The main features of the compositional style of M. P

Introduction……………………………………………………………… 2

1. The main features of the composer's style of M. P. Mussorgsky .... 3 - 5
2. History of creation and dramaturgy of the opera “Boris Godunov” ……. 6 - 9
3. Differentiation of the image of the people in the opera "Boris Godunov" on the example of the choral scene from the 1st picture of the prologue…………. 10 - 12

Conclusion……………………………………………………........... 13

References…………………………………………………….. 14

Introduction

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky is one of the brightest composers of the 90th century. One of the main creative tasks of the composer was the realistic transmission of the intonations of human speech in music. This orientation determined the composer's appeal to the vocal and stage genres of music, so the opera is at the head of his work. In the musical dramas of M. P. Mussorgsky, the choral beginning is one of the most important means of embodying the author's idea. Realistic descriptions of the masses, independence of intonations, monumentality of choral scenes - all this characterizes opera composer as innovative. In the process of realizing the image of the people, such a technique as the differentiation of group images and choral dialogue was born.

Object of study:choral scene “For whom are you leaving us” from the opera “Boris Godunov” by MP Mussorgsky 1 act, 1 scene of the prologue.

Purpose of the study:study of the method of group image differentiation in choral scenes on the example of the choral episode from the 1st act of the prologue in the opera "Boris Godunov".

The purpose of the study involves solving the following problems:

1. Define historical stages development and transformation of the opera "Boris Godunov" by M. P. Mussorgsky
2. The study of the dramatic basis of the opera "Boris Godunov"
3. Analysis of the choral episode in the opera "Boris Godunov" (1 act, 1 scene of the prologue) in order to determine the method of differentiation of images in the choral episodes of the opera "Boris Godunov".

1. The main features of the compositional style of M. P. Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky is one of the original Russian artists. He is one of those great creators who, while clearly reflecting the life of their era, were able at the same time to look far into the future and tell truthfully about the past. Mussorgsky's innovation was of the type when the bold assertion of the new in art proceeded with a sharp rejection of everything traditional and routine.

The development of his art by contemporaries and new generations is full of drama. Most major writers and public figures did not "hear" Mussorgsky. To this day, his works remain largely a mystery. Mussorgsky's work is represented by various genres. Mostly opera and vocal compositions, a little - piano music, 7 operas (not all completed), about 100 pieces vocal genre, also vocal cycles; several pieces and the suite "Pictures at an Exhibition" were written for the piano; symphonic musical picture"Night on Bald Mountain". His work in opera genre, which became prevalent for the composer, became innovative. Mussorgsky is working on reform issues: nationality, realism and the historicity of art.

Essence of opera reform:

• The main real basis of operatic dramaturgy was history, really created by the people. In all world literature, "Boris Godunov" remains an unsurpassed unique work in which history is not a background, but a reality created by the people.
• Mussorgsky was deeply convinced that the artist is inextricably linked with the life of the people. It is the people for Mussorgsky - the main object of art. In the people he sees the main driving force stories.
• Mussorgsky, like no one else, deepened and expanded the scope of the concept musical content. He called for overcoming personal lyrics - for observing and depicting the real. Thus, the source of originality is life itself, it is in it that the composer finds a wealth of various types and characters.
• Against this background, another feature of the composer stands out - truthfulness.Truthfulness comes in two forms:

1. Psychologism, display inner peace person. Mussorgsky was the first Russian composer to pay attention to human psyche. IN literary genre at that time Dostoevsky turned to this. Mussorgsky was not only the greatest realist, historian, narrator about the life of the people, but also a brilliant portrait psychologist.
2. Truthfulness external (picturesqueness, display of external qualities).

• He chooses folk dramas as plots for operas: "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina", "Pugachevshchina" (remained unrealized). The content of both operas vividly showed Mussorgsky's amazing gift as a visionary historian. Characteristically, the composer chooses those turning points history, when the state is on the verge of collapse. The composer himself said that “my task is to show both the “wisdom” and the “wildness” of the people. Mussorgsky in his work, basically, acts, first of all, as a tragedian.
• From the total number of heroes, he chooses those who are the most tragic and hopeless. Often they are rebellious people. All created by him historical types very believable, true.

Style, musical language

1) Melody.

• Mussorgsky for the first time freely mixes intonation turns. He is a typical vocal composer, a musician who thinks vocally in music. The essence of Mussorgsky's vocality is in the very sensation of musical art not through the instrument, but through the voice, through the breath.
• Mussorgsky strove for a meaningful melody, created by the speech of a person. The composer said: “My music should be an artistic reproduction of human speech in all its subtlest bends, i.e. the sounds of human speech, as external manifestations of thought and feeling, must, without exaggeration and rape, become truthful, accurate music, and therefore highly artistic.
• All his melodies are necessarily theatrical. The structure of Mussorgsky's melody speaks the language of the character, as if helping him to gesticulate and move.
• His melos is characterized by the fusion of various techniques. It is possible to distinguish features of various musical elements in it: a peasant song; urban romance; bel canto (in early opera"Salambo", in some romances). Also characteristic is the reliance on genre (march, waltz, lullaby, hopak).

2) Harmony. musical material his characters are very individual. Each has its own sound and psychological tonality. Mussorgsky was not satisfied with the means of the classical major-minor - he builds his own harmonic basis. The composer often used folk modes, increased and decreased modes, knew well the system of church modes - octagon (he used them in romances of the 60s). The construction of the tonal plans of Mussorgsky's works was influenced not by functional logic, but by the situation.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

One of the special members mighty handful" was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. The ideological embodiment of reflections, he became the brightest composer from the whole company. And, in general, justified.

His father came from an old noble family of the Mussorgskys, and until the age of ten, Modest and his older brother Filaret received a very worthy education. The Mussorgskys had their own history. They, in turn, came from the princes of Smolensk, the Monastyrev family. Just one of the Monastyrevs, Roman Vasilievich Monastyrev, bore the nickname Mussorg. It was he who became the ancestor of the Mussorgskys. In its turn, noble family Sapogovykh is also an offshoot of the Mussorgskys.

But it was a long time ago. And Modest himself was born on the estate of a not-so-rich landowner. It happened on March 21, 1839, in the Pskov region.

So, back to his biography. Starting at the age of six, his mother took charge of her son's musical education. And then, in 1849, he entered the Peter and Paul School, which is located in St. Petersburg. Three years later, he moved to the School of Guards Ensigns. At that time, Modest combined his studies at the School with his studies with the pianist Gercke. Around the same time, Mussorgsky's first work was published. It was a piano polka called "Ensign".

Approximately in the years of his studies, that is, 1856-57. he met Stasov and with all the ensuing consequences for the Russian classical music including. It was under the guidance of Balakirev that Mussorgsky began serious studies in composition. Then he decided to devote himself to music.

For this reason, in 1858, he left military service. At that time, Mussorgsky wrote many romances, as well as instrumental works, in which even then his individualism began to manifest itself. For example, his unfinished opera Salammbô, inspired by Flaubert's novel of the same name, abounded in the drama of popular scenes.

For the time being described, he was a brilliantly educated young officer. He had a beautiful baritone voice and played the piano beautifully.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky - composer from "The Mighty Handful"

True, in the mid-sixties he became more of a realist artist. In addition, some of his works became especially close to the spirit of the revolutionaries of those times. And in such works of his as “Calistrat”, “Eryomushka's Lullaby”, “Sleep, sleep, peasant son”, “Orphan”, “Seminarian”, he began to show himself especially clearly as a talented writer of everyday life. And what is it worth, set based on folk tales, "Night on Bald Mountain"?!

Mussorgsky did not shy away from experimental genres. For example, in 1868, he completed work on an opera based on Gogol's The Marriage. There he diligently translated live conversational intonation into music.

During these years, Modest Petrovich seemed to develop. The point is that one of his greatest works was the opera "Boris Godunov". He wrote this opera based on the works of Pushkin, and after some revision it was presented at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. What changes have been made? It was simply reduced, and quite significantly.

Then the composer also worked on an impressive "folk musical drama", in which he spoke about the archery riots of the late seventeenth century. His inspirations remain the same. For example, the idea of ​​"Khovanshchina" was suggested to him by Stasov.

At the same time, he writes the cycles “Without the Sun”, “Songs and Dances of Death” and other works, according to which it becomes clear: the composer is not in the mood for jokes now. Indeed, in the last years of his life, Mussorgsky suffered greatly from depression. However, this depression had its own, quite real reasons: his work remained unrecognized, in everyday life and in material terms, he did not cease to experience difficulties. And besides, he was lonely. In the end, he died a poor man in the Nikolaev soldier's hospital, and his unfinished work other composers from "" completed for him, such as, for example.

How did it happen that he wrote so slowly, unproductively, and in general, what the hell broke his life?!

The answer is simple: alcohol. He treated his nervous tension with them, as a result, he slipped into alcoholism, and somehow recognition did not come. He thought too much, composed, and then erased everything and recorded the finished music with clean slate. He did not like all kinds of sketches, sketches and drafts. That's why it worked so slowly.

When he retired from the forestry department, he could only rely on the financial assistance of his friends, and on his own some, very random, earnings. And he drank. Yes, and he ended up in the hospital after an attack of delirium tremens.

And time heals all wounds. Now a bus stop towers over the grave of one of the greatest Russian composers. And what we know as the place of his burial is in fact only a transferred monument. Lived alone and died alone. This is the lot of true talent in our country.

Famous Works:

• Opera "Boris Godunov" (1869, 2nd edition 1874)
• Opera "Khovanshchina" (1872-1880, not completed; editions: N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, 1883; D. D. Shostakovich, 1958)
• Opera "Marriage" (1868, not completed; editions: M. M. Ippolitova-Ivanova, 1931; G. N. Rozhdestvensky, 1985)
• Opera " Sorochinskaya Fair"(1874-1880, not finished; editors: Ts. A. Kui, 1917; V. Ya. Shebalina, 1931)
• Opera "Salambo" (not finished; edited by Zoltan Peshko, 1979)
• "Pictures at an Exhibition", a cycle of pieces for piano (1874); orchestrated by various composers, including Maurice Ravel, Sergei Gorchakov (1955), Lawrence Leonard, Keith Emerson, etc.
• Songs and Dances of Death, vocal cycle (1877); orchestrations: E. V. Denisova, N. S. Korndorf
• "Night on Bald Mountain" (1867), symphonic picture
• "Nursery", vocal cycle (1872)
• "Without the Sun", vocal cycle (1874)
• Romances and songs, including "Where are you, little star?", "Kalistrat", "Eryomushka's Lullaby", "Orphan", "Seminarist", "Svetik Savishna", Song of Mephistopheles in Auerbach's cellar ("Flea"), "Rayok »
• Intermezzo (originally for piano, later orchestrated by the author under the title "Intermezzo in modo classico").

Mussorgsky's work is associated with the best classical traditions, primarily with the works of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky. However, being a follower of the school of critical realism, Mussorgsky walked the thorny path of a discoverer throughout his life. His creative motto was the words: "To new shores! Fearlessly, through the storm, shallows and pitfalls!" They served as a guiding star for the composer, supporting him in times of adversity and disappointment, inspiring him in the years of intense creative search. Mussorgsky saw the tasks of art in revealing the truth of life, which he dreamed of telling people about, understanding art not only as a means of communication between people, but also as a means of educating people. The pinnacle of Mussorgsky's legacy is his folk musical dramas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina. These brilliant works by one of the greatest Russian composers are a true revelation in the history of the development of world opera drama. The fate of the people worried Mussorgsky most of all. He was especially fascinated by the historical events of critical epochs; during these periods, in the struggle for social justice, large human masses began to move. In the operas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" Mussorgsky showed various historical epochs and various social groups, truthfully revealing not only the external events of the plot, but also the inner world of the characters, the experiences of the characters. A subtle psychologist and playwright, Mussorgsky, by means of art, managed to convey to his contemporary society a new, advanced understanding of history, gave an answer to the most topical and pressing questions of life. In Mussorgsky's operas, the people become the main character, they are shown in the process of historical development; for the first time on the opera stage, pictures of popular unrest and popular revolt are embodied with realistic force. "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" are truly innovative works. Mussorgsky's innovation is determined primarily by his aesthetic views, it comes from a constant desire for a true reflection of reality. In Mussorgsky's operas, innovation manifested itself in a wide variety of areas. The image of the people in the opera and in the oratorio genres at all times was carried out through the choir. IN opera choirs Mussorgsky, a genuine psychologism also appears: mass choral scenes reveal the spiritual life of the people, their thoughts and aspirations. The significance of the choirs in both "Khovanshchina" and "Boris Godunov" is infinitely great; the choirs of these operas amaze with their diversity, life-like truthfulness and depth. According to the method of musical construction, Mussorgsky's choirs can be divided into two groups. The first includes those in which the voices of the performers sound all together, at the same time ("compact" choirs) with or without an orchestra. To the second - choirs, which could be called "dialogical". In the opera "Boris Godunov" in the prologue there is a large folk scene built on the principle of free dialogue, where the choir is divided into several groups; individual actors are distinguished from groups; they exchange remarks (a special kind of choral recitative), argue, discuss events. Here the composition of the participants changes all the time - either the voice of the soloist is heard, then the whole crowd (choir) sings, then several female voices, then soloist again. It is on this principle that Mussorgsky builds large mass scenes in his operas. This form of choral presentation contributes to the most realistic disclosure of the character and moods of a motley, diverse crowd. Both in choirs and in other opera forms, Mussorgsky, on the one hand, follows the established opera traditions, on the other hand, he freely modifies them, subordinating the new content of his works. He first turned to major operatic and dramatic works already in early period creativity (1858 - 1868). He was attracted by three completely different subjects; "Oedipus Rex" (1858) based on the tragedy of Sophocles, "Salambo" (1863) based on the novel by Flaubert and "The Marriage" (1865) based on Gogol's comedy; however, all three compositions remained unfinished. In the plot of "Oedipus Rex" Mussorgsky was interested in acute conflict situations, a clash of strong characters, and the drama of mass scenes. The nineteen-year-old composer was fascinated by the plot, but he failed to develop and complete his plans. Of all the music of the opera, only the introduction and the stage in the temple for the choir and orchestra have been preserved. The idea of ​​the opera "Salambo" arose under the influence of Serov's opera "Judith"; both works are characterized by ancient oriental flavor, monumentality of the heroic plot and drama of patriotic feelings. The composer wrote the opera's libretto himself, significantly modifying the content of Flaubert's novel. The surviving scenes and fragments from the music for "Salambo" are very expressive (Salambo's Prayer, the scene of sacrifice, the scene of Mato in prison, etc.). Later they were used in other operatic works by Mussorgsky (in particular, in the opera "Boris Godunov"). Mussorgsky did not finish the opera "Salambo" and never returned to it; in the process of work, he found that its historical plot was alien and far away to him, that he really did not know the music of the East, that his work was beginning to deviate from the truth of the image, approaching opera clichés. "Since the mid-60s, in Russian literature, painting and music there is a great attraction to the realistic reproduction of folk life, its true life images and plots.Mussorgsky begins to work on an opera based on Gogol's comedy "Marriage", striving for the most faithful transmission of speech intonations, intending to set Gogol's prose to music without any changes, exactly following every word of the text, revealing every subtle nuance of it. The idea of ​​"conversational opera" was borrowed by Mussorgsky from Dargomyzhsky, who wrote his Pushkin opera "The Stone Guest" on the same principle. But having completed the first act of "The Marriage", Mussorgsky realized the limitations of his chosen method of illustrating all the details of a verbal text without generalized characteristics, and clearly felt that this work would only serve as an experiment for him. With this work, the period of searches and doubts, the period of the formation of Mussorgsky's creative individuality, ends. For his new composition, the opera "Boris Godunov", the composer undertook with such enthusiasm and enthusiasm that within two years the music was written and the score of the opera was made (autumn 1868 - December 1870). The flexibility of Mussorgsky's musical thinking allowed the composer to introduce the most diverse forms of presentation into the opera: monologues, arias and ariosos, various ensembles, duets, tercetos and choirs. The latter turned out to be the most characteristic of the opera, where there are so many mass scenes and where musicalized speech intonations in their infinite variety become the basis of the vocal presentation. After creating the social and realistic folk drama Boris Godunov, Mussorgsky departed from big plots for some time (the 70s, the period of "reforms"), so that later he would again devote himself to operatic creativity with enthusiasm and passion. His plans are grandiose: he begins to work simultaneously on the historical musical drama "Khovanshchina" and on the comic opera based on Gogol's story "Sorochinsky Fair"; at the same time, the decision was ripening to write an opera based on a plot from the era of the Pugachev uprising - "Pugachevshchina" based on Pushkin's story "The Captain's Daughter". This work was supposed to be included in the trilogy of historical operas covering the spontaneous popular uprisings of Russia in the 17th - 18th centuries. However, the revolutionary opera "Pugachevshchina" was never written. Mussorgsky worked on "Khovanshchina" and "Sorochinsky Fair" almost to the end of his days, not completely finishing both operas, which subsequently had many editions; here, speaking about the forms of vocal and instrumental presentation in the process of their formation, I would like to remind once again that in "Marriage" in search of "truth in sounds" (Dargomyzhsky), Mussorgsky completely abandoned finished numbers and ensembles. In the operas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" we find all kinds of opera numbers. Their structure is diverse - from three-part (Shaklovity's aria) to huge free-recitative scenes (Boris' monologue in the scene with the chimes). In each new opera Mussorgsky uses ensembles and choirs more and more often. In "Khovanshchina", written after "Boris Godunov", there are fourteen choirs, which gave grounds to the theatrical committee to call it a "choral opera". True, in Mussorgsky's operas there are relatively few completed arias and incomparably more arioso - that is, small and deeply emotional musical characteristics of the characters. The aria-story and everyday vocal forms, organically connected with the dramaturgy of the whole, as well as monologues, where the verbal text determines and directs the musical structure, acquire great importance. The pinnacle and result of the search in this area was the part of Martha from the opera "Khovanshchina". It was in this party that the composer achieved the "greatest synthesis" of speech expressiveness with genuine melody. In Mussorgsky's operas, the role of the orchestra is very large. In instrumental introductions and independent scenes, the orchestra often not only "finishes", but also reveals the main mood and content of the action, and sometimes the idea of ​​the whole work. The orchestra plays constant musical characteristics or so-called leitmotifs, which play a crucial role in Mussorgsky's operas. Leitmotifs and leittems are interpreted by the composer in different ways: sometimes completely identical musical material appears in different situations corresponding to the events of the plot; in other cases musical theme , gradually changing its appearance, reveals the inner, spiritual aspects of a particular image. Transforming, however, the theme always retains its basic outlines. In an effort to achieve the greatest vitality and truthfulness in portrait sketches of individual characters, as well as in genre crowd scenes, Mussorgsky also makes extensive use of genuine folk melodies in his musical dramas. In "Boris Godunov" the choir from the second picture of the prologue "Already how the glory of the red sun in the sky", Varlaam's song "How yong rides" from the first act, choirs in the scene near Kromy - "Not a falcon flies", "The sun, the moon faded"; the folk text became the basis of the song of Shynkarka and the choir "Dispersed, cleared up", and in its middle part the folk song "Play, my bagpipes" was used. In "Khovanshchina", in addition to several church hymns, which formed the basis of the schismatic choirs (the second and third acts, the choirs "Victory, in shame"), a choir of alien people (behind the scene) was written to folk melodies "Once upon a time a godfather" from the first act, the song Martha's "A Baby Came Out", choruses ("Near the River", "Sat Late in the Evening", "Floats, Swims a Swan") from the fourth act. Ukrainian folklore is widely represented in the "Sorochinsky Fair": in the second act - Kuma's song "Along the steppes, along the free ones", the theme of the duet "Doo-doo, ru-doo-doo", Khivri's song "Trampled the Stitch" and her own song about Brudeus; in the second scene of the third act - a truly folk dance song by Parasi "Green Periwinkle" and the wedding song "On the Bank at the Headquarters", which became the main musical material of the entire final scene of the opera. The basis of Mussorgsky's orchestra is the string group. The use of solo instruments in the opera "Boris Godunov"* is limited. Brass instruments are introduced by the composer with great care. The use of any coloristic techniques in Mussorgsky's scores is rare, as a rule - in special cases. So, for example, only once in the scene of the bell ringing does the composer colorize the score by introducing the piano (four hands). The appearance of a harp and an English horn in the love scene at the fountain ("Boris Godunov") should also be attributed to a special coloristic device. The study of Mussorgsky's operatic work - his mastery in the transfer of mass folk scenes, musical speech and harmonic language - allows you to feel the closeness of the composer's dramaturgy to our era. Mussorgsky's work is not only a historical past; the themes of today live in his writings. Aesthetic views of Mussorgsky are inextricably linked with the flourishing of national identity in the era of the 60s. 19th century, and in the 70s. - with such currents of Russian thought as populism, etc. At the center of his work is the people as "a person animated by a single idea", the most important events of national history, in which the will and judgment of the people are manifested with great force. In stories from the domestic past, he was looking for answers to contemporary issues. At the same time, Mussorgsky set as his goal the embodiment of "the finest features of human nature", the creation of psychological and musical portraits. He strove for an original, truly national style, which is characterized by reliance on Russian peasant art, the creation of original forms of drama, melody, voice leading, harmony, etc., corresponding to the spirit of this art. However, the musical language of Mussorgsky, the successor of the traditions of M.I. A. S. Dargomyzhsky, is marked by such a radical novelty that many of his findings were accepted and developed only in the 20th century. Such, in particular, are the multidimensional "polyphonic" dramaturgy of his operas, his freely variant forms, far from the norms of Western European classics (including sonatas), as well as his melody - natural, "created by speaking", i.e. - growing out of the characteristic intonations of Russian speech, songs and taking on a form corresponding to the structure of feelings of this character. The harmonic language of Mussorgsky is just as individual, where elements of classical functionality are combined with the principles of folk-song harmony, with impressionistic techniques, with the consequences of expressionistic sonorities.

List of major works

Opera "Boris Godunov" (1869, 2nd edition 1872)

Opera "Khovanshchina" (c.1873-1880, not completed). Subtitle: Folk musical drama. All the music has been preserved in the clavier, except for the end of the 2nd act (after Shaklovity's remark "And ordered to be found") and some parts of the 5th act (the scene of Martha and Andrey Khovansky is not harmonized, "Martha's Love Funeral" is lost and, probably, the final scene of self-immolation of schismatics). Two fragments of the 3rd act (the choir of archers and the song of Martha) have been preserved in the score. Editors: N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1883), B.V. Asafiev (1931), D. D. Shostakovich (1958). Critical edition of the clavier: P.A. Lamm (1932).

Opera “Marriage. An absolutely incredible event in three acts ”(1868, not finished). Subtitle: Experience of Dramatic Music in Prose. Based on the text of the play of the same name by N.V. Gogol. Dedicated to V. V. Stasov. Act I in the clavier has been preserved. Editors: M. M. Ippolitova-Ivanov (1931), G. N. Rozhdestvensky (1985). Editions: 1908 (piano score, edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1933 (author's edition).

Opera "Sorochinsky Fair" (1874-1880, not completed). Based on the story of the same name by N.V. Gogol. Dedications: "Dumka Parasi" - E. A. Miloradovich, "Song of Khivri" - A. N. Molas. In 1886, in the author's edition, "Song of Khivri", "Dumka Parasi" and "Hopak of merry couples" were published. Editors: Ts. A. Cui (1917), V. Ya. Shebalin (1931).

Opera "Salambo" (1863-1866, not completed). Subtitle: Based on the novel by G. Flaubert "Salambo", with the introduction of poems by V. A. Zhukovsky, A. N. Maikov, A. I. Polezhaev. The opera was supposed to have four acts (seven scenes). In the clavier are written: "Song of the Balearic" (1st act, 1st scene). Scene in the temple of Tanita in Carthage (2nd act, 2nd picture), Scene in front of the temple of Moloch (3rd act, 1st picture), Scene in the dungeon of the Acropolis. Dungeon in the rock. Mato in chains (4th act, 1st scene), Women's choir(Priestesses console Salammbo and dress her in wedding clothes) (4th act, 2nd scene), ed.: 1884 (score and clavier of the Women's Choir from the 2nd scene of the 4th act, edited and arranged by N. A . Rimsky-Korsakov), 1939 (ed.). Edited by Zoltan Peszko (1979)

For voice and piano: Young years. Collection of romances and songs (1857-1866). Children's. Episodes from a child's life. Vocal cycle to the words of the composer (1870) With the nanny (1868; dedicated to "the great teacher of musical truth A.S. Dargomyzhsky"; variant title: Child). "No Sun" Vocal cycle on verses by A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1874). Songs and dances of death. Vocal cycle on verses by A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1877). Arrangements of vocal numbers from the operas Marriage, Boris Godunov, Sorochinskaya Fair, Khovanshchina for voice and piano

Unfinished songs and romances: Nettle mountain. Unprecedented (Mussorgsky's words; variant title: Between heaven and earth) Grave letter (Mussorgsky's words; variant title: "Evil Fate", "Evil Death"; on the death of N.P. Opochinina). Now performed in ed. V.G. Karatygina

For piano: Pictures at an Exhibition, a cycle of plays (1874); orchestrated by various composers, including Maurice Ravel, Sergei Gorchakov (1955), Lawrence Leonard, Keith Emerson and others. Polka "Ensign" (1852). Intermezzo. Dedicated A. Borodin (1861). Impromptu "Memories of Beltov and Lyuba" (1865). Nanny and me. From the memories of childhood (1865). Scherzo "Seamstress" (1871), etc.

For orchestra and choir: March of Shamil, for four-part male choir and soloists (tenor and bass) with orchestra (1859). Dedicated A. Arseniev. Night on Bald Mountain ("Ivan's Night on Bald Mountain") (1867), symphonic picture; ed.: 1886 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov). Intermezzo in modo classico (for orchestra, 1867). Dedicated Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin; ed. 1883 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov). Capture of Kars. Solemn march for large orchestra (1880); ed.: 1883 (edited and arranged by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov). Scherzo B-dur for orchestra; cit.: 1858; dedicated to: A. S. Gussakovsky; ed.: 1860. Joshua Nun, for soloists, choir and piano (1866; 1877, second edition to Nadezhda Nikolaevna Rimskaya-Korsakova; 1883, edition edited and arranged by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov). The defeat of Sennacherib, for choir and orchestra to the words of J. G. Byron from "Jewish Melodies" (1867; 1874 - second edition, with Mussorgsky's postscript "Second presentation, improved according to the comments of Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov"; 1871 - edition, for choir with piano). Alla marcia notturna. Small march for orchestra (in the nature of the night procession) (1861).

Non-surviving and/or lost compositions: Storm on the Black Sea. Large musical picture for piano. Vocalises for three female voices: Andante cantabile, Largo, Andante giusto (1880). Sonata in C major for piano. in 4 hands (1861).

The role of the orchestra in Mussorgsky's operas

Another INNOVATION in the operatic work of the composer is his innovation in the field of musical language. If we talk about Mussorgsky as a vocal composer, then it is extremely important to say about the creation of a NEW vocal style by him, which combines intonations of everyday speech and expressive melodic recitative.

Innovative principles of Mussorgsky in opera.

I. Early stage of creativity 1858-1868ᴦ.ᴦ. - created 3 operas: "Oedipus Rex" based on the tragedy of Sophocles (1858ᴦ.), "Solombo" or "The Libyan" based on the plot of Flaubert's novel (1863), "Marriage" based on the plot of Gogol (1868) - the idea of ​​​​a conversational opera was borrowed from Dargomyzhsky. All three operas remained unfinished.

II. Mature stage of creativity. Central theme period is the fate of the people and its role in history. The main genre of Mussorgsky's operatic work was FOLK MUSICAL DRAMA. The pinnacle of the composer's heritage in this genre were the operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina.

The most important innovations of Mussorgsky - PEOPLE main character, it is shown in the process of historical development, pictures of popular unrest and popular revolt are embodied on the opera stage. In operas, innovation manifested itself in a wide variety of areas.

The image of the PEOPLE in the opera was carried out through the CHORUS:

1. Mussorgsky created new forms of choral drama
2. Genuine psychologism is also manifested in opera choirs, because the choir reveals the spiritual life of the people, their thoughts and aspirations.
3. The choirs amaze with their diversity (choirs - praises, choirs - laments, choirs - protests). The choirs depict the people as a single collective hero - in a generalized way, and various social strata - in Khovanshchina, for example, archers, schismatics, "alien people" who express their attitude to current events.
4. According to the method of musical construction: "compact" choirs - with accompaniment and a cappela; and “dialogical, for example, in the prologue of “Boris Godunov” the choir is divided into several groups, individual characters stand out from the group, who exchange remarks with each other. All this contributes to the most realistic disclosure of the motley crowd.

The image of the PEOPLE in Mussorgsky's operas was carried out not only through CHORUS, but also by standing out from this many-sided crowd its various representatives: such in "Boris Godunov" are the Holy Fool, Pimen, Varlaam and Misail; in "Khovanshchina" - Dositheus, Martha, archer Kuzka. To characterize them, Mussorgsky uses the most various types opera forms: monologues, arias, arioso, arias - stories where the verbal text determines and directs the musical structure; ensembles - duets, tertsets, etc.

In each new opera, Mussorgsky uses choirs more and more often, for example, in Khovanshchina there are 14 different choirs.

The pinnacle and result of all the composer's quests was Martha's part in their opera Khovanshchina, where Mussorgsky achieves "the greatest synthesis of verbal expressiveness with genuine melody."

According to B. Asafiev: “Mussorgsky's orchestra is a reflection of the dynamics mental life heroes." Look at the subtle psychologism with which the scene of Boris's coronation was executed, and Mussorgsky's coronation stems from the words: "They are ordered to howl, howl and in the Kremlin," from here Mussorgsky tells us about a forced festival, the people glorify the tsar unwillingly, the music is harsh and ascetic. (Critically speaking, B. Asafiev condemns N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the author of the Paris version of the opera, that his Coronation was worthless. With his Paris version, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov transferred Mussorgsky’s music into the sphere of “Russian baroque of the last empire", following the tastes of the then public and turned the Coronation Scene into a luxurious spectacle).

Basis of Mussorgsky's orchestra are strings, the use of solo instruments is limited, copper is introduced carefully (the portia of the piano imitates bells).

The meaning of orchestral leitmotifs and leittems. Οʜᴎ play an important role because their expressive semantic significance is great. Leitmotifs and leittems are interpreted differently. Sometimes the theme gradually changes its appearance, revealing certain internal features of the image, but almost always retains its essence.

Quoting: striving for truthfulness in life, Mussorgsky uses authentic folk themes, authentic folk tunes:

chorus "Oh, how glory to the red sun in the sky",

Misail's song "How en rides",

chorus "Not a falcon flies in the sky",

"The sun, the moon faded" sermon of Varlaam and Misail,

Folk text- the basis of the choir "Dispersed, cleared up."

In Khovanshchina, genuine church hymns underlie the choirs of schismatics, quotations are Marfa's song "The Baby Came Out", the choirs "Near the River", "Late in the evening she sat", "Swan swims, swims."

Opera Boris Godunov.

Psychologism, showing the inner world of a person. He was the first Russian composer to pay attention to the human psyche. At that time there was only one Dostoevsky in the literature of this level. Mussorgsky was not only the greatest realist, historian, narrator about the life of the people, but also a brilliant portrait psychologist.

Truthfulness external (picturesqueness, display of external qualities).

He chooses folk dramas as plots for operas: "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina", conceived "Pugachevshchina". “The past in the present is my task.” The content of both operas vividly showed Mussorgsky's amazing gift as a visionary historian. It is characteristic that the composer chooses those turning points in history when the state is on the verge of collapse. He said that “my task is to show both the “wisdom” and the “savagery” of the people. He acted, first of all, as a tragedian.

From the total number of heroes, he chooses those who are more tragic, hopeless. Often they are rebellious people. All historical types created by him are very plausible, reliable.

Style, musical language

1) Melody.

Mussorgsky for the first time freely mixes intonational turns, as an artist mixes colors on a palette. It is melodic ingenuity that is the main carrier and root of Mussorgsky's innovation. He is a typical vocal composer, a musician who thinks vocally in music. The essence of Mussorgsky's vocality is in the very sensation of musical art not through the instrument, but through the voice, through the breath.

Mussorgsky strove for a meaningful melody, created by the speech of a person. “My music should be an artistic reproduction of human speech in all its subtlest curves, i.e. the sounds of human speech, as external manifestations of thought and feeling, must, without exaggeration and violence, become truthful, accurate music, and therefore highly artistic” (Mussorgsky).

All his melodies are necessarily theatrical. Mussorgsky's Melos speaks the character's language, as if helping him to gesticulate and move.

His melos is characterized by syncretism. It is possible to distinguish features of various musical elements in it: a peasant song; urban romance; bel canto (in the early opera "Salambo", in some romances). Also characteristic is the reliance on genre (march, waltz, lullaby, hopak).

2) Harmony. The musical material of his characters is very individual. Each has its own sound and psychological tonality. Mussorgsky was not satisfied with the means of the classical major-minor - he builds his own harmonic basis. In later romances, it practically comes to a 12-tone system. He used folk frets, increased and decreased frets. He knew well the system of church modes - the octagon (he used it in romances of the 60s). The construction of the tonal plans of the works was influenced not by functional logic, but by the life situation (typically fis-G, f-fis).

3) Metrorhythm. Differs in freedom. Variable sizes, mixed meters are characteristic. Everything is born from speech, folk dialect.

4) Methods of development, form. In Russian musical culture 60s preconceived forms. For Mussorgsky, music is a living matter that cannot be built schematically. It should be organized in the way nature organizes life: day-night, day-night... Repetition and contrasts become an important guiding aspect. IN folk music- the principle of variation with infinite variety. Hence the rondal forms. There are forms of wave nature - ebbs and flows.

5) Opera orchestra. In genre folk scenes, the orchestra is theatrically mobile and plastic. In the background is the task of reflecting the dynamics of the spiritual life of the characters in the orchestra (elements of chiaroscuro, emotional realism). The main feature of Mussorgsky's orchestra is the extreme asceticism of means and the rejection of any external sound-timbre splendor. In Boris Godunov, the orchestra encircles the vocal content (i.e., there is no self-contained symphonic content).

Thus, what Mussorgsky did was revolutionary. At its core, he subordinated music to the tasks of realistic expressiveness. Music in his work is no longer a means of expressing beauty. He brought music closer to life, pushed the boundaries of musical art.

35. Opera works of Mussorgsky:

Opera was the main genre of Mussorgsky's work. Vocal creativity served as a kind of preparation for operas. In the operatic genre, Mussorgsky is the creator of the reform. In terms of its importance, he is on a par with Verdi, Wagner, Bizet. He did not come to his reform immediately.

"Hans the Icelander" (17 years old). Furious romantic opera on the plot of Hugo. Nothing has come down to us.

"Oedipus Rex" (20 years old). A translation of the tragedy of Sophocles appears in the Russian press. One chorus "What will happen to us" has been preserved. This is the forerunner of the chorus "Dispersed, cleared up" from "Boris Godunov".

"Salambo" (24 years old). A romantically interpreted genre of opera that does not at all correspond to the style. None of the 4 acts were completed. Separate numbers have been preserved, from which direct threads can be drawn to Boris Godunov.

"Marriage" (1868). The culminating work of a young author, completing the first decade of creativity and paving the way for "Boris Godunov". Not finished (clavier only). The opera puzzled the Kuchkists, they were silent. Mussorgsky comprehends the court of the public: "Marriage is a cage in which I am planted for the time being." He designated the genre of opera as opera-dialogue, which was new. In this opera, he masters the experience of dramatic music in prose. The whole dramatic fabric of Gogol's play dictates to music both character, dramaturgy, form, and so on. The opera is one-act, consists of dialogue scenes, there are no two- or three-part forms. The form is held together by means of leitmotifs, which are constantly evolving and updating, which gives a general dynamism to development. None of Mussorgsky's subsequent operas absorbed the style of The Marriage; he applied its experience in other plots and stage situations.

"Boris Godunov" (1869). A masterpiece in which Mussorgsky carries out reform.

"Khovanshchina" (1881). Did not complete: there was no last scene, instrumentation in the clavier.

"Sorochinsky Fair". A kind of comedic intermezzo. Didn't finish.

Pushkin's drama and Mussorgsky's opera

Pushkin spoke from the positions of Decembrism, Mussorgsky (40 years later) from the positions of populism of the 1860s (Chernyshevsky). Of the 23 Pushkin scenes, he retained 9. He intensified the drama of the tsar's conscience (he wrote a scene of hallucinations, a monologue). He brought the people to the forefront, showed them wider, fuller, more versatile. The culmination of the development of the opera was the scene near Kromy, which Pushkin does not and could not have. But the reason for it was: the significance of the end of the tragedy - "the people are silent." Mussorgsky heard the terrible, hidden anger of the people, ready to burst into a thunderstorm of spontaneous rebellion.

“The past in the present is my task” (Mussorgsky). The desire to reveal the relevance of ideas. The conclusion is contained in the last lines of the opera, in the words of the Holy Fool: a deceived people who will continue to be deceived. chief actor is the people. He formulated the task of showing the people in the opera "as a great personality, animated by a single idea." Thus, Mussorgsky put the socio-historical problem as a base. Struggle, the state of antagonism, the tension of forces are the basic principles of operatic action. As a result, in 1869‑1872. Mussorgsky carried out an operatic reform that was not noticed by Europe.

The idea of ​​the opera is revealed at the level of the destinies of the state and at the level of Boris's personality, forming 2 lines of through development: the tragedy of the people and the tragedy of Boris. The dramatic idea of ​​Mussorgsky, it would seem, is turned into the mainstream of opera-drama. But he ends the opera with the death of the hero, i.e. shifted the center of gravity to the tragedy of the human conscience of the tsar-murderer. As a result, in terms of genre, an opera-tragedy emerges. The dramaturgy of the opera is multi-layered, polyphonic. It intertwines several storylines with the defining main conflict, the people - the king. Widely applies the principle of contrast between paintings and within paintings. The severity of conflicts: almost every scene is a duel or clash.

musical language

Novelty and originality of opera forms. new type choral scenes. Choirs-recitatives performed by a small group of people. Polyphony of choral scenes, personification of the masses. There are no traditional solo forms, instead of them there are monologues.

Keynotes. Prior to this, there was no leitmotif system in Russian opera. Here they permeate the entire musical fabric, they sound in the orchestra. They are endowed with almost all the characters. They give development an inner symphony.

Genre basis. Very wide: peasant song, lamentations, drawn-out, round dance, game, church music and sacred verse, Polish dances (mazurka, polonaise).

image of the people

Starting with Glinka, the Russian opera put forward people and history as one of the leading themes. This gave birth to a new genre - folk musical drama. Changed the dramaturgy of the opera, brought to the fore the forces of the people. Specific solutions varied. Glinka has powerful, oratorio-type choirs. Mussorgsky has a different solution. His folk choral scenes are reminiscent of Surikov's canvases with his polyphony of images. The image of the people is made up of many separate groups and heroes, i.e. the masses are personified. These are Pimen, Varlaam, the Holy Fool. The development of the image of the people goes from downtrodden to mighty strength.

Mussorgsky develops the idea of ​​Rus' blind, deceived. Development phases:

- The first two pictures are of the suffering people: the scene of false lamentation and the scene of glorification of the king.

- The scene at the cathedral is the disclosure of the grief of the people. The chorus of "Bread" grows out of the lamentation of the Holy Fool. "Batiushka, the breadwinner, give me" - at the heart of one sing-along with sprouting. The couplet-variation form.

- A picture of a terrible spontaneous revolt of the people. For this scene, Mussorgsky found a unique dramaturgy - the wave principle. It ends with the song of the Holy Fool from the scene at the cathedral "Flow, flow, Russian tears."

The image of Boris

Lyrical-psychological tragedy. Mussorgsky emphasizes human suffering more than Pushkin. 2 tragedies in the life of Boris: the pangs of an unclean conscience and the rejection of Boris by the people. The image is given in development. Three monologues reveal different states. Thus, a kind of monodrama is formed.

There is a series of episodic characters:

Enemies of Boris inside Rus' (people, Pimen - the bearer of Boris's secret, Shuisky - a story about the murder in 5 k.)

External enemies are the Polish gentry, Maria Mnishek and the Jesuits.

36. Boris Godunov:

Opera (folk musical drama) in four acts with a prologue by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky based on the composer's libretto based on the tragedy of the same name by A.S. Pushkin, as well as materials from N.M. Karamzin's History of the Russian State.

CHARACTERS:

BORIS GODUNOV (baritone)

Boris' children:

FEDOR (mezzo-soprano)

KSENIA (soprano)

MOTHER XENIA (low mezzo-soprano)

PRINCE VASILY IVANOVICH SHUISKY (tenor)

ANDREY SHCHElkalov, Duma clerk (baritone)

PIMEN, chronicler, hermit (bass)

THE IMPOSTER UNDER THE NAME OF GRIGORY (as in the score; correctly: Gregory, the Pretender under the name of Demetrius) (tenor)

MARINA MNISHEK, daughter of the governor of Sandomierz (mezzo-soprano or dramatic soprano)

RANGONI, secret Jesuit (bass)

VARLAAM (bass)

MISAIL (tenor)

HOUSEHOLDER OF THE TANK (mezzo-soprano)

YURODIVY (tenor)

NIKITICH, bailiff (bass)

MIDDLE BOYARIN (tenor)

BOYARIN KHRUSHOV (tenor)

LAVITSKY (bass)

BOYARS, BOYAR CHILDREN, STRELTSY, RYNDY, bailiffs, PANS AND PANNS, SANDOMIR GIRLS, PASSING KALIKI, MOSCOW PEOPLE.

Action time: 1598 - 1605.

Location: Moscow, on the Lithuanian border, in the Sandomierz castle, near Kromy.

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There are half a dozen versions of Boris Godunov. Mussorgsky himself left two; his friend N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov made two more, one version of the orchestration of the opera was proposed by D. D. Shostakovich, and two more versions were made by John Gutman and Karol Rathaus in the middle of our century for the New York Metropolitan Opera. Each of these options gives its own solution to the problem of which scenes written by Mussorgsky to include in the context of the opera and which to exclude, and also offers its own sequence of scenes. The last two versions, moreover, reject Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration and restore Mussorgsky's original. As a matter of fact, as far as the retelling of the content of the opera is concerned, it does not really matter which of the editions to follow; it is only important to give an idea of ​​all the scenes and episodes written by the author. This drama is built by Mussorgsky rather according to the laws of the chronicle, like Shakespeare's chronicles of Kings Richard and Henry, rather than a tragedy in which one event inevitably follows from another.

Nevertheless, in order to explain the reasons that caused the appearance of such a large number of editions of the opera, we present here the preface by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov to his edition of "Boris Godunov" in 1896 (that is, to his first edition):

“The opera, or folk musical drama, Boris Godunov, written 25 years ago, at its first appearance on stage and in print, caused two opposing opinions in the public. The high talent of the writer, the penetration of the national spirit and spirit historical era, the liveliness of the scenes and the outlines of the characters, the truth of life both in drama and comedy, and the brightly grasped everyday side, with the originality of musical ideas and techniques, aroused admiration and surprise of one part; impractical difficulties, fragmentation of melodic phrases, inconvenience of voice parts, rigidity of harmony and modulations, errors in voice leading, weak instrumentation and generally weak technical side of the work, on the contrary, caused a storm of ridicule and censure from the other part. For some, the mentioned technical shortcomings obscured not only the high merits of the work, but also the very talent of the author; and vice versa, some of these very shortcomings were erected almost into dignity and merit.

Much time has passed since then; the opera was not given on the stage or was given extremely rarely, the public was unable to verify the established opposing opinions.

"Boris Godunov" was composed in front of my eyes. No one like me, who was in tight friendly relations with Mussorgsky, the intentions of the author of "Boris" and the very process of their implementation could not be so well known.

Highly appreciating Mussorgsky's talent and his work, and honoring his memory, I decided to set about technical processing of Boris Godunov and its re-instrumentation. I am convinced that my adaptation and instrumentation by no means changed the original spirit of the work and the very intentions of its composer, and that the opera I have processed, nevertheless, belongs entirely to the work of Mussorgsky, and the purification and streamlining of the technical side will only make it more clear and accessible to all. high value and stop any criticism of this work.

When editing, I made some cuts due to the too long length of the opera, which forced, even during the author's lifetime, to shorten it when performed on stage at moments too significant.

This edition does not destroy the first original edition, and therefore Mussorgsky's work continues to be preserved intact in its original form.

To make it easier to navigate the differences in the author's editions of the opera, as well as to more clearly understand the essence of director's decisions when contemporary productions opera, we present here a schematic plan of both editions of Mussorgsky.

First edition (1870)

ACT I

Picture 1. courtyard of the Novodevichy Convent; the people ask Boris Godunov to accept the kingdom.

Scene 2. Moscow Kremlin; the wedding of Boris to the kingdom.

ACT II

Scene 3. Cell of the Chudov Monastery; scene of Pimen and Grigory Otrepiev.

Scene 4. Tavern on the Lithuanian border; the fugitive monk Gregory hides in Lithuania, then to reach Poland.

ACT III

Picture 5. Tsar's tower in the Kremlin; Boris with children; boyar Shuisky talks about the Pretender; Boris experiences torment and remorse.

ACT IV

Picture 6. The area near St. Basil's Cathedral; The holy fool calls Boris King Herod.

Picture 7. Meeting of the Boyar Duma; Boris's death.

Second edition (1872)

Picture 1. courtyard of the Novodevichy Convent; the people ask Boris Godunov to accept the kingdom.

Picture 2. Moscow Kremlin; the wedding of Boris to the kingdom.

ACT I

Picture 1. Cell of the Chudov Monastery; scene of Pimen and Grigory Otrepiev.

Scene 2. Tavern on the Lithuanian border; the fugitive monk Gregory hides in Lithuania, then to reach Poland.

ACT II

(Not divided into pictures)

A number of scenes in the royal chamber in the Kremlin.

ACT III (POLISH)

Picture 1. Marina Mnishek's dressing room in Sandomierz Castle.

Scene 2. Scene of Marina Mnishek and the Pretender in the garden by the fountain.

ACT IV Scene 1. Meeting of the Boyar Duma; Boris's death.

Picture 2. People's uprising near Kromy (with an episode with the Holy fool, borrowed - in part - from the first edition).

Since “Boris Godunov” is often staged on world opera stages in the second edition of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, which represents the content of the opera most fully, we will follow this particular edition in our retelling.

Picture 1. Yard of the Novodevichy Convent near Moscow (now the Novodevichy Convent within Moscow). Closer to the audience is the exit gate in the monastery wall with a turret. The orchestral introduction paints an image of a downtrodden, oppressed people. The curtain rises. The people are treading water. The movements, as the author's note indicates, are sluggish. The bailiff, threatening with a club, makes the people beg Boris Godunov to accept the royal crown. The people fall on their knees and cry out: “Who are you leaving us for, father!” While the bailiff is absent, there is a squabble among the people, the women rise from their knees, but when the bailiff returns, they again kneel down. The Duma clerk Andrey Shchelkalov appears. He goes out to the people, takes off his hat and bows. He reports that Boris is adamant and, despite "the mournful call of the boyar duma and the patriarch, he does not want to hear about the royal throne."

(In 1598, Tsar Fyodor dies. There are two contenders for the royal throne - Boris Godunov and Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. Boyars for the election of Godunov. He is “asked” to become Tsar. But he refuses. This refusal seemed strange. But Godunov, this outstanding politician, understood that the legitimacy of his claims is doubtful. Popular rumor blamed him for the death of Tsarevich Dimitry, the younger brother of Tsar Fedor and the legitimate heir to the throne. And blamed for a reason. O. Klyuchevsky - Clearly, they did not have and could not have direct evidence (...) world "begged him to accept the royal crown. And now he - to a certain extent bluffing - this time refuses: in the forced appeal to him of the" people ", driven and frightened by the bailiff of the people, there is a lack of" general "enthusiasm.)

The scene is illuminated by the reddish glow of the setting sun. The singing of kaliks of passersby is heard (behind the stage): “Glory to you, the Creator of the Most High, on earth, glory to your heavenly forces and glory to all saints in Rus'!” Now they appear on the stage, led by guides. They distribute palms to the people and call on the people to go with the icons of the Don and Vladimir Mother of God to "the tsar at the meeting" (which is interpreted as a call for the election of Boris to the kingdom, although they do not say this directly).

Picture 2. “Square in the Moscow Kremlin. Directly in front of the audience, in the distance, is the Red Porch of the royal towers. On the right, closer to the proscenium, the people on their knees take a place between the Cathedral of the Assumption and the Archangel.”

The orchestral introduction depicts the procession of the boyars to the cathedral under the "great bell ringing": they will have to elect a new king to the kingdom. Prince Vasily Shuisky appears. He announces the election of Boris as tsar.

A powerful choir sounds - praise to the king. Solemn royal procession from the cathedral. “Bailiffs put the people in tapestries” (stage direction in the score). However, Boris is overcome by an ominous premonition. The first of his monologues sounds: “The soul mourns!” But no... No one should see the slightest timidity of the king. “Now let us bow to the dying rulers of Rus',” says Boris, and after that all the people are invited to the royal feast. Under the ringing of bells, the procession heads to the Archangel Cathedral. The people are rushing to the Archangel Cathedral; bailiffs restore order. Hustle. Boris shows himself from the Archangel Cathedral and goes to the towers. The jubilant ringing of bells. Curtain falls. End of prologue.

ACT I

Picture 1. Night. Cell in the Miracle Monastery. An old monk, Pimen, writes a chronicle. The young monk, Gregory, is sleeping. The singing of the monks is heard (offstage). Grigory wakes up, he is tormented by a cursed dream, he has been dreaming about it for the third time now. He tells Pimen about him. The old monk instructs Gregory: "Humble yourself with prayer and fasting." But Gregory is beckoned by worldly joys: “Why should I not amuse myself in battles? Not to feast at the royal meal? Pimen reminisces, he tells how Ivan the Terrible himself was sitting here, in this cell, “and he wept ...” Then there are memories of his son, Tsar Fedor, who, according to Pimen, “transformed the royal halls into a prayer cell ". We do not know any more such a king, because we "have named the regicide our lord." Gregory is interested in the details of the case of Tsarevich Dimitri, what age he was when he was killed. “He would be your age and reign” (in some editions: “and reign b”), Pimen replies.

The bell sounds. They call in the morning. Pimen leaves. Grigory is left alone, his mind is in fermentation... An ambitious plan is born in his head.

Picture 2. Tavern on the Lithuanian border. Here came Varlaam and Misail, black vagrants, joined by Gregory: his goal is to get across the border into Lithuania in order to escape to Poland from there. The hostess welcomes the guests. A small feast is being started, but all Grigory's thoughts are about imposture: he intends to impersonate Tsarevich Dimitri and challenge the throne from Boris. Varlaam sings a song (“As it was in Kazan in the city”). Meanwhile, Grigory asks the owner of the tavern about the way across the border. She explains how to get through in order to avoid the bailiffs, who are now detaining and examining everyone, as they are looking for someone who fled from Moscow.

At this moment there is a knock on the door - the bailiffs are coming. They peer at Varlaam. One of the bailiffs takes out a royal decree. It tells about the escape from Moscow of a certain Grigory from the Otrepiev family, a black monk who needs to be caught. But Varlaam cannot read. Then Gregory is called to read the decree. He reads and ... instead of the signs denouncing himself, he pronounces Varlaam's signs aloud. Varlaam, feeling that things are bad, snatches the decree from him and, with difficulty making out the letters, he himself begins to read in syllables and then guesses that we are talking about Grisha. At this moment, Grigory threateningly brandishes a knife and jumps out the window. All shouting: "Hold him!" - rush after him.

ACT II

The inner chambers of the royal tower in the Moscow Kremlin. Lush environment. Xenia is crying over the portrait of the groom. The prince is busy with the "book of the big drawing." Handicraft mother. Boris consoles the princess. Neither in the family nor in public affairs does he have any luck. Tsarevich Fyodor answers the mother’s fairy tale (“The Song about the Mosquito”) with a fairy tale (“A fairy tale about this and that, how a chicken gave birth to a bull, a pig laid an egg”).

The Tsar affectionately asks Fedor about his activities. He is considering a map - "a drawing of the land of Moscow." Boris approves of this interest, but the sight of his kingdom leads him to serious thoughts. Boris's aria, amazing in its power of expression and drama, sounds (with a recitative: "I have reached the highest power ..."). Boris is tormented by remorse, he is haunted by the image of the slaughtered Tsarevich Dimitri.

A nearby boyar enters and reports that "Prince Vasily Shuisky is beating Boris with his forehead." Shuisky, who appears, tells Boris that an impostor has appeared in Lithuania, who pretends to be Tsarevich Dimitri. Boris is in the greatest excitement. Grabbing Shuisky by the collar, he demands that he tell him the whole truth about Dimitri's death. Otherwise, he will come up with such an execution for him, Shuisky, that "Tsar Ivan will shudder in horror in his grave." On this demand, Shuisky embarks on such a description of the picture of the murder of an infant, from which the blood runs cold. Boris can't stand it; he orders Shuisky to leave.

Boris alone. There follows a scene called in the score "Clock with Chimes" - Boris' stunning monologue "If you have a single stain..." The measured chimes, like rock, enhance the oppressive atmosphere. Boris does not know where to escape from the hallucinations pursuing him: “Over there... over there... what is it?.. over there in the corner?..” Exhausted, he calls out to the Lord: “Lord! You do not want the death of a sinner; have mercy on the soul of the criminal tsar Boris!”

ACT III (POLISH)

Picture 1. Marina Mnishek's dressing room in Sandomierz Castle. Marina, the daughter of the governor of Sandomierz, is sitting at the toilet. The girls entertain her with songs. The elegantly graceful choir "On the Azure Vistula" sounds. An ambitious Polish woman who dreams of taking the throne of Moscow wants to capture the Pretender. She sings about this in the aria "Marina is bored." Rangoni appears. This Catholic Jesuit monk demands the same from Marina - that she seduce the Pretender. And she must do this in the interests of the Catholic Church.

Picture 2. The moon illuminates the garden of the Sandomierz governor. The fugitive monk Grigory, now a pretender to the Moscow throne - the Pretender - is waiting for Marina at the fountain. The melodies of his love confession are romantically excited (“At midnight, in the garden, by the fountain”). Around the corner of the castle, looking around, Rangoni sneaks. He tells the Pretender that Marina loves him. The impostor rejoices, hearing the words of her love conveyed to him. He intends to run to her. Rangoni stops him and tells him to hide, so as not to destroy himself and Marina. The impostor hides behind the doors.

A crowd of guests comes out of the castle. Sounds Polish dance (polonaise). Marina passes arm in arm with the old gentleman. The choir sings, proclaiming confidence in the victory over Moscow, in the capture of Boris. At the end of the dance, Marina and the guests retire to the castle.

One pretender. He laments that he only managed to steal a glance at Marina. He is overwhelmed by a feeling of jealousy for the old pan with whom he saw Marina. “No, to hell with everything! he exclaims. - Rather, in battle armor! Enter Marina. She listens with annoyance and impatience to the Pretender's love confession. It doesn't bother her, and that's not what she came for. She asks him with cynical frankness when he will finally be tsar in Moscow. This time, even he was taken aback: “Could the power, the radiance of the throne, the vile swarm of serfs, their vile denunciations in you, could drown out the holy thirst for mutual love?” Marina is having a very cynical conversation with the Pretender. In the end, the Pretender was indignant: “You are lying, proud Pole! I'm a prince!" And he predicts that he will laugh at her when he sits down as king. Her calculation was justified: with her cynicism, cunning and affection, she kindled the fire of love in him. They merge in a passionate love duet.

Rangoni appears and watches the Pretender and Marina from a distance. Behind the scenes, the voices of feasting gentlemen are heard.

ACT IV

Scene 1. There are two scenes in the last act. In theatrical practice, it has developed so that in different productions, either one or the other is given first. This time we will adhere to the second edition of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

Forest clearing near the village of Kromy. To the right is the descent and behind it the wall of the city. From the descent through the stage - the road. Straight through the woods. At the very descent - a large stump.

The peasant uprising is spreading. Here, near Kromy, a crowd of vagabonds, who seized the boyar Khrushchov, governor Boris, mocks him: she surrounded him, bound and planted on a stump, and sings to him mockingly, mockingly and menacingly: “Not a falcon flies through the sky” (to a tune of a truly Russian folk song of praise).

The holy fool enters, surrounded by boys. (In productions of the opera that include the so-called insert scene "The Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral", this episode is transferred to it, where it is dramaturgically incomparably richer and emotionally stronger, despite the fact that Mussorgsky himself removed the score of this episode from there and placed it in the scene under Kromy .)

Varlaam and Misail appear. Talking about torture and executions in Rus', they incite the rebellious people. Behind the scenes, the voices of Lavitsky and Chernikovsky, the Jesuit monks, are heard. When they go on stage, people grab them and knit them. The tramps left on the stage are listening. The noise of the impostor's advancing army reaches their ears. Misail and Varlaam - this time ironically - praise the Pretender (apparently not recognizing in him the fugitive Moscow monk Grishka Otrepyev, who once fled from a tavern on the Lithuanian border): “Glory to you, Tsarevich, saved by God, glory to you, Tsarevich , hidden by God!

The Pretender enters on horseback. Boyar Khrushchev, dumbfounded, praises the "son of John" and bows to his waist. The impostor calls: “Follow us to a glorious battle! To the holy homeland, to Moscow, to the Kremlin, the golden-domed Kremlin!” Behind the scenes, the tocsin bells are heard. The crowd (which also includes both Jesuit monks) follows the Pretender. The stage is empty. A holy fool appears (this is in the event that this character is not transferred to the inserted scene - the Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral); he predicts the imminent arrival of the enemy, bitter grief for Rus'.