Biography and work of Glinka (briefly). Glinka's works

M. I. GLINKA. (1804 - 1857)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is a brilliant Russian composer. Like Pushkin in poetry, he was the founder of Russian classical music - opera and symphony.

The origins of Glinka's music lead to Russian folk art. His best works are imbued with love for the Motherland, its people, for Russian nature.

Main works: folk-heroic opera "Ivan Susanin", fairy-tale epic opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", works for voice and piano: romances, songs, arias symphonic pieces: overture "Jota of Aragon", "Night in Madrid" symphonic fantasy "Kamarinskaya", "Waltz-Fantasy" piano pieces.

4. OPERA "IVAN SUSANIN"

The opera "Ivan Susanin" is a heroic folk musical drama. The plot for the opera was a legend about the heroic deed of the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin in 1612, during the occupation of Russia by the Polish invaders.

Characters: Susanin, his daughter Antonida, adopted son Vanya, Sobinin. The main actor is the people.

The opera has 4 acts and an epilogue.

First action- characteristics of the Russian people and the main characters. It begins with an extensive choral introduction, in which there are two choirs - male and female.

Cavatina and Antonida's rondo reveal the features of a Russian girl - tenderness, sincerity and simplicity.

The trio "Don't Tom, darling" conveys the sad experiences of the characters, is based on the expressive intonations of urban everyday songs.

Second action - musical characteristic of the Poles. Dance music plays. Four dances form a symphonic suite: brilliant polonaise, krakowiak, waltz and mazurka.

Third action. Vanya's song "How Mother Was Killed" serves as a musical characteristic of an orphan boy, close to Russian folk songs.

Susanin's scene with the Poles is a wonderful example of a dramatic ensemble. The musical characteristic of the Poles is outlined by the rhythms of the polonaise and mazurka. Susanin's musical speech is majestic and full of dignity.

The wedding choir in its melodic structure is close to Russian wedding laudatory songs.

Antonida's song-romance "My girlfriends do not grieve for this" reveals the richness of the girl's spiritual world, here one can hear the intonations of folk lamentations.

Fourth action. Susanin's recitative and aria is one of the most tense dramatic episodes of the opera. Here the image of a hero and a patriot is fully revealed. The music is strict, restrained and expressive.

Epilogue. The people celebrate the victory over the enemy. In the final chorus "Glory" the music is majestic and solemn. This gives it the features of an anthem. The people glorify their native land and fallen heroes.

The opera "Ivan Susanin" is a realistic work, truthfully and sincerely telling about historical events. The new type of folk musical drama created by Glinka had a huge impact on the subsequent creations of Russian composers (Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov).

WORK FOR ORCHESTRA

An important place in Glinka's work is occupied by pieces for a symphony orchestra. All his works are accessible to the broad masses of listeners, highly artistic and perfect in form.

Symphonic fantasy "Kamarinskaya" (1848) is a variation on two Russian folk themes. The themes are contrasting. The first of them is a wide and smooth wedding song "Because of the mountains, high mountains." The second theme is the daring Russian dance "Kamarinskaya".

"Waltz Fantasy"- one of the most poetic lyrical works of Glinka.

It is based on a sincere theme, impetuous and striving. The main theme is repeated many times, forming the form of a rondo. Episodes of various content contrast with it. The predominance of the string group gives the whole symphonic work lightness, flight, transparency.

ROMANCES AND SONGS

Glinka wrote romances throughout his life. Everything in them captivates: sincerity and simplicity, restraint in expressing feelings, classical harmony and rigor of form, beauty of melody and clear harmony.

Among Glinka's romances, one can find a wide variety of genres: the everyday romance "The Poor Singer", the dramatic ballad "Night Review", drinking and "road" songs, songs-dances in the rhythm of a waltz, mazurka, polonaise, march.

Glinka composed romances based on poems by contemporary poets - Zhukovsky, Delvig, Pushkin.

Popular are romances from the cycle "Farewell to St. Petersburg" - "Lark" and "Accompanying Song" (lyrics by N. Kukolnik).

The romance to Pushkin's words "I remember a wonderful moment" is a pearl of Russian vocal lyrics. It belongs to the mature period of creativity, therefore the skill is so perfect in it.

In his romances, Glinka summarized all the best that was created by his predecessors and contemporaries.

For his creative activity, he wrote not so much, however, like Pushkin in the field of literature, Mikhail Glinka clearly defined the “Russian melody”, and then created the same Russian music as the property of the entire world culture. He also "gave birth" to all the brilliant followers who made Russia a great musical state for all time and in all eras.

Russian musical language, thanks to Glinka, acquired authenticity. After all, it was from his work that such celebrities as Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, Sviridov and Gavrilin, Borodin and Balakirev "matured". The good news is that even today the Glinka traditions still have an influence on how and what to perform, how and what to teach young musicians in Russian schools and schools.

Such operas by Mikhail Glinka as "A Life for the Tsar" and "Ruslan and Lyudmila" allowed two directions of Russian opera to "be born" - a musical folk drama and an epic opera or a fairy tale opera. The basis of Russian symphony was such works as "Kamarinskaya", "Spanish Overtures". And, of course, do not forget that the composition "Patriotic Song" by Mikhail Ivanovich became the basis for the national anthem of the Russian Federation. However, later the Russian Federation returned the anthem of the USSR, correcting the text, taking into account the new reality.

The modern generation of young people should not forget such a meaningful surname for world culture as Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. In honor of this composer, many streets of our country are named, museums and conservatories, theaters and music schools are named. And in 1973, astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh, after discovering a small planet, gave it a name in honor of Mikhail Ivanovich - 2205 Glinka. On the planet Mercury, a crater was named after the Russian composer.

22. Comparative characteristics of classicism and romanticism.

Compare parameter	Classicism	Romanticism
period	18 century	19th century
Dominant art form	Architecture, literature (theater)	Music, literature
Ratio of rational and emotional.	Rational	Emotional (the mind is wrong, the feeling never.)
Forms	Strict proportionate	Ticking, free, there is no strict scheme.
genre	Major: operas, sonatas, concertos, symphonies.	Miniatures, etudes, impromptu, musical moments.
content	Generalized	Subjective - personal
Software, eg. Names.	Not typical	Part meets
thematism	Instrumental	vocal
National color	Not brightly revealed	Raising your emotions Consciousness, characteristically educated. Your culture.

23. Features of the interpretation of the Sonata - symphonic cycle to foreign composers of the 18-19th century.

Semantics of tones.

With baroque, not everyone has the meaning of keys, but there are iconic ones.

Bach: h -moll - death D - dur-joy = measured mass h-moll

Tchaikovskyh-moll - the tone of rock.

Fis-moll, D-Dur?h-moll is a harbinger of death.

Classical: d-moll-pothetical, Beethoven.pr.Chopin, Symph No. 5

F moll - Appasionata;

d moll - mozart requiem - tragic.

F dur -- pastoral

Romanticism e moll elegy Chopin, Glinka do not tempt.

Des dur tone ideal. love, dreams

E Dur love is earthly, real.

C Dur-white, innocence.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) played a special role in the history of Russian culture:

in his work, the process of formation of the national composer school was completed;

in his person, Russian music for the first time put forward a world-class composer, thanks to which she was included in the context of the pinnacle of art achievementsXIX;

it was Glinka who gave a generally significant content to the idea of ​​Russian national self-expression.

The first Russian classical composer, a contemporary of Pushkin , Glinka was a representative of a turbulent, critical time, full of dramatic events. The most important of them are the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising (1825). They determined the main direction of the composer's work (“Let us dedicate our souls to the Fatherland with wonderful impulses”).

Key facts of creative biography, periodization

The most reliable source of information about the composer is his "Notes", which area remarkable example of memoir literature (1854-55). In them, Glinka, with his characteristic propensity for accuracy and clarity, clearly outlined the main stages of his life.

First stage - childhood and youth (until 1830). Born May 20, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province. The strongest impressions of childhood: Russian peasant song, uncle's serf orchestra, church choir singing, rural church bells ringing.

A beneficial effect on Glinka was his stay in the St. Petersburg Noble Boarding School (1817-22), where his tutor was V. Kuchelbecker, the future Decembrist.

The main creative achievements of the young Glinka are associated with the romance genre..

Second phase - the period of professional development (1830 - 1835). At this time, many bright artistic impulses were given to the composer by travel: a trip to the Caucasus (1823), a stay in Italy, Austria, Germany (1830-34). In Italy, he met G. Berlioz, F. Mendelssohn, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, became interested in Italian opera, and studied the art of bel canto in practice. In Berlin, he seriously studied harmony and counterpoint under the guidance of the famous theorist Z. Dehn.

Startcentral period (1836 - 1844) was marked by the creation of the opera "A Life for the Tsar" . At the same time, romances based on Pushkin's poems, the vocal cycle "Farewell to Petersburg", the first version of "Waltz-Fantasy", music for N. Kukolnik's tragedy "Prince Kholmsky" appear at the same time. For about 6 years Glinka worked on the second opera - Ruslan and Lyudmila (based on the plot of Pushkin's poem, staged in 1842). These years coincided with the active teaching activities of Glinka. An excellent vocal teacher, he trained many talented singers, including S.S. Gulak-Artemovsky, author of the classic Ukrainian opera Zaporozhets beyond the Danube.

Late period creativity (1845-1857).Glinka spent the last years of his life in Russia (Novospasskoye, St. Petersburg, Smolensk), often traveling abroad (France, Spain).Spanish impressions inspired him to create two symphonic pieces: The Hunt of Aragon and Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid. Next to them is the ingenious “Russian scherzo, Kamarinskaya”, created in Warsaw.

In the 1950s, Glinka's connections with the younger generation of Russian musicians - M.A. Balakirev, A.S. Dargomyzhsky, A.N. Serov (to whom he dictated his Notes on Instrumentation).Among the unfinished plans of these years are the program symphony "Taras Bulba" and the opera-drama "The Two Wife" (after A. Shakhovsky).

In an effort to "tie the knot of legal marriage" Russian folk song and fugue, in the spring of 1856 Glinka went on his last trip abroad to Berlin. Here he died on February 3, 1857, and was buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Glinka's style, like the style of his contemporaries Pushkin, Bryullov, is inherently synthetic. Classicist rationality, romantic ardor and young Russian realism intertwined in an inseparable unity, the heyday of which was yet to come.

The parallels between Glinka and Pushkin have become textbook. Glinka in Russian music is the same "our everything" as Pushkin in poetry. Pushkin's muse inspired Glinka to create a number of romances and the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. Both composer and poetcompared with Mozart, speaking of the "Mozartian perfection" of their talents. With Pushkin, Glinka is related by a harmonious perception of the world, the desire for the triumph of reason, goodness, justice, an amazing ability to poeticize reality, to see beauty in everyday life (signs of the aesthetics of classicism).

Like Pushkin's poetry, Glinka's music is a deeply national phenomenon.It fed on the origins of Russian folk art, assimilated the traditions of ancient Russian choral culture, innovatively implemented the most important achievements of the national composer school of the previous period.The desire for national identity has become an important link between the art of Glinka and the aesthetics of musical romanticism.

Both Pushkin and Glinka were greatly influenced by folk art. The famous words of the composer “the people create music, and we, the artists, only arrange it” (recorded by A.N. Serov) quite specifically express his creative credo.

It is natural that Glinka was especially attracted by the poetry of Pushkin, where the emotional and logical beginnings are merged in a unique unity. Composer and poet are closest to each other in the classical sensebeauty artistic work. It is no coincidence that Asafiev says that Glinka was "a classic in his entire mindset, only seduced and admired by the artistic culture of feeling - romanticism ...".

Growing up on Russian soil, the art of Glinka -not only a national phenomenon. Composerwas unusually sensitive to the folklore of different peoples. Probably, this feature was formed in childhood: the folk culture of the Smolensk region, where he spent his childhood, absorbed elements of Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish folklore. Traveling a lot, Glinka eagerly absorbed impressions from nature, from meetings with people, and from art. He was the first Russian composer to visit the Caucasus . The Caucasus and, more broadly, the theme of the East since the time of Glinka have becomean integral part of Russian musical culture.

Glinka was an excellently educated person, he knew European languages.He came to his highest achievements by studying the experience of the great Western European masters. Acquaintance with Western European romantic composers broadened his horizons.

The comprehension of the experience of modern history was vividly refracted in the most important theme of Glinka's work - the theme of sacrificial deeds in the name of Holy Rus', the tsar, faith, and family. In the composer's first opera, A Life for the Tsar, this heroic themepersonified in the specific historical image of the peasant Ivan Susanin. The novelty of this work was appreciated by the most advanced minds of that time. Zhukovsky:

Sing in delight, Russian choir,

A new one has come out.

Have fun, Rus'! Our Glinka -

Not clay, but porcelain.

Characteristic features of the style

perfect sense of form, classical harmony of proportions, thoughtfulness of the smallest details of the entire composition;

the constant desire to think in Russian, the closeness of the Russian folk song. Glinka rarely uses quotes from genuine folklore melodies, but his own musical themes sound like folk ones.

melodic richness. Fthe melody function is the leading one in Glinka's music. melodious melody,chant makes Glinka's music related to Russian folk songs; especially typical are the sixth and hexachordal chants, the singing of the fifth tone, the descending stroke of V-I;

in Glinka's music, freedom and smoothness of voice leading, reliance ontraditions of subvocal polyphony;

the predominance of variant-singing and variational development. Variation as a method of development is inherited by the composers of The Mighty Handful, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov.

mastery of orchestral coloring. Using the method of differentiated orchestration. In "Notes on Instrumentation" Glinka defines the functions of each orchestral group. Strings - "their main character is movement." Woodwinds are the exponents of the national color. Brass - "dark spots in the picture." Special coloristic nuances are created by using additional instruments (harp, piano, bells, celesta) and a rich group of percussions.

many features of Glinka's harmony are associated with the national specifics of Russian music: plagality, modal variability, widespread use of side steps of the mode, variable mode, folk music modes. At the same time, the composer uses the means of modern romantic harmony: augmented triad, dominant nonchord, major-minor tools, whole-tone scale.

Glinka's creative heritage covers all major musical genres: opera, music for drama, symphonic works, piano pieces, romances, chamber ensembles. But the main merit of Glinka is the creation of Russian classical opera.Glinka's operatic work became the mainstream for Russian opera, defining its two main directions - folk musical drama and fairy tale epic.According to Odoevsky, “Glinka's opera is something that has long been sought and not found in Europe - a new element in art, and a new period begins in its history: the period of Russian music.

Both operas played a huge role in the development of Russian symphony. Glinka for the first time abandoned the previous distinction between instrumental presentation into “zones” of accompanied recitative and through symphonic presentation.

Contemporaries called him "Pushkin of Russian music", because. his role in Russian music was similar to that of Pushkin in literature.Outstanding Service Glinka lies in the fact that, on the one hand, he summed up a significant period in the development of Russian music, and on the other hand, he opened the way for the further development of musical art. In his work, the basic principles of the leading musical genres were laid: opera, symphony, chamber music.
The content of his works is wide and varied - these are sketches of folk life, lyrics, epic, drama, magical fiction, etc.The main place in his work is occupied by the people. To characterize it M.I. Glinka used a folk song, which is the basis of his works. His words are well known: "The people create music, and we, the artists, only arrange it." The composer also introduces authentic folk melodies and creates his own in the spirit of the folk ones. He is interested not only in Russian folk music, but also in the music of other peoples: Ukrainian, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Eastern, etc.
Glinka's work combines classical and romantic features. He is connected with the classics by clarity, the harmony of the musical language, the clarity of form, the purity of orchestration, an impeccable sense of proportion, the balance between feeling and thought.
With romantics - interest in the image of folk life with its unique national coloring ("local color"), nature, distant countries, images of fantasy, fabulousness. M.I. Glinka widely uses romantic means: colorfulness, a variety of harmony and orchestration, vivid emotionality.
Glinka's main creative method is realism. It manifests itself in all elements of the musical language.voice leading- smooth, closely connected with folk song traditions.The melody plays a leading role, the rest of the elements of musical speech obey it.The form, in general, is classical, distinguished by structural clarity and proportionality, but the composer often complicates it, and also looks for new methods of shaping. He created a new type of variational form, which was called " Glinka variations". The essence of this form is that the vocal part remains unchanged, only the orchestral accompaniment varies.
Harmony, on the one hand, strict, clear, moderate, obeys classical laws, on the other hand, it is distinguished by courage and novelty.Orchestration - pabout the words of the composer himself, "the beauty of musical thought evokes the beauty of the orchestra." Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka strove to orchestrate easily and transparently, he brought out the individual qualities of each instrument, hence the frequent use of instrumental solos.
The best works of Glinka are: operas "Ivan Susanin" And " Ruslan and Ludmila”, symphonic works - “Kamarinskaya”, Waltz-Fantasy, “Aragonese Jota”, “Night in Madrid”, “Spanish Capriccio”, many romances (“I remember a wonderful moment”, “Do not tempt”, “Doubt”, “Away song" etc.) Glinka's operas "Ivan Susanin" and "Ruslan and Lyudmila" outlined two leading opera genres - historical-heroic, patriotic and fabulous-fantastic. The composer did not write symphonies in the usual sense of the word, but his programmatic symphonic works influenced the further development of Russian symphony. According to Tchaikovsky, "all Russian symphony grew out of Kamarinskaya, like an oak tree from an acorn."

“I admire the beauty of this plasticity: the impression that the voice, like the hand of a sculptor, sculpts sound-tangible forms ...” (B. Asafiev, “Glinka”)

“I want the sound to directly express the word. I want the truth "(A. Dargomyzhsky)

Both Glinka and Dargomyzhsky turned to the romance genre throughout their entire career. Romances concentrate the main themes and images characteristic of these composers; they strengthened the old and developed new types of romance genre.

During the time of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky in the 1st half of the 19th century, there were several types of romance: these were “Russian songs”, urban everyday romances, elegies, ballads, drinking songs, barcarolles, serenades, as well as mixed types that combine various features.

The most significant stages in the development of the romance are associated with the work of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky. In the work of Glinka, the foundations of romance lyrics were laid, a variety of varieties of the genre manifested itself. Dargomyzhsky enriched the romance with new colors, closely combining word and music, and continued Glinka's ideas. Each composer in his own way captured the spirit of the time and era in his works. These traditions were continued by other Russian classics: Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky (the path from Glinka), Mussorgsky (the path from Dargomyzhsky).

Romances in the work of M.I. Glinka

Glinka's romances continue the development of the genre and enrich it with new features and genre varieties. Glinka's work began precisely with romances, in which his composer's appearance was gradually revealed.

The theme and musical content of the early romances differs from the romances of the mature period of Glinka's work. Also, during the composer's creative path, the circle of poetic sources also changes. If at first Glinka prefers the poems of Baratynsky, Delvig, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, then later the beautiful poetry of A.S. Pushkin inspires him to create the best examples of the genre. There are romances based on poems by little-known poets: Kozlov, Rimsky-Korsak, Pavlov. Quite often, in his mature period, Glinka turns to the texts of the Kukolnik (“Farewell to Petersburg”, “Doubt”, “Accompanying Song”). Despite the varied quality and weight of poetic lines, Glinka is able to “wash even a secondary text with beautiful music” (Asafiev).

Glinka pays special attention to Pushkin's poetry, his music accurately reflects the subtleties of the poetic touch of the great Russian poet. Glinka was not only his contemporary, but also a follower, he developed his ideas in music. Therefore, often, when mentioning the composer, they also talk about the poet; they laid the foundation for “that single powerful stream that carries the precious burden of national culture” (Blok).

In the music of Glinka's romances, the poetic image of the text dominates. The means of musical expressiveness both in the vocal melody and in the piano part are aimed at creating a holistic, generalized image or mood. Also, integrity and completeness are facilitated by the musical form chosen by Glinka depending on the figurative structure or simply on the features of the text. A greater number of romances were written in couplet-variation form - this is "Lark" in the genre of Russian song on the text of the Dollmaker, as well as romances of the early period of creativity (elegy "Do not tempt", "Autumn Night", etc.). Quite often there is a 3-part form - in romances based on Pushkin's poems ("I remember a wonderful moment", "I'm here, Inezilla"), and a complex through form with signs of a tripartite form, and a rondo form. A characteristic feature of Glinka's form is the rigor, symmetry and completeness of the construction.

The vocal melody of the romances is so melodious that it also influences the accompaniment. But sometimes Glinka uses cantilena in comparison with a recitative warehouse ("I remember a wonderful moment", the middle part). Speaking about the melody of the voice, one cannot fail to mention Glinka's vocal education: "Initiated into all the mysteries of Italian singing and German harmony, the composer deeply penetrated the character of Russian melody!" (V. Odoevsky).

The piano part of romances can deepen the content of the text, highlighting its individual stages (“I remember a wonderful moment”), concentrate the main dramatic emotion (“Don't say that it hurts your heart”), or perform pictorial functions: it creates a landscape characteristic, Spanish flavor (“Night marshmallows", "The blue fell asleep", "Knight's romance", "Oh my wonderful maiden"). Sometimes the piano part reveals the main idea of ​​the romance - this is found in romances with a piano introduction or framing (“I remember a wonderful moment”, “Tell me why”, “Night review”, “Doubt”, “Do not tempt”).

In the work of Glinka, new types of romances are formed: romances with Spanish themes, popular in Russia, acquire bright, national-colorful features of Spanish genres. Glinka turns to dance genres and introduces a new type of romance - in dance rhythms (waltz, mazurka, etc.); also refers to oriental themes, which would later be continued in the work of Dargomyzhsky and the composers of The Mighty Handful.

Romances in the work of A.S. Dargomyzhsky

Dargomyzhsky became a follower of Glinka, but his creative path was different. This depended on the time frame of his work: while Glinka worked in the era of Pushkin, Dargomyzhsky created his works about ten years later, being a contemporary of Lermontov and Gogol.

The origins of his romances go back to everyday urban and folk music of that time; the genre of romance in Dargomyzhsky has a different focus.

Dargomyzhsky's circle of poets is quite wide, but the poetry of Pushkin and Lermontov occupies a special place in it. The interpretation of Pushkin's texts is given by Dargomyzhsky in a different aspect than that of Glinka. Characteristics, showing the details of the text (unlike Glinka) and creating diverse images, even entire galleries of musical portraits, become decisive in his music.

Dargomyzhsky refers to the poetry of Delvig, Koltsov, Kurochkin (translations from Beranger) (most of the romance scenes), Zhadovskaya, to folk texts (for the veracity of the image). Among the types of romance in Dargomyzhsky are Russian songs and ballads, fantasies, monologues-portraits of a different nature, a new genre of oriental romance.

A distinctive feature of Dargomyzhsky's music is the appeal to speech intonation, which is very important for showing the various experiences of the hero. Here is also rooted a different nature of vocal melody than Glinka's. It is made up of different motives that convey the intonations of speech, its features and shades (“I am sad”, “I still love him” - tritone intonations).

The form of romances of the early period of creativity is often couplet-variation (which is traditional). Characteristic is the use of rondo (“Wedding” to the words of Timofeev), two-part form (“Young man and maiden”, “Titular adviser”), form of through development (ballad “Paladin” to Zhukovsky’s text), couplet form with features of rondo (“Old Corporal” ). Dargomyzhsky is characterized by a violation of the usual forms ("Without mind, without mind" - a violation of the couplet-variation). Romances-sketches at first glance have a simple form, but the richness and richness of the text change the perception of the form (“Melnik”, “Titular Counsellor”). The form of The Old Corporal, for all its coupletness, is dramatized from the inside thanks to the text, since the semantic load is very important, the tragic core clearly appears in it, this is a new understanding of the form based on continuous development.

Dargomyzhsky's piano part in most cases occurs in the form of a "guitar" accompaniment ("I'm sad", "We parted proudly", "I still love him", etc.), performing the function of a general background. Sometimes she follows the vocal melody, repeating the chorus ("Old Corporal", "Worm"). There are also piano introductions and conclusions, their meaning is often the same as in Glinka's romances. Dargomyzhsky also uses the techniques of sound representation, which enlivens monologue scenes: the march of soldiers and a shot in the "Old Corporal", portraits in the "Titular Counsellor", etc.

The theme of Dargomyzhsky's romances is diverse, and the characters are also different. These are petty officials, and people of ignoble origin. For the first time in the work of Dargomyzhsky, the theme of a woman's fate, an unfortunate fate, appears ("Fever", "I still love him", "We parted proudly", "Without mind, without mind"). There are also oriental romances that continue the "Ratmir" theme of Glinka ("Oriental Romance" on the text of "Greek Woman").

MIKHAIL IVANOVICH GLINKA
(1804-1857)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinkar was born on May 20 (June 1), 1804, in the village of Novospasskoye, now the Elninsky district of the Smolensk region.

Childhood years were spent in the countryside, in the atmosphere of a landlord, estate life. His first musical impressions are connected with the folk song. Very early, the future composer got acquainted with professional European music. As a child, he listened to the concerts of the serf orchestra, often participating in them himself (playing the violin, flute). The years of study in St. Petersburg (1818-22) had a beneficial effect on the formation of Glinka's personality and worldview. Studying in one of the best educational institutions - the Noble Boarding School at the Pedagogical School, where his teacher was the future Decembrist and friend of A.S. , A. I. Galich, he absorbed the anti-serfdom views common in opposition circles.

His youth passed at the time of the formation of secret societies, in an atmosphere of acute ideological struggle. Getting acquainted with the poetry of the young Pushkin and Ryleev, meeting with the future Decembrists, the young Glinka became familiar with the atmosphere of citizenship and freedom. Later, after the tragic defeat of the Decembrist uprising, he was brought in for interrogation: his personal connections with the "rebels" were known to the police.

Glinka's musical talent matured rapidly under the influence of the artistic environment of St. Petersburg. During the years of study, he often visited the theater, got acquainted with the operas of W. A. ​​Mozart, L. Cherubini, G. Rossini, took violin lessons from F. Boehm, piano from J. Field, and then systematically from S. Mayer. In 1824, Mr.. entered the service in the office of the Council of Railways. But his main occupation was music. By the 20s. the first creative experiments include: chamber compositions (2 string quartets, a sonata for viola and piano), an unfinished symphony in B flat major and other works for orchestra; a number of piano pieces, including cycles of variations.

Glinka's talent in the romance genre was especially pronounced. The depth of poetic mood and the perfection of form distinguish the best romances of the early period - "Do not tempt", "Poor singer", "Georgian song" (to the words of Pushkin). Of great importance for the composer was his acquaintance with the greatest poets and writers - A.S. Pushkin, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.A. Delvig, V.F. Odoevsky, in communication with whom formed
his creative principles, aesthetic views. The young composer tirelessly improved his skills, studied opera and symphony literature, worked a lot with a home orchestra as a conductor (in Novospasskoye).

In 1830-34 G. visited Italy, Austria and Germany. In Italy, G. met G. Berlioz, F. Mendelssohn, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, was fond of Italian romantic opera, and in practice studied the art of bel canto (beautiful singing). But soon the admiration for the beauty of Italian melos gave way to other aspirations: “... I sincerely could not be Italian. Longing for the fatherland led me gradually to the idea of ​​writing in Russian. In the winter of 1833-34 in Berlin, Glinka was seriously engaged in harmony and counterpoint under the guidance of 3. Den, with the help of which he systematized his theoretical knowledge, improved the technique of polyphonic writing. In 1834 he wrote Symphony on Two Russian Themes, paving the way for. In the spring of the same year, Glinka returned to his homeland and began composing the planned opera.

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: I didn’t have it, but “Marina 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, and Pletnev were regular visitors to these evenings. 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, trying 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.

Opens the mature period of Glinka's work. In working on this opera, he relied on the basic principles of realism and folk, established in Russian literature of the 30s. 19th century The plot of the opera was proposed by Zhukovsky, however, in interpreting the historical theme, the composer followed his own principle of embodying a folk tragedy. The idea of ​​unbending courage and patriotism of the Russian people found a generalized expression in the image of Susanin, which Glinka developed under the influence of the "Duma" of the Decembrist poet Ryleev. The author of the libretto, the court poet G. F. Rosen, gave the text a tendentious monarchical coloring. Close attention to the new opera was shown by Nicholas I, who replaced its original title "Ivan Susanin" with "A Life for the Tsar".

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.

Odoevsky wrote: "With Glinka's first opera, something that has long been sought and not found in Europe is a new element in art, and a new period begins in its history: the period of Russian music." In "Ivan Susanin" Glinka created a folk heroic tragedy, deeply national in terms of means of expression. It was fundamentally different from the grand opera genre popular at that time on historical themes (J. Rossini, J. Meyerbeer, F. Ober, F. Halevi). Relying on a Russian folk song, the composer conveys the historical plot in a broad opera composition of an oratorio warehouse, highlighting the image of a mighty, indestructible folk force. Glinka was the first to "elevate the folk tune to tragedy" (Odoevsky).

An expression of realism was the innovative image of Susanin. The best qualities of the Russian national character were embodied in this image, at the same time the composer managed to give it concrete, vital features. Susanin's vocal part embodies a new type ariozno-chanting recitative. For the first time, the principle of synthesis of vocal and symphonic principles, characteristic of the Russian opera school, was established in the opera. The unity of the symphonic development is expressed, on the one hand, in the through implementation of two folk themes, on the other hand, in a sharp, conflicting comparison of figurative thematic groups: Russian and Polish. The smooth, broad themes of the Russian people, Susanin, Vanya, Sobinin, Antonida are contrasted with sharp, dynamic themes of the “Polish knights”, based on the rhythms of Polish dance. The growth of this conflict is the most important feature of the dramaturgy of Ivan Susanin as an opera of the tragic genre.

The idea of ​​a new opera based on the plot of the poem arose from the composer during the life of Pushkin. 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.

The success of the opera with the general public increased with each performance. She was highly appreciated in the articles by O. A. Senkovsky, F. A. Koni. F. Liszt and G. Berlioz admired her music. But in court circles, Glinka's "learned" music was sharply condemned. From 1846, the opera left the St. Petersburg stage and, after several performances in Moscow (1846-47), ceased its stage life for a long time.

The opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" presents a different type of musical dramaturgy. Imbued with Pushkin's optimism, the opera is epic majestic, monumental, epic. The composer gives his interpretation of the fairy-tale plot, as if enlarging Pushkin's images, endowing them with greatness, significance, and strength. Epic narrative and philosophical depth in the interpretation of the plot distinguish Glinka's epic opera from more traditional "magic" romantic operas by other authors. "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is an opera-tale that gave rise to heroic images of A. P. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. K. Glazunov. In accordance with this idea, it is not so much the method of conflict development that prevails here, as in Ivan Susanin, but the method of contrasting comparisons, the principle of alternating pictures. The technique of framing, "screen savers and endings", will later become a typical constructive principle of Russian fairy tale operas. The main idea of ​​the folk heroic epic - the victory of good over the forces of evil - is concentrated in the overture, which is a prototype of future epic "heroic" Russian symphonies, as well as in Ruslan's aria (2nd act), thematically close to the overture.

Simultaneously with the opera, Glinka creates a number of works. of high skill: romances to the words of Pushkin (, "Where is our rose", "Night marshmallow"), the elegy "Doubt", a vocal cycle , the first version, music to the tragedy by N. V. Kukolnik "Prince Kholmsky".

Glinka's activity as a vocalist, performer and teacher acquires great importance at this time. Possessing perfect vocal art, he transfers his artistic experience to talented Russian singers S.S. Gulak-Artemovsky, later - D. M. Leonova, L. I. Belenitsyna-Karmalina and others, affirms the methodological foundations of the Russian school of singing in his studies and exercises. Glinka's advice was used by the leading artists of the Russian opera - O. A. Petrov and A. Ya. Petrova-Vorobyova (the first performers of the roles of Susanin and Vanya).

The life of a composer became more and more difficult. A heavy burden turned out to be the "royal grace" of Nicholas I, who appointed Glinka as an encouragement bandmaster of the Court Choir. The service put the composer in a dependent position of a court official. Philistine gossip "in the light" caused the divorce proceedings. Bitter disappointment brought marriage to MP Ivanova - a poorly educated, limited woman, far from her husband's creative interests. Glinka breaks off former acquaintances, seeks refuge in the artistic world. However, rapprochement with the popular writer N.V. Kukolnik and his society did not internally satisfy the composer, he became more and more aware of his loneliness in an atmosphere of envy, gossip and minor adversities.

The opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", in comparison with "Ivan Susanin", caused more severe criticism. The most violent opponent of Glinka was F. Bulgarin, who was still a very influential journalist at that time. 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.

This trip confirmed the European fame of the Russian master. Berlioz became a great admirer of his talent, performing his works in his concert in the spring of 1845. The author's concert in Paris was a success.

Glinka's life in Spain (more than 2 years) is a bright page in the artist's creative biography. He studied the culture, customs, language of the Spanish people; recorded melodies from folk singers and guitarists, watched the festivities. The result of these impressions were 2 symphonic overtures: (1845) and "Memories of Castile" (1848, 2nd edition - "Memories of a summer night in Madrid", 1851).

Glinka spent the last decade of his life in Russia (Novospasskoe, Smolensk, St. Petersburg) and abroad (Paris, Berlin). For a long time he lived in Warsaw, where in the summer of 1848 a brilliant "Russian scherzo" was created -.

The flourishing of the realistic principles of the "natural school", a powerful influx of young forces into Russian literature, the process of democratization of Russian art, which intensified on the eve of the peasant reform - these are the phenomena that surrounded the composer and influenced his ideas. In the early 50s. he conceived a program symphony " Taras Bulba" (based on the plot of Gogol's story), in 1855 - an opera from folk life " The Two-wife" (based on the drama of the same name by A. A. Shakhovsky). These products remained unfulfilled, but Glinka's creative plans paved the way for the future. The idea of ​​creating a folk-heroic symphony on Ukrainian themes was close to the principles of genre programming, which were later developed in the work of the composers of The Mighty Handful.

In the 50s. a group of like-minded people is formed around Glinka. Among them is the young, future leader of the Mighty Handful. Glinka treated his first creative experiments with particular warmth. His entourage includes music critics A. N. Serov and V. V. Stasov. Glinka constantly meets with A. S. Dargomyzhsky, who at that time was working on the opera Rusalka. Conversations with Serov concerning the problems of musical aesthetics were of great importance. In 1852 Glinka dictated to Serov his Notes on Instrumentation; in 1854-55 wrote "Notes" - the most valuable document in the history of musical culture.

In the spring of 1856 the composer made his last trip abroad - to Berlin. Fascinated by ancient polyphony, he worked in depth on the heritage of Palestrina, G. F. Handel, J. S. Bach. At the same time, in these studies, he pursued the special goal of creating an original system of Russian counterpoint. The idea to “link the Western fugue with the conditions of our music by the bonds of legal marriage” prompted Glinka to closely study the ancient Russian melodies of the Znamenny chant, in which he saw the basis of Russian polyphony. The composer was not destined to realize these plans. But later they were picked up by S.I. Taneev, S. V. Rakhmaninov and other Russian masters.

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.

Glinka's work is evidence of the mighty rise of Russian national culture, generated by the events of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist movement. Glinka accomplished in music the most important task put forward by the time: the creation of realistic art that reflects the ideals, aspirations and thoughts of the people. In the history of Russian music, Glinka, like Pushkin in literature, acted as the initiator of a new historical period: in his brilliant creations, the national and world significance of Russian musical art was determined. It is in this sense that he is the first classic of Russian music. His work is connected with the historical past: it absorbed the traditions of ancient Russian choral art, re-implemented the most important achievements of the Russian composer school of the 18th and early 19th centuries, and grew up on the native soil of Russian folk songwriting.

Glinka's innovation lies, first of all, in a deep understanding of the people, "The people create music, and we, the artists, only arrange it" - the words of the composer, recorded by Serov, became the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhis work. Glinka boldly expanded the limited understanding of the folk and went beyond the purely everyday depiction of folk life. Glinka's nationality is a reflection of character, worldview, "the way of thinking and feeling of the people" (Pushkin). Unlike his older contemporaries (first of all - A. N. Verstovsky, ), he perceives folk music in its entirety, paying attention not only to the urban romance, but also to the old peasant song.