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Nikolai Karlovich Medtner. Piano creativity

I'm finally in art limitless
Reached a high degree.
Glory smiled at me; I am in people's hearts
I found harmony with my creations.
A. Pushkin. Mozart and Salieri

N. Medtner occupies a special place in the history of Russian and world musical culture. An artist of distinctive individuality, a remarkable composer, pianist and teacher, Medtner did not belong to any of the musical styles characteristic of the first half of the 20th century. Approaching partly to the aesthetics of the German romantics (F. Mendelssohn, R. Schumann), and from Russian composers to S. Taneev and A. Glazunov, Medtner was at the same time an artist striving for new creative horizons, he has much in common with brilliant innovation. Stravinsky and S. Prokofiev.

Medtner came from a wealthy family artistic traditions: mother - a representative of the famous musical family Gedike; brother Emilius was a philosopher, writer, music critic (pseudo Wolfing); another brother, Alexander, is a violinist and conductor. In 1900, N. Medtner brilliantly graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the piano class of V. Safonov. At the same time, he also studied composition under the guidance of S. Taneyev and A. Arensky. His name is written on the marble plaque of the Moscow Conservatory. creative way Medtner started off with a successful performance at III international competition them. A. Rubinstein (Vienna, 1900) and won recognition as a composer with his very first compositions ( piano cycle Mood Pictures, etc.). The voice of Medtner, a pianist and composer, was immediately heard by the most sensitive musicians. Along with the concertos of S. Rachmaninov and A. Scriabin, Medtner's author's concerts were events musical life both in Russia and abroad. M. Shahinyan recalled that these evenings "were a holiday for the listeners."

In 1909-10 and 1915-21. Medtner was a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students are many famous musicians later: A. Shatskes, N. Shtember, B. Khaikin. B. Sofronitsky, L. Oborin used Medtner's advice. In the 20s. Medtner was a member of the MUZO Narkompros and often communicated with A. Lunacharsky.

Since 1921, Medtner has been living abroad, giving concerts in Europe and the USA. The last years of his life until his death, he lived in England. All the years spent abroad, Medtner remained a Russian artist. “I dream of getting on my native soil and playing in front of my native audience,” he wrote in one of his last letters. Medtner's creative heritage covers more than 60 opuses, most of which are piano compositions and romances. Tribute large form Medtner gave in his three piano concertos and in the Ballad Concerto, the chamber-instrumental genre is represented by the Piano Quintet.

In his works, Medtner is deeply original and truly national artist, sensitively reflecting the complex artistic trends of its era. His music is characterized by a feeling of spiritual health and fidelity to the best precepts of the classics, although the composer had a chance to overcome many doubts and sometimes express himself in a complicated language. This suggests a parallel between Medtner and such poets of his era as A. Blok and Andrei Bely.

Central location in creative heritage Medtner take 14 piano sonatas. Striking with inspirational ingenuity, they contain a whole world of psychologically profound musical images. They are characterized by the breadth of contrasts, romantic excitement, inwardly concentrated and at the same time warmed meditation. Some of the sonatas are programmatic in nature (“Sonata-elegy”, “Sonata-fairy tale”, “Sonata-remembrance”, “Romantic sonata”, “Thunderous sonata”, etc.), all of them are very diverse in form and musical imagery. So, for example, if one of the most significant epic sonatas (op. 25) is a true drama in sounds, a grandiose musical picture F. Tyutchev’s philosophical poem “What are you howling about, night wind”, then “Sonata-recollection” (from the cycle “Forgotten Motives”, op. 38) is imbued with the poetry of sincere Russian songwriting, the gentle lyrics of the soul. Very popular group piano compositions, called "fairy tales" (a genre created by Medtner) and presented in ten cycles. This is a collection of lyrical-narrative and lyrical-dramatic plays with the most diverse themes ("Russian Fairy Tale", "Lear in the Steppe", "Knight's Procession", etc.). No less known 3 cycles piano pieces under the general title "Forgotten Motives".

Piano concertos by Medtner are monumental and approach symphonies, the best of them is the First (1921), whose images are inspired by the formidable upheavals of the First World War.

Medtner's romances (more than 100) are diverse in mood and very expressive, most often they are restrained lyrics with profound philosophical content. They are usually written in the form of a lyrical monologue, revealing peace of mind person; many are devoted to pictures of nature. Medtner's favorite poets were A. Pushkin (32 romances), F. Tyutchev (15), I. V. Goethe (30). In the romances to the words of these poets, such new features of chamber music, originally developed by the composer, stand out with particular relief. vocal music the beginning of the 20th century, as a subtle transmission of speech recitation and the enormous, sometimes decisive role of the piano part. Medtner is known not only as a musician, but also as the author of books on the art of music: Muse and Fashion (1935) and The Daily Work of a Pianist and Composer (1963).

The creative and performing principles of Medtner had a significant impact on the musical art of the 20th century. Its traditions were developed and developed by many prominent figures musical art: A. N. Alexandrov, Yu. Shaporin, V. Shebalin, E. Golubev and others. Richter, I. Arkhipova, E. Svetlanov and others.

The path of Russian and contemporary world music is just as impossible to imagine without Medtner, just as it is impossible to imagine it without his great contemporaries S. Rachmaninov, A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky and S. Prokofiev.

The Belcanto Foundation organizes concerts in Moscow featuring Medtner's music. On this page, you can see the poster for upcoming concerts in 2019 with Medtner's music and buy a ticket for a date that suits you.

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1879 - 1951) - Russian composer and pianist.
Father, Karl Petrovich Medtner, was fond of philosophy and poetry. Mother, Alexandra Karlovna, nee Gedike, performed as a singer in her youth.
At the age of six, Nikolai began to study the piano. Watching his brother Alexander play the violin, he taught himself how to play this instrument. Alexander and Nikolai, together with their cousin Alexander Gedike, later a remarkable organist, professor at the Moscow Conservatory, were part of the famous children's Music band- Orchestra of A. Erarsky. S. Taneyev, A. Arensky, A. Koreshchenko specially wrote for this orchestra, created in 1888. Medtner refused to play any children's works, opting for the works of Bach, Mozart, Scarlatti.
The composer's uncle, Fyodor Karlovich Gedike, prepared Kolya Medtner for admission to the Moscow Conservatory. In 1900 he graduated with a small gold medal.
Over the years of study, the range of musical impressions has significantly expanded, preferences have been determined young musician: works of classics, romantics, Russian composers. Speaking at conservatory concerts, Medtner also declares himself as a pianist. At the same time, he wrote many works, mainly for the piano.
In 1900, the pianist performed at the Third International Competition. A. G. Rubinstein in Vienna. For the performance of the obligatory Fifth Concerto of Rubinstein, he receives the first significant recognition. The popularity of Medtner as a pianist and at home is growing. Appear positive reviews music critics, develops its own audience. Medtner's style of performance, first of all, was distinguished by a deep penetration into the concept of the work, which created the impression of the direct birth of music.
Since 1903 Medtner in his concert programs starts to turn on own compositions. Over time, he plays his own music more and more, so that his performances turn into original creative reports. Since 1904, Medtner, a composer and pianist, has been gaining fame abroad as well, performing in Germany.
In the same period, a special aesthetic position Medtner, which can be characterized as retrospectivism. Reliance on the classical-romantic heritage, avoiding the unjustified use of spectacular artistic means, destroying, according to the composer, the musical meaning - these are the main provisions of his aesthetic concept.
In the first decade of the new century, Medtner took an active part in the work of a number of musical societies and circles. Among them - chamber musical society"Autumn House", Kerzinsky Circle of Music Lovers. In 1909, he was a member of the Council of the Russian Musical Publishing House, organized by S. Kusevitsky. Tries to teach. Having received in 1909 the position of professor at the Moscow Conservatory in the piano class, the composer, however, a year later, not experiencing a particular craving for pedagogy, leaves this occupation.
The creative flowering of the composer falls on the 10s. XX century. During this period, he gives the greatest preference to the sonata genre. At the same time, the most known cycles"Fairy Tales", which marked the beginning of a new genre of piano miniatures. The brightest creative meeting those years - Rachmaninov. The composer had known him before, but an active rapprochement, which marked the beginning of friendship, takes place in 1913. Rachmaninoff, who was reticent and laconic by nature, and philosophizing Medtner were complete opposites, but Rachmaninov, showing constant concern for his friend, tried to ensure that his concerts were arranged as often as possible and duly covered in the press. In general, Medtner belonged to the type of people who needed to be patronized. In everyday life, he became almost helpless.
First World War brought moral tests to the entire Medtner family. When the composer was released from conscription into the army, "zealots of piety" in the wake of patriotic sentiments started talking about him. German origin. And this despite the fact that he spoke and thought in Russian, was brought up in an atmosphere of Russian culture, absorbed Russian traditions and considered Russia his homeland. At the time of emigrant wanderings, he complained in letters that even someone else's speech was painful and unbearable for him - and over the years the feeling of homeland only intensified.
In 1915 Medtner returned to pedagogical activity. Teaching at the Moscow Conservatory until 1919, he took his work very seriously and always recruited a small class.
Composer led enough closed image life, it was quite difficult to get along with people. At one time he became close to the symbolist poets, especially Andrei Bely.
In the autumn of 1921 Medtner went abroad.
From 1921 to 1924 he lived in Germany, but did not find understanding of the German public. Nevertheless, the concert performances of the pianist and composer abroad are becoming more intense. In 1924 he plays in France; in the same year, thanks to the efforts of Rachmaninov, he makes a concert tour of America. 1927 is one of the most memorable for Medtner. He's on a big concert tour of Soviet Union, performs in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Kharkov, Odessa, and this trip, who met him at home with a warm welcome, inspires him. The composer was happy. In the Russian public and in general in the Russian musical life, he saw the exact opposite of the Western "market" approach to art.
From 1930 to 1935 Medtner lived near Paris. In a year he performs no more than one or two concerts, and in 1935 he decides to move to England, where he received an excellent reception in the late 20s.
In 1935, the Paris publishing house "Tair" published the composer's book "Muse and Fashion", where he sets out his views on the language of music, revealing its aesthetic and technological nature. In essence, this work is a creative and aesthetic manifesto of the artist, who does not agree with the modernist Nikolai Karlovich Medtner manifestations in music.
last decade about
walks under the sign of increasing loneliness and separation from native roots. His family experienced significant financial difficulties. Medtner could not record his works on records, and only the unexpected financial assistance of the Indian Maharaja of Mysore, an admirer of his talent, allowed him to make these recordings. Three of his piano concertos, the Ballad Sonata, the First Violin Sonata, pieces from "Forgotten Motifs", "Tales" and a piano quintet have been released.
After the end of the Second World War, the composer was invited to give a series of concerts in the USA, but he could not make this trip - a serious heart disease prevented him. For the last two years his health had been difficult, but during periods of improvement he continued to work.
Medtner died in London on November 13, 1951. His widow, Anna Mikhailovna Medtner, returned to her homeland in 1958. She handed over the composer's archive to the State the central museum musical culture. M.I. Glinka.

1880

Medtner is an unusual phenomenon in Russian music, which has no connection with either her past or present. An artist of distinctive personality, a remarkable composer, pianist and teacher, Medtner did not adjoin any of the musical styles characteristic of the first half of the 20th century.

Reason is the lackey of the spirit, which must be kept in subjection so that it does not take too much will for itself.

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was born in Moscow on January 5, 1880, in a family rich in artistic traditions, the mother came from the famous musical family Gedike. One brother - Emilius - was a philosopher, writer, music critic, and the other - Alexander - a violinist and conductor.

Fyodor Karlovich Gedike, the brother of Alexandra Karlovna, prepared Medtner for admission to the Moscow Conservatory. Here, in the junior department, Nikolai studied with A.I. Galli, and, moving to the senior department, studied with P.A. Pabst, a student of Liszt. Pabst was an excellent musician and outstanding pianist. With his sudden death, these studies were interrupted, and for the last three years of the conservatory, Medtner studied with V. I. Safonov.

It is necessary to learn to write down thoughts, to write down in every way. Record daily, at least half an hour a day

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 1900, majoring in piano with a small gold medal, Medtner soon drew attention to himself as a talented, technically strong pianist and an interesting, thoughtful musician.

Oral tradition has preserved two stories that characterize the performing arts of Nikolai Karlovich already at that time. Safonov himself once said that Medtner should have been awarded a Diamond medal for his game, if such existed. Medtner's performance at the open conservatory student evening also made a great impression on the famous pianist Iosif Hoffmann, who admired not only the game, but also the great endurance, strong-willed composure of the young artist, who performed, as they say, Balakirev's "Islamey" "on the fly".

Soon, along with the concertos of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Medtner's original concerts became events in the musical life both in Russia and abroad. The writer M. Shaginyan recalled that these evenings were a holiday for the listeners.

Don't chase yourself, just watch yourself. Remember that when you are upset, you should not contemplate your own disorder, because a person invariably joins what he is contemplating.

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

Medtnerian pianism, with all its technical perfection and sound skill did not differ in special virtuoso brilliance. Before leaving abroad, when living conditions forced him to expand his concert activity, Medtner performed rarely, considering these performances as a kind of reports to the public on new creative achievements.

Medtner did not like to perform in large rooms in front of a large audience, preferring concert halls chamber type. The attraction to seclusion, intimacy was generally characteristic of Medtner. In a reply letter to his brother Emilius, he wrote: “If my art is “intimate”, as you often say, then it should be so! Art is always born intimately, and if it is destined to be revived, then it must again become intimate... I consider it my duty to remind people of this. And in this I am firm and iron, as a son of the age is supposed to be ... "

Remember that thought is controlled by the brain, which, although it is in the service of the spirit, is still not the spirit itself, but the flesh, and therefore also requires regular rest, like arms and legs.

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

Safonov predicted for his student a brilliant pianistic career, from which, however, Nikolai Karlovich temporarily deviated, preferring to take up composition.

Being himself an outstanding pianist, he showed himself most fully and most vividly in the field of piano music. Of the sixty-one opuses he published, almost two-thirds were written for piano.

In 1909-1910 Medtner was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in piano class. In 1911, he left the conservatory, lived for some time in the village of Trakhaneevo, on the estate of friends. There the composer found the necessary solitude. However, in 1913 he had to return to Moscow again. This was also required by work in the Russian Music Publishing House, and private lessons necessary for the family budget. Medtner with his wife and older brother Emilius settled in Savvinsky Lane on Devichye Pole, then the Moscow outskirts. From 1915 to 1919 Medtner again taught at the conservatory.

Among his students are many later famous musicians A. Shatskes, N. Shtember, B. Khaykin. V. Sofronitsky, L. Oborin used Medtner's advice.

Rest more often! Imagine! To represent a thing (as in a dream) in a completed form, as if already written or performed. Imagine! Crawl out of the imagination of everything around, ordinary, since it does not dispose to creative work ...

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

And the composer had something to say to his students. After all, Medtner was the greatest master mastering the means of polyphony. The goal of his aspirations was "the fusion of the contrapuntal style with the harmonic one", the highest example of which he found in the work of Mozart.

The external sensual side of sound, sound paint as such, was of little interest to Medtner. For him, the main thing in music was the logic of the expression of thought.

As P. I. Vasiliev writes, “Like Chopin, Medtner is organically connected with the piano. From it he extracted his special, "Medtner" melodies and harmonies. In the piano keyboard, familiar to him from the age of six, the composer heard new combinations of sounds and expanded the possibilities of the instrument, breathing orchestral power and brilliance into it.

In addition to the creative gift of Medtner, as already noted above, he also had an exceptional performing talent. He remarkably interpreted all his compositions, each time recreating before the audience his creative ideas, realized in sonatas, fairy tales and concertos, restoring their primary images. His playing was distinguished by the utmost and, I would say, inspired accuracy of the sound pattern. All elements of the musical fabric - melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, in the ratio and identification of the parts of the composition - all together formed a sounding system, whose name is music.

Don't think about printing!

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

It is no coincidence that Medtner once said "Beauty is always accuracy." In the presentation of his compositions and in their execution he was, I repeat, precise. It seems to be a simple and everyday word. However, it is fraught with a very voluminous, meaningful content that is directly related to beauty. In conversations, Medtner repeatedly drew the attention of his students to the fact that "the piano playing at one end rests on the circus." That is, the pianist circus artists, in perfect control of his body, must perfectly control and dispose of the movements of his fingers and hands. They must unfailingly obey the performing will of the artist. Medtner said that "it is not enough to have a piano technique", that one must acquire "the ability to master it under all kinds of circumstances", that "the whole meaning of technique lies in this skill". The very word “technique”, as applied to piano playing, he did not like very much, believing that it does not at all explain and does not express that complex psychological process that underlies playing the piano.

In 1919, Medtner lost his Moscow apartment and, consequently, the opportunity to work in Moscow, he was forced to live in a holiday village. By this time, the hitherto close-knit family of the Medtners had broken up, his mother and father died, his elder brother (Karl) died at the front, the other (Emilius) moved to Germany in 1914, and after the start of the war he was interned in Switzerland.

Believe in your subject at all!

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich

Having no job, permanent housing, having lost loved ones, Medtner decided in 1921 to leave for Germany. In the 1921-1922 season he gave three concerts (in Berlin and Leipzig), and the next season he performed in Poland (in Warsaw and Lodz). The concert programs included mainly compositions by the pianist himself, in addition, he played Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto several times.

In 1924, after visiting Switzerland and Italy, Medtners settled in France, in the town of Erki in Brittany. From there, the composer went to concerts in the United States. He owes this first tour to the cares of Rachmaninov. Under an agreement with Steinway, Nikolai Karlovich was supposed to play with the best symphony orchestras in different cities. On the trip, he performed with unusual intensity for him from the end of October 1924 to mid-March 1925, he gave 17 concerts. IN solo programs In addition to his own compositions, Medtner played sonatas by Scarlatti and Beethoven, Chopin's Fantasia, Liszt's plays, and also performed with a singer who performed his romances and songs. This trip allowed me to provide for my family. Returning to France, the Medtners settled in the town of Fontaine-d'Yvette, 30 kilometers from Paris.

Rachmaninoff, despite his problems, constantly cared for Medtner. He tried to inspire former faith in an old friend and managed, with his usual tact, to support Nikolai Karlovich financially.

The Medtners lived next door in Montmorency. In Clairefontaine, Medtner's Second Piano Concerto dedicated to Rachmaninoff was performed for the first time. Accompanied by Julius Konyus. All those who listened were excited by the magnificent temperamental toccata.

In February 1927, the composer went to concerts in Russia. His performances in Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Kyiv, Kharkov brought joy not only to the listeners, but also to the performer himself. He left Russia with the hope of returning soon and showing his works here. recent years. However, other touring plans got in the way. In 1928, at the invitation of the singer T. Makushina, Medtner traveled to London. In 1929-1930, the composer again toured the United States and Canada, then gave concerts in England. Over time, he began to tire of endless wanderings and crossings.

An ever-increasing feeling of loneliness over the years, alienation from everything that determined not only the development of musical art in the 20th century, but the whole system modern world, forced Medtner to fence himself off from the environment, protecting the purity of spiritual values \u200b\u200band dear to him and ideals.

In 1935, the composer's book "Muse and Fashion" was published in Paris. The thoughts and judgments expressed in it are the result of long, concentrated reflections that worried Medtner throughout his conscious life.

At the end of 1935, Medtner settled in England, in a small house in north London. He gave concerts for two more seasons in 1935-1937, after which he concentrated on composing. If he did, it was only with his own compositions. In 1942, Nikolai Karlovich suffered a heart attack, which confined him to bed for two months.

While abroad, Medtner continued to consider himself a Russian musician and declared "I have never been and never will be an emigrant." Deeply shocked by his attack Nazi Germany in the USSR “... Moscow is experienced by me as if I were there, and not here” (from a letter to I. E. and E. D. Prenam dated October 27, 1941). On June 5, 1944, Medtner performed in a concert in favor of the Joint Committee for Assistance to the Soviet Union in London, where his music was performed next to the works of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich.

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner - quotes

Reason is the lackey of the spirit, which should be kept in subjection so that it does not take too much will for itself.

It is necessary to learn to write down thoughts, to write down in every way. Record daily, at least half an hour a day.

Don't chase yourself, just watch yourself. Remember that when you are upset, you should not contemplate your own disorder, because a person invariably joins what he contemplates.

Remember that thought is controlled by the brain, which, although it is in the service of the spirit, is not the spirit itself, but the flesh, and therefore also requires regular rest, like arms and legs.

The work of Nikolai Karlovich Medtner stands apart in Russian musical culture- to none of style directions that existed in the first half of the twentieth century, he did not join. In his style, one can detect the influence of German romantics - in particular, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, one can also talk about closeness to Sergei Taneyev.

The main place in the work of Medtner is occupied by piano music, which makes up two-thirds of everything written by him, because Medtner was a composer-pianist, whose author's concertos attracted the attention of the public no less than the performances of Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin. At Medtner's concerts, not only his own creations sounded, but his performing interpretations were distinguished by such depth that it seemed that music was born directly at the moment of performance: “His performance is always creative, always, as it were, “author's” and always, as it were, “for the first time”, - this statement by Medtner about Rachmaninov can be quite reasonably attributed to Nikolai Karlovich himself. The piano, on the other hand, has always remained the closest instrument for the composer - to such an extent that he experienced some uncertainty when working with orchestral scores, with instruments that he did not play (however, he claimed that the images of his future piano compositions appeared to him initially in the orchestral presentation). Medtner's love for this instrument manifests itself even beyond piano music as such - in his violin sonatas the piano part is so developed that its performer must not only be an excellent accompanist with an exceptional sense of the ensemble, but also a true virtuoso.

Perform in front of large audiences large halls he did not like, preferring chamber halls - this was explained by the nature of his talent, which gravitated towards intimacy. "Art is always born intimately, and if it is to be revived, it must become intimate again." Although Medtner's concerts - according to Marietta Shaginyan - "were a holiday for the listeners", Nikolai Karlovich himself felt himself primarily a composer, and perceived public performances as a kind of "creative reports".

Medtner's piano texture has a lot in common with orchestral writing - for example, special touches associated with the sound of strings, or sustained pedals reminiscent of the sound of wind instruments. But at the same time, attention to the peculiarities of the piano is always preserved - for example, to a gradually fading sound.

In the works of Medtner, a wide register range is always involved. They play a big role bass voices- they often contain melodic lines. However, the thematic development unfolds continuously in all elements of texture, which leads to an increase in the role of the polyphonic principle - fugues are included in some of Medtner's works.

Themes piano works Medtner is embodied by two main figurative spheres - lyrics and drama. Lyrical themes- smooth, "soaring", dramatic are characterized by a sharp, complex and rich rhythm, which echoes many of his contemporaries, especially Scriabin. Variety of rhythmic pattern, rhythmic interruptions occur already in early works composer. In Medtner one can meet both marching and dancing, but all this receives a peculiar interpretation, including with the use of polyrhythm.

The complexity of the rhythm, the sophistication and intensity of the thematic development, combined with the texture of Medtner's piano works, saturated with polyphonic elements, lead to the clarity of the graphic lines of the musical fabric, to the predominance of "drawing" in it, and not color - and this opposes Medtner's piano work to some contemporary trends , in particular, impressionism, whose representatives focused their creative searches precisely in the field of instrumental "colors".

Difficulty differs and harmonic language Medtner, his creative searches are directed towards altered harmonies, complex tonal movement (for example, the slow part of the Romantic Sonata begins in B minor and ends in B flat minor).

A distinctive feature of Medtner's piano works is the narrative manner. The narrative can be calm, agitated, pathetic, or have an epic undertone.

In the field of piano music, Medtner showed himself as a subtle lyricist who created deeply meaningful works.

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