Verstovsky Aleksei Nikolaevich

Main article: History of music in Russia

Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich (1799-1862), was a Russian composer and theater figure who directed Moscow theaters from 1825 to 1859. A. N. Verstovsky wrote several vaudeville and operas, including the popular opera Askold's Grave, romances, songs, cantatas to verses by A. S. Pushkin, A. S. Griboedov, V.A. Zhukovsky and other poets of the 19th century.

Biography

Born in the Seliverstovo estate at the village of Mezinets (Kozlovsky district of the Tambov province) on February 18 (March 1), 1799 in a noble family.

From 1808 he lived in Ufa, in 1816-1817 he studied in St. Petersburg at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, privately studied music - on piano with Daniel Steibelt (1765-1823) and John Field (1782-1837), on violin with Ludwig Maurer (1789-1878), also took composition and singing lessons.

From an early youth he was passionate about theater: he wrote and translated the libretto of vaudeville, participated in amateur performances, composed music for theatrical performances.

1819: Production of the first vaudeville "Grandmother's Parrots" in St. Petersburg

In 1819, Verstovsky's first vaudeville opera "Grandmother's Parrots" based on the play by N.I. Hmelnitsky (1789-1845) was staged at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater; in total, during his life he wrote music for more than thirty performances, including 25 vaudeville operas, original and translated.

1823: Moving to Moscow

In 1823 Verstovsky moved to Moscow.

Romance "Black Shawl" on Pushkin's poem

The acquaintance and creative community of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and Alexei Nikolaevich Verstovsky is associated with the 20s and early 30s of the XIX century. They met in the houses of common friends and acquaintances - P.V. Nashchokin, P.A. Vyazemsky, M.P. Pogodin, A.S. Griboedov, S.T. Aksakov and others. Meetings of friends were usually devoted to poetry and music. The poet and composer was brought closer to creativity, to high art, to theater.

In 1823, Pushkin's poem "Black Shawl," written in exile in Moldova in 1820, was put by Alexei Verstovsky to music. This is the first widely known romance based on Pushkin's poems. His first performer is Moscow opera singer Pyotr Bulakhov, father of composers Pyotr Bulakhov and Pavel Bulakhov.

The ballad became widespread and was often performed in home concerts. In her memoirs, E. Sokovkina, niece of S. N. Begichev, a friend of Verstovsky, wrote: "The cheerful A. N. Verstovsky, who then wrote the famous romance" Chernaya Shawl "and sang it with a special expression with his small baritone accompanied by Griboedov, often revived the society."

The names of the great poet and famous composer often sounded together. S. T. Aksakov recalled: "We listened, and with pleasure, and music, and Verstovsky's singing. His... "Come, o young traveler" from Ruslan and Lyudmila, Pushkin's Black Shawl and many other plays were extremely liked by everyone, and I was admired. Verstovsky's music and singing seemed unusually dramatic to me. Verstovsky was said to have no full voice; but the expression, the fire, the feeling made me and others overlook this flaw. " Soviet musicologist B.V. Asafiev in the article "Composer from the galaxy of Slavic-Russian bards: Alexei Nikolaevich Verstovsky" wrote: "Verstovsky reacted sensitively to the lyrics of Russian poets contemporary to him, and contemporaries loved his music, correlated with the then poetry of Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Dmitriyeva,^[1].

In June 1823, the poet was sent to serve in Odessa and, corresponding with the poet P. A. Vyazemsky, asked him to give Verstovsky a "zealous bow," to say that he would soon answer him. A year later, Pushkin is exiled to the village of Mikhailovskoye. And again, in a letter to Vyazemsky, Pushkin asks to convey the notes to Verstovsky if they are not engraved. Probably, it was about the ballad "Black Shawl."

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy wrote about the "Black Shawl" in the article "Review of Russian Literature in 1824" in the Moscow Telegraph: "Pushkin's songs became folk: in the villages they sing his Chernaya Shawl. A.N. Verstovsky made music for this song with great art, and to this day the inhabitants of Moscow do not hear charming sounds that quite express the power of Pushkin's poems. "

Collection of vocal works

A collection of Verstovsky's vocal works, published in 1823, is stored in the library of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

Recueil Choisi de différents morceaux pour le Chant d'Operas-Vaudevilles Russes composés et arrangés pour le [chant et le] Pianoforte par A.N.Werstovsky. -- St.Petersbourg: chez Paez, Magazin de Musique, gr. Morskoi No. 125, c. P.1823. - [2], 21 p.; 28.6x 23.5cm. - n. 2046. Inventory. № 45840

Content:

1. Blows from Opera Vaudeville: Granny Parrots ["I fear as grandmothers are afraid"; Teresa, Florville];
2. Romance from Opera Vaudeville: Quarantine ["I cannot be sick with yours"; Strelskaya];
3. Verses from Opera Vaudeville: Quarantine ["Believe girls should not"; Lenushka];
4. Blows from Opera Vaudeville: New Prank ["We Explain Here Freely"; Babeta, Forschmeister];
5. Polskoy from Opera Vaudeville: The New Prank ["What if one way"; Victor];
6. Romance from Opera Vaudeville: Stanislav. Perev. from the French. N.V. Sevolozhsky ["To be kind is your business"; Loreta];
7. Verse from Opera Vaudeville: The Haunted House. Perev. from the French. A.N. Verstovsky ["Night I see a dream"];
8. Romance from the Opera Vaudeville: The Bustling House ["I'm Ten Years"; Eadward];
9. Polskoy from Opera Vaudeville: The Haunted House ["My Weak Beauty"; Isora];
10. Last verses from Opera Vaudeville: The Bustling House ["Finish the course of my science"; Dr. Krack, Edward, Jacques, Isora].

Source of receipt: from N.F. Fenizen. Litters: sticker (title, l.) "Perpeta Luceateis. Library of Nikolai Findeisen (in the center - lyre) "(part, sealed).

1824: Music for the vaudeville of Griboedov and Vyazemsky "Who is brother, who is sister"

Portrait of composer A.N. Verstovsky. P.V. Sokolov, XIX century, the first half

In 1823, Alexander Griboyedov served in the Caucasus under the command of General Ermolov. At the beginning of the year, having asked the general for a vacation, Alexander Sergeevich returned home. He spent more than two years in the suburbs, then did not live long in St. Petersburg. At this time, he continued the play "Woe from Wit" begun in the Caucasus, wrote the poem "David," the dramatic scene in the verses "Youth of the Westerner," notes on various topics, epigrams, essays, and composed his famous waltz "e-moll" in the first edition. Together with Peter Vyazemsky, he wrote a comedy vaudeville with verses "Who is brother, who is sister, or Deception after deception," which was staged in 1824 to the music of Alexei Verstovsky.

The composer was with the authors of vaudeville "on a friendly leg," as well as with many other famous writers and representatives of art (Pushkin, Odoevsky, Alyabyev, etc.). Griboyedov highly appreciated Verstovsky's musical talent. In the process of working on vaudeville, he wrote to the composer: "I have no doubt about the beauty of your music and I congratulate myself on it in advance." Two romances from this production were widely known. "Ah, definitely l never" and "Life is our dream." The first in 1837 was also put to music by Alexander Alyabyev and came out as a separate edition.

In 1825, Verstovsky was appointed inspector of music, in 1830 - inspector of the repertoire of the Moscow Imperial Theaters, and in 1848-1860 - manager of the directorate.

In 1833 he graduated externally from Moscow University.

For almost three decades, Verstovsky was at the head of the entire theatrical life of Moscow, since the opera and dramatic (as well as ballet) troupes were not then separated from each other. Close friendly relations connected Verstovsky with the Slavophile circle (S.T. Aksakov, M.N. Zagoskin, S.P. Shevyrev and others).

He combined numerous official duties with constant composer activities: in addition to music for dramatic performances and vaudeville, Verstovsky created six operas, numerous vocal works - romances, ballads, cantatas, etc., among which stand out the cantata "Singers in the Camp of Russian Warriors" to poems by Zhukovsky (1827) and a very popular ballad for voice and orchestra "Black Shawl" to poems by Pushkin (1824).

Verstovsky's first opera, Pan Twardowski, to Zagoskin's libretto, was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1828; it was followed by "Vadim, or The Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Virgins" (according to Zhukovsky's ballad, 1832).

1829: Songs to the poems of Pushkin and close communication with the poet

The materials that have come to us speak of the meetings and cooperation of Verstovsky and Alexander Pushkin in the second half of the 1820s. It is known that in 1828 the composer wrote "Gishpan Song" to Pushkin's poems. ("Night marshmallows"), and at different times in the 20s of the XIX century - the songs "Singer," "Muse" and on excerpts from the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" - "Lies in the field of darkness of the night" and "At Lukomorye."

The composer and poet's creative collaboration continued. On May 29, 1829, Verstovsky wrote to Shevyryov:... "Pushkin stuck to me so that I wrote Kazak music from Poltava - I send him to you - the idea came unwise to express all the music at a gallop."

A significant event for the poet and composer took place on December 23, 1829 - they were elected members of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature at Moscow University.

Autumn 1830 found Pushkin in Boldino. It was the famous Boldin autumn, when Pushkin was experiencing an extraordinary creative upsurge. He was then finalizing the novel "Eugene Onegin," wrote small tragedies "The Mean Knight," "The Stone Guest," a story in verses "House in Kolomna," "The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" and others. Despite such an obsession with creativity, Pushkin remembers Verstovsky and writes him a letter from Boldino, referring to "you" - evidence of the poet's close, trusting relationship with the composer.

An important change in Pushkin's personal life was approaching. Back in April 1830, Natalya Goncharova parents agreed to the marriage of their daughter with him. A year later, a wedding was to take place. She was appointed for February 18, 1831. On the eve of the wedding, Pushkin arranged a meeting of friends and friends, which brought together I.V. Kireevsky, E.A. Boratynsky, D.V. Davydov, P.V. Nashchokin, N.M. Yazykov, P.A. Vyazemsky with his son Pavel, brother L.S. Pushkin and A.N. Verstovsky. It was in a house on the Arbat, where the poet's memorial museum is now located.

In 1832, Verstovsky created one of his most popular works - "The Song of Zemfira" to the words of a gypsy song, which Pushkin translated into Russian in the poem "Gypsies." The composer wrote a song for Nadezhda Vasilyevna Repina, the future wife. Other famous Russian composers wrote music on this text, for example, A. A. Alyabyev, A. G. Rubinstein, P. I. Tchaikovsky, but Verstovsky's song was the most popular. Nadezhda Vasilyevna was her wonderful performer.

1835: Opera "Askold's Grave"

Main article: Askold's grave (opera)

In 1835, according to Zagoskin, Alexei Verstovsky wrote the opera Askold's Grave. It was thanks to her that the composer went down in the history of music. "Askold's Grave" was constantly on the Russian stages for a century.

This was followed by Verstovsky's operas "Longing for the Homeland" (according to Zagoskin, 1839), "Churova Dolina, or Dream in Reality" (based on the play by V.I. Dal, 1844), "Thunderbolt" (according to the ballad Zhukovsky, 1857). All of them were successful, and individual numbers from them became popular. All Verstovsky's operas are written according to the type of singspiel - a form in which musical numbers are combined with spoken scenes and recitatives on music; a number of numbers from his operas entered urban folklore.

1846: Premiere of the dramatization of the novel "Eugene Onegin" with music by Verstovsky

G.V. Kugushev staged Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin," and Verstovsky wrote music for it. The premiere of the dramatic performance with Verstovsky's music took place in 1846 in Moscow on the stage of the Maly Theater.

1859: Cantata "Feast of Peter the Great" to the poems of Pushkin

Verstovsky's last work on verses by A.S. Pushkin was the cantata "Feast of Peter the Great," written in 1859.

1862: Death in Moscow at the age of 63

Verstovsky died in Moscow on September 5 (17), 1862 at the age of 63. The composer was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.

Memory

The streets in Staroyuriev and Tambov bear the name of Verstovsky.

The life and activities of the famous composer for 2017 are devoted to the exposition in the Staroyuryevsky Historical and Music Museum named after A.N. Verstovsky, in the Tambov Regional Museum of Local Lore, there are materials about him in a number of museums in Moscow and Michurinsk.

In the Moscow Pushkin Memorial Museum, visitors can read an article by V. F. Odoevsky "A Few Words about Verstovsky's Cantatas," published in the first issue of the Bulletin of Europe for 1824. The museum has portraits of Alexei Nikolaevich Verstovsky and his wife Nadezhda Vasilyevna Repina - the prima donna of Moscow theaters.

Information about Verstovsky and his creative collaboration with Pushkin is located in the Tambov Regional Museum of Local Lore and in the A. N. Verstovsky Museum of History and Music in the village of Staroyuryevo. And posters and concert programs of our time indicate that Verstovsky's works on Pushkin's poems were included and included in the repertoire of outstanding singers of our time at the beginning of the 21st century.

Notes