What is Glinka famous for? Brief biography of Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich. European recognition of Mikhail Glinka

01.07.2020

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M. Glinka

Glinka... corresponded to the needs of the time and the fundamental essence of his people to such an extent that the business he started flourished and grew into the very short time and gave such fruits as were unknown in our fatherland during all the centuries of its historical life.
V. Stasov

In the person of M. Glinka, Russian musical culture for the first time put forward a composer of world significance. Based on the centuries-old traditions of Russian folk and professional music, achievements and experience European art, Glinka completed the process of forming a national composer school, which conquered in the 19th century. one of the leading places in European culture, became the first Russian classical composer. In his work, Glinka expressed the advanced ideological aspirations of the time. His works are imbued with the ideas of patriotism and faith in the people. Like A. Pushkin, Glinka sang the beauty of life, the triumph of reason, goodness, and justice. He created an art so harmonious and beautiful that you never tire of admiring it, discovering more and more perfections in it.

What shaped the composer’s personality? Glinka writes about this in her “Notes” - a wonderful example of memoir literature. He names Russian songs as the main impressions of his childhood (they were “the first reason that later I began to predominantly develop Russian folk music”), as well as his uncle’s serf orchestra, which he “loved most of all.” As a boy, Glinka played the flute and violin, and as he grew older, he conducted it. The ringing of bells and church singing filled his soul with “the liveliest poetic delight.” Young Glinka drew well, passionately dreamed of travel, and was distinguished by his liveliness of mind and rich imagination. Two greats historical events appeared for the future composer the most important facts his biographies: the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising in 1825. They determined the basic idea of creativity (“Let us dedicate our souls to the Fatherland with wonderful impulses”), as well as political beliefs. According to his youth friend N. Markevich, “Mikhailo Glinka... did not sympathize with any Bourbons.”

Glinka’s stay at the St. Petersburg Noble Boarding School (1817-22), famous for its progressive-minded teachers, had a beneficial influence on Glinka. His teacher at the boarding school was V. Kuchelbecker, the future Decembrist. His youth passed in an atmosphere of passionate political and literary disputes with friends, and some of the people close to Glinka, after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, were among those exiled to Siberia. No wonder Glinka was subject to interrogation regarding his connections with the “rebels.”

Russian literature with its interest in history, creativity, and the life of the people played a significant role in the ideological and artistic formation of the future composer; direct communication with A. Pushkin, V. Zhukovsky, A. Delvig, A. Griboedov, V. Odoevsky, A. Mitskevich. The musical impressions were also varied. Glinka took piano lessons (from J. Field and then from S. Mayer), studied singing and playing the violin. He often visited theaters, attended musical evenings, played four-hand music with the Vielgorsky brothers and A. Varlamov, and began composing romances and instrumental plays. In 1825, one of the masterpieces of Russian vocal lyricism appeared - the romance “Do not tempt” to the verses of E. Baratynsky.

Glinka's travels gave him many bright artistic impulses: a trip to the Caucasus (1823), a stay in Italy, Austria, Germany (1830-34). A sociable, passionate, enthusiastic young man who combined kindness and straightforwardness with poetic sensitivity, he easily made friends. In Italy, Glinka became close to V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, met with F. Mendelssohn, and later G. Berlioz, J. Meyerbeer, S. Moniuszko appeared among his friends. Eagerly absorbing various impressions, Glinka studied seriously and inquisitively, completing music education in Berlin with the famous theorist Z. Dehn.

It was here, far from his homeland, that Glinka fully realized his true destiny. “The idea of national music... became more and more clear, and the intention arose to create a Russian opera.” This plan was realized upon returning to St. Petersburg: in 1836 the opera “Ivan Susanin” was completed. Its plot, suggested by Zhukovsky, made it possible to embody the idea of heroism in the name of saving the homeland, which was extremely captivating to Glinka. This was new: in all European and Russian music there has not appeared a patriotic hero like Susanin, whose image summarizes the best typical features of the national character.

The heroic idea is embodied by Glinka in forms characteristic of national art, based on the rich traditions of Russian songwriting, Russian professional choral art, which are organically combined with the laws of European opera music, with the principles of symphonic development.

The premiere of the opera on November 27, 1836 was perceived by leading figures of Russian culture as an event of great importance. “With Glinka’s opera there is... a new element in Art, and a new period begins in its history - the period of Russian music,” wrote Odoevsky. Russian, and later foreign, writers and critics highly appreciated the opera. Pushkin, who was present at the premiere, wrote a quatrain:

Listening to this new thing,
Envy, clouded with malice,
Let him grind, but Glinka
Can't trample into the mud.

Success inspired the composer. Immediately after the premiere of “Susanin”, work began on the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (based on the plot of Pushkin’s poem). However, all sorts of circumstances: an unsuccessful marriage that ended in divorce; the highest mercy - the service in the Court Singing Chapel, which took a lot of energy; tragic death Pushkin in a duel that ruined plans collaboration over the work - all this was not favorable creative process. Domestic unsettled conditions got in the way. For some time, Glinka lived with the playwright N. Kukolnik in the noisy and cheerful environment of the puppeteer “brotherhood” - artists, poets, who significantly distracted him from creativity. Despite this, the work progressed, and other works appeared in parallel - romances based on Pushkin’s poems, the vocal cycle “Farewell to Petersburg” (at Kukolnik’s station), the first version of “Waltz-Fantasy”, music for the Kukolnik’s drama “Prince Kholmsky”.

Glinka’s activities as a singer and vocal teacher date back to this time. He writes “Etudes for Voice”, “Exercises for Improving Voice”, “School of Singing”. Among his students are S. Gulak-Artemovsky, D. Leonova and others.

The premiere of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” on November 27, 1842 brought Glinka many difficult experiences. The aristocratic public, led by the imperial family, greeted the opera with hostility. And even among Glinka’s supporters, opinions were sharply divided. The reasons for the complex attitude towards opera lie in the deeply innovative essence of the work, with which a fairy-tale-epic movement, previously unknown in Europe, began. opera house, where various musical and figurative spheres appeared in a bizarre interweaving - epic, lyrical, oriental, fantastic. Glinka “sang Pushkin’s poem in an epic manner” (B. Asafiev), and the leisurely unfolding of events, based on the change of colorful pictures, was suggested by Pushkin’s words: “Deeds of days gone by, traditions of deep antiquity.” Other features of the opera also appeared as a development of Pushkin’s innermost ideas. Sunny music, glorifying the love of life, faith in the triumph of good over evil, echoes the famous “Long live the sun, let the darkness disappear!”, and the bright national style of the opera seems to grow from the lines of the prologue; “There is a Russian spirit there, it smells of Russia.” Glinka spent the next few years abroad in Paris (1844-45) and Spain (1845-47), specially studying before the trip Spanish. A concert of Glinka’s works was held in Paris with great success, about which he wrote: “...I first Russian composer, who introduced the Parisian public to his name and his works written in Russia and for Russia" Spanish impressions inspired Glinka to create two symphonic plays: “Aragonese Jota” (1845) and “Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid” (1848-51). Simultaneously with them, in 1848, the famous “Kamarinskaya” appeared - a fantasy on the themes of two Russian songs. Russian symphonic music began with these works, both “reports to experts and the common public.”

The Russian composer Glinka left a significant mark on world music and stood at the origins of a unique Russian school of composition. His life included a lot: creativity, travel, joys and difficulties, but his main asset was music.

Family and childhood

The future outstanding composer Glinka was born on May 20, 1804 in the Smolensk province, in the village of Novospasskoye. His father, a retired captain, had enough wealth to live comfortably. Glinka's great-grandfather was Pole by origin; in 1654, when the Smolensk lands passed to Russia, he received Russian citizenship, converted to Orthodoxy and lived the life of a Russian landowner. The child was immediately given to the care of his grandmother, who raised her grandson in the traditions of that time: she kept him in stuffy rooms, did not develop him physically, and fed him sweets. All this had a bad effect on Mikhail's health. He grew up sickly, capricious and pampered, and later called himself “mimosa.”

Glinka almost spontaneously learned to read after the priest showed him the letters. WITH early age He showed musicality, he himself learned to imitate the ringing of bells on copper basins and sing along to his nanny’s songs. Only at the age of six does he return to his parents, and they begin to raise and educate him. They invite him to a governess who, in addition to general education subjects, taught him to play the piano; later he also masters the violin. At this time, the boy reads a lot, is interested in books about travel, this passion will later turn into a love of changing places, which will possess Glinka all his life. He also draws a little, but music has a main place in his heart. A boy in a serf orchestra learns many works of that time and gets acquainted with musical instruments.

Years of study

Mikhail Glinka did not live in the village for long. When he was 13 years old, his parents took him to the Noble boarding school, which had recently opened in St. Petersburg at the Pedagogical Institute. The boy was not very interested in studying, since he had already mastered most of the program at home. His tutor was the former Decembrist V.K. Kuchelbecker, and his classmate was the brother of A.S. Pushkin, with whom Mikhail first met at this time, and later became friends.

During his boarding years, he became friends with princes Golitsyn, S. Sobolevsky, A. Rimsky-Korsakov, N. Melgunov. During this period, he significantly expanded his musical horizons, became acquainted with opera, attended numerous concerts, and also studied with famous musicians of that time - Boehm and Field. He improves his pianistic technique and receives his first lessons as a composer.

The famous pianist S. Mayer studied with Mikhail in the 20s, teaching him the work of a composer, correcting his first opuses, and giving him the basics of working with an orchestra. At the graduation party of the boarding house, Glinka, together with Mayer, played a concerto by Hummel, publicly demonstrating his skills. Composer Mikhail Glinka graduated from the boarding school second in academic performance in 1822, but did not feel the desire to study further.

First writing experiences

After graduating from boarding school, the composer Glinka was in no hurry to look for service, fortunately his financial situation allowed him to do so. The father did not rush his son to choose a job, but did not think that he would study music all his life. The composer Glinka, for whom music becomes the main thing in life, got the opportunity to go to the waters of the Caucasus to improve his health and abroad. He does not give up his music studies, studies Western European heritage and composes new motives; this becomes a constant internal need for him.

In the 20s, Glinka wrote the famous romances “Don’t tempt me unnecessarily” based on the poems of Baratynsky, “Don’t sing, beauty, in front of me” based on the text by A. Pushkin. His instrumental works also appear: adagio and rondo for orchestra, string septet.

Living in the light

In 1824, the composer M.I. Glinka entered the service and became an assistant secretary in the Office of Railways. But the service did not go well, and in 1828 he resigned. At this time, Glinka acquired a large number of acquaintances, communicated with A. Griboyedov, A. Mitskevich, A. Delvig, V. Odoevsky, V. Zhukovsky. He continues to study music, participates in musical evenings in Demidov’s house, writes many songs and romances, and publishes, together with Pavlishchev, the “Lyrical Album”, which collected works by various authors, including himself.

Overseas experience

Travel was a very important part of Mikhail Glinka's life. He makes his first big foreign voyage after leaving the boarding house.

In 1830, Glinka went to great trip to Italy, which lasted for 4 years. The purpose of the trip was treatment, but it did not bring the desired result, and the musician did not take it seriously, constantly interrupting therapy courses, changing doctors and cities. In Italy he meets K. Bryullov, outstanding composers of that time: Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Bellini, Donizetti. Impressed by these meetings, Glinka writes chamber works on the themes foreign composers. He studies abroad a lot with the best teachers, improves his performing technique, and studies music theory. He is looking for his strong theme in art, and for him this becomes homesickness, which pushes him to write serious works. Glinka creates the “Russian Symphony” and writes variations on Russian songs, which will later be included in other major works.

A great composer's work: operas by M. Glinka

In 1834, Mikhail's father died, he gained financial independence and began writing an opera. While still abroad, Glinka realized that his task was to write in Russian, this became the impetus for the creation of an opera based on national material. At this time, he entered the literary circles of St. Petersburg, where Aksakov, Zhukovsky, Shevyrev, Pogodin visited. Everyone is discussing the Russian opera written by Verstovsky, this example inspires Glinka, and he begins to sketch for an opera based on Zhukovsky’s short story “Maryina Roshcha.” The plan was not destined to be realized, but this became the beginning of work on the opera “Life for the Tsar” based on the plot suggested by Zhukovsky, based on the legend of Ivan Susanin. The great composer Glinka entered the history of music precisely as the author of this work. In it he laid the foundations of the Russian opera school.

The opera premiered on November 27, 1836, and was a tremendous success. Both the public and critics received the work extremely favorably. After this, Glinka is appointed conductor of the Court Choir and becomes a professional musician. Success inspired the composer, and he began work on a new opera based on Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” He wanted a poet to write the libretto, but his untimely death prevented the implementation of these plans. In his composition, Glinka demonstrates mature compositional talent and the highest technique. But “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was received more coolly than the first opera. This upset Glinka very much, and he again got ready to go abroad. The composer's opera heritage is small, but it had decisive influence on the development of the national school of composition, and to this day these works are a striking example of Russian music.

Glinka's symphonic music

The development of the national theme is also reflected in the author’s symphonic music. Composer Glinka creates large number works of an experimental nature, he is obsessed with the search for a new form. In his compositions, our hero shows himself as a romantic and melodist. The works of the composer Glinka develop such genres in Russian music as folk genre, lyric-epic, dramatic. His most significant works are the overtures “Night in Madrid” and “Aragonese Jota”, and the symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya”.

Songs and romances

A portrait of Glinka (composer) would be incomplete without mentioning his songwriting. All his life he wrote romances and songs, which gained incredible popularity during the author’s lifetime. In total, he wrote about 60 vocal works, of which the most notable are: “I Remember a Wonderful Moment”, “Confession”, “A Passing Song” and many others, which are still part of the classical repertoire of vocalists today.

Privacy

In his personal life, composer Glinka was not lucky. He married a sweet girl, Marya Petrovna Ivanova, in 1835, hoping to find a like-minded person in her and loving heart. But very quickly a lot of disagreements appeared between husband and wife. She led a stormy social life, spent a lot of money, so even the income from the estate and payment for Glinka’s musical works was not enough for her. He was forced to take on students. The final break occurs when, in the 1840s, Glinka becomes interested in Katya Kern, the daughter of Pushkin's muse. He files for divorce, at which time it turns out that his wife secretly got married to the cornet Vasilchikov. But the separation drags on for 5 years. During this time, Glinka had to go through a real drama: Kern became pregnant, demanded drastic measures from him, he subsidized her delivery of the child. Gradually, the heat of the relationship faded, and when the divorce was obtained in 1846, Glinka no longer had the desire to marry. He spent the rest of his life alone, addicted to friendly parties and orgies, which had a detrimental effect on his already poor health. On February 15, 1857, Glinka died in Berlin. Later, at the request of his sister, the ashes of the deceased were transported to Russia and buried at the Tikhvin cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Origin

Mikhail Glinka born on May 20 (June 1), 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, on the estate of his father, retired captain Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka. The composer's great-grandfather was a nobleman from the family Glinka coat of arms of Trzaska - Victorin Władysław Glinka(Polish: Wiktoryn Wladyslaw Glinka). After the loss of Smolensk to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1654, V.V. Glinka accepted Russian citizenship and converted to Orthodoxy. The tsarist government retained land holdings and noble privileges for the Smolensk gentry, including the former coats of arms.

Childhood and adolescence

Up to six years Michael was raised by his paternal grandmother Fyokla Alexandrovna, who completely removed his mother from raising her son. He grew up as a nervous, suspicious and sickly child - a “mimosa”, according to his own description Glinka. After the death of Fyokla Alexandrovna, Michael again came under the complete control of his mother, who made every effort to erase traces of her previous upbringing. From ten years old Michael started learning to play the piano and violin. First teacher Glinka there was a governess, Varvara Fedorovna Klammer, invited from St. Petersburg.

In 1817, parents bring Mikhail to St. Petersburg and placed in the Noble boarding school at the Main Pedagogical Institute (in 1819 renamed the Noble boarding house at St. Petersburg University), where his tutor was the poet, Decembrist V. K. Kuchelbecker. Sibling Wilhelm Karlovich Kuchelbecker - Justina (1784-1871) married Grigory Andreevich Glinka(1776-1818), who was a cousin of the composer's father. In St. Petersburg Glinka takes lessons from prominent music teachers, including Karl Zeiner and John Field

In 1822 Mikhail Ivanovich successfully (as the second student) completed a course of study at the Noble boarding school at the Imperial St. Petersburg University. At the boarding house Glinka met A.S. Pushkin, who came there to visit his younger brother Lev, a classmate Mikhail. Their meetings resumed in the summer of 1828 and continued until the poet’s death.

Periodization of life and creativity

1822-1835

Glinka loved music. After finishing the boarding school, he studied intensively: he studied Western European musical classics, participated in home music playing in noble salons, and sometimes led his uncle’s orchestra. At the same time Glinka tries himself as a composer, composing variations for harp or piano on a theme from the opera “The Swiss Family” by the Austrian composer Joseph Weigl. From now on Glinka pays more and more attention to composition and is soon composing an enormous amount, trying his hand at the most different genres. During this period, he wrote well-known romances and songs today: “Don’t tempt me unnecessarily” to the words of E. A. Baratynsky, “Don’t sing, beauty, in front of me” to the words of A. S. Pushkin, “Autumn night, night dear” to the words of A. Ya. Rimsky-Korsakov and others. However, he remains dissatisfied with his work for a long time. Glinka persistently seeks ways to go beyond the forms and genres of everyday music. In 1823 he worked on a string septet, an adagio and rondo for orchestra and two orchestral overtures. During these same years, the circle of acquaintances expanded Mikhail Ivanovich. He meets Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Griboedov, Adam Mitskevich, Anton Delvig, Vladimir Odoevsky, who later became his friend.

Summer of 1823 Glinka made a trip to the Caucasus, visiting Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk. From 1824 to 1828 Michael worked as assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways. In 1829 M. Glinka and N. Pavlishchev published the “Lyrical Album”, where among the works of various authors there were plays Glinka.

At the end of April 1830, the composer went to Italy, stopping along the way in Dresden and making a long journey through Germany, stretching throughout the summer months. Arriving in Italy at the beginning of autumn, Glinka settled in Milan, which at that time was a major center of musical culture. In Italy, he met the outstanding composers V. Bellini and G. Donizetti, studied the vocal style of bel canto (Italian: bel canto) and himself composed a lot in the “Italian spirit”. In his works, a significant part of which are plays on the themes of popular operas, there is nothing left to be studentish; all compositions are executed masterfully. Special attentionGlinka devotes his time to instrumental ensembles, having written two original works: Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass and Pathétique Trio for piano, clarinet and bassoon. In these works the features of the composer's style were especially clearly evident. Glinka.

In July 1833 Glinka went to Berlin, stopping along the way for some time in Vienna. In Berlin Glinka, under the leadership of the German theorist Siegfried Dehn, works in the fields of composition, polyphony, and instrumentation. Having received news of his father's death in 1834, Glinka decided to immediately return to Russia.

Glinka returned with extensive plans for the creation of a Russian national opera. After a long search for a plot for the opera Glinka, on the advice of V. Zhukovsky, settled on the legend about Ivan Susanin. At the end of April 1835 Glinka married Marya Petrovna Ivanova, his distant relative. Soon after this, the newlyweds went to Novospasskoye, where Glinka with great zeal he set about writing the opera.

1836-1844

In 1836, the opera “A Life for the Tsar” was completed, however Mikhail Glinka With great difficulty, we managed to get it accepted for production on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater. This was obstructed with great tenacity by the director of the imperial theaters A. M. Gedeonov, who handed it over to the “director of music”, bandmaster Katerino Kavos, for trial. Kavos gave the work Glinka the most flattering review. The opera was accepted.

The premiere of “A Life for the Tsar” took place on November 27 (December 9), 1836. The success was enormous, the opera was enthusiastically received by society. The next day Glinka wrote to his mother:

“Yesterday evening my wishes were finally fulfilled, and my long labor was crowned with the most brilliant success. The public received my opera with extraordinary enthusiasm, the actors went wild with zeal... the Emperor... thanked me and talked with me for a long time..."

On December 13, A.V. Vsevolzhsky hosted a celebration M. I. Glinka, at which Mikhail Vielgorsky, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Vasily Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin composed the welcoming “Canon in honor of M. I. Glinka" The music belonged to Vladimir Odoevsky.

“Sing in delight, Russian choir
A new product has been released.
Have fun, Rus'! Our Glinka -
It’s not clay, but porcelain!”

Soon after the production of A Life for the Tsar Glinka was appointed conductor of the Court Choir, which he led for two years. Spring and summer 1838 Glinka spent in Ukraine. There he selected singers for the chapel. Among the newcomers was Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky, who later became not only famous singer, but also a composer.

In 1837 Mikhail Glinka, not yet having a ready libretto, began working on a new opera based on the plot of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. The idea of the opera came to the composer during the poet’s lifetime. He hoped to draw up a plan according to his instructions, but the death of Pushkin forced Glinka turn to minor poets and amateurs from among friends and acquaintances. The first performance of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” took place on November 27 (December 9), 1842, exactly six years after the premiere of “Ivan Susanin”. In comparison with "Ivan Susanin", a new opera M. Glinka drew stronger criticism. The most vehement critic of the composer was F. Bulgarin, at that time still a very influential journalist.

These same years saw turbulent relationships Glinka with Katenka Kern, daughter of Pushkin’s muse. In 1840 they met, which quickly developed into love. From a letter from the composer:

“...my gaze involuntarily focused on her: her clear, expressive eyes, unusually slender figure (...) and a special kind of charm and dignity, spilled throughout her entire person, attracted me more and more. (...) I found a way to talk with this sweet girl. (...) He expressed my feelings at that time extremely cleverly. (...) Soon my feelings were completely shared by dear E.K., and meetings with her became more enjoyable. Everything in life is counterpoint, that is, the opposite (...) I felt disgusted at home, but there was so much life and pleasure on the other side: fiery poetic feelings for E.K., which she fully understood and shared..."

Having become the composer's muse at that period of his life, Katenka Kern was a source of inspiration for Glinka. A number of small works he composed in 1839 were dedicated to Catherine Kern, in particular the romance “If I Meet You,” the words of which “...E. K. chose from Koltsov’s works and rewrote it for me. (...) I wrote Waltz-Fantasy for her.”

After the end of 1839 M. I. Glinka left his wife M.P. Ivanova, relations with E. Kern continued to develop rapidly. But soon E. Kern became seriously ill and moved to her mother. In the spring of 1840, the composer constantly visited Catherine and it was then that he wrote the romance “I Remember wonderful moment” to Pushkin’s poems, dedicating it to the daughter of the one to whom the poet addressed these poems.

In 1841, E. Kern became pregnant. The divorce proceedings that began shortly before Glinka with his wife, who was caught in a secret wedding with cornet Nikolai Vasilchikov (1816-1847), the nephew of a major dignitary, gave Catherine the hope of becoming the composer’s wife. Mikhail Ivanovich He was also confident that the matter would be resolved quickly and that he would soon be able to marry Catherine. But the trial took an unexpected turn. And although Glinka I didn’t miss a single court hearing, the case dragged on. Catherine constantly cried and demanded Mikhail Ivanovich decisive action. Glinka he made up his mind and gave her a significant sum for “liberation” from the illegitimate child, although he was very worried about what had happened. To keep everything secret and avoid a scandal in society, the mother took her daughter to Lubny in Ukraine “for climate change.”

In 1842, E. Kern returned to St. Petersburg. Glinka, who had not yet received a divorce from his former wife, often saw her, but as he admits in his notes: “... there was no longer the same poetry and the same passion.” Summer of 1844 Glinka, leaving St. Petersburg, stopped by E. Kern and said goodbye to her. After this, their relationship practically ceased. The much-desired divorce Glinka received only in 1846, but was afraid to tie the knot and lived the rest of his life as a bachelor.

Despite the constant persuasion of her relatives, E. Kern refused marriage for a long time. Only in 1854, having lost hope of returning to her Glinka, E. Kern married lawyer Mikhail Osipovich Shokalsky. In 1856 she gave birth to a son, Yulia, and 10 years later she was widowed, left with a young child with almost no means of subsistence. The desire to give to my son good education, which would provide him with a career, forced her to serve as a governess in rich houses. At home, she herself prepared the boy for admission to the Marine Corps.

A family friend - the son of A. S. Pushkin, Grigory Alexandrovich - helped Ekaterina Ermolaevna in raising her son Yuli (later president of the Soviet Geographical Society). Ekaterina Ermolaevna spent the rest of her life with her son’s family in his apartment on English Avenue in St. Petersburg. Every summer she went to her estate in the Smolensk province, where her favorite pastime was reading fairy tales and poems by Pushkin to children from the surrounding villages, specially gathered for this occasion. “Corvee” ended with the distribution of copper nickels to the little listeners. Your love for Glinka Ekaterina Ermolaevna kept it for the rest of her life, and even when she died in 1904, she remembered the composer with deep feeling.

1844-1857

Having a hard time experiencing criticism of his new opera, Mikhail Ivanovich in mid-1844 he took a new long trip abroad. This time he leaves for France and then to Spain. In Paris Glinka met French composer Hector Berlioz, who became a great admirer of his talent. In the spring of 1845, Berlioz performed works at his concert Glinka: Lezginka from “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and Antonida’s aria from “Ivan Susanin”. The success of these works brought Glinka came up with the idea of giving a charity concert in Paris based on his compositions. April 10, 1845 big concert Russian composer was successfully held in the Hertz Concert Hall on Victory Street in Paris.

May 13, 1845 Glinka went to Spain. There Mikhail Ivanovich studies the culture, customs, and language of the Spanish people, records Spanish folk melodies, observes folk festivals and traditions. The creative result of this trip were two symphonic overtures written on Spanish folk themes. In the autumn of 1845, he created the overture “Aragonese Jota”, and in 1848, upon returning to Russia, “Night in Madrid”.

Summer 1847 Glinka set off on the return journey to his ancestral village of Novospasskoye. Residence Glinka in his native places it was short-lived. Mikhail Ivanovich again went to St. Petersburg, but changed his mind and decided to spend the winter in Smolensk. However, invitations to balls and evenings, which haunted the composer almost daily, drove him to despair and to the decision to leave Russia again, becoming a traveler. But in a foreign passport Glinka They refused, therefore, having reached Warsaw in 1848, he stopped in this city. Here the composer wrote symphonic fantasy“Kamarinskaya” on the themes of two Russian songs: the wedding lyric “Because of the mountains, high mountains” and a lively dance song. In this work Glinka approved new type symphonic music and laid the foundations further development, skillfully creating an unusually bold combination of different rhythms, characters and moods. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky responded to the work Mikhail Glinka: “The entire Russian symphonic school, like an entire oak tree in an acorn, is contained in the symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya.”

In 1851 Glinka returns to St. Petersburg. He makes new friends, mostly young people. Mikhail Ivanovich gave singing lessons, prepared opera parts and chamber repertoire with such singers as N.K. Ivanov, O.A. Petrov, A.Ya. Petrova-Vorobyova, A.P. Lodiy, D.M. Leonova and others. Under direct influence Glinka The Russian vocal school was taking shape. visited M. I. Glinka and A. N. Serov, who in 1852 recorded his “Notes on Instrumentation” (published 4 years later). A. S. Dargomyzhsky often came.

In 1852 Glinka went on a trip again. He planned to get to Spain, but tired of traveling in stagecoaches and railway, stopped in Paris, where he lived for just over two years. In Paris Glinka began work on the symphony “Taras Bulba”, which was never completed. Start Crimean War, in which France opposed Russia, was the event that finally decided the issue of leaving Glinka to my homeland. On the way to Russia Glinka spent two weeks in Berlin.

In May 1854 Glinka arrived in Russia. He spent the summer in Tsarskoe Selo at the dacha, and in August he moved again to St. Petersburg. Also in 1854 Mikhail Ivanovich began writing memoirs, which he called “Notes” (published in 1870).

In 1856 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka leaves for Berlin. There he began studying ancient Russian church chants, the works of old masters, and choral works by the Italian Palestrina and Johann Sebastian Bach. Glinka the first of the secular composers began to compose and arrange church melodies in the Russian style. An unexpected illness interrupted these activities.

Glinka's grave

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka died on February 15, 1857 in Berlin and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery. In May of the same year, at the insistence of his younger sister M. I. Glinka Lyudmila (who, after the death of their mother and two of her children from the early 1850s, devoted herself entirely to caring for her brother, and after his death did everything to publish his works), the composer’s ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and reburied at the Tikhvin cemetery.

During the transportation of ashes Glinka from Berlin to Russia, “PORCELAIN” was written on his cardboard-wrapped coffin. This is very symbolic, if you remember the canon composed by friends Glinka after the premiere of “Ivan Susanin”. At the grave Glinka A monument was erected, created according to the sketch of I. I. Gornostaev.

In Berlin, in the Russian Orthodox cemetery, there is a memorial monument that includes a tombstone from the original burial site Glinka at the Lutheran Trinity Cemetery, as well as a monument in the form of a column with a bust of the composer, built in 1947 by the Military Commandant's Office of the Soviet sector of Berlin.

Memory of Glinka

First monument Glinka was delivered in 1885-87. in the Smolensk Blonier Garden with funds raised by subscription. Pre-revolutionary monument Glinka also preserved in Kyiv. From 1884 to 1917 V Russian Empire Glinkin Prizes were awarded. At the end of Stalin’s rule, two biographical films were shot at Mosfilm - “ Glinka"(1946) and "Composer Glinka"(1952). On the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, his name was given to the State Academic Chapel. At the end of May 1982, a House Museum was opened in the composer’s native estate, Novospasskoye. M. I. Glinka.

Major works

Operas

“Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”) (1836)
"Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1837-1842)

Symphonic works

Symphony on two Russian themes (1834, completed and orchestrated by Vissarion Shebalin)
Music for the tragedy of Nestor Kukolnik “Prince Kholmsky” (1842)
Spanish Overture No. 1 “Brilliant Capriccio on the Theme of the Aragonese Jota” (1845)
"Kamarinskaya", fantasy on two Russian themes (1848)
Spanish Overture No. 2 "Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid" (1851)
“Waltz-Fantasy” (1839 - for piano, 1856 - extended version for symphony orchestra)

Chamber instrumental compositions

Sonata for viola and piano (unfinished; 1828, revised by Vadim Borisovsky in 1932)
Brilliant divertissement on themes from Vincenzo Bellini's opera La Sonnambula for piano quintet and double bass
Rondo brilliantly on a theme from Vincenzo Bellini's opera "Capulets and Montagues" (1831)
Grand Sextet in Es major for piano and string quintet (1832)
“Trio Pathétique” in d-moll for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1832)

Romances and songs

"Venetian Night" (1832)
Patriotic song (was the official anthem Russian Federation from 1991 to 2000)
"Here I Am, Inesilla" (1834)
"Night View" (1836)
"Doubt" (1838)
"Night Zephyr" (1838)
“The fire of desire burns in the blood” (1839)
wedding song “The Wonderful Tower Is Standing” (1839)
vocal cycle “Farewell to St. Petersburg” (1840)
"A Passing Song" (1840)
"Confession" (1840)
"Do I Hear Thy Voice" (1848)
“The Healthy Cup” (1848)
"Margarita's Song" from Goethe's tragedy "Faust" (1848)
"Mary" (1849)
"Adele" (1849)
"Gulf of Finland" (1850)
“Prayer” (“In a difficult moment of life”) (1855)
"Don't Say It Hurts Your Heart" (1856)
“I remember a wonderful moment” (to a poem by Pushkin)
"Lark"

Children's and teenage years

Creative years

Major works

Anthem of the Russian Federation

Addresses in St. Petersburg

(May 20 (June 1) 1804 - February 3 (15), 1857) - composer, traditionally considered one of the founders of Russian classical music. Glinka's works had a strong influence on subsequent generations of composers, including members of the New Russian School, who developed his ideas in their music.

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Mikhail Glinka was born on May 20 (June 1, New Art.) 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, on the estate of his father, retired captain Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka. Until the age of six, he was raised by his paternal grandmother Fyokla Alexandrovna, who completely removed Mikhail’s mother from raising her son. Mikhail grew up as a nervous, suspicious and sickly gentleman - a “mimosa”, according to Glinka’s own description. After the death of Fyokla Alexandrovna, Mikhail again came under the complete control of his mother, who made every effort to erase traces of her previous upbringing. At the age of ten, Mikhail began learning to play the piano and violin. Glinka’s first teacher was governess Varvara Fedorovna Klammer, invited from St. Petersburg.

In 1817, Mikhail’s parents brought him to St. Petersburg and placed him in the Noble boarding school at the Main Pedagogical Institute (in 1819 renamed the Noble boarding house at St. Petersburg University), where his tutor was the poet, Decembrist V. K. Kuchelbecker. In St. Petersburg, Glinka takes lessons from major musicians, including the Irish pianist and composer John Field. At the boarding house, Glinka meets A.S. Pushkin, who came there to visit his younger brother Lev, Mikhail’s classmate. Their meetings resumed in the summer of 1828 and continued until the poet’s death.

Creative years

1822-1835

After graduating from boarding school in 1822, Mikhail Glinka intensively studied music: he studied Western European musical classics, participated in home music playing in noble salons, and sometimes led his uncle’s orchestra. At the same time, Glinka tried herself as a composer, composing variations for harp or piano on a theme from the opera “The Swiss Family” by the Austrian composer Joseph Weigl. From that moment on, Glinka paid more and more attention to composition and soon she was composing an enormous amount, trying her hand at a variety of genres. During this period, he wrote well-known romances and songs today: “Don’t tempt me unnecessarily” to the words of E. A. Baratynsky, “Don’t sing, beauty, in front of me” to the words of A. S. Pushkin, “Autumn night, night dear” to the words of A. Ya. Rimsky-Korsakov and others. However, he remains dissatisfied with his work for a long time. Glinka persistently seeks ways to go beyond the forms and genres of everyday music. In 1823 he worked on a string septet, an adagio and rondo for orchestra and two orchestral overtures. During these same years, Mikhail Ivanovich’s circle of acquaintances expanded. He meets Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Griboedov, Adam Mitskevich, Anton Delvig, Vladimir Odoevsky, who later became his friend.

In the summer of 1823, Glinka made a trip to the Caucasus, visiting Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk. From 1824 to 1828, Mikhail worked as assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways. In 1829, M. Glinka and N. Pavlishchev published the “Lyrical Album,” where among the works of various authors there were also Glinka’s plays.

At the end of April 1830, the composer went to Italy, stopping along the way in Dresden and making a long journey through Germany, stretching throughout the summer months. Arriving in Italy in early autumn, Glinka settled in Milan, which at that time was a major center of musical culture. In Italy, he met the outstanding composers V. Bellini and G. Donizetti, studied the vocal style of bel canto (Italian. bel canto) and he himself composes a lot in the “Italian spirit”. In his works, a significant part of which are plays on the themes of popular operas, there is nothing left to be studentish; all compositions are executed masterfully. Glinka pays special attention to instrumental ensembles, writing two original works: Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass and Pathetique Trio for piano, clarinet and bassoon. In these works, the features of Glinka’s composer’s style were especially clearly evident.

In July 1833, Glinka went to Berlin, stopping for some time in Vienna along the way. In Berlin, Glinka, under the guidance of the German theorist Siegfried Dehn, worked in the fields of composition, polyphony, and instrumentation. Having received news of his father's death in 1834, Glinka decided to immediately return to Russia.

Glinka returned with extensive plans for the creation of a Russian national opera. After a long search for a plot for the opera, Glinka, on the advice of V. Zhukovsky, settled on the legend of Ivan Susanin. At the end of April 1835, Glinka married Marya Petrovna Ivanova, his distant relative. Soon after this, the newlyweds went to Novospasskoye, where Glinka began writing an opera with great zeal.

1836-1844

In 1836, the opera “A Life for the Tsar” was completed, but Mikhail Glinka managed with great difficulty to get it accepted for production on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater. This was obstructed with great tenacity by the director of the imperial theaters A. M. Gedeonov, who handed it over to the “director of music”, bandmaster Katerino Kavos, for trial. Kavos gave Glinka’s work the most flattering review. The opera was accepted.

The premiere of “A Life for the Tsar” took place on November 27 (December 9), 1836. The success was enormous, the opera was enthusiastically received by the leading part of society. The next day Glinka wrote to his mother:

On December 13, A. V. Vsevolzhsky hosted a celebration of M. I. Glinka, at which Mikhail Vielgorsky, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Vasily Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin composed a welcoming “Canon in honor of M. I. Glinka.” The music belonged to Vladimir Odoevsky.

Soon after the production of A Life for the Tsar, Glinka was appointed conductor of the Court Singing Chapel, which he led for two years. Glinka spent the spring and summer of 1838 in Ukraine. There he selected singers for the chapel. Among the newcomers was Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky, who later became not only a famous singer, but also a composer.

In 1837, Mikhail Glinka, not yet having a finished libretto, began working on a new opera based on the plot of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. The idea of the opera came to the composer during the poet’s lifetime. He hoped to draw up a plan according to his instructions, but the death of Pushkin forced Glinka to turn to minor poets and amateurs from among his friends and acquaintances. The first performance of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” took place on November 27 (December 9), 1842, exactly six years after the premiere of “Ivan Susanin”. Compared to “Ivan Susanin,” M. Glinka’s new opera aroused stronger criticism. The most vehement critic of the composer was F. Bulgarin, at that time still a very influential journalist.

1844-1857

Hardly experiencing criticism of his new opera, Mikhail Ivanovich in mid-1844 undertook a new long trip abroad. This time he leaves for France and then to Spain. In Paris, Glinka met the French composer Hector Berlioz, who became a great admirer of his talent. In the spring of 1845, Berlioz performed works by Glinka at his concert: a Lezginka from “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and Antonida’s aria from “Ivan Susanin”. The success of these works gave Glinka the idea of giving a charity concert of his compositions in Paris. On April 10, 1845, a large concert by the Russian composer was successfully held in the Hertz Concert Hall on Victory Street in Paris.

On May 13, 1845, Glinka went to Spain. There, Mikhail Ivanovich studies the culture, customs, and language of the Spanish people, records Spanish folklore melodies, observes folk festivals and traditions. The creative result of this trip were two symphonic overtures written on Spanish folk themes. In the autumn of 1845, he created the overture “Aragonese Jota”, and in 1848, upon returning to Russia, “Night in Madrid”.

In the summer of 1847, Glinka set off on his way back to his ancestral village of Novospasskoye. Glinka's stay in his native place was short-lived. Mikhail Ivanovich again went to St. Petersburg, but changed his mind and decided to spend the winter in Smolensk. However, invitations to balls and evenings, which haunted the composer almost daily, drove him to despair and to the decision to leave Russia again, becoming a traveler. But Glinka was denied a foreign passport, so, having reached Warsaw in 1848, he stopped in this city. Here the composer wrote a symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya” on the themes of two Russian songs: the wedding lyric “Because of the Mountains, High Mountains” and a lively dance song. In this work, Glinka established a new type of symphonic music and laid the foundations for its further development, skillfully creating an unusually bold combination of different rhythms, characters and moods. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky spoke about the work of Mikhail Glinka:

In 1851, Glinka returned to St. Petersburg. He makes new friends, mostly young people. Mikhail Ivanovich gave singing lessons, prepared opera parts and chamber repertoire with such singers as N. K. Ivanov, O. A. Petrov, A. Ya. Petrova-Vorobyova, A. P. Lodiy, D. M. Leonova and others. The Russian vocal school took shape under the direct influence of Glinka. He visited M.I. Glinka and A.N. Serov, who in 1852 wrote down his “Notes on Instrumentation” (published in 1856). A. S. Dargomyzhsky often came.

In 1852, Glinka went on a journey again. He planned to get to Spain, but tired of traveling by stagecoach and by rail, he stopped in Paris, where he lived for just over two years. In Paris, Glinka began work on the Taras Bulba symphony, which was never completed. The beginning of the Crimean War, in which France opposed Russia, was the event that finally decided the issue of Glinka’s departure to his homeland. On his way to Russia, Glinka spent two weeks in Berlin.

In May 1854, Glinka arrived in Russia. He spent the summer in Tsarskoe Selo at the dacha, and in August he moved again to St. Petersburg. In the same 1854, Mikhail Ivanovich began writing memoirs, which he called “Notes” (published in 1870).

In 1856, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka left for Berlin. There he began studying ancient Russian church chants, the works of old masters, and choral works by the Italian Palestrina and Johann Sebastian Bach. Glinka was the first secular composer to compose and arrange church melodies in the Russian style. An unexpected illness interrupted these activities.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka died on February 16, 1857 in Berlin and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery. In May of the same year, at the insistence of M.I. Glinka’s younger sister Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova, the composer’s ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and reburied at the Tikhvin Cemetery. At the grave there is a monument created by the architect A. M. Gornostaev. Currently, the slab from Glinka's grave in Berlin is lost. At the site of the grave in 1947, the Military Commandant's Office of the Soviet sector of Berlin erected a monument to the composer.

Memory

At the end of May 1982, the M. I. Glinka House Museum was opened in the composer’s native estate Novospasskoye

Monuments to M. I. Glinka:

in Smolensk, created with public funds collected by subscription, opened in 1885 on the eastern side of the Blonie Garden; sculptor A. R. von Bock. In 1887, the monument was completed compositionally with the installation of an openwork cast fence, the design of which was composed of musical lines - excerpts from 24 works of the composer
in St. Petersburg, built on the initiative of the City Duma, opened in 1899 in the Alexander Garden, near the fountain in front of the Admiralty; sculptor V. M. Pashchenko, architect A. S. Lytkin
In Veliky Novgorod on the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” among 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history (as of 1862) there is the figure of M. I. Glinka

in St. Petersburg was built on the initiative of the Imperial Russian musical society, opened on February 3, 1906 in the park near the Conservatory (Teatralnaya Square); sculptor R. R. Bach, architect A. R. Bach. Monument of monumental art of Federal significance.
opened in Kyiv on December 21, 1910 ( Main article: Monument to M. I. Glinka in Kyiv)

Films about M. I. Glinka:

In 1946, Mosfilm produced a feature biographical film “Glinka” about the life and work of Mikhail Ivanovich (played by Boris Chirkov).
In 1952, Mosfilm released the feature biographical film “Composer Glinka” (played by Boris Smirnov).
In 2004, for the 200th anniversary of his birth, a documentary film was made about the life and work of the composer “Mikhail Glinka. Doubts and passions..."

Mikhail Glinka in philately and numismatics:

The following were named in honor of M. I. Glinka:

State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg (in 1954).
Moscow Museum of Musical Culture (in 1954).
Novosibirsk State Conservatory (Academy) (in 1956).
Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory (in 1957).
Magnitogorsk State Conservatory.
Minsk Music College
Chelyabinsk academic theater opera and ballet.
St. Petersburg Choral School (in 1954).
Dnepropetrovsk Music Conservatory named after. Glinka (Ukraine).
Concert hall in Zaporozhye.
State String Quartet.
Streets of many cities in Russia, as well as cities in Ukraine and Belarus. Street in Berlin.
In 1973, astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh named the minor planet she discovered in honor of the composer - 2205 Glinka.
Crater on Mercury.

Major works

Operas

"Life for the Tsar" (1836)
"Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1837-1842)

Symphonic works

Symphony on two Russian themes (1834, completed and orchestrated by Vissarion Shebalin)
Music for the tragedy of N. V. Kukolnik “Prince Kholmsky” (1842)
Spanish Overture No. 1 “Brilliant Capriccio on the Theme of the Aragonese Jota” (1845)
"Kamarinskaya", fantasy on two Russian themes (1848)
Spanish Overture No. 2 "Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid" (1851)
“Waltz-Fantasy” (1839 - for piano, 1856 - extended version for symphony orchestra)

Chamber instrumental compositions

Sonata for viola and piano (unfinished; 1828, revised by Vadim Borisovsky in 1932)
Brilliant divertissement on themes from Bellini's opera La Sonnambula for piano quintet and double bass
Grand Sextet in Es major for piano and string quintet (1832)
“Trio Pathétique” in d-moll for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1832)

Romances and songs

"Venetian Night" (1832)
"Here I Am, Inesilla" (1834)
"Night View" (1836)
"Doubt" (1838)
"Night Zephyr" (1838)
“The fire of desire burns in the blood” (1839)
wedding song “The Wonderful Tower Is Standing” (1839)
vocal cycle "Farewell to Petersburg" (1840)
"A Passing Song" (1840)
"Confession" (1840)
"Do I Hear Thy Voice" (1848)
“The Healthy Cup” (1848)
"Margarita's Song" from Goethe's tragedy "Faust" (1848)
"Mary" (1849)
"Adele" (1849)
"Gulf of Finland" (1850)
“Prayer” (“In a difficult moment of life”) (1855)
"Don't Say It Hurts Your Heart" (1856)

Anthem of the Russian Federation

The patriotic song of Mikhail Glinka was the official anthem of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 2000.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

February 2, 1818 - end of June 1820 - Noble boarding school at the Main Pedagogical Institute - Fontanka River embankment, 164;
August 1820 - July 3, 1822 - Noble boarding school at St. Petersburg University - Ivanovskaya street, 7;
summer 1824 - end of summer 1825 - Faleev's house - Kanonerskaya street, 2;
May 12, 1828 - September 1829 - Barbazan's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 49;
end of winter 1836 - spring 1837 - Mertz's house - Glukhoy lane, 8, apt. 1;
spring 1837 - November 6, 1839 - Capella house - Moika River embankment, 20;
November 6, 1839 - end of December 1839 - officer barracks of the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment - embankment of the Fontanka River, 120;
September 16, 1840 - February 1841 - Mertz's house - Glukhoy Lane, 8, apt. 1;
June 1, 1841 - February 1842 - Schuppe house - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya Street, 16;
mid-November 1848 - May 9, 1849 - house of the School for the Deaf and Dumb - embankment of the Moika River, 54;
October - November 1851 - apartment building Melikhova - Mokhovaya street, 26;
December 1, 1851 - May 23, 1852 - Zhukov's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 49;
August 25, 1854 - April 27, 1856 - apartment building of E. Tomilova - Ertelev Lane, 7.

If Russian science began with Mikhail Lomonosov, poetry - with Alexander Pushkin, then Russian music - with Mikhail Glinka. It was his work that became the starting point and example for all subsequent Russian composers. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka - for our domestic musical culture this is not only an outstanding, but a very significant creative personality, since, based on traditions folk art and relying on the achievements of European music, he completed the formation of the Russian school of composition. Glinka, who became Russia's first classical composer, left a small but impressive creative legacy. In their imbued with patriotism wonderful works, the maestro so sang the triumph of goodness and justice that even today people continue to admire them and discover new perfections in them.

A short biography of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and many interesting facts Read about the composer on our page.

Brief biography

In the early morning of May 20, 1804, according to family legend, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born to the trill of a nightingale. His small homeland was his parents' estate in the village of Novospasskoye in the Smolensk region. There he received his first musical impressions, and primary education- the St. Petersburg governess taught him to play the piano, violin and Italian songs. According to Glinka’s biography, in 1817 young Misha entered the capital’s Noble boarding school, where V. Kuchelbecker became his mentor. It was there that he met A.S. Pushkin, who often visited his younger brother. They maintained good relations until the death of the poet. In St. Petersburg, Mikhail Ivanovich began to study music with even greater zeal. However, at the insistence of his father, after graduating from boarding school, he entered the public service.

Since 1828, Glinka devoted himself entirely to composing. In 1830-33, while traveling around Europe, he met his great contemporaries - Bellini, Donizetti and Mendelssohn , studies music theory in Berlin, significantly expanding his compositional activities. In 1835, Glinka married young Maria Petrovna Ivanova in the Church of the Engineering Castle. It was a whirlwind romance; the young couple met by chance just six months earlier at a relative’s house. And the very next year the premiere of his debut opera “ Life for the Tsar ", after which he was offered a position in the Imperial Court Chapel.

Success and recognition began to accompany him in his work, but family life failed. Just a few years after his marriage, another woman appeared in his life - Ekaterina Kern. Ironically, the daughter of Pushkin's muse Anna Kern became the composer's muse. Glinka left his wife, and a few years later began divorce proceedings. Maria Glinka also did not experience heartfelt affection for her husband and, while still married, secretly got married to someone else. The divorce dragged on for several years, during which the relationship with Kern also ended. Mikhail Ivanovich never married again, and he also had no children.

After the failure " Ruslana and Lyudmila “The musician moved away from Russian public life and began to travel a lot, living in Spain, France, Poland, and Germany. On his rare visits to St. Petersburg, he taught vocals opera singers. At the end of his life he wrote the autobiographical “Notes”. He died suddenly on February 15, 1857 from pneumonia a few days after the Berlin performance of excerpts from “A Life for the Tsar.” Three months later, through the efforts of his sister, his ashes were transported to St. Petersburg.

Interesting facts

M.I. Glinka is considered to be the father of Russian opera. This is partly true - it was he who became the founder national direction in world opera art, created techniques of typically Russian opera singing. But to say that “A Life for the Tsar” is the first Russian opera would be wrong. History has preserved little evidence about the life and work of the court composer of Catherine II V.A. Pashkevich, but his comic operas are known, which were performed on the capital’s stages in the last third of the 18th century: “Misfortune from the Coach”, “The Miser” and others. He wrote two operas based on a libretto by the empress herself. Three operas for the Russian court were created by D.S. Bortnyansky (1786-1787). E.I. Fomin wrote several operas at the end of the 18th century, including those based on the libretto of Catherine II and I.A. Krylova. Operas and vaudeville operas also came from the pen of the Moscow composer A.N. Verstovsky.
K. Kavos’s opera “Ivan Susanin” was performed in theaters for 20 years along with “A Life for the Tsar”. After the revolution, Glinka's masterpiece was consigned to oblivion, but in 1939, on the wave of pre-war sentiment, the opera again entered the repertoire of the country's largest theaters. For ideological reasons, the libretto was radically revised, and the work itself received the name of its predecessor, which had sunk into oblivion - “Ivan Susanin”. In its original version, the opera saw the stage again only in 1989.
The role of Susanin became a turning point in the career of F.I. Shalyapin. As a 22-year-old boy, he performed Susanin’s aria at an audition at the Mariinsky Theater. The very next day, February 1, 1895, the singer was enrolled in the troupe.
“Ruslan and Lyudmila” is an opera that broke the idea of traditional vocal voices. Thus, the part of the young knight Ruslan was written not for a heroic tenor, as the Italian opera model would require, but for a bass or low baritone. Tenor parts presented good wizard Finn and the storyteller Bayan. Lyudmila is the part for the coloratura soprano, while Gorislava is the part for the lyric soprano. It is amazing that the role of Prince Ratmir is female, he is sung by a contralto. The witch Naina is a comic mezzo-soprano, and her protégé Farlaf is a bass buffo. Lyudmila’s father, Prince Svetozar, sings in the heroic bass voice, which in “A Life for the Tsar” is given the role of Susanin.

According to one version, the only reason for the negative criticism of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was the demonstrative departure of Nicholas I from the premiere - official publications had to justify this fact by some shortcomings in the creative part of the opera. It is possible that the emperor’s action is explained by too obvious allusions to the real events that led to A.S.’s duel. Pushkin, in particular, suspicions about his wife’s connection with Nikolai.
The role of Ivan Susanin marked the beginning of a series of great bass roles in the Russian operatic repertoire, including such powerful figures as Boris Godunov, Dositheus and Ivan Khovansky, Prince Galitsky and Khan Konchak, Ivan the Terrible and Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. These roles were performed by truly outstanding singers. O.A. Petrov is the first Susanin and Ruslana, and thirty years later - Varlaam in “Boris Godunov”. The director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater accidentally heard his unique voice at a fair in Kursk. The next generation of basses was represented by F.I. Stravinsky, father famous composer, who served at the Mariinsky Theater. Then - F.I. Chaliapin, who began his career in the private opera of S. Mamontov and grew into a world opera star. IN Soviet era M.O. shone in these games. Reisen, E.E. Nesterenko, A.F. Vedernikov, B.T. Shtokolov.
Mikhail Ivanovich himself had a beautiful voice, high tenor, and performed his romances to the piano.
“Notes” by M.I. Glinka became the first composer's memoirs.

The composer, who looks impressive on monumental monuments, was in fact short in stature, which is why he walked with his head thrown up to appear taller.
During his life, Glinka suffered from various ailments. They were partly due to my grandmother’s upbringing in early years, when he was pretty much wrapped up and was not allowed outside for many months. Partly because the parents were each other’s second cousins, and all the boys in the family were in poor health. Descriptions of his own illnesses and their treatment are given a considerable place in his “Notes”.
The musician had 10 younger brothers and sisters, but only three survived him - sisters Maria, Lyudmila and Olga.

Glinka admitted that he preferred female company to male company, since the ladies liked his musical talents. He was amorous and addicted. His mother was even afraid to let him go to Spain, because of the hot tempers of local jealous husbands.
For a long time, it was customary to portray the composer’s wife as a narrow-minded woman who did not understand music and loved only secular entertainment. Did this image correspond to reality? Maria Petrovna was a woman of a practical nature, which probably did not live up to the romantic expectations of her husband. In addition, at the time of the wedding she was only 17 years old (Glinka was 30); she had just entered the period of social outings, balls and holidays. Should she be punished for the fact that she was carried away by her outfits and her beauty more than by her husband’s creative projects?
Glinka’s second love, Ekaterina Kern, was the complete opposite of his wife - an ugly, pale, but sensitive intellectual who understands art. Probably, it was in her that the composer saw those traits that he tried in vain to find in Maria Petrovna.
Karl Bryullov drew many caricatures of Glinka, which hurt the composer’s pride.

From Glinka’s biography we know that the composer was so attached to his mother Evgenia Andreevna that throughout his life he wrote to her every week. After reading the news of her death, his hand became paralyzed. He was neither at her funeral nor at her grave, because he believed that without his mother, trips to Novospasskoye had lost all meaning.
The composer who created the opera about the fight against the Polish invaders has Polish roots. His ancestors settled near Smolensk when it belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the lands were returned to power Russian state, many Poles converted to Orthodoxy and swore allegiance to the tsar in order to remain living on their land.
Mikhail Ivanovich was very fond of songbirds and kept about 20 at his home, where an entire room was set aside for them.
Glinka wrote the “Patriotic Song” in the hope that it would become the new Russian anthem. And so it happened, but not in 1833, when they chose “God Save the Tsar!” A.F. Lvov, and in 1991. For 9 years, while the “Patriotic Song” was a national symbol, words were never written to it. It is also for this reason that in 2000 the anthem of Russia again became the music of the USSR National Anthem by A.B. Alexandrova.
The Bolshoi Theater opened after reconstruction in 2011 with the premiere of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” directed by D. Chernyakov.
The Mariinsky Theater is the only one in the world where both operas by the composer are performed in the current repertoire.

Creation

Mikhail Glinka is equally famous for his operas and romances. It was with chamber music that his composing career began. In 1825 he wrote the romance “Do Not Tempt”. As rarely happens, one of his first creations turned out to be immortal. In the 1830s, instrumental works based on the opera music of V. Bellini, Sonata for viola and piano, Grand Sextet for piano and string quintet, and “Pathetique Trio” were created. During the same period, Glinka wrote his only symphony, which he never finished.

Traveling around Europe, Glinka became more and more entrenched in the idea that the work of a Russian composer should be based on the primordial folk culture. He began to look for a plot for an opera. The topic of Ivan Susanin’s feat was suggested to him by V.A. Zhukovsky, who took a direct part in creating the text of the work. The libretto was written by E.F. Rosen. The event structure was completely proposed by the composer, since the poems were composed to ready-made music. Melodically, the opera is built on the opposition of two themes - Russian with its flowing melodiousness and Polish with its rhythmic, loud mazurka and krakowiak. The apotheosis was the chorus “Glory” - a solemn episode that has no analogues. "Life for the Tsar" was presented in Bolshoi Theater St. Petersburg November 27, 1836. It is noteworthy that the production was directed and conducted by K. Kavos, who 20 years earlier created his own “Ivan Susanin” based on the material folk art. The public's opinion was divided - some were shocked by the simple "peasant" theme, others considered the music too academic and difficult to understand. Emperor Nicholas I reacted favorably to the premiere and personally thanked its author. Moreover, earlier he himself proposed the title of the opera, previously called “Death for the Tsar.”

Even during the life of A.S. Pushkin Glinka planned to transfer the poem to the musical stage "Ruslan and Lyudmila". However, this work began only in the mournful year of the death of the great poet. The composer had to attract several librettists. The writing took five years. The opera has a completely different semantic emphasis - the plot has become more epic and philosophical, but somewhat devoid of irony and Pushkin's signature humor. As the action progresses, the characters develop and experience deep feelings. The premiere of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” took place at the capital’s Bolshoi Theater on November 27, 1842 – exactly 6 years after “A Life for the Tsar.” But the similarities between the two premieres end at the date. The opera received a mixed reception, including due to unsuccessful replacements in the artistic composition. The imperial family defiantly left the hall right during the last action. It was truly a scandalous incident! The third performance put everything in its place, and the audience gave Glinka’s new creation a warm welcome. What the criticism didn't do. The composer was accused of loose dramaturgy, lack of staging and lengthiness of the opera. For these reasons, they almost immediately began to cut it and remake it - often unsuccessfully.

Simultaneously with his work on “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” Glinka wrote romances and the vocal cycle “ Farewell to St. Petersburg», "Waltz-Fantasy". Two appeared abroad Spanish overtures And "Kamarinskaya" . The first ever concert of Russian music, consisting of his works, was triumphantly held in Paris. In recent years, the composer has been full of ideas. In his fateful year, he was inspired to end up in Berlin not only by the performance of “A Life for the Tsar,” but also by classes with the famous music theorist Z. Dehn. Despite his age and experience, he did not stop learning, wanting to keep up with the trends of the time - he was in brilliant creative form G. Verdi , gaining strength R. Wagner . Russian music declared itself on European stages, and it was necessary to promote it further.

Unfortunately, Glinka's plans were interrupted by fate. But thanks to his work, Russian music received significant development, many generations of talented composers appeared in the country, and the beginning of the Russian music school was laid.

M.I. Glinka is little known abroad, so his music is used mainly by domestic cinema. The most famous films:

“Russian Ark” (dir. A. Sokurov, 2002);
“The Orphan of Kazan” (dir. V. Mashkov, 1997);
“Big Change” (dir. A. Korenev, 1972).

Two films based on Glinka’s biography were released in 1940-50. The first of them, “Glinka,” was created in 1946 by director Lev Arnshtam, with Boris Chirkov in the title role. The image of the composer is lively and authentic, a lot of attention is paid to his personality and private life. It is noteworthy that the second most important character in the picture is the serf Ulyanich (in this role V.V. Merkuryev), whose prototype was Uncle Ilya, who accompanied Mikhail Ivanovich for many years. The 1952 film “The Composer Glinka,” directed by G. Alexandrov with Boris Smirnov in the title role, covers a narrower period of the musician’s life, dating back to the time of the creation of his two operas. The picture did not escape the influence of time when depicting the events of pre-revolutionary history. One of her last roles, the composer’s sister, was played here by L. Orlova.

As often happens with geniuses, the meaning Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka for Russian art it became obvious only after his death. The composer left a musical legacy that was small in number but impressive in scope, innovation and melody. His operas are infrequent guests on the stage, primarily because their production requires scale and high-quality diverse voices, which only largest theaters. At the same time, it is impossible to imagine a vocal evening of romances without his compositions. Streets are named after him educational institutions, his memory is immortalized both at home and abroad. This suggests that Glinka received exactly the fame he dreamed of - popular recognition and love.

Video: watch a film about Glinka