Storm and onslaught (Sturm und Drang)

Main article: Music in Russia in the XVIII century

Movement name

Often style names appear by accident, and it is not always possible to find their original source. But with the "storm and onslaught" everything is quite clear: this current borrowed the name from the play by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger "Sturm und Drang," published in 1776.

Most of his life, starting in 1780, Klinger spent in Russia under the name Fyodor Ivanovich, and was buried in the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg.

And this writer, a rebel in his youth, became famous for the introduction of cruel corporal punishment in the Land gentry Corps, where he worked as an inspector, and was also the son-in-law of Grigory Orlov.

The origins of "Storm and Onslaught" in music

The Storm und Drang movement is usually referred exclusively to German literature in 1770-80. This concept is applied to music with reservations and is rather vague. Since the musical life of the XVII-XVIII centuries. was extremely saturated and filled with contrasts even within the framework of one national culture, it is impossible to distinguish a clear time and geographical framework for the "stormy" ^[1]

However, you can confidently indicate several obvious signs indicating that you have the musical "Sturm und Drang":

• high density of affect change, often one affect takes less than one measure;
• as a consequence, very detailed dynamics (compared to baroque, where dynamic indications are very rare);
• "torn rhythm": frequent syncopations, "Lombard" rhythm, etc.
• general asymmetry of thought, from which the asymmetry of the form follows (as opposed to the symmetry of classicism);
• the predominance of minor keys (especially contrasting in relation to the predominantly major gallant style);
• an abundance of dissonances;
• the use of complex keys with a large number of characters in the key (so that the performer suffers!);
• secularization of content: an individual secular person becomes the hero of a work of art, the sensual comes to replace the spiritual (subjective sign, of course).

Similar signs can be found in music both earlier and later than the time of sturmer writers. But, for example, not any musical picture of the storm should be attributed to this style.

The origins of the "storm and onslaught" in music should be sought, as you see, in the "stylus fantasticus" - the musical style of the second half of the 17th century. This style also became a kind of punk movement of its time, it was full of contrasts and provocations.

The sprouts of "storm and onslaught" can be heard not only among German composers (primarily Handel and Telemann).

If we talk about the ancestors of the style - early sprouts can be heard in the first part of the Concert for Violin Signor Kazak. Researcher Andrei Penyugin believes that under this name, the notes of the composition indicate the Russian musician Timofey Belogradsky. The concert was written in the late 1730s, when Belogradsky studied in Dresden.

Listen to concerts by Francesco Durante, compositions by Swede Johan Ruman and Russian Italian Domenico Daloglio - they have a premonition of a new style.

Bach family, Bend and Herschel

Changing styles in music is generally considered to lag behind other arts. When romanticism withered and was supplanted by realism in literature, in music romantics only came into force. With the "storm and onslaught," rather, the opposite situation. If in literature this style took shape closer to the 1770s, then in music one of its brightest manifestations is the work of composers who worked at the court of Frederick the Great in 1740-60.

The extraordinary figure of Friedrich herself, his musical tastes, and composer's work, pushed musicians to bold experiments, the influence of which was felt until the end of the century.

Karl Philippe Emmanuel Bach, the court harpsichordist of Frederick the Great, proved himself in equal measure both in the sensitive style and in the style of "storm and onslaught."

All four of the younger Bahs wrote in this style. Wilhelm Friedeman, with his unconventional thinking, was very close in spirit to the composers of the next younger generation. It is enough to listen to his clavier Concerto in E minor to understand that Wilhelm Friedeman is one of the creators of the "storm and onslaught" in music.

But an even more characteristic example of "storm and onslaught" in music is Johann Christian Bach's early clavier Concerto in F minor, written in Berlin. The music of this youthful Concert is so unlike the later gallant work of London Bach that the composition was long attributed to V.F. Bach. In the first part of the Concert, we hear everything that has become typical of Allegro "storm and onslaught" - an ostinate rhythm in the bass, a torn theme with a large range.

The second important family in Berlin's musical history is Bend. Franz Benda, a virtuoso violinist, led Friedrich's court orchestra for most of his life. However, for the "storm and onslaught" (and for music in general), his younger brother, Georg, who served in the orchestra under his brother in his youth, is much more important. George Benda's melodramas are the pinnacle of the musical Sturm und Drang.

Familiar to many young musicians from gallant piano sonatas, Benda created the brightest examples of style. If we talk about Sturm und Drang in the usual idea of ​ ​ him, then it is worth paying attention to the composer's clavier concerts.

But Benda's name was perpetuated by his ingenious melodramas - first of all, Ariadne on Naxos and Medea. In them, the composer reached degrees of expressiveness and strength of affects of such a level that the expressionists unsuccessfully sought at the beginning of the 20th century. The unique genre of melodrama made it possible to bring together as much as possible the expressiveness of the prose text and music divided into fragments, the duration of which sometimes does not exceed two notes.

Another peak moment of "Storm and Onslaught" - even less famous than the genius Bend - was William Herschel's musical experiments. And, if the Alto Concerto in D minor represents the style in the outlines we already know, then violin capriccios reveal completely new musical worlds.

Bortnyansky, Fomin, Handoshkin

"Storm and onslaught" is one of the larvae of St. Petersburg art of the 18th century. The capital of the empire, where Europeans always lived, always reacted sensitively to everything that happened in neighboring cultures.

"The Storm and the Onslaught" is found in Dmitry Bortnyansky's opera "Alkid," which he wrote while studying in Italy in 1778.

Benda's melodramas - the pinnacle of Sturm und Drang - were performed in St. Petersburg a few years after the premiere in Germany. The immediate answer was the creation of the opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Eustigneus Fomin.

But the main names of the "storm and onslaught" in Russia, which gave this style a special flavor - Russian Austrian Anton Ferdinand Titz and Ivan Handoshkin.

The creative nature of Ivan Khandoshkin was very close to the contrast of affects and the tragedy of "Storm and Onslaught." This was most pronounced in the Sonata in G minor for solo violin and in some Russian songs with variations.

The most striking pages of Titz's work in this style are sonatas for clavier and violin, as well as Fandango for two violins.

What is Fandango? On the one hand, this is a folk Spanish dance, the essence of which is the exhaustion of changing partners by a tireless lady (the allegory is very transparent!). On the other hand, Fandango in the second half of the 18th century actually squeezed the Spanish Folia (in translation - madness) as a dance depicting the process of loss of mental health. And bipolar affective disorder - as it is now customary to call a condition close to "Storm and Onslaught" - the most popular mental disorder!

This dance was most likely brought to Russia by Gasparo Angiolini, the choreographer of the Gluckovsky Don Giovanni, where Fandango sounds. This, the Gluck theme, was later used by Boccherini, Canobbio, Titz and Prach. Fandango, according to Andrei Penyugin, was composed by the Spaniard - Antonio Soler.

Шаблон:XVIII Century Music CD

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