Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich

Main article: History of music in Russia

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on June 1, 1804.

From 1830 to 1834, Glinka spent abroad. Traveling in Germany, Italy and Austria, he not only got acquainted with the culture of these countries, but also improved his knowledge of composer art. This time in the work of Mikhail Ivanovich is noted as the beginning of a mature period.

Mikhail Glinka. From the portrait thin. N. Volkova. 1837

He died on February 15, 1857 at the age of 52 in Berlin.

Compositions

Main article: Music by Mikhail Glinka. List of works

• Life for the Tsar - Ivan Susanin (opera)
• Ruslan and Lyudmila (opera)

By creating his works, Glinka hoped that they would bring joy and happiness to people. Sincerely believing in the great power of the fine arts, in their ability to soften hearts and heal souls, he wrote

... "I would not believe in future bliss if I had not seen these three higher arts on earth: music, painting and sculpture; they are representatives of the coming happiness. Man, being delighted with them, forgets about the earth, his soul is blessed, and he considers himself completely happy at that moment, because the state of his spirit does not require anything superior, nothing strongest. And this point where we stop at his desires and aspirations for the better, there is a point of true happiness. Future bliss must be, the same state of our soul, only more extended. We are delighted here for one moment, there it will be without borders and measures. "

Believing in his high mission, fully realizing the measure of his talent, Glinka sang beautiful and sublime all his life. And therefore, in the hearts of many people, his bright songs, like the name of their author, were associated with hope, with spring, with the first ringing trills of a lark fluttering in heavenly azure...

Songs and romances

Once C.A. Kui, assessing Glinka's romance work, blamed him for his free treatment of poetic texts. Without dwelling on the critic's attempt to back up his conclusion by writing out completely the words of the romance with all the repetitions and changes, we note that the changes that Glinka made to the poetic text arose naturally and were artistically justified in music. Word replacement in most cases was caused by Glinka's sensitivity and increased demands on the phonetics of the language.

In Glinka's creative heritage, romances and songs occupy a significant, and the largest place in terms of the number of titles. In his autobiography, Glinka mentions the composition of romances mostly in passing, as if not attaching special importance to this side of his creative activity. The more strength is gained by the sincere, as if involuntarily resulting recognition made by him in a letter to V.P. Engelhardt on March 26/April 7, 1850:

"Those insignificant romances [that seem] themselves resulted in a minute of inspiration, often cost me a lot of effort - it's as difficult not to repeat as you can't imagine..."

In these words - both a high assessment of the creative tasks set by the composer, and recognition in the "grave efforts" made to carry out these tasks, and a clearly expressed, conscious desire for approval, enrichment, and multilateral development of the romance genre.

"In my opinion," Glinka once told A. N. Serov, "it's good that every little thing, at least small, serves as something in turn for new turns in the musical business and its science."

These innovative principles of Glinka found a vivid reflection in his romance work, striking with a variety of genre types and plots, a wide range of ideas and emotions, a wealth of forms - from simple or varied verses to free fantasies - and color.

Glinka's followers - Dargomyzhsky, Balakirev, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, completing the creation of the classic of Russian romance, each moved on their own creative path, all these roads came out of one great path open to Russian music by Glinka.

Singing

Many of Glinka's romances (though not all) were first performed by the author himself. And the vocal and artistic skill of Mikhail Ivanovich is one of the unique chapters in the annals of Russian musical culture.

Many memories and responses of his contemporaries have been preserved about Glinka the singer. The most vivid description left the descendants of A. N. Serov: "Glinka hardly had equal between the performances of romances (...) The poetry of his performance is indescribable. As all the primary performers, he was highly "objective," immersed in the very depth of the performed, forced the listeners to live that life, breathe the breath that ideally blows the performed play. That's why in every phrase, in every word he was a character, an embodiment, that's why he captivated every phrase, every word. "

Glinka himself told Serov that the execution "is very simple in itself; in music, especially in vocal, the resources of expressiveness are endless. The same word can be pronounced in a thousand frets, without even changing the intonation of the note in the voice, but changing only the accent; giving the lips a smile, then a serious, harsh expression. Singing teachers usually do not pay attention to this, but true singers, quite rare, always know all these resources well. "

It is obvious from what was said that, in addition to free control of his own voice, pianistic virtuosity and rare natural musicality, Glinka also had a bright and original artistic talent. Fluent in the art of expressive recitation, he achieved an amazing impression in his performances: as actor V.V. Samoilov recalled, "Mikhailo Glinka caused tears from those present, singing his soulful romances."

At the same time, almost every new performance of previously heard works was accompanied by improvisations, the appearance of new details in the vocal part and in accompaniment. Thus, the composer's work on the already completed compositions continued after their premieres. On the other hand, everything said about the performing skills of Glinka the singer is also related to his music, since it sheds light on the possibilities of interpreting his songs and romances.

"Glinka's singing of his own music was an event for me. (...) we can say directly: whoever has not heard Glinka's romances, sung by himself, does not know these romances. " In these words, A.N. Serov is not only another confirmation of the genius of the great musician, but also the starting point for modern performers of Glinka's music. At first glance, his vocal works, in terms of technical, are quite simple and convenient. But they cannot be simply sung, they must be performed, i.e. live, feel, play. Only great masters of musical art can do this.

Mikhail Glinka in 1856

Memory

"The emperor (Alexander III) and the empress not only loved music, but also did a lot to perpetuate the memory of great Russian composers. With the approval of the emperor and his assistance, a nationwide subscription was organized to the monument to the wonderful Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. The monument in Smolensk was solemnly consecrated on May 20, 1885. And when in 1892 the fiftieth anniversary of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila was celebrated, with the consent of the emperor, one of the streets of St. Petersburg was named after ^[1] "

Notes