Karaulov Vasily Semenovich

Main article: History of music in Russia

The composer's works are included in the Best Music of Russia. TAdviser list

Biographies

There is no information about the personality of Karaulov, a Russian composer of the 18th century. There is an assumption that his name was Vasily Semenovich. As a composer, Karaulov is known for a single edition of 1787, where three of his variation cycles were published:

• " In the comaroque forest,"
• "You, baby, orphan,"
• "Ah, how sick I am."

This unique edition is stored in the State Library named after V.I. Lenin, in the "Album of Prince Boryatinsky," where many printed and handwritten notes are intertwined together.

Karaulov's variational cycles represent a significantly new phenomenon compared to the variations of his contemporary, also a great master of variations, Vasily Fedorovich Trutovsky. Here the aesthetics of sentimentalism were fully reflected, which is manifested in harmonic turns, characteristic rhythmic "sighs," primarily in melody. It is the type of melody that dominates the singing ability everywhere, the constant singing of sounds give these variations a unique flavor and expressiveness. The composer shows outstanding skill, constructing the variational form as a single whole, built on constant development. As a contrast, he introduces slow sections, and in the variations on the song "In the forest of mosquitoes, a lot was born" this slow variation was written in addition in the same minor (with a decrease in the II stage), which gives the composition a mournful pathetic character. There is also a variety of variations in a purely textured way. Here, compared to Trutovsky, piano techniques are already being developed specifically. There is a variation of the melody, and the "dissolution" of it in passages, and the transfer of the entire presentation to a high register, as well as the conduct of the melody in the middle voice (Karaulov's favorite technique - it is found in all three cycles).

Karaulov managed to achieve the greatest unity in the monumental variation cycle for the song "You, baby, orphan." Here, the key itself in C minor carries a certain semantic meaning - Karaulov interprets it in Beethoven terms, as a carrier of a pathetic-heroic character. In this regard, variations 2, 5 and 9 are notable, in which a complete rethinking of the lyrical theme underlying the cycle is found.

Шаблон:XVIII Century Music CD