Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolay Andreevich

In the second half of the 19th century, the ideas of the "national spirit" and the "Russian style" took over society, unprecedented interest in this regard arose in ancient Russian art, folklore, folk art. Understanding the special path of Russia, the desire to preserve national identity also penetrated the musical environment. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov was fascinated by mythological, fabulous and folklore subjects, so the operas "Snow Maiden," "Sadko," "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" were born. His works, staged at the S.I. Mamontov Private Russian Opera, became a symbol of the artistic revolution in music, receiving the unprecedented status of Russian classics.

Biography

Having received the education of a naval officer, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted several naval campaigns on the Almaz clipper and subsequently was an inspector of military choirs of the Maritime Department.

His early works, such as the piano wind quintet, concerts for clarinet, trombone and variations for oboe on the theme of M. Glinka's romance "What a young beauty" became the foundation of the domestic performing school.

1883: Appointment as Assistant Manager of the Balakirev Chapel

With the accession to the throne of Alexander III, the leadership of the Court Singing Chapel changed, as Rimsky-Korsakov reports in the Chronicle. Count S. D. Sheremetev took the "representative and honorary" position of director, but "in reality, the case was assigned to the manager of the Chapel and his assistant. Sheremetev elected Balakirev as manager, and the latter... without feeling any theoretical and pedagogical soil, he took me as an assistant, as plunging into theoretical and pedagogical activities at the conservatory. In February 1883, my appointment as assistant manager of the Court Chapel took place. " Rimsky-Korsakov notes that "the mysterious thread of such an unexpected appointment was in the hands of T. I. Filippov, who was then the state controller, and chief prosecutor Pobedonostsev. Balakirev - Filippov - gr. Sheremetev - the connection of these people was on the basis of religiosity, Orthodoxy and the remnants of Slavophilism. "

11 years of work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in Capella were, according to N. F. Findeisen, "the most brilliant sometimes of this institution." The composer actively participated in the creation of the instrumental and regency classes of the Chapel, developed curricula. Summarizing his experience teaching the course of harmony, he wrote the "Practical Textbook of Harmony" (1886), which has retained its significance to this day.

Immediately after his appointment, Rimsky-Korsakov was at the center of events taking place in the field of church singing. The Chief Prosecutor of the St. Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev, a zealot of strictly statutory liturgical singing, instructed Capella to draw up and harmonize the new Everyday Life. The essence of this activity was "the transformation of church singing in Russia in accordance with our ancient tunes." Rimsky-Korsakov led the work of a team of Capella teachers (A. K. Lyadov, E. S. Azeev, S. A. Smirnov, A. A. Kopylov, F. A. Syrbulov) on the publication "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes" (1888, censorship permit of November 25, 1887).

Polyphonic processing of murals has been the main direction in Russian sacred music for a century. Znamenny, Kyiv, Greek and other murals delighted Russian musicians of the 19th century with their compliance with the spirit of Orthodox worship, the inextricable semantic unity of liturgical text and melody, and unique national originality.

In the first half of the 19th century, such composers as D. S. Bortnyansky, P. I. Turchaninov, A. F. Lvov used harmonic means traditional for Western European music of that time (in particular, general bass) in processing, but they were poorly combined with the musical features of murals, which often led to distortion, reduction of the latter. In the second half of the century, in the works of Prot. Demetrius Razumovsky begins a study of ancient Russian monody. The opinion is established that the treatments should be based on means that correspond to their nature: strict diatonics, consonant chords (mainly triads). Formulated by V.F. Odoevsky, these provisions were called the strict style of harmony. For the first time they were used in the harmonizations of N. M. Potulov, the texture of which was heavy, since passing or auxiliary sounds were not allowed, a certain chord corresponded to each sound of singing.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov was familiar with the works of his predecessors [The composer met Razumovsky in May 1883 in Moscow, during his stay with the Chapel at the coronation of Alexander III. In one of his letters to his wife, he reported: "Priest Razumovsky, an expert and researcher of ancient church music, had a visit with Balakirev and Krutikov. He is a very sweet old man, and we will also go to him for different advice on part of the church melodies; he gave me his book on ancient singing "], but assessed both directions negatively. He called Bortnyansky's style "foreign," and the style of Potulov, Razumovsky, Odoevsky - "book-historical." Nevertheless, the composer applied the main provisions of the strict style in "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes."

At the first stage, it was necessary to compile a collection of one-voice tunes. Rimsky-Korsakov used the singing books published by St. Synod, "Guide to the Practical Study of the Ancient Liturgical Singing of the Orthodox Russian Church" by N. M. Potulov (1872). The composer not only immersed himself in the study of ancient murals, but also comprehended the science of church worship, read the book by K. T. Nikolsky "A Manual for the Study of the Charter of the Orthodox Church Worship" (M., 1874) and exclaimed: "The charter as I now know!"

"Singing at the All-Night Vigil" in one-voice form was completed on July 5, 1883. Rimsky-Korsakov believed that the work was slowed by the ambiguity of the intentions of M. A. Balakirev:

"At first he said that it was possible to make up a full one-voice everyday life, and when Vespers was ready, he said that it was better to exclude most of the famous painting and that it was better to publish it after, separately, and now publish the used tunes: Kyiv and Greece; when the whole all-night party was ready, he said that one-voice should not be composed, but you should directly write harmonized, but, they say, the upper voice and present a melody for one-voice performance. And as the harmonization goes, I'm afraid there will be a lot of breakage. "

Probably, due to such disagreements, the work dragged on, and "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes" was published only in 1888.

The significance of the Capella's work was accurately expressed by Rimsky-Korsakov himself: "Having published our all-night message, we opened everyone's eyes to the correct and natural harmonization of the tunes of the Synodal Everyday, and there are many cases where every decent musician will harmonize the same with us, if only he understood what the essence is." [Rimsky-Korsakov's words about the meaning of the Chapel's "Singing at the All-Night Vigil" as a model for other composers were prompted by accusations of plagiarism against A.A. Arkhangelsky. Rimsky-Korsakov believed that similarities were inevitable in many cases.]

The correctness of harmonization was due to the norms of a strict style of harmony: reliance on diatonic and the use of triads as the main chord medium.

The sustained four-voice chord texture warehouse rather resembles Potulov's style, although Potulov's "extremes": textured tightness, the absence of passing sounds are, of course, avoided. Rimsky-Korsakov noted that "Potulov's harmonization was the most primitive: chords of I, IV and V steps; he seems not even to have been familiar with the use of sextchords. "

A rather high assessment of "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes" was given by V. M. Metalov:

"This book has all the advantages of the Church's four-voice Everyday and can be called an exemplary book in church singing practice. The advantages of the book include the availability of voice parties (in middle registers) for ordinary choirs and its significant completeness, meeting the urgent requirements of the church charter. So, all prokymn and "Holy Lord" are set forth by the ancient banner melodia, and some chants, like "Repentance open my door," "Embattled Governor," are set forth in two tunes for practical convenience. For all the simplicity of harmonizing melodies and its strictly ecclesiastical character, the arrangements are not devoid of artistic advantages in the spirit of folk art. "

Rimsky-Korsakov did not see much creativity in his work on Singing at the All-Night Vigil. "Our work was, so to speak, of a factory nature. We shared the material and harmonized according to well-known elementary techniques and our works are completely similar to each other. " In the composer's author's arrangements, the individual style is revealed much brighter than in collective work.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov created 40 church chants during 1883-1885. 15 of them were published during the composer's lifetime and compiled the first two collections, 25 were published posthumously in the third collection edited by E. S. Azeev. The chronology of the first editions is as follows:

Orr. 22. Collection of spiritual and musical works of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, used at the Highest Court: Four-voice compositions. From the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. St. Petersburg, 1884. Tsenz. May 18, 1884. Before each chant is the date of creation - 1883.

Orr.22-bis. Collection of spiritual and musical proposals by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, used at the Highest Court. St. Petersburg, 1886. Initially, 4 transcriptions were published:

• May all the flesh of man be silent;
• Sunday Participative Verse;
• Hsieh, the Bridegroom is coming;
• Your hall vizhda (qualification. 1885).

In 1886, a collection was published, which also included arrangements:

• Cherubic song of ordinary painting (Tsenz. Feb. 3 1886) and
• On the rivers of Babylonian (Tsenz. January 30. 1886).

We also praise this collection for the two-year concert of God to You, since it is listed as part of the second collection in its second edition of 1893, although it was published separately (qualification. July 24, 1893). [In a document dated February 9, 1893, transferring ownership rights to the publication of spiritual and musical compositions by Rimsky-Korsakov (18, 190-191) to Capella, as well as in the "List of works by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov" for 1900 (24, stb. 1272) this concert is listed as unpublished.]

Collection of spiritual and musical compositions and transcriptions by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov: For a mixed choir./Ed. E. S. Azeev. St. Petersburg, [1914]. No decree. Tsenz. [Collection dating is conditional. The first mention of him in the periodical press dates back to 1916 (22, stb. 1415).]

Let's give facts indicating the time of the creation of some chants. Probably, the first spiritual work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov was Who is this Tsar of Glory, performed at the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on May 26, 1883. On May 19, 1883, Rimsky-Korsakov informed his wife from Moscow: "I do a lot of harmonization of church chants." We are talking about our own treatments, since the harmonization of "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes" began only in the summer.

On July 18, 1883, a two-year concert to Thee of God was praised, as evidenced by the author's note on a manuscript stored in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. On July 28, 1883, the composer wrote to Kruglikov that Balakirev ordered to learn "Worthy" and two "Praise" in the Chapel. What kind of chant Praise the Lord from Heaven were going to perform in the Chapel is unknown. Rimsky-Korsakov has a Sunday verse in five versions: two compositions (in the first and third collections) and three transcriptions (one in the second collection and two in the third). The same letter reports on the completed Dogmatic 1 voice.

Most actively and in depth, Rimsky-Korsakov worked on church chants in the summer of 1883. In letters to S. N. Kruglikov, he says: "Of course, I don't do anything else musical: I became a clerk at all,"... "secular music has not asked me anything now, but spiritual music occupies me." Probably, at this time, the bulk of all the spiritual and musical works of Rimsky-Korsakov were created.

Subsequently, his interest in this field of creativity falls. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Balakirev had a negative attitude towards the spiritual compositions of Rimsky-Korsakov (perhaps, with the exception of only Cherubim song No. 1), rarely included them in the repertoire of the Chapel. Probably, Balakirev believed that to create sacred music you need not only professional skill, but a special prayerful, even ascetic lifestyle. Rimsky-Korsakov felt this: "Everything surrenders to me that he has such a thought: no, they say, and there can be no God's grace in my writings."

One of the last references to work on church chants dates back to January 14, 1884: "I am not writing anything. "Everyday life" has long been abandoned: and so already boring and dry work, and with Balakirev all hunting will pass. "

On February 17, 1884, in the spiritual concert of the Singing Chapel of the Russian Choral Society under the direction of V. S. Orlov, Cherubim Song No. 1 and Xie were performed, the Groom is coming.

In a letter to N.I. Kompaneisky dated May 27, 1906, Rimsky-Korsakov called himself a completely retired spiritual writer.

18 of the 40 church chants of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov are actually works, and not treatments of church murals. They make up the entire first collection (Cherubim Song No. 1 and No. 2, I Believe, Mercy of the World, We sing to You, Worthy to Eat, Our Father, Sunday Is Involved}, and are also in the third collection (Who is this King of Glory, Cherubim Song No. 4, 5, 6, You sing No. 2, 3, 4, Worthy to eat No. 2, Praise the Lord from Heaven to two choirs, Ascend God}.

Critics assessed the first collection of works by Rimsky-Korsakov with restraint, not finding manifestations of the composer's author's style in it. S. N. Krutikov wrote that the chants "do not shine with Korsakov beauties, they have a little good, real music." N. I. Kompaneisky spoke in the same spirit: "The works of Rimsky-Korsakov from the Liturgy do not conclude any interest in the novelty of thought or style, the beauty of melody and harmony or the exciting mood." At the same time, the critic believed that they lacked the shortcomings of the works of the Capella directors: "The excess of the beauty of sounds over the internal content in Bortnyansky's works, the fake affectation of melodramatic sewing in Lviv's works and the aimless piling of harmonic effects and dissonant chords with detentions in Bakhmetev's works."

The purification of melodic and harmonic style from external effects was the main task of Rimsky-Korsakov. In harmony, diatonics prevails, dissonances and chromatism almost disappeared. The melodies of his "Cherubic" and "We Sing to You," which create a calm prayer mood, resemble many everyday tunes. Melodic lines are smooth, they are dominated by incoming movement, singing tones. The contours of the melodies are balanced, and two phrases following each other often create symmetrical outlines (We sing to you from the first collection and sing to you No. 3 from the third collection).

S. N. Kruglikov, the first reviewer of the collection, noted: "All the themes of Rimsky-Korsakov himself, but completely in the spirit of ancient spiritual and Russian singing." The composer simultaneously worked on compositions, arrangements, harmonization of the "All-Night," so his style is largely homogeneous. Here a parallel is permissible with the use of folk origins in the work of Rimsky-Korsakov, who admitted that he did not study folk songs at all, but "simply, thanks to talent, more easily remembered and assimilated the most typical in tunes - that's all." Equally, such a generalized implementation of the most characteristic properties of the melodies of ancient murals can be observed in the spiritual works of Rimsky-Korsakov.

The compositions from the first collection, despite the intonational similarity of the melodies, do not represent a single cycle. But two chants - I believe and the Grace of the world - are perceived as a kind of small cycle. They share a common harmonic sequence based on the alternation of the diatonic steps of D minor and A minor. In Faith, this sequence is repeated three times, in the Grace of the world - twice, ending with perfect cadences. Thus, Rimsky-Korsakov anticipates the idea of ​ ​ musical unification of different parts of the Liturgy, which will be very important for composers of the late XIX - early XX centuries.

In the first collection, Rimsky-Korsakov did not seek to reform the singing style familiar to the Court Singing Chapel. But at the same time, he was sure that if we did not consider these compositions "from the point of view of unconditional," then "for our sacred music this will present a well-known contribution."

22 choral arrangements of ancient murals created by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov definitely testify to the composer's interest in this genre. Having discussed in an interview with V.V. Yastrebtsev the features of the first collection, Rimsky-Korsakov said: "Since you wanted to get acquainted with my church music, I advise you to pay attention to my" arrangements, "those are much better." In his treatments, Rimsky-Korsakov used the melodies of various murals, both the oldest banner and the latest in origin "ordinary," or "court" mural.

In some arrangements, the composer follows the laws of a strict style of harmony: a traditional four-voice warehouse using consonant chords. The style of such treatments (Cross Thy, Sing Thee No. (5, Irmos 3 and 5 songs of the canon on Matins on Holy Saturday, fragments of some other chants) recalls "Singing at the All-Night Vigil of Ancient Tunes," there is little individual in it.

In most arrangements, Rimsky-Korsakov opens up new ways in the polyphonic processing of ancient monody. They consist of the following:

• reflection of some characteristic forms of church singing practice, the sound of music in the church;
• introducing methods of processing folk songs related to the development of material, the choice of harmonic means, etc., into church singing;
• the use of polyphonic means of presentation and development of material, which was also new to church music of the era.

The source of innovative harmonic and textural ideas for Rimsky-Korsakov was both the music of Orthodox worship and Russian folk music. The composer was convinced of their musical kinship. It was Rimsky-Korsakov who for the first time clearly revealed and emphasized the proximity of two types of folk art, creating on the basis of their synthesis his own style of polyphonic treatments of ancient murals, not similar to the church art of his contemporaries.

Consider some examples. Chant Yes, all flesh is silent begins with a one-voice chant of the soloist, who then picks up the whole choir. A.V. Preobrazhensky wrote: "There is no example in all previous literature that a church chant, especially to the melody of an ancient painting taken from church books, was presented in the form of a choral song, with chants based on verses of one, then two and three voices." Of course, the similarity with the performance of the Russian folk song singing and choir is obvious. On the other hand, the tradition of church singing with a headman was reflected here. The headman, or the initial singer, begins the chant, while other singers, having learned the chant, join him.

Unison and incomplete, "empty" chords sound very colorful in the processing of Rimsky-Korsakov. Many researchers have noted that the source of these interval-chord structures is rooted in a folk song. But in the early Russian church polyphony (two- and three-voice samples of travel, demonic murals) there are also unions and duplicates.

The Rimsky-Korsakov arrangements use the variation principle of presentation, so characteristic of folk song art. In the original source of the chant, Yes, all the flesh of the Kyiv painting is silent, all the verses repeat the same melody with different text. Rimsky-Korsakov animates the form with varying changes in choral presentation, which is especially evident in chants. The first chant is performed by the tenor, in the second pitch the bass enters it, in the third, the bass and viola join the tenor, and the chord warehouse dominates in the conclusion of the chant. The melody of the chant becomes the upper voice in the choral chorus, where the variation of its harmonic and textured appearance continues.

Even more relief, the principle of variation is manifested in the arrangement of Xie, the Groom is coming from Kyiv. Each line of this chant ends with the same chant.

In Rimsky-Korsakov's treatment, this feast is held three times in the introduction of Hallelujah and 10 times in the main part of the chant, but the composer always finds new means for its polyphonic embodiment. Kompaneysky emphasized: "The various degrees of thickening and layering of voice colors inform these church songs of the color of a purely Russian folk choir."

In the chant On the rivers of the Babylonian banner painting, on the contrary, variability is absent, here everything is focused on the expression of a mournful penitential feeling. V.V. Yastrebtsev wrote that the chorus of Hallelujah "involuntarily hypnotizes the listener with its original monotony." The texture of this chorus deserves special attention. Rimsky-Korsakov abandons the traditional four-voice and exposes the melody with octaves with tertz filling. S. S. Grigoriev noted that this technique is characteristic of Russian music: "Appearing often in the conditions of stylization of church singing, such polyphonic melodies in Russian music are clearly associated with the embodiment of images of harsh pristine power, gloomy concentration. It was in such an artistic and semantic meaning that these melodies entered the processing of the song "Hey, let's laugh" and the spiritual verse "The Last Judgment" by Balakirev, to the choir from the Prologue "Prince Igor" Borodin, in the presentation of the topic "May God Rise" from the overture "Bright Holiday," prayer chant "Wonderful Heavenly Queen" from the first picture of the third action "Tales of the Invisible City of Kitezh" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Spiritual Verse" from Lyadov's "Eight Russian Folk Songs," the last of the plays of the cycle "The Yellowed Pages of Myaskovsky." To this list can be added the reposition of Rimsky-Korsakov On the rivers of Babylonian, Thy Thief, the irmos of the canon on Matins on Holy Saturday by the Sea Wave.

A.V. Preobrazhensky pointed out one of the origins of this method of presentation - a choir of clergy singing in unison and sometimes echoing the main voice. The same vocal studies are characteristic of monastic singing, which Rimsky-Korsakov often heard. For example, during a coronation trip to Moscow in 1883, Rimsky-Korsakov was struck by the singing of the monks of the Donskoy Monastery. He asked S. N. Kruglikov to get the notes of some of the chants that interested him (as it turned out, they belonged to Archimandrite Theophanes, a famous amateur composer). But in the musical notation, according to Rimsky-Korsakov, they "turned out to be bad... I explain the matter so-so: the monks sang without boys, and therefore a lot sounded empty and therefore seemed more original. " This originality, apparently, sought to reflect the Roman-Korsakov.

Choral arrangements by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov are distinguished by a flexible interaction of harmonic and polyphonic styles of presentation. It is important to note that polyphonic episodes do not violate the unity of the style of treatments, do not conflict with the features of ancient murals. [Another opinion was held by I. A. Gardner, perceiving polyphonic episodes as something alien to ancient murals, similar to chromatic harmonies. He wrote: "Sometimes Rimsky-Korsakov allows imitations and even chromatism" (2, 467).] Techniques of imitation polyphony receive national-Russian refraction from Rimsky-Korsakov, often developing into a subvote exposition characteristic of a Russian song.

Brief polyphonic episodes of the poems involved, the Cherubic song of the usual painting, You sing No. 5, Dogmatics, covering mainly two or three voices, serve as a means of reviving the texture, sometimes take on a developmental function. Often, the imitation intro of voices is given immediately, it seems to serve as an impulse for subsequent development (Cherubic Song of Ordinary Painting, Eternal Memory, Salvation Did It, We Sing You No. 5). After singing, the voices, alternately entering, fill the sound space and merge into a slender harmonic choir. Moreover, the composer, without changing the tune, finds the possibility of a contrapuntal combination of the initial song with his continuation, which is why the imitation is perceived as a voice.

N. I. Kompaneysky spoke of Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangements as follows: "As for the internal features of the design of the melody of Russian church murals, their symmetry and symphonies, unfortunately, they remained completely unexplained by the composer." It is difficult to agree with this opinion in relation to the treatments of the third collection (especially since the critic did not know these works). It was in them that Rimsky-Korsakov's understanding of the nature of the murals was manifested, about which the same Kompaneysky wrote in another article: "Parts of the mural and whole consent tend to form a symphony among themselves. From these similar parts, subclasses to the melody are composed. Thus, harmony is composed of a melody in the main voice and a series of subplots, structurally connected with it. " Roman-Korsakov managed to find these structurally related parts and skillfully build on their basis the entire composition of the chant.

In Dogmatic 1, the voice of the banner painting, polyphonic episodes have their own internal dynamics of development, forming a through form. In the presentation of lines based on the same words, the composer uses a permutation of voices in a vertically movable counterpoint (we compare, for example, the lines "Heaven and Temple of the Deity" and "faith statement," based on the word 1 of the voice "kulism middle"). The beginning of the final section ("Dare Ubo"), where the downward imitation covers all voices, sounds solemnly and dynamically.

Many-octave unisons give great originality to the choral presentation of Dogmatic, fragments based on two-voice, frequent use of empty quintal consonants and unisons in cadences. This gave the composer the right to say: "Recently I shifted the dogma of the 1st voice (banner painting) and, it seems, not bad, as, I think, no one has shifted yet" (19, 117-118). In the edition edited by E. S. Azeev, there is the following indication: "I shifted demographically from the large Znamenny mural by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov." M.P. Rakhmanova comments on this inscription as follows: "The meaning of the term" demity "in the era of Rimsky-Korsakov was interpreted not as it is now: in short," demity "was not derived from the Greek word" master "-" master painting, "but from the word" house "-" home spiritual singing. " In any case, here it should be understood: "I shifted it in my own way." " This originality of the interpretation of the painting is also manifested in the two-round concert of God to You - the largest spiritual and musical work of Rimsky-Korsakov. The original source of Greek painting 3 voices is a very long chant (47 lines). The composer did not seek to literally reflect the entire source in his processing. He borrowed only three main melodic turns from it: the initial (ascending )/1, 3, 6 bars/, middle, with the song of the V stage/4, 7 bars/, and the final (niskhodya¬shchy )/2, 5, 8 bars/.

All of them are presented in the main theme of the concert. In the future, Rimsky-Korsakov very freely, "in his own way" sings on the basis of these three turns the text of the chant, combining the quoted material with his own or introducing choral recitation in sections saturated with verbal text.

In the composition of Thee God, praise Rimsky-Korsakov observes the main law of the concert - the alternation of solos, ensembles and singing of the entire choir (tutti). The chord warehouse has a main theme, opening and ending the concert and "interlacing" the entire composition as a refrain. Polyphonic episodes perform the function of movement and development. As in the arrangements of the poems involved, imitations of short tunes take place mainly in two voices, but the antiphonal singing of the choirs here covers a wider sound space. Of great importance is the pre-vocal beginning: the second voice enters against the background of an outstretched, as if pedal note or, playing the role of a tern second, is imperceptibly included in the presentation.

Possessing all the properties of a solemn concert, demonstrating the amazing polyphonic skill of the composer, we praise You God without losing its national character. This allowed Rimsky-Korsakov to emphasize: "We praise you God" to the melody of the third Greek voice... quite decently came out, we can probably say that this is the best thing Bortnyansky has and, moreover, in Russian. "

1895: Production of "The Night Before Christmas"

"The Night Before Christmas" is a carol of Rimsky-Korsakov based on Gogol's story, in which, as you know, Vakula, having fallen in love with Oksana, is ready to go wherever the light goes for cherevichki.

During the first production of the work at the Mariinsky Theater (in 1895), Rimsky-Korsakov unexpectedly faced problems of censorship. For more details see Mariinsky Theatre.