The value of Musorgsky's creativity in Russian musical culture. Chamber-vocal creativity of Musorgsky

Chereneva Yulia Nikolaevna

"The Theme of Nationality in the Works of M.P. Mussorgsky"

(on the example of the opera "Boris Godunov")

Municipal budgetary educational institution

additional education for children

"Chaikovskaya District Children's Art School"

Phone: 8-3424152798(fax), 8-3424152051,

[email protected]

Pugina Svetlana Nikolaevna,

teacher of theoretical disciplines

Introduction

The second half of the 19th century is the time of the great dawn of all Russian art. The sharp aggravation of social contradictions leads in the early 1960s to a great social upsurge. The revolutionary ideas of the 60s were reflected in literature, painting, and music. The leading figures of Russian culture fought for the simplicity and accessibility of art, and in their works they sought to realistically show the life of the simple Russian people.

In all respects, the musical culture of Russia was undergoing renewal. At this time, a musical circle called "The Mighty Handful" is formed. They called themselves the heirs of M. I. Glinka. The main thing for them was the embodiment in the music of the people, the embodiment is truthful, bright, without embellishment and understandable to a wide audience.

One of the most original composers, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, was especially imbued with the idea of ​​nationality. As a realist artist, he gravitated towards a socially pointed topic, consistently and consciously revealing the idea of ​​nationality in his work.

The purpose of this work: the role of nationality in the work of M. Mussorgsky on the example of the opera "Boris Godunov".

Consider the stages of the life path of M. Mussorgsky related to the folk theme

Analyze folk scenes in the opera "Boris Godunov"

"Mighty Handful" and folk song

In the musical creativity of the 60s, the musical circle "The Mighty Handful" occupied the leading place. For this he was given the right to a huge talent, creative courage, inner strength. At the meetings mighty handful» young musicians studied the best works classical heritage and modernity. Here the ethnic views of composers were formed.

In the Balakirev circle there was a careful and loving study of the folk song. There is no national identity without true art, and a true artist will never be able to create in isolation from the wealth of the people. M.I. Glinka was the first to subtly and highly artistically translate the melodies of the Russian people in his works, he revealed the features and patterns of Russian folk musical creativity. “We don't make music; creates a people; we only record and arrange,” said M. Glinka. It was Glinka's principles that the composers of The Mighty Handful followed, but their attitude to folklore marked a new period compared to Glinka's. If Glinka listened to folk songs, sometimes recorded them and recreated them in his works, then the Kuchkists systematically and thoughtfully studied folk songwriting from various collections, specially recorded songs and made their processing. Naturally, there were also reflections on the meaning of the folk song in musical art.

In 1866, a collection of folk songs compiled by M. Balakirev was published, which was the result of several years of work. N. Rimsky-Korsakov collected and carefully studied folk songs, which were later included in the collection “One Hundred Russian Folk Songs” (1878).

Members of the "Mighty Handful" knew a lot about folk songs. All of them were born away from St. Petersburg

(only A. Borodin is an exception) and therefore have been heard since childhood folk song and loved her dearly. M. Mussorgsky, who lived for the first ten years in the Pskov province, wrote that "familiarization with the spirit of Russian folk life was the main impetus for musical improvisations before the beginning of acquaintance with the most elementary rules of playing the piano." N. Rimsky-Korsakov managed in his childhood to observe the ancient rite of farewell to Shrovetide, preserved from pagan times, accompanied by singing and dancing; his mother and uncle sang folk songs well. C. Cui, who was born in Vilna, from childhood knew Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian songs very well.

It was the folk song, reliance on it - that's what first of all helped the composers to determine their paths in art.

^ Attitude of M. P. Mussorgsky to the folk song

M. Mussorgsky passionately loved the folk song. He studied it from various collections and made notes of melodies that interested him for his compositions. True, Mussorgsky did not combine the songs he recorded into a collection, did not process them, did not prepare them for publication, like M. Balakirev and N. Rimsky-Korsakov. He made these notes from time to time, on separate sheets of music paper, but almost always noted when and from whom he recorded the song.

The origins of the composer's love for the people lay in childhood. In the village of Karevo, where he spent his childhood, he was surrounded on all sides by song. One of the favorite images of his childhood was the nanny, a devoted and kind woman. She knew many songs and fairy tales. Basically, her fairy tales were about the simple Russian people, about their life and fate. For the rest of his life, Modest remembered her fairy tales - sometimes scary, sometimes funny, but always fascinating and exciting. This was his first contact with the world of folk fantasy. Having heard these tales, he, then still very small, liked to sneak up to the piano and, rising on tiptoe, pick up bizarre harmonies in which he imagined the embodiment of magical images.

Long winter evenings he listened to the singing of the spinning girls. On holidays, he himself participated in round dances, games, dances, stared at farce performances. He remembers well the folk melodies learned in childhood. In those days he spent his days in the company of peasant children; in their family it was not forbidden. And he treated them easily, as an equal with equals, forgetting that he was a "master". With them he shared fun and pranks and took part in serious, beyond his years, discussions about hardships. Everyday life.

Perhaps this came from the fact that mixed blood flows in his veins: his paternal grandmother, Arina Yegorovna, was a simple serf. Grandfather married her after they had children, and then they had to be adopted. Modest is pleased to think that among his ancestors there is a woman from the people (by the way, Arina Yegorovna is his godmother). In general, childhood in the village appears to Modest in the memories of sometimes bright, serene happiness.

When Mussorgsky was 34, he gave up his share of the property in favor of his brother. He was disgusted by the position of a landowner living at the expense of the peasants. Mussorgsky remembers conversations with peasants from childhood, he remembers their hard fate, seen with his own eyes. He remembers the cries and lamentations of the peasants. Subsequently, in many of his works with a folk theme, there were themes of lamentations or lamentations that he remembered from childhood.

Modest Petrovich remembers conversations with peasants from childhood, their hard fate, seen with his own eyes. He remembers the cries and lamentations of the peasants. Subsequently, in many of his works, one can find themes of lamentations or lamentations that he remembered from childhood.

MP Mussorgsky valued the common people. Therefore, the theme of nationality is the main theme of his work. In one of his letters, he wrote: “… How I was drawn and drawn to these native fields…. - it was not without reason that in childhood he liked to listen to peasants and deigned to be tempted by their songs ... ”(letter to V. Nikolsky)

In the 1980s, Mussorgsky met and became friends with Ivan Fyodorovich Gorbunov, who became famous for his depictions of scenes from folk life, merchant and bureaucratic life. Modest Petrovich highly appreciated his talent. Gorbunov sang to Mussorgsky the song "The Baby Came Out", which was included in the "Khovanshchina" as the song of Martha.

To work on The Sorochinskaya Fair, Mussorgsky needed a Ukrainian folk song. 27 Ukrainian folk songs have been preserved in his records. He recorded many songs from different familiar faces. One of them was the writer Vsevolod Vladimirovich Krestovsky, who had a taste for folk art and wrote a number of songs, legends and tales in the folk spirit.

In 1871 Mussorgsky attended a meeting of the Geographical Society. The famous storyteller T. G. Ryabinin performed epics there. Mussorgsky made some very interesting notes. He introduced the chant of the epic "About the Volga and Mikula" into the scene near Kromy.

The theme of nationality is vividly embodied by the composer in the opera Boris Godunov.

^ Opera "Boris Godunov"

By nature, Mussorgsky was an outstanding musical playwright. It was in the theater that he was able to show the phenomena of reality so fully and vividly. He was a great master of creating living human characters in music, and conveyed not only the feelings of a person, but also his appearance, habits, movements. But the main thing that attracted the composer to the theater was the opportunity to show in the opera not only an individual, but also the life of an entire people, pages of its history that echoed with the dramatic modernity.

The opera "Boris Godunov" had a special meaning for the composer: it was the result of almost ten years of his work. And at the same time, the beginning of the high flowering of his powerful, original talent, which gave Russian culture many brilliant creations.

The libretto of the opera was based on the work of A.S. Pushkin. Pushkin's tragedy reflects the distant historical events of the Time of Troubles. In Mussorgsky's opera, they received a new, modern sound. The idea of ​​the incompatibility of the people and the tsarist regime was especially emphasized by the composer. After all, a monarch, even endowed with mind and soul, as shown by Boris - both a poet and a composer - cannot, and does not want to grant freedom to the people. This idea sounded sharp and modern and occupied progressive Russian minds in the second half of the 19th century. “The past in the present” - this is how the composer defined his task.

The central character of the opera is the people. The genre of the opera is defined as a folk musical drama.

Compiling the libretto, Mussorgsky made changes to Pushkin's tragedy. He especially emphasized the idea of ​​the decisive role of the people. So I changed the ending. The poet at the end of the tragedy "the people are silent." And with Mussorgsky, the people are protesting, rising to revolt. This picture of the popular uprising, which concludes the opera, is perhaps the most important (IV act).

The opera "Boris Godunov" begins with a small orchestral introduction, in which the bassoons lead the long monophonic melody of the folk style. The beginning of the introduction sounds like a sad reflection, like a story from the author. Mussorgsky did not quote or, as they used to say in the old days, "did not borrow" the original melody, but this melody formed in him, like a marvelous wreath of intonations of peasant lyrical and drawn-out songs. The woodwinds are in tune with the shepherd's flute, and it is hard to believe that the composer wrote this music. “The spiritual impulse - the thought of the homeland - suggested to Mussorgsky the stalk of the tune, from which the music began to grow further, more, deeper, layer by layer ... The ear naturally, easily embraces the melody, and the memory will remember it for the whole opera, it will firmly hold it like a skeleton without even realizing » further options. Meanwhile, the force of the impression from the germination of the melody and its organic changes is such that it seems undoubted that it was precisely this modest song stem, which Mussorgsky's thought seized from the very beginning, led it to wonderful finds, into the distance, into the expanses of music. .V.Asafiev.

Introduction - Russian melody, one voice begins, sometimes it seems that the beginning of the introduction is sung in unison male voices and only then other voices, the people's, join them. The motive of entry is deeply suffering. No wonder the opera was defined by the composer as a folk musical drama: the people are everything, and the drama is everyone. In couplet form, the main theme of the introduction repeatedly returns, joining other voices of the orchestra. And it turns from a mournful complaint into a formidable rumble of mighty people's strength - this is in the bass of cellos, double basses and bassoons.

Already from the first picture, Mussorgsky makes one feel the deep discord within the Muscovite state between the people and the ruling elites and creates a true image of a forced, downtrodden people who have not yet realized their strength.

The composer reveals the tragedy of the state of the people in a variety of ways. In a number of everyday episodes that characterize the indifference of the crowd to the ongoing election of the tsar, Mussorgsky uses his favorite method of showing the tragic content through an outwardly comic form. Not without humor, he conveys the bewilderment of the audience ("Mityukh, and Mityukh, why are we yelling?"), He draws women's disputes and the brawl that was played out ("Dove, neighbor", etc.). In recitatives performed by choir groups and individual voices from the choir, the characteristic intonations of the folk dialect are accurately reproduced. Choral recitative- an innovative technique, first introduced by Mussorgsky. A people downtrodden, oppressed and completely indifferent to the one who sits on the royal throne - such is the hero of the prologue.

The reference points in the musical action of the picture are also two performances of the chorus "To whom are you leaving us." Although, according to the stage design, the crying here is not real, but only staged, this chorus, like the theme of the introduction, is perceived as an expression of genuine folk feelings. Such is the power of his folk-song intonations, in which all the pain accumulated in the peasant soul was expressed. The people, lamenting mournfully, turn to Godunov: “Who are you leaving us for, our father?” There is such an age-old grief in this choir that it becomes clear that the people cannot remain in such a state of bondage for a long time.

Here, elements of lamentation and lyrical lingering song merged together. The influence of the peasant song style is reflected in the freedom of melodic breathing, the variability of time signatures, and in the gradual capture of an ever wider range by the melody. The type of polyphony is also characteristic, in which each of the voices retains its independence, performing variants of the main melody in order to merge with other voices from time to time in a unison sound.

In the second picture of the prologue, Boris is crowned king. Square in the Moscow Kremlin. The mighty ringing of bells accompanies the wedding of Boris. The people are on their knees waiting for the new king to emerge. The choir sounds "Oh, how glory to the red sun in the sky." It's the same bright theme people. The theme of the choir is a folk laudatory song, repeatedly used by Russian composers. When Boris Godunov appears, the people - by order of the boyar Shuisky - praise him:

Five years separate the events of the Prologue and Act I. The contradictions between the people and the king managed to deepen. In the 1st picture, Pimen passes on behalf of the people his sentence to the king-criminal. In the 2nd picture, the hostile attitude of the people towards Borisov's rule is revealed on the example of the vagabonds Varlaam and Misail and the mistress of the tavern.

The images of the characters in the two paintings of the first act are different. In the scene in the cell, the majestic Pimen, who has seen and experienced a lot, wise by many years of life experience, personifies folk wisdom and conscience. This image is a generalized expression of the high moral qualities of the Russian people. Varlaam is a genre-everyday figure, whose characteristics reflect both positive and negative features inherent in a certain social type. Varlaam belongs to the lower, recited layers of the Borisov state and, naturally, turns out to be the bearer of a recalcitrant, rebellious spirit. Behind the comic appearance of Varlaam one can guess a powerful, heroic strength, aimlessly wasted in vagrancy and drunkenness. The images of Pimen and Varlaam play an important role in the opera. It was not for nothing that Mussorgsky forced Pimen to reappear in the scene of the boyar duma with a story about the miraculous healing of the shepherd and thereby express the people's verdict in the face of Boris; Varlaam, together with Misail, acts for the second time near Kromy as one of the leaders of the popular uprising.

In the second scene 1 of the action, song numbers play an important role. The central episode of the whole picture is Varlaam's song "How it was in Kazan in the city." The composer needed a different color here: he needed to show the battle theme from the times of the heroic past of Russia. From the dance song, Mussorgsky takes only the first verse and adds to it a historical song known to the people. Musically, he resolves it in a dance tune, using authentic folk theme. Not only drunken revelry is heard in Varlaam's voice. A huge, irrepressible force is felt in this man. It is he who will raise a popular revolt against the king - the "apostate".

Childish impressions from the lamentations, lamentations of the peasants inspired another image of the opera - the Holy fool - on Mussorgsky. The holy fool is a very vivid image of the Russian people. His image, the embodiment of the eternal people's grief, symbolizes the disenfranchised position of the people. But no matter how great the humiliation, a high feeling lives among the people human dignity and faith in just retribution does not fade. These features also found their expression in the image of the Holy Fool.

The initial characterization of the hero is given in a mournful song, which is sung in this scene (like in Pushkin) to a meaningless text. The song is preceded by a short three-bar introduction containing the main musical theme of the Holy Fool. In the background motif (monotonously repeating second chant) there are intonations of lamentation. They are superimposed with a second motive, which is close in type to the first and is based on the intonation of prayer, complaint, often used by Mussorgsky.

On the intonations of the Holy Fool, the melody of the choir begins to sound, with which the people in the square turn to the king. The people were waiting for the tsar to come out of the temple and give the people his royal grace. In the music, at first, as in the choir of the Prologue (“To whom are you leaving us”), one hears a lamentation, a request, but gradually the prayer turns into an exclamation and a cry.

After a piercing scream, people lower their heads (the melody goes down), the dynamics of the choir fade away, the crowd parted for Godunov. This is the fear of the king - the anointed of God. The chorus of "Kleb" ends at the sound with which it began. The prayers of the people continue to be heard in the party of the Holy Fool.

The culminating moment of the opera - the uprising of the people, is the choir of the rebellious people "The power dispersed, the strength cleared up, the daring is valiant." This is the true pinnacle of all folk scenes. text, and partly musical character of this choir is inspired by samples of the so-called robber, valiant folk songs. The choir "Dispersed, cleared up" stands out from all the others with its strong-willed, powerful character, as well as the grandeur and development of the form. It is written in a dynamic three-part form with a large extended code. IN main topic indomitable strength and violent impulse are embodied. It combines mobility, swiftness with heaviness and power. Repeated repetition (as if “drilling in”) of the tonic creates a feeling of firmness and strength; the melodic jump to the sixth sounds like an expression of prowess and scope. The theme goes against the background of mobile accompaniment, as if urging, whipping up the melody.

The successive introduction of voices in the ascending sequence gives the impression of violent, discordant cries (this impression is further enhanced by the sharp exclamations of the horn instruments supporting the theme). At the same time, the imitative introduction of voices creates a continuous increase leading to the second, even more powerful sound of the theme. This time, the orchestral fabric is more complicated (in particular, piercing, whistling woodwind motifs appear, built on echoes of the theme). The voices of the choir are intertwined in a simultaneous sound, forming a complex polyphonic texture in the spirit of folk polyphony and only at pivot points merging in unison. The middle part is distinguished by a special dashing, ardor. Here reigns joy, caused by an unaccustomed sense of freedom. This choir is an expression of a new quality that the image of the people has achieved in its development. Intonationally, it is connected with episodes from other folk scenes (Varlaam's song, Chorus of the prologue "To whom are you leaving us").

"Boris Godunov" is a new type of opera that marked a new stage in the development of the world operatic art. In this work, which reflected the progressive liberation ideas of the 60s and 70s, the life of an entire people is truly shown in all its complexity, the tragic contradictions of the state system based on the oppression of the masses are deeply revealed. Showing the life of an entire country is combined with a vivid and convincing depiction of the inner world of individuals and their complex diverse characters.

Conclusion

Folk music not only nourished the work of composers who are members of the community called "The Mighty Handful" with beautiful themes, it helped them to make their works reliable in relation to national or historical features.

Mussorgsky's work is fanned by the breath of the peasant revolution. According to Stasov, Mussorgsky showed in his music "an ocean of Russian people, life, characters, relationships, misfortune, unbearable burden, humiliation, clamped mouths."

Mussorgsky for the first time in the history of opera, not only Russian, but also world, broke the habit of presenting the people as something united. Mussorgsky combines this generalized image from a multitude of individual types. No wonder the genre of the opera "Boris Godunov" was defined as a folk musical drama.

Boris Godunov is a new type of opera that marked a new stage in the development of world opera art.

Mussorgsky made the people the main character

The foreground shows the folk choir, its dynamism. At the beginning of the opera, the people are inactive, and at the end of the opera (unlike A. Pushkin) they rebel and rise

Divided the choirs and singled out individual replicas of the people

Introduced an innovative technique - choral recitative

The composer introduces new images: tramps, beggars, orphans

In the opera, Mussorgsky relied on a peasant folk song: lamentations, lamentations, drawling, comic, choral, dancing.

Folklore origins give a bright originality to music. The composer is fluent in folk song genres. The image of a suppressed, submissive people is accompanied by intonations of lamentation and a drawn-out song; the spontaneous revelry of the forces escaping to freedom is conveyed by the violent rhythms of the dance and game type. There are examples of the direct use of genuine folk melodies. Elements of the dance song penetrate into the music of Varlaam, the intonations of lamentation and spiritual verses - into the part of the Holy Fool.

Mussorgsky was an outstanding musical playwright. Masterfully conveyed not only the feelings and character of a person, but also the appearance, habits, movements. He strove to show in the opera not only an individual, but also the life of an entire nation, pages of its history, which echoed with the dramatic modernity.

M. Mussorgsky is a truly folk composer, who devoted all his work to the story of the life, sorrows and hopes of the Russian people. His music reflected sharp social problems Russian life in the 60s - 70s. Mussorgsky's work was so original and innovative that it still has a strong influence on composers from different countries.

Bibliography

Abyzova E.N. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. M. "Music", 1986.

Composers of the "Mighty Handful". M. "Music", 1968.

M. P. Mussorgsky: Popular monograph. L. "Music", 1979.

Musical Literature. Russian musical classics. Third year of study / M. Shornikova. Rostov n/a: Phoenix, 2005.

Russian musical literature: For 6 - 7 cells. Children's music school. M. "Music", 2000.

APPLICATION

Annex 1

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Annex 2

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 groups stand out characters; 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 the early period of his work (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 feeling l that this work will serve for him only as an experiment. 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. Mussorgsky's orchestra is based on 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 questions. 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).

Chamber-vocal creativity of M.P. Mussorgsky

The vocal miniature takes significant place in the work of the composer. Mussorgsky develops the traditions of his predecessors, of which Dargomyzhsky is the closest to him.

I. The literary primary sources of romances and songs are associated with the names of Nekrasov and Golenishchev-Kutuzov (the cycles “Without the Sun” and “Songs and Dances of Death” were created on his texts), which Mussorgsky discovers for Russian music. In addition, Mussorgsky often created his own texts (the "Children's" cycle). He was a good stylist and knew how to recreate the type of speech of the person he needed.

II. Musical language is associated with several settings:

1. The principle of generalization through the genre. This principle is based on the fact that each genre in itself carries a certain semantic load. The composer resorts to a certain genre in order to reveal the meaning of the composition through it.

2. Paradoxical reading of the genre (“Songs and Dances of Death”).

3. Characteristic recitative. Mussorgsky develops Dargomyzhsky's approach, striving for the maximum fusion of music and words. The characteristic recitative embodies the image of a person belonging to a certain social class in a specific life situation and emotional state. In this regard, the cycle "Children's" is interesting, where the behavior and speech of the child in various situations are reproduced. Mussorgsky manages to capture the difference between children's and adult speech in music.

4. The role of the piano part is very significant, which goes beyond the scope of accompaniment, since it carries a serious semantic load.

III. Themes of romances and songs.

1. The lyrical theme appeared in the early period of creativity. It is most clearly revealed in the cycle "Young Years";

2. Appeal to the social theme characterizes the mature period of Mussorgsky's work. This theme is revealed in various characteristic portraits:

a) the images of the peasants are embodied with deep psychologism, sympathy and compassion. This group of songs includes "Lullaby to Eremushka", "Kalistrat", "Trepak" from the cycle "Songs and Dances of Death";

b) the images of holy fools first appear in Russian music with Mussorgsky (Western counterparts - Rigoletto, Quasimodo). An example of such an image in Mussorgsky's vocal miniature is Svetik Savishna;

c) images of clergy - "Seminarian";

d) images of childhood. The world of childhood is revealed in two planes - as a bright world of spontaneity, sincerity ("mischievous" from the cycle "Children's"). Another “plane” is childhood, overshadowed by hardships and worries: “The Orphan”, “Lullaby” from “Songs and Dances of Death”;

e) satirical images - "Rayok", "Goat".

3. The theme of the war in Mussorgsky is marked by an unusual tragic pathos, although there are not so many works that reveal it. Examples are the ballad "Forgotten", "Commander" from "Songs and Dances of Death".

4. The theme of death in Mussorgsky is solved with particular tragedy. A separate vocal cycle is dedicated to her - "Songs and Dances of Death". The initial plan of the cycle included 12 works, but 3 were created - the composer gave them the title "She". Then the "Commander" was turned on.

The genre of "Dance of Death" developed in medieval painting. The frescoes of this genre depicted a round dance of death with people of various estates and classes, or death overtaking people at various, often bright and joyful moments of their lives - on a hunt, at a feast. Particularly significant moments in the content of these works are the contrast of life and death, the constant presence of death (a person can die at any moment), the equality of people in the face of death (power, wealth, luck cannot save from it). To a certain extent, Mussorgsky follows this tradition, since each work of the cycle corresponds to a certain genre and reveals a specific life situation. Genres of the cycle - "Lullaby", "Serenade", "Trepak", march - "Commander".

At the same time, features of theatricalization appear in the cycle. Each work opens with an introduction that introduces the action into the setting.

"Lullaby"- a dialogue between the mother of a dying child and death. The mother's remarks become more and more intense as they develop, the theme of death is unchanged (analogue is Schubert's "Forest King").

"Serenade"- knightly, not lyrical: death appears to a dying girl in the form of a knight.

"Trepak"- freezing drunken peasant. It uses the technique of sound representation - the image of a blizzard. The song consists of two contrasting sections: a monologue of death in the spirit of a trepak "Ah, an old man, a wretched little man" and a picture of a paradoxically happy death dream. Death is revealed here as a liberator from the hardships of life.

"Commander" is the culmination of the entire cycle. This work is the largest and most complex in design of all 4, it consists of several sections: I - introductory, drawing a picture of the battle; II - the appearance of death "then, illuminated by the moon"; III - monologue of death "The battle is over"; IV - dance of death "Dance of the heavy damp earth" - this last section is the semantic result of the whole cycle.

Hardly any of the Russian classics can be compared with M.P. Mussorgsky, a brilliant self-taught composer, in originality, audacity and originality of the ways of embodying ideas that in many respects anticipated the musical art of the 20th century.

Even among like-minded people, he stood out for his courage, aspiration and consistency in upholding ideals.

Mussorgsky's vocal work

Vocal music occupies a decisive place in the creative heritage of the composer. In the collection "Young Years" (50-60s), he continues to develop the line of A. Dargomyzhsky with a tendency to intensify. The collection marked the onset of the composer's creative maturity and determined the range of images and moods (with the exception of satirical ones, which would appear later); images play an important role peasant life, the embodiment of the characters of the characters-representatives of the people. It is no coincidence that romances to the words of N. Nekrasov (“Calistrat”, “Lullaby to Eremushka”) are considered the culmination of the collection.

M.P. Mussorgsky

By the end of the 60s. the composer's works are filled satirical images(a whole gallery of satires is embodied in "Raik"). On the verge of the mature and late periods, the cycle "Children's" appears on its own text, which is a series of psychological sketches (the world through the eyes of a child).

Later, Mussorgsky's work is marked by the cycles "Songs and Dances of Death", "Without the Sun", the ballad "Forgotten".

The vocal works of Modest Petrovich as a whole cover the following range of moods:

• lyrics, present in the earliest compositions and subsequently painted in increasingly tragic tones. The lyric-tragic culmination of this line is the vocal cycle Without the Sun (1874);

• a line of "folk pictures", sketches, scenes of peasant life(“Kalistrat”, “Lullaby to Eremushka”, “Orphan”, “Flower Savishna”), leading to such heights as the ballad “Forgotten” and “Trepak” from the cycle “Songs and Dances of Death”;
• line of social satire(romances of the 60-70s: “Seminarian”, “Classic”, “Goat” (“Secular Fairy Tale”), culminating in “Rayok”).

A separate group of works that do not belong to any of the above are the vocal cycle "Children's" (1872) and "Songs and Dances of Death" (except for "Trepak").

Developing from lyrics through everyday beginnings, satirical or social sketches, the vocal music of the composer Mussorgsky is increasingly filled with tragic moods, which become almost defining in his later work, embodied in full in the ballad "Forgotten" and "Songs and Dances of Death". Sometimes more, sometimes less distinctly, but the tragic theme sounded earlier - already in "Calistrat" ​​and "Lullaby Yeryomushka" an acutely dramatic anguish is felt.

He rethinks the semantic essence of the lullaby, retaining only the external features of the genre. So, both "Kalistrat" ​​and "Lullaby to Eremushka"

(which Pisarev called "a vile lullaby")

- not just lulling; it is a dream of happiness for a child. However, acute sounding theme the incompatibility of reality and dreams turns the lullaby into lamentation (the culmination of this theme will be presented by the cycle “Songs and Dances of Death”).

A peculiar continuation of the tragic theme is observed

• V « Orphan" (a tiny child begging),
• « Svetik Savishna" (the grief and pain of the holy fool rejected by the merchant's wife - the image most fully embodied in the holy fool from the opera "Boris Godunov").

One of the tragic peaks of Mussorgsky's music is the ballad "Forgotten" - a work that united the talents of Vereshchagin (in the anti-war series he wrote, crowned with "The Apotheosis of War", there is a painting "Forgotten", which formed the basis for the idea of ​​the ballad), Golenishchev-Kutuzov (text) . The composer also introduces the image of a soldier's family into the music, using the contrasting juxtaposition of images: the highest degree of tragedy is achieved by juxtaposing, against the background of a lullaby, the promises of a mother cradling her son and talking about the imminent return of his father, and the final phrase:

"And that one is forgotten - one lies."

The vocal cycle "Songs and Dances of Death" (1875) - climax vocal creativity Mussorgsky.

Historically in the art of music image of death, lying in wait and taking life often at the most unexpected moments, was expressed in two main hypostases:

• dead static, stiffness (during the Middle Ages, the sequence Dies irae became such a symbol);

• the image of death in the Dance macabre (dance of death) - a tradition coming from the Spanish sarabands, where the funeral took place in motion, a solemn mourning dance; is reflected in the work of Berlioz, Liszt, Saint-Saens, etc.

Mussorgsky's innovation in connection with the embodiment of this theme lies in the fact that Death now not only "dances", but also sings.

The large-scale vocal cycle consists of 4 romances, in each of which death lies in wait for the victim:

• 1 hour "Lullaby". Death sings a lullaby over the baby's bed;

• 2 hours "Serenade". Assuming the form of a knight-errant, Death sings a serenade under the window of a dying girl;
• 3 hours "Trepak". The peasant freezes in the blizzard, frosty steppe, and Death sings his song to him, promising light, joy and wealth;
• 4 hours "Commander". A grand finale where Death appears on the battlefield as a general, addressing the fallen.

The ideological essence of the cycle is a protest and struggle against the omnipotence of death in order to expose its lies, which is emphasized by the “falsity”, insincerity in the use of each of the everyday genres that underlie its parts.

Musical language of M.P. Mussorgsky

Recitative intonation basis and masterfully designed piano part vocal works the composer is realized through forms, often marked with signs of an individual author's style.

Opera creativity

Just like vocal music, opera genre Mussorgsky vividly reveals the originality and composer's power of talent, as well as his advanced views, ideological and aesthetic aspirations.

3 operas are completed in the creative heritage

"Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina", "Sorochinsky Fair";

remained unrealized

"Salambo" (historical plot),

"Marriage" (there is 1 action),

a number of plans that were not realized at all.

The unifying moment for operas (except for The Marriage) is the presence folk images as fundamental, and they are used:

• V general plan as a collective image of the people, the people as a single hero;

• individualized representation of individual heroes-representatives of the people.

It was important for the composer to turn to folk stories. If the idea of ​​"Salambo" was the story of the clash between Carthage and Rome, then in other operas he is not worried about ancient history, but - Rus' at the moments of the highest upheavals, in the most troubled time of its history ("Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina").

Mussorgsky's piano works

The piano work of this composer is represented by the only cycle "Pictures at an Exhibition" (1874), which, nevertheless, entered the history of music as a bright, outstanding work of Russian pianism. The idea is based on the works of V. Hartmann, a cycle consisting of 10 plays is dedicated to his memory ( « Dwarf", " old lock”,“ Tuileries Park ”,“ Cattle ”,“ Ballet of Unhatched Chicks ”,“ Two Jews ”,“ Limoges Market ”,“ Catacombs ”,“ Baba Yaga ”,“ Golden Gate ”or“ Heroic Gate ”), periodically alternating with a special theme - "Walk". On the one hand, it depicts the composer himself walking through the gallery of Hartmann's works; on the other hand, it embodies the Russian national principle.

The genre originality of the cycle, on the one hand, refers to a typical program suite, on the other hand, to the rondal form, where the “Walk” acts as a refrain. And taking into account the fact that the theme of "Walks" is never repeated exactly, the features of variation appear.

Besides, « Pictures at an Exhibition" incorporate the expressive possibilities of the piano:

• coloristic, thanks to which the "orchestral" sound is achieved;
• virtuosity;
• in the music of the cycle, the influence of the composer's vocal style (both songfulness and recitativeness and declamation) is palpable.

All these features make Pictures at an Exhibition a unique work in the history of music.

Symphonic music by M.P. Mussorgsky

An indicative work in the field of symphonic creativity is Ivan's Night on Bald Mountain (1867), a witches' sabbath that continues the tradition of Berlioz. The historical significance of the work lies in the fact that it is one of the first examples of evil fantasy in Russian music.

Orchestration

MP Mussorgsky's innovation as a composer in his approach to the orchestral part was not immediately understood: the discovery of new horizons was perceived by a number of contemporaries as helplessness.

The main principle for him was to achieve maximum expression in expression with minimal use of orchestral means, i.e. its orchestration takes on the nature of a vocal.

The essence of the innovative approach to the use of musical and expressive means, the musician formulated something like this:

"... to create expressive forms of speech, and on their basis - new musical forms."

If we compare Mussorgsky and the great Russian classics, in whose work the image of the people is one of the main ones, then:

• unlike Glinka, who is characterized by a portrait method of display, for Modest Petrovich the main thing is the display of folk images in development, in the process of formation;
• Mussorgsky, unlike Glinka, singles out individual characters representing the people from the masses. In addition, each of them acts as the bearer of a certain symbol (for example, Pimen from Boris Godunov is not just a sage, but the personification of history itself).

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Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky(1839-1981) - Russian composer of world importance, ahead of his time. An innovator whose legacy became a source of ideas in the art of the 20th century, a reformer of European art (along with Goya, Schumann, Gogol, Berlioz, Flaubert, Dostoyevsky). A truly Russian artist by the greatness of his soul, for whom music was not a profession, but a life purpose. He had a unique artistic talent and intuition. Man exclusively difficult fate and character, spiritually rich and versatile in interests (history, philosophy, literature), Mussorgsky was an excellent writer, author of his songs and libretto, singer and pianist. The aesthetic views of the composer are characterized by independence and originality of judgments, conviction in their views on art. His musical idols were Palestrina, Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Berlioz. Mussorgsky is a Russian romantic, a man of the “Schumann era”: following Glinka, Gogol, Dargomyzhsky, Dostoevsky, Repin, he experienced the classical-romantic frontier as a test of Russian spirituality and as personal asceticism. On the other hand, Mussorgsky is a Russian realist painter, a man of the time of public recovery. His views were formed under the influence of socially accusatory ideas of populism. Mussorgsky saw in music a lively, direct conversation with people: musical phrases are built according to the laws of speech intonation expressiveness. He considered himself outside of circles and schools, in last years dissociated himself from the "Mighty Handful", declared the isolation of his music and views on art. The first among musicians to draw attention to the incomprehensible complexity of human nature and the psyche, he was a master of tragedy and grotesque and a psychologist-playwright in operas.

Born in the village of Karevo, Pskov province, in the family of a landowner, a representative of the Rurik family. He studied piano with his mother, at the age of 9 he performed Field's concerto. In 1849 he entered the Peter and Paul School in St. Petersburg, and in 1852 - the School of Guards ensigns. Soon Mussorgsky's first work, the piano polka Ensign, was published. For several years he took piano lessons from A. Gerke. In 1856 he began writing an opera based on Hugo's story. In the same year he entered the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. In 1857 he met A. Dargomyzhsky and Ts. Cui, and through them with M. Balakirev and

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V. Stasov, became a member of the "Mighty Handful". After nervous and spiritual crisis retired from the army, began to devote his time to composing music. Mussorgsky's music began to appear in public concert programs. In 1863-1865. he worked on the libretto and music of the opera "Salambo" based on the story of the same name by G. Flaubert. At that time he served as an official in one of the ministries, but in 1867 he was expelled from service. In the summer of 1867, Mussorgsky wrote his first significant work for orchestra, Night on Bald Mountain. Mussorgsky's next operatic idea was "Marriage" based on the text of Gogol's comedy (remained unfinished).

In early 1869, he returned to public service, was able to complete the initial version of the opera Boris Godunov to his own libretto based on Pushkin and N. Karamzin, and then began to prepare its new version. In 1872, the opera was rejected again, but excerpts from it began to be performed publicly, and the clavier was published by the publishing house of V. Bessel. Finally, the Mariinsky Theater accepted the opera for production. The premiere of Boris Godunov was a great success (1874).

In 1870, Mussorgsky completed the vocal cycle "Children's" on his own words, and two years later began work on his second historical opera "Khovanshchina" (folk musical drama). During the 1870s Mussorgsky composed the vocal cycles “Without the Sun” and “Songs and Dances of Death” (to poems by the poet A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov) and the piano cycle “Pictures at an Exhibition”, inspired by the drawings of V. Hartmann. At the same time, he became interested in the idea of ​​​​creating the comic opera "Sorochinsky Fair" based on Gogol. In 1878 he made a trip to the south of Russia as an accompanist to the singer Daria Leonova, composed "Mephistopheles' Song about a Flea". In 1881 he was placed in a hospital, where he died.

Chamber vocal art. The end of 1865, the whole of 1866, 1867 and part of 1868 are considered the period of creation of a whole series of romances, which are among the most perfect works of Mussorgsky. His romances were mostly monologues, which the composer himself emphasized (for example, the romance “Leaves rustled sadly” has the subtitle “ musical story"). Mussorgsky's favorite genre was the lullaby. He used it extremely often: from the “Lullaby to the Doll” of the “Children's” cycle to the tragic lullaby in “Songs and Dances of Death”. In these songs, there was affection and tenderness, humor and tragedy, mournful forebodings and hopelessness.

In May 1864, the composers created a vocal play from folk life - "Calistrat" ​​to the words of Nekrasov. In the tone of the entire narrative of "Calistratus" a grin, tart folk humor can be traced, but to a greater extent the meaning of the work is tragic, because this is a song-parable about the sad and hopeless lot of the poor.

In 1866-1868, Modest Petrovich created several vocal folk pictures: "The Orphan", "Seminarian", "Pick Mushrooms" and "Mischievous". They are a mirror image of Nekrasov's poems and

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paintings of the Wanderers. At the same time, the composer tried his hand at the satirical genre. He created two songs - "Goat" and "Classic", which go beyond the usual theme of musical works. Mussorgsky described the first song as a "secular fairy tale", in which the theme of unequal marriage is touched upon. In the "Classic" satire is directed against music critic Famintsyn, who was an ardent opponent of the new Russian school.

In his famous romance "Rayok" Mussorgsky tried to develop the same principles as in the "Classic", sharpening them even more. This romance is an imitation of a folk puppet theater with a barker. This piece of music shows a whole group of opponents of the Mighty Handful association.

The vocal scene "Seminarist" shows a healthy, simple country boy who is cramming boring, completely unnecessary Latin words, while memories of the adventure he has just experienced come into his head. During the service in the church, he stared at the priest's daughter, for which he was beaten by her father. The comedy of the vocal composition lies in the alternation of an inexpressive muttering on one note with a patter of meaningless Latin words with a broad, rude, but not devoid of daring and strength, the seminarist's song about the beauty of the priest Stesha and about his offender - the priest. In The Seminarist, Mussorgsky created a parody of church singing in accordance with the social position of his hero. The drawn-out mournful singing, combined with a completely inappropriate text, produces a comical impression. The manuscript of The Seminarist was printed abroad, but Russian censorship banned it, referring to the fact that this scene shows sacred objects and sacred relationships in a funny way. This ban terribly outraged Mussorgsky. In a letter to Stasov, he wrote: “Until now, musicians have been censored; the prohibition of the "Seminarist" serves as an argument that from the nightingales of the "booths of the forest and lunar admirers" the musicians become members human societies, and if all of me was banned, I would not stop chiseling a stone until I was exhausted.

On the other hand, the talent of Modest Petrovich is revealed in the cycle "Children's". The songs from this collection are songs about children. In them, the composer proved himself to be a psychologist who is able to reveal all the features of a child's perception of the world. Musicologist Asafiev defined the content and meaning of this cycle as "the formation of a reflective personality in a child." There is also a child talking to the nanny about a beech from fairy tale, and the child who was put in a corner, and he tries to shift the blame on the kitten, and the boy talking about his hut of twigs in the garden, about the bug that flew into him, and the girl putting the doll to bed. Franz Liszt was so delighted with these songs that he immediately wished to transcribe them for the piano.

In the vocal cycle “Songs and Dances of Death”, the composer recreates Russian reality, which turns out to be disastrous for many

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of people. In socially accusatory terms, the topic of death is far from being on the agenda. last place in Russian art of that time: in the paintings of Perov, Vereshchagin, Kramskoy, in Nekrasov's poems "Frost, Red Nose", "Arina, the Soldier's Mother", etc. Mussorgsky's vocal cycle is in this row. In this work, Modest Petrovich used the genres of march, dance, lullaby and serenade, which was caused by the desire to emphasize the unexpectedness and absurdity of the invasion of hated death. Mussorgsky, having brought together infinitely distant concepts, reached an extreme acuteness of the disclosure of the topic

The cycle consists of four songs, which are arranged: according to the principle of increasing plot dynamics: "Lullaby", "Serenade", "Trepak", "Commander". The action gradually grows, from the cozy and secluded room setting in "Lullaby" the listener is transferred to the night street of "Serenade", then to the deserted fields of "Trepak" and, finally, to the battlefield in "The Commander". The opposition of life and death, their eternal struggle among themselves - this is the dramatic basis of the whole cycle.

Lullaby depicts a scene of deep grief and despair of a mother sitting by the cradle of a dying child. With all musical means, the composer tries to emphasize the living anxiety of the mother: and the dead calmness of death. The phrases of death sound insinuating, ominously-gentle. At the end of the song, the mother's phrases begin to sound more and more desperate, and death simply repeats its monotonous "Bye, bye, bye."

In the second song, "Serenade", love is opposed to death. The introduction not only shows the landscape, but also conveys the emotionally heated atmosphere of youth and love. There was an assumption that the composer showed in the song the death of a revolutionary girl in prison. However, Mussorgsky captured the fate of many Russian women and girls who died fruitlessly and uselessly, not finding application for their forces in the everyday life of that time, which choked many young lives.

"Trepak" is no longer a song, but a dance of death, which she dances together with a drunken peasant. The dance theme gradually unfolds into a large and rather diverse picture. The dance theme sounds either simple-minded, or ominous and gloomy. The contrast is based on the opposition of dance and lullaby.

The song "The Commander" was written by the composer much later than the rest, around 1877. The main theme of this song is the tragedy of the people who are forced to send their sons to the fields of war. During the composition of the song, tragic military events developed in the Balkans, which attracted everyone's attention. The introduction to the song is written as an independent part. At first, the mournful melody “God rest with the saints” sounds, and then the music leads the listener to the culmination of the song and the entire vocal cycle - the victorious death march. Mussorgsky took the solemnly tragic melody for this part from the Polish revolutionary anthem "With the smoke of fires", which was performed during the 1863 uprising.

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The vocal cycle "Songs and Dances of Death" is the pinnacle of the composer's realistic aspirations. In the 20th century, the work was orchestrated by D.D. Shostakovich.

Opera art. In 1868, Modest Petrovich decided to write an opera on the theme of Gogol's "Marriage". Gogol's brilliant work was very close in spirit to the composer. Mussorgsky conceived the idea of ​​setting the entire work to music, not poetry, but prose, and no one had done this before him.

In July 1868, the composer completed Act I of the opera and began composing Act II. But he did not do this work for long, as he was carried away by the theme of "Boris Godunov" by Pushkin, which one of his friends suggested to him during musical evening at L.I. Shestakova. After reading Pushkin's work, Mussorgsky was captivated by the plot.

He began work on the opera Boris Godunov in September 1868, and on November 14, Act I was already written in full. At the end of November 1869, the opera was completed in its entirety. The speed is incredible, given that the composer composed not only music, but also text. In the summer of 1870, Mussorgsky handed over the finished opera to the directorate of the imperial theaters. The committee considered at its meeting this work and did not accept it. The novelty and unusualness of the music puzzled the venerable representatives of the music and arts committee. In addition, they reproached the author for the absence of female role. Persistent persuasion of friends and a passionate desire to see the opera in Siena forced him to take on the revision of the score of the opera. He expanded the overall composition quite significantly by adding separate scenes. For example, he composed the "scene under Kromy" and the entire Polish act.

After long ordeals, on January 24, 1874, the entire opera "Boris Godunov" was given. This performance was a real triumph for Mussorgsky. Nobody remained indifferent to the opera. The younger generation rejoiced and accepted the opera with a bang. Critics began to poison the composer, calling his music rude and tasteless, hasty and immature. However, many understood that a great work had appeared, the equal of which had not yet been.

In the last 5-6 years of his life, Mussorgsky was fascinated by composing two operas at the same time: "Khovanshchina" and " Sorochinskaya Fair". The plot of the first of them was suggested to him by Stasov at the time when the opera "Boris Godunov" was staged at the theater.

The action of the opera "Khovanshchina" takes place in the era of the intense struggle of social forces in Rus' in late XVII century, which was the era of popular unrest, streltsy riots, palace strife and religious strife just before the beginning of the activity of Peter I. Russian state. The historical material was so extensive that it did not fit into the framework of an operatic composition. Rethinking and selecting the main thing, the composer reworked the scenario plan and the music of the opera several times. From a lot of things, previously conceived, Modest Petrovich had to

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refuse. Khovanshina was conceived as an opera based on Russian history. Mussorgsky carefully studied all the materials that helped to create an idea of ​​the character historical characters. Since the composer always had a special craving for characterization, he often transferred fragments of genuine historical documents into the text of the opera in the form of quotations: from an anonymous letter with a denunciation of the Khovanskys, from an inscription on a pillar erected by archers in honor of their victory, from a royal charter granting mercy to the repentant archers.

In "Khovanshina" the composer anticipated the themes of two outstanding paintings by the Russian painter V. I. Surikov: "Morning of the Streltsy Execution" and "Boyar Morozova". Mussorgsky and Surikov worked independently of each other, the more surprising is the coincidence of the interpretation of the topic.

Archers are shown most fully in the opera. The originality of their image clearly begins if we compare two types of marching (the second type is the Petrovtsy). Sagittarius - this is song, daring, Petrovtsy - purely instrumental sonority of a brass band. With all the breadth of the display of folk life and folk psychology, the Petrine people are outlined in the opera only from the outside. The listener sees them through the eyes of the people, for whom Peter's army represents everything cruel, faceless, ruthlessly intruding into their lives.

Another folk group of the opera is the Moscow alien people. The appearance of this collective image is explained by the composer's desire to show the events taking place not only from the position of those who played the main role in nickname, but also through the eyes of that part of the people who judge this struggle from the outside, although they are affected by it.

An important role is played in the opera by another social group - schismatics. They act as a special spiritual force, which, being in an unusual historical setting doomed to physical death (self-immolation).

Back in the summer of 1873, Modest Petrovich played excerpts from the fifth act of the opera to his friends, not hurrying to put them on music paper. Only in 1878 did Mussorgsky compose the scene of Martha with Andrei Khovansky before self-immolation. He began to finally form the opera in 1880.

On August 22, 1880, in a letter to Stasov, Mussorgsky wrote: “Our Khovanshchina is over, except for a small piece in the final scene of self-immolation.” But this little piece remained unfinished. After the death of the composer, Rimsky-Korsakov, and later Shostakovich, embodied in their own way the score is Mussorgsky's idea.