The idea to bring together two opposite folk themes through their alternate development of variations resulted in a kind of orchestral scherzo, which is rightly considered the foundation of the Russian symphony school. The Kamarinskaya was followed by the Brilliant Capriccio on the Jota of Aragon (1845) and Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid (1851), symphonic pieces that combine the vivid character of dance images and the classical perfection of form. In the last years of his life, Glinka created the final orchestral version of Waltz Fantasy (1856), turning an artless piano composition into a lyric poem for orchestra.

Yevgeny Svetlanov conducts the works of Mikhail Glinka. Carrying out the grandiose plan of the Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music, the great Russian maestro realized the fundamental significance of Glinka's work for Russian culture (his teacher Alexander Gauk was also a bright interpreter of Glinka's music). The overture to the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", recorded with the staff of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, belongs to the earliest recordings by Svetlanov (1963); the rest of the works were recorded by him already with the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra - symphonic pieces, oriental dances and the Chernomor march from the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila in the second half of the 1960s, dances in the Naina castle in 1977, Krakovyak from the opera Ivan Susanin in 1984 .