Caricature of the Mighty Handful (pastel pencil, 1871). From left to right are depicted: Ts. A. Cui in the form of a fox wagging its tail, M. A. Balakirev in the form of a bear, V. V. Stasov (on his right shoulder in the form of Mephistopheles the sculptor M. M. Antokolsky, on the trumpet in the form of a monkey V. A. Hartman), N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (in the form of a crab) with the Purgold sisters (in the form of domestic dogs), M. P. Mussorgsky (in the form of a rooster); A. P. Borodin is depicted behind Rimsky-Korsakov, and A. N. Serov is throwing angry Peruns from the clouds at the top right.
"The Mighty Handful" (Balakirevsky circle, New Russian Music School listen)) - a creative community of Russian composers that formed in St. Petersburg in the late 1850s and early 1860s. It included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) . The ideological inspirer and main non-musical consultant of the circle was the art critic, writer and archivist Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (1824-1906).
The name “Mighty Handful” first appears in Stasov’s article “Slavic Concert of Mr. Balakirev” (): “How much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small but already mighty group of Russian musicians have.” The name “New Russian Music School” was put forward by the members of the circle themselves, who considered themselves heirs of M. I. Glinka and saw their goal in the embodiment of Russian national idea in music.
The “Mighty Handful” group arose against the backdrop of revolutionary ferment that by that time had gripped the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. Riots and uprisings of peasants became the main social events of that time, returning artists to the popular theme. In implementing the national aesthetic principles proclaimed by the ideologists of the commonwealth Stasov and Balakirev, M. P. Mussorgsky was the most consistent, and Ts. A. Cui was the least consistent. The members of the “Mighty Handful” systematically recorded and studied samples of Russian musical folklore and Russian church singing. They embodied the results of their research in one form or another in works of the chamber and large genres, especially in operas, including “The Tsar’s Bride”, “Snow Maiden”, “Khovanshchina”, “Boris Godunov”, “Prince Igor”. The intensive search for national identity in the “Mighty Handful” was not limited to arrangements of folklore and liturgical singing, but also extended to dramaturgy, genre (and form), even individual categories musical language (harmony, rhythm, texture, etc.).
Initially, the circle included Balakirev and Stasov, who were keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. With their ideas they inspired and young composer Cui, and later Mussorgsky joined them, leaving the rank of officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment to study music. In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.
In the 70s, the “Mighty Handful” ceased to exist as a cohesive group. The activities of the “Mighty Handful” became an era in the development of Russian and world musical art.
Sequel to "The Mighty Handful"
With the cessation of regular meetings of five Russian composers, the growth, development and living history of the “Mighty Handful” was by no means completed. The center of Kuchkist activity and ideology mainly thanks to pedagogical activity Rimsky-Korsakov moved to the classes of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and also, starting in the mid-s, to the “Belyaev circle”, where Rimsky-Korsakov was the recognized head and leader for almost 20 years, and then, with the beginning of the 20th century, he divided his leadership as part of the “triumvirate” with A.K. Lyadov, A.K. Glazunov and a little later (from May 1907) N.V. Artsybushev. Thus, minus Balakirev’s radicalism, the “Belyaev circle” became a natural continuation of the “Mighty Handful”. Rimsky-Korsakov himself recalled this in a very definite way:
“Can the Belyaev circle be considered a continuation of Balakirev’s? Was there a certain amount of similarity between both, and what was the difference, besides the change in its personnel over time? The similarity, which indicated that Belyaev’s circle is a continuation of Balakirev’s, except for the connecting links in the person of me and Lyadov, lay in the common advancedness and progressiveness of both; but Balakirev’s circle corresponded to the period of storm and stress in the development of Russian music, and Belyaev’s circle corresponded to the period of calm march forward; Balakirevsky was revolutionary, Belyaevsky was progressive...”
- (N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Chronicle of my musical life»)
Among the members of the Belyaev circle, Rimsky-Korsakov separately names himself (as the new head of the circle instead of Balakirev), Borodin (in the short time that remained before his death) and Lyadov as “connecting links”. Since the second half of the 80s, musicians as diverse in talent and specialty as Glazunov, brothers F. M. Blumenfeld and S. M. Blumenfeld, conductor O. I. Dyutsh and pianist N. S. have appeared in Belyaev’s “Mighty Handful”. Lavrov. A little later, as they graduated from the conservatory, the number of Belyaev students included such composers as N. A. Sokolov, K. A. Antipov, Y. Vitol and so on, including a large number of later graduates of Rimsky-Korsakov in the composition class. In addition, the “venerable Stasov” always maintained good and close relations with the Belyaev circle, although his influence was “no longer the same” as in Balakirev’s circle. New line-up The circle (and its more moderate head) also determined the new face of the “post-Kuchka”: much more oriented towards academicism and open to a variety of influences that were previously considered unacceptable within the framework of the “Mighty Handful”. The Belyaevites experienced a lot of “alien” influences and had broad sympathies, starting from Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and ending “even” with Ravel and Debussy. In addition, it should be especially noted that, being the successor of the “Mighty Handful” and generally continuing its direction, the Belyaev circle did not represent a single aesthetic whole, guided by a single ideology or program.
The matter was not limited only to direct teaching and free composition classes. The increasingly frequent performances on the stages of the imperial theaters of new operas by Rimsky-Korsakov and his orchestral works, the production of Borodin’s “Prince Igor” and the second edition of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”, many critical articles and the growing personal influence of Stasov - all this gradually multiplied the ranks of the nationally oriented Russian music school. Many students of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev, in the style of their writings, fit well into the continuation of the general line of the “Mighty Handful” and could be called, if not its belated members, then, in any case, faithful followers. And sometimes it even happened that followers turned out to be much more “faithful” (and more orthodox) than their teachers. Despite some anachronism and old-fashionedness, even in the times of Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, until the mid-20th century, the aesthetics and passions of many of these composers remained quite “kuchist” and most often - not subject to fundamental stylistic changes. However, over time, more and more often in their work, Rimsky-Korsakov’s followers and students discovered a certain “fusion” of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools, to one degree or another combining the influence of Tchaikovsky with “Kuchkist” principles. Perhaps the most extreme and distant figure in this series is A. S. Arensky, who, until the end of his days, maintaining an emphatic personal (student) loyalty to his teacher (Rimsky-Korsakov), nevertheless, in his work was much closer to traditions Tchaikovsky. In addition, he led an extremely riotous and even “immoral” lifestyle. This is what primarily explains the very critical and unsympathetic attitude towards him in Belyaev’s circle. No less indicative is the example of Alexander Grechaninov, also a faithful student of Rimsky-Korsakov, who lived most of the time in Moscow. However, the teacher speaks much more sympathetically about his work and, as a form of praise, calls him “partly a St. Petersburger.” After 1890 and Tchaikovsky’s frequent visits to St. Petersburg, the eclecticism of tastes and an increasingly cool attitude towards the orthodox traditions of the “Mighty Handful” grew in Belyaev’s circle. Gradually, Glazunov, Lyadov and Rimsky-Korsakov also became personally close to Tchaikovsky, thereby putting an end to the previously irreconcilable (Balakirev) tradition of “enmity of schools.” By the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of new Russian music increasingly reveals a synthesis of two directions and schools: mainly through academism and erosion " pure traditions" Rimsky-Korsakov himself personally played a significant role in this process, whose musical tastes (and openness to influences) were generally much more flexible and broader than those of all his contemporary composers.
Many Russian composers of the late 19th - first half of the 20th centuries are considered by music historians as direct successors of the traditions of the Mighty Handful; among them
The fact that the famous French “Six”, assembled under the leadership of Erik Satie (as if “in the role of Balakirev”) and Jean Cocteau (as if “in the role of Stasov”) - was a direct response to the “Russian Five” - deserves special mention. as the composers of the “Mighty Handful” were called in Paris. Article famous critic Henri Collet, who announced the birth to the world new group composers, it was called: "Russian Five, French Six and Mister Satie".
Notes
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See what “The Mighty Handful” is in other dictionaries:
The creative community of Russian composers, formed at the end. 1850s early 1860s; also known as the Balakirevsky circle, the New Russian music school. The name Mighty Handful was given to the circle by its ideologist, critic V.V. Stasov.... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- “THE MIGHTY HANDLE”, a creative community of Russian composers that formed at the end. 1850s early 1860s; also known as the Balakirevsky circle, the New Russian music school. The name “Mighty Handful” was given to the circle by its ideologist... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary
The creative community of Russian composers that formed in St. Petersburg in the late 50s and early 60s. XIX century (also known as the Balakirevsky circle, “New Russian Music School”). In "M. To." included M.A. Balakirev (head... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)
From the review of the Russian art critic and scientist Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (1824 1906) on the concert organized in honor of the arrival of the Slavic delegation to St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Gazette, May 13, 1867). He called the “mighty bunch”... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions
Exist., number of synonyms: 1 clan (3) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Dictionary of synonyms
Municipal educational institution
Additional education for children
"Children's Music School"
ABSTRACT
on the topic:
“COMPOSERS OF THE “MIGHTY FUCK””
by subject
"MUSICAL LITERATURE"
Completed the work
7th grade student
choir department
Volosnikova Tatyana
Checked:
Biserova Yulia Petrovna
Peskovka 2011
1.1. History of creation……………………………………………………...4
1.2. Activities of the “Mighty Handful”………………………………………………………7
2. Composers included in the “Mighty Handful”
2.1. Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910)………………………...12
2.2. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)………………………...14
2.3. Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887)……………………….15
2.4. Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)……………………………..18
2.5. Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)………………...19
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….22
List of sources used……………………………………..26
Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………………27
Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………………28
Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………………………29
Appendix 4…………………………………………………………………………………30
Appendix 5…………………………………………………………………………………31
Appendix 6…………………………………………………………………………………32
INTRODUCTION
The expression “mighty handful”, accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, firmly entered into life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833-1881). 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). The “Mighty Handful” is often called the “New Russian Music School”, as well as the “Balakirev Circle”, named after its leader M. A. Balakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called “The Five” based on the number of main representatives. The composers of the “Mighty Handful” entered the creative arena during a period of enormous social upsurge in the 60s of the 19th century.
"THE MIGHTY BUBBLE"
The history of the creation of the Balakirev circle is as follows: in 1855, M. A. Balakirev came to St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old boy was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Of particular importance for Balakirev was his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.
Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov- the most interesting figure in the history of Russian art. A critic, art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, speaking as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all the major Russian artists, and appeared in the press promoting their best paintings and was also their best adviser and assistant.
Son outstanding architect V.P. Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich was born in St. Petersburg, received his education at the School of Law. Throughout his life, Stasov's service was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka. Stasov heard Glinka’s review of Balakirev: “In...Balakirev I found views that were so close to mine.” And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for the rest of his life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov is undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly knowledgeable in classical and contemporary art, ideologically guides and guides Balakirev.
In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met with Cesar Antonovich Cui, who was studying at the Military Engineering Academy at that time and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui loved music very much. IN early youth he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.
With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui and awakens in him a serious interest in art. Under the direction of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano four hands, the opera " Caucasian prisoner", and in 1859 - a one-act comic opera"Son of a Mandarin"
The next composer to join the Balakirev – Stasov – Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guards officer. He began composing very early and very soon realized that he had to devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, already an officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev occurred in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything about Balakirev struck Mussorgsky: his appearance, his bright, unique acting, and his bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, “a new world, hitherto unknown to him, opened up before him.”
In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of a circle whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.
Borodin was self-taught in music. He owed his relatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to his serious acquaintance with the literature of chamber music. Even during his student years at the Borodin Medical-Surgical Academy, playing the cello, he often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he played through the entire literature of string quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber works. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin’s brilliant musical talent, but also his versatile erudition.
Thus, by the beginning of 1863 we can talk about a circle formed by Balakirev.
The leading line in the themes of the works of the “kuchkists” is occupied by the life and interests of the Russian people. Most of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" systematically recorded, studied and developed samples folklore. Composers boldly used folk songs in both symphonic and operatic works (“ The Tsar's Bride", "Snow Maiden", "Khovanshchina", "Boris Godunov").
The national aspirations of the “Mighty Handful” were, however, devoid of any shade of national narrow-mindedness. The composers had great sympathy for the musical cultures of other peoples, which is confirmed by numerous examples of the use of Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Spanish, Czech and other national themes and melodies in their works. The eastern element occupies a particularly large place in the work of the “kuchkists” (“Tamara”, “Islamey” by Balakirev; “Prince Igor” by Borodin; “Scheherazade”, “Antara”, “The Golden Cockerel” by Rimsky-Korsakov; “Khovanshchina” by Mussorgsky).
Creating works of art for the people, speaking in a language understandable and close to them, composers made their music accessible to the widest layers of listeners. This democratic aspiration explains the great attraction of the “new Russian school” to programming. “Program” is usually called such instrumental works in which ideas, images, plots are explained by the composer himself. The author's explanation can be given either in the explanatory text attached to the work or in its title. Many other works by the composers of the “Mighty Handful” are also programmatic: “Antar” and “The Tale” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Islamey” and “King Lear” by Balakirev, “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky.
Developing the creative principles of their great predecessors Glinka and Dragomyzhsky, the members of the “Mighty Handful” were at the same time bold innovators. They were not satisfied with what they had achieved, but called their contemporaries to “new shores”, strived for a direct, lively response to the demands and demands of modernity, inquisitively searched for new subjects, new types of people, new means of musical expression.
The “kuchkists” had to pave these new roads of their own in a persistent and irreconcilable struggle against everything reactionary and conservative, in sharp clashes with the dominance of foreign music, which had long been stubbornly propagated by the Russian rulers and aristocracy. The ruling classes could not be pleased with the truly revolutionary processes taking place in literature and art. Domestic art did not enjoy sympathy and support. Moreover, everything that was advanced and progressive was persecuted. Chernyshevsky was sent into exile; his works were stamped with a censorship ban. Herzen lived outside Russia. Artists who defiantly left the Academy of Arts were considered “suspicious” and were registered by the Tsarist secret police. The influence of Western European theaters in Russia was ensured by all state privileges: Italian troupes had a monopoly on the opera stage, foreign entrepreneurs enjoyed the broadest benefits unavailable to domestic art.
Overcoming obstacles to the promotion of “national” music, attacks from critics, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” stubbornly continued their work of developing their native art and, as Stasov later wrote, “Balakirev’s partnership won over both the public and the musicians. It sowed a new fertile seed, which soon gave a luxurious and fruitful harvest."
The Balakirev circle usually met in several houses familiar and close to each other: at L.I. Shestakova (sister of M.I. Glinka), at Ts.A. Cui, at F.P. Mussorgsky (the composer’s brother), at V.V. .Stasova. Meetings of the Balakirev circle always took place in a very lively creative atmosphere.
Members of the Balakirev circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were close connections with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The composers of the "Mighty Handful" carried out great public educational work. The first public manifestation of the activities of the Balakirev circle was the opening of the Free Music School in 1862. The main organizer was M.I. Balakirev and choirmaster G.Ya. Lomakin. The free music school's main goal was to disseminate musical knowledge among the broad masses of the population.
In an effort to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic principles and to strengthen their creative influence on the surrounding social environment, members of the “Mighty Handful” not only used the concert platform, but also spoke on the pages of the press. The speeches were sharply polemical in nature, the judgments were sometimes harsh, categorical, which was due to the attacks and negative assessments to which the “Mighty Handful” were subjected from reactionary criticism.
Along with Stasov, Ts.A. Cui acted as an exponent of the views and assessments of the new Russian school. Since 1864, he was a permanent music reviewer for the St. Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper. In addition to Cui, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov published critical articles in the press. Even though the criticism was not theirs main activity, in their musical articles and reviews they gave examples of accurate and correct assessments of art and made a significant contribution to Russian classical musicology.
The influence of the ideas of the “Mighty Handful” also penetrates the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov was invited here in 1871 to the position of professor in instrumentation and composition classes. From that time on, Rimsky-Korsakov's activities were inextricably linked with the conservatory. He becomes the figure who concentrates young creative forces around himself. The combination of the advanced traditions of the “Mighty Handful” with a solid and solid academic foundation constituted characteristic feature“Rimsky-Korsakov school”, which was the dominant direction at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from the late 70s of the last century until the beginning of the 20th century.
By the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” was gaining wide fame and recognition not only in their homeland, but also abroad. An ardent admirer and friend of the “new Russian school” was Franz Liszt. The leaf vigorously promoted the spread of Western Europe works by Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov. Mussorgsky's ardent admirers were French composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, Czech composer Janacek.
COMPOSERS WHO WERE PART OF THE “MIGHTY PICKLE”
- Russian composer, pianist, conductor, head and inspirer of the famous “Five” - “Mighty Handful” (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), which personifies the national movement in Russian musical culture of the 19th century.
Balakirev was born on January 2, 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod, in an impoverished noble family. Brought to Moscow at the age of ten, he took lessons from John Field for some time; later A.D. Ulybyshev took a big part in his fate. enlightened amateur musician, philanthropist, author of the first Russian monograph on Mozart. Balakirev entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kazan University, but in 1855 he met in St. Petersburg with M.I. Glinka, who convinced the young musician to devote himself to composition in the national spirit, relying on Russian music, folk and church, on Russian subjects and texts.
The “Mighty Handful” formed in St. Petersburg between 1857 and 1862, and Balakirev became its leader. He was self-taught and drew his knowledge mainly from practice, therefore he rejected the textbooks and methods of teaching harmony and counterpoint accepted at that time, replacing them with a wide acquaintance with the masterpieces of world music and their detailed analysis. The “Mighty Handful” as a creative association did not last long, but had a huge impact on Russian culture. In 1863, Balakirev founded the Free Music School - as opposed to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the direction of which Balakirev assessed as cosmopolitan and conservative. He performed a lot as a conductor, regularly introducing listeners to early works your circle. In 1867 Balakirev became the conductor of concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society, but in 1869 he was forced to leave this post. In 1870 Balakirev experienced the strongest spiritual crisis, after which he did not study music for five years. He returned to composition in 1876, but by this time he had already lost his reputation as the head of the national school in the eyes of the musical community. In 1882, Balakirev again became the director of concerts of the Free Music School, and in 1883 - the manager of the Court Singing Chapel (during this period he created a number of church compositions and transcriptions of ancient chants).
Balakirev played a huge role in the formation of the national music school, but he himself composed relatively little. In symphonic genres, he created two symphonies, several overtures, music for Shakespeare's King Lear (1858-1861), symphonic poems Tamara (c. 1882), Rus' (1887, 2nd edition 1907) and In the Czech Republic (1867, 2nd edition edition 1905). For piano, he wrote a sonata in B flat minor (1905), a brilliant fantasy Islamey (1869) and a number of pieces in different genres. Romances and adaptations of folk songs are of high value. Balakirev's musical style is based, on the one hand, on the folk origins and traditions of church music, on the other hand, on the experience of new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, and Berlioz. Balakirev died in St. Petersburg on May 29, 1910.
born March 9 (21), 1839 on his parents’ estate in the village of Karevo, Toropetsky district, Pskov province.
Russian composer. He did not receive a systematic musical education, although in his childhood he learned to play the piano and tried to compose. By family tradition the young man was assigned to a guards school. At the end of the 50s, Mussorgsky met Dargomyzhsky and Balakirev, and struck up friendships with Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Stasov. Meeting them helped talented musician determine his true calling: he decides to devote himself entirely to music. In 1858, Mussorgsky retired and became an active member of the creative group of advanced composers, known in history as the “Mighty Handful.”
In his work, imbued with deep nationalism and realism, Mussorgsky was a consistent, bright, courageous exponent of the revolutionary democratic ideas of the 60s. The composer's talent was most fully revealed in operas. The monumental innovative musical dramas "Boris Godunov" (based on Pushkin) and "Khovanshchina" are the pinnacles of his work. In these works, as in the comic opera "Sorochinskaya Fair" (according to Gogol), the main character is the people. Brilliant Master musical characteristics, Mussorgsky created living, rich images of people of different classes, showing human personality in all the diversity and complexity of her spiritual world. Psychological depth and high drama are combined in Mussorgsky's operas with a wealth of musical and expressive means. The originality and novelty of the composer's musical language lies in the innovative use of Russian folk song and in conveying the intonations of live speech.
The composer sought to ensure that in his works " characters spoke on stage, as living people speak..." He achieved this not only in operas, but also in solo vocal music- songs based on stories from peasant life, dramatic ballads, satirical sketches. These are, first of all, such masterpieces as “Kalistrat”, “Eryomushka’s Lullaby”, “Forgotten”, “Commander”, “Seminarist”, “Rayok”, “Arrogance”, “Classic”, “Song of a Flea”, etc. To the best Mussorgsky's works also include the vocal cycle "Children's Room", the fantasy for orchestra "Night on Bald Mountain", and the brilliant "Pictures at an Exhibition" for piano. "Comprehension of history, deep perception of countless shades folk spirit, mood, intelligence and stupidity, strength and weakness, tragedy and humor - all this is unparalleled in Mussorgsky,” wrote V.V. Stasov.
born on November 12, 1833 and was recorded as the son of the serf servant of Prince L.S. Gedianov - Porfiry Borodin. In reality, the future composer was the illegitimate son of the prince himself and the St. Petersburg bourgeois Avdotya Antonova, in whose house the child was raised.
Having shown an early interest in music, Borodin began learning to play the flute at the age of eight, and then the piano and cello. When the boy turned nine, he composed a polka for piano for 4 hands, and at sixteen he musical works has already been praised by music critics, noting the “subtle aesthetic taste and poetic soul" of the young composer.
However, despite obvious successes in this area, Alexander nevertheless chose the profession of a chemist, enrolling in 1850 as a volunteer at the Medical-Surgical Academy, which he graduated from in 1856.
After Borodin received his doctorate in medicine in 1858, he was sent on a scientific trip to Western Europe, where he met his future wife, pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, who discovered many romantic composers for him, in particular Schumann and Chopin.
In parallel with scientific activities Borodin did not abandon his musical experiments. During his trip abroad, he created string and piano quintets, a string sextet and some other chamber works.
After returning to Russia in 1862, he became an associate professor at the Medical-Surgical Academy, and in 1864 - an ordinary professor of the same department.
Also in 1862, a significant meeting took place for Borodin - he met M. Balakirev, and subsequently with the rest of the members of his circle, known as the “Mighty Handful” (C. Cui, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. Mussorgsky ). “Before meeting me,” Balakirev later recalled, “he considered himself only an amateur and did not attach importance to his exercises in composition. It seems to me that I was the first person to tell him that his real business was composing.”
Under the influence of the “kuchkist” composers, Borodin’s musical and aesthetic views finally took shape and his artistic style, inextricably linked with the Russian national school.
All his work is permeated with the theme of the greatness of the Russian people, love for the motherland, and love of freedom. A striking example that is the Second Symphony, which Mussorgsky proposed to call “Slavic Heroic”, and the famous music critic V. Stasov - “Bogatyrskaya”.
Due to his great commitment to scientific and pedagogical activities, to which Borodin devotes almost more time than to music, work on each new work was delayed for months, and more often for years. Thus, the composer worked on his main work - the opera “Prince Igor”, starting from the late 1860s. I worked for eighteen years, but never managed to finish it.
At the same time, it is difficult to overestimate Borodin’s contribution to the development national science. The great Russian chemist D.I. Mendeleev said: “Borodin would have stood even higher in chemistry and would have brought even more benefits to science if music had not distracted him too much from chemistry.”
Borodin wrote more than 40 scientific works in chemistry (he is the author of the discovery of a special chemical reaction, called the “Borodin reaction” in his honor).
Since 1874 Borodin began to lead chemical laboratory Medical-Surgical Academy. In addition, he was one of the organizers of a higher educational institution for women - Women's Medical Courses (1872–1887), at which he later taught.
By the end of his life, Borodin the composer achieved a certain fame outside of Russia. On the initiative of F. Liszt, with whom Borodin was friends, his symphonies were repeatedly performed in Germany. And in 1885 and 1886. Borodin traveled to Belgium, where his symphonic works enjoyed great success.
During this period he wrote two string quartets, two movements of the Third Symphony in A minor, musical picture for orchestra “In Central Asia”, a number of romances and piano pieces.
A.P. died Borodin on February 15, 1887 in St. Petersburg, without having time to finish either the opera “Prince Igor” or his Third Symphony (they were completed by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.K. Glazunov).
Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) – Russian composer and critic, member of the famous "Five" - "Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), one of the founders national movement in Russian music. Born January 18, 1835 in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania); his mother was Lithuanian, his father French. He studied at the Main Engineering School, and then at the Military Engineering Academy in St. Petersburg, from which he graduated in 1857. Cui made a brilliant career in the military field, rose to the rank of general and became a specialist in fortification issues. In 1857 he met Balakirev, and this was the impetus for resuming his music studies (while still in Vilna, Cui took lessons from the famous Polish composer S. Moniuszko). Cui became one of Balakirev's students and subsequently a member of the Five. In his publications in periodicals, he actively supported the principles of the “new Russian music school.” The composer's legacy includes 10 operas that were not successful; the most interesting of them is the first, William Ratcliffe (after Heinrich Heine, 1869). He also composed a number of orchestral pieces of small genres, 3 string quartets, about 30 choirs, pieces for violin and piano and more than 300 romances. Cui died in Petrograd on March 26, 1918.
came from an old noble family. He was born on March 18, 1844 in Tikhvin, Novgorod province. Some traits of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's nature - high integrity, inability to compromise - were probably formed not without the influence of his father, who at one time was removed from the post of governor by a personal decree of Nicholas I for his humane attitude towards the Poles.
When Rimsky-Korsakov was twelve years old, he was assigned to the naval cadet corps, something he had dreamed of almost since birth.
Around the same time, Rimsky-Korsakov began taking piano lessons from Ulich, cellist of the Alexandria Theater Orchestra. And in 1858, the future composer changed teachers. His new teacher was the famous pianist Fyodor Andreevich Kanill, under whose guidance Nikolai began to try to compose music on his own. Imperceptibly, the music pushed thoughts about a career as a naval officer into the background.
In the fall of 1861, Rimsky-Korsakov met M. Balakirev and became a member of the “Balakirev circle.”
In 1862, Nikolai Andreevich, having barely survived the death of his father, went on a trip around the world (visited a number of countries in Europe, Northern and South America), during which he composed Andante for a symphony on a Russian theme folk song about Tatar is full, proposed by Balakirev.
Upon returning to his homeland, he devoted himself almost entirely to writing. When the composer was 27 years old, he was invited as a professor of composition and orchestral writing at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the age of 29, he became an inspector of military bands of the Naval Department, after that - the head of the Free Music School, and even later - an assistant to the manager of the Court Singing Chapel.
In the early 1870s, Rimsky-Korsakov married the talented pianist Nadezhda Purgold.
Aware of the imperfection of his musical education, he studies diligently, but before writing the opera “May Night” (1878), creative failures haunt him one after another.
After the death of his comrades in the “Mighty Handful” - Borodin and Mussorgsky - Rimsky-Korsakov completed the works they had begun, but not completed.
On the centenary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin (1899) Korsakov wrote the cantata “Song of prophetic Oleg" and the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his glorious and mighty hero Gvidon Saltanovich and the beautiful Swan Princess."
After the revolution of 1905, Rimsky-Korsakov, who supported the demands of the students, was fired from the conservatory.
His the last opera Viewers heard “The Golden Cockerel” after the composer’s death.
CONCLUSION
The “Mighty Handful” existed as a single creative team until the mid-70s. By this time, in the letters and memoirs of its participants and close friends, one can increasingly find reasoning and statements about the reasons for its gradual collapse. Borodin is closest to the truth. In a letter to singer L.I. Karmalina in 1876, he wrote: “...As activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over the school, over what a person has inherited from others. ...Finally, at the same thing, in different eras development, in different times, views and tastes in particular change. All this is completely natural.”
Gradually, the role of the leader of advanced musical forces goes to Rimsky-Korsakov. He educates the younger generation at the conservatory, and since 1877 he has become the conductor of the Free Music School and the inspector of musical choirs of the naval department. Since 1883, he has been teaching at the Court Singing Chapel.
The first of the leaders of the “Mighty Handful” to pass away was Mussorgsky. He died in 1881. The last years of Mussorgsky's life were very difficult. Failing health, material insecurity - all this prevented the composer from concentrating on creative work, caused a pessimistic mood and alienation.
In 1887, A.P. Borodin died.
With the death of Borodin, the paths of the surviving composers of the “Mighty Handful” finally diverged. Balakirev, withdrawing into himself, completely moved away from Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui has long fallen behind his brilliant contemporaries. Stasov alone remained in the same relationship with each of the three.
Balakirev and Cui lived the longest (Balakirev died in 1910, Cui in 1918). Despite the fact that Balakirev returned to musical life in the late 70s (in the early 70s Balakirev stopped studying musical activity), he no longer had the energy and charm that characterized him in the 60s. The composer's creative powers died out before his life.
Balakirev continued to direct the Free Music School and the Court Singing Chapel. The educational routines he and Rimsky-Korsakov established in the choir led to the fact that many of its students went on the real road, becoming outstanding musicians.
Cui’s creativity and inner appearance also bore little resemblance to his former connection with the “Mighty Handful.” He successfully advanced in his second specialty: in 1888 he became a professor at the Military Engineering Academy in the department of fortification and left many valuable published scientific works in this area.
Rimsky-Korsakov also lived a long time (died in 1908). Unlike Balakirev and Cui, his work followed an ascending line until its completion. He remained faithful to the principles of realism and nationalism, developed during the great democratic upsurge of the 60s in the “Mighty Handful”.
Based on the great traditions of the “Mighty Handful,” Rimsky-Korsakov raised an entire generation of musicians. Among them are: outstanding artists, like Glazunov, Lyadov, Arensky, Lysenko, Spendiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Steinberg, Myaskovsky and many others. They brought these traditions alive and active to our time.
The work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” belongs to the best achievements of world musical art. Based on the legacy of the first classic of Russian music, Glinka, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov embodied the ideas of patriotism in their works, glorified the great forces of the people, and created wonderful images of Russian women. Developing Glinka's achievements in the field of symphonic creativity in program and non-program works for orchestra, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin made a huge contribution to the world treasury symphonic music. The composers of the “Mighty Handful” created their music based on wonderful folk song melodies, endlessly enriching it with this. They showed great interest and respect not only for Russian musical creativity, their works present themes of Ukrainian and Polish, English and Indian, Czech and Serbian, Tatar, Persian, Spanish and many others.
The work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” is the highest example of musical art; at the same time, it is accessible, expensive and understandable to the most wide circles listeners. This is its great enduring value.
The music created by this small but powerful group is high example serving the people with his art, an example of true creative friendship, an example of heroic artistic work.
LIST OF SOURCES USED
http://www.bestreferat.ru/referat-82083.html
http://music.edusite.ru/p29aa1.html
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_colier/6129/KYI
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http://referat.kulichki.net/files/page.php?id=30926
APPENDIX 1
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910)
APPENDIX 2
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
APPENDIX 3
Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887)
APPENDIX 4
Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)
APPENDIX 5
Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
APPENDIX 6
"The Mighty Handful"
“The Mighty Handful” is a creative community that has played a big role in Russian musical culture. It consisted of whose works reflected the advanced ideas of the democratic movement popular at that time. Members of the “Mighty Handful” considered themselves followers of the great masters - A.S. Dargomyzhsky and . In the 1860s, the entire country was swept by a democratic upsurge, the entire intelligentsia fought for progressive ideals - as in public life, and in culture.
- A magazine appears in the literature
- in painting -
these groups of people oppose themselves to official, classical societies. The “Mighty Handful” also becomes a kind of antagonist to the academic routine.
The main slogan is not to break away from life! The main thing in music is national orientation!
The composition of the “Mighty Handful” remained virtually unchanged throughout its existence: the main members were M.A. Balakirev, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and Ts.A. Cui.
All these bright, outstanding, talented people once met and, seeing like-minded people in each other, united into a musical community called the “Balakirev Circle”, and later – the “Mighty Handful”, or the “Group of Five”. The ideological inspirer was Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov, music critic - in fact, he was the sixth member of the “Mighty Handful”, although he was not a composer. He also gave the community its name in his article “Slavic Concert of Mr. Balakirev.” The members of the Balakirev circle themselves introduced such a concept as "New Russian Music School". They carried their ideas to the people: as educational activities composers of the “Mighty Handful” formed a free music school.
Principles and features of the creativity of the “Mighty Handful” composers
The work of all five is dominated by folk, fairy tale motifs, often found stories from Russian history– composers are constantly looking for moral ideals in its original beginnings. In this regard, the most important support for them was folk song (both Russian and Eastern) - they collected ancient peasant tunes, in which they saw the roots of national Russian thinking. Next, the motives were processed and embodied in their work. In addition, Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov collected the songs in a separate collection - “Forty Russian Folk Songs” (1860).
Regarding intonation expressiveness , The “kuchkists” relied on the work of Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky. In his operas “The Stone Guest” and “The Mermaid,” as the members of the commonwealth believed, ideas and “words” are most accurately and clearly expressed. Dargomyzhsky, like Glinka, was for them the founding father of Russian musical culture.
Almost all works of the “Kuchkists” are characterized by:
- scope,
- large sizes,
- epic breadth.
In chamber music, only Borodin showed himself clearly. However, Balakirev (“Islamey”) and Mussorgsky (“Pictures at an Exhibition”) stood out in piano literature.
The main opponent of the “Mighty Handful” was the academic school, and especially the St. Petersburg Conservatory, which was headed at that time by A.G. Rubinstein. Members of the commonwealth criticized the “conservatives” for following traditions too carefully and not recognizing other ways of developing music in Russia, including national-folk ones. However, over time, the conflict was smoothed out, and in 1871 Rimsky-Korsakov even became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
History of the commonwealth and its followers
The “Mighty Handful” broke up in the mid-1870s. There were many reasons for this: both lying on the surface (Balakirev’s detachment due to a mental crisis) and deeper ones (creative differences between the “kuchkists”: for example, Mussorgsky and Balakirev considered Rimsky-Korsakov a defector and a traitor). This, in general, is not surprising: such geniuses could not stay in one group for a long time; each needed individual creative growth.
But with the collapse of the “Mighty Handful,” their ideas did not disappear anywhere - many more Russian composers created their works under their influence. Thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov, Kuchka activities began to actively develop at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. A “Belyaev circle” appeared, headed by the composer himself. According to Rimsky-Korsakov, the “Belyaevsky circle” cannot be considered an absolute successor of the “Balakirevsky circle”, because
“...Balakirev’s circle corresponded to the period of storm and stress in the development of Russian music, and Belyaev’s circle corresponded to the period of calm march forward; “Balakirevsky” was revolutionary, “Belyaevsky” was progressive...”
Among the composers working at the turn of the century, Alexander Glazunov, Anatoly Lyadov, Alexander Grechaninov and many others can rightfully be considered as continuers of the traditions of the “Mighty Handful”.
The significance of the “Mighty Handful” for Russian music and culture
It is difficult to overestimate the musical contribution of the “Mighty Handful” to Russian music.
For the first time in their operas:
- national character became clearly visible,
- scale and popular scenes appeared.
Composers strove for brightness and sought to convey their ideas to the people through memorable images and spectacular paintings.
The works of the “Mighty Handful” or “Great Five” of Russian composers have entered the world musical treasury.
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Introduction
1. The history of the creation of the “Mighty Handful”
1.1 General concept of the “Mighty Handful”
1.2 Activities of the “Mighty Handful”
1.3 Formation and development of the views of the “kuchkists”
2. Russian people in the works of composers
2.1 Development of creativity
2.2 The public and the “Mighty Handful”
2.3 Collapse of the Five
2.4 Continuation of "The Mighty Handful"
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The era of the 60s is usually calculated from 1855 - the date of the inglorious end of the Crimean War. The military defeat of Tsarist Russia was the last straw that overflowed the cup of people's patience. A wave of peasant uprisings swept across the country, which could no longer be pacified either by exhortations or by guns. It was a significant time in public and cultural life Russia. New trends penetrated everywhere; the new made its way in science, literature, painting, music and theater. Conducted by the tsarist government as a counter-preventive measure against the growing wave of the revolutionary democratic movement, the reform of 1861 actually worsened the situation of the peasants. The best minds of Russia were occupied with the question of the fate of their native people, “humanity and concern for the improvement human life", according to N.G. Chernyshevsky, determined the direction in the development of advanced Russian science, literature and art. There was not a single area of culture that would remain aloof from people's liberation ideas. The Russian revolutionary democrats Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, developing the ideas of Belinsky and Herzen, powerfully moved forward materialist philosophy. The development of materialistic principles has enriched various fields of science with discoveries of world significance. Suffice it to recall that at that time mathematicians P.A. Chebyshev and S.V. Kovalevskaya, physicist A.G. Stoletov, chemists D.I. Mendeleev and A.M. Butlerov, physiologist I.M. Sechenov, lived and worked at that time. biologist I.I. Mechnikov.
A flourishing also occurs in Russian literature and art. This era gave humanity an unrivaled singer of peasant life, N.A. Nekrasov; a subtle master of words, who created poetic pictures of Russian nature, wonderful images of Russian people, Turgenev; a deep psychologist who sought to know the most intimate in the human soul, Dostoevsky; the mighty writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy.
In the field of music, the 60s were also an era of unusually bright prosperity. Major changes are observed in the very way of musical life. If until the mid-19th century the musical life of Russia was closed, accessible only to a privileged aristocratic public, now its centers are acquiring a much broader, democratic character. A number of musical and educational organizations emerged, a whole galaxy of major figures in musical art emerged: P.I. Tchaikovsky, the Rubinstein brothers, A.N. Serov, V.V. Stasov, composers of the “Mighty Handful”.
1. Storycreation"Mightyheaps"
1.1 GeneralconceptO"Mightyheaps"
The expression “mighty handful”, accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, firmly entered into life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833-1881). 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). Often the “Mighty Handful” is called the “New Russian Music School”, as well as the “Balakirev Circle”, named after its leader M.A. Balakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called “The Five” based on the number of main representatives. The composers of the “Mighty Handful” entered the creative arena during a period of enormous social upsurge in the 60s of the 19th century.
The history of the creation of the Balakirev circle is as follows: in 1855, M.A. Balakirev came to St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old boy was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Of particular importance for Balakirev was his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov is the most interesting figure in the history of Russian art. A critic, art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, speaking as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all the major Russian artists, appeared in print promoting their best paintings and was also their best adviser and assistant.
The son of the outstanding architect V.P. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilyevich was born in St. Petersburg and received his education at the School of Law. Throughout his life, Stasov's service was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka.
Stasov heard Glinka’s review of Balakirev: “In...Balakirev I found views that were so close to mine.” And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for the rest of his life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov, undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly knowledgeable in classical and modern art, ideologically guides Balakirev and guides him.
In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met with Cesar Antonovich Cui, who was studying at the Military Engineering Academy at that time and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui loved music very much. In his early youth he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.
With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui and awakens in him a serious interest in art. Under the leadership of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano four hands, the opera “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, and in 1859 - a one-act comic opera “The Son of a Mandarin”.
The next composer to join the Balakirev - Stasov - Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guards officer. He began composing very early and very soon realized that he had to devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, already an officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev occurred in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything about Balakirev struck Mussorgsky: his appearance, his bright, unique acting, and his bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, “a new world, hitherto unknown to him, opened up before him.”
In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of a circle whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.
Borodin was self-taught in music. He owed his relatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to his serious acquaintance with the literature of chamber music. Even during his student years at the Borodin Medical-Surgical Academy, playing the cello, he often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he played through the entire literature of string quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber works. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin’s brilliant musical talent, but also his versatile erudition.
Thus, by the beginning of 1863 we can talk about a circle formed by Balakirev.
1. 2 Activity"Mightyheaps"
The name “Mighty Handful” first appears in Stasov’s article “Slavic Concert of Mr. Balakirev” (1867): “How much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small but already mighty group of Russian musicians have.” The name “New Russian Music School” was put forward by the members of the circle themselves, who considered themselves heirs of M.I. Glinka and saw their goal in the embodiment of the Russian national idea in music.
The “Mighty Handful” group arose against the backdrop of revolutionary ferment that by that time had gripped the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. Riots and uprisings of peasants became the main social events of that time, returning artists to the popular theme. In implementing the national aesthetic principles proclaimed by the ideologists of the commonwealth Stasov and Balakirev, M. P. Mussorgsky was the most consistent, and Ts. A. Cui was the least consistent. The members of the “Mighty Handful” systematically recorded and studied samples of Russian musical folklore and Russian church singing. They embodied the results of their research in one form or another in works of chamber and large-scale genres, especially in operas, including “The Tsar’s Bride”, “Snow Maiden”, “Khovanshchina”, “Boris Godunov”, “Prince Igor”. The intensive search for national identity in the “Mighty Handful” was not limited to arrangements of folklore and liturgical singing, but also extended to dramaturgy, genre (and form), right down to certain categories of musical language (harmony, rhythm, texture, etc.).
Initially, the circle included Balakirev and Stasov, who were keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. With their ideas they inspired the young composer Cui, and later they were joined by Mussorgsky, who left the rank of officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment to study music. In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of a circle whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.
In the 70s, the “Mighty Handful” ceased to exist as a cohesive group. The activities of the “Mighty Handful” became an era in the development of Russian and world musical art.
1. 3 Becomingand the development of the views of the “kuchists”
Much credit for the education and development of its participants during that period belonged to M.A. Balakirev. He was their leader, organizer and teacher. “He needed Cui and Mussorgsky as friends, like-minded people, followers, fellow students; but without them he could act. On the contrary, for them he was necessary as an adviser and teacher, censor and editor, without whom they could not have taken a step. Musical practice and life made it possible for Balakirev’s bright talent to develop quickly. The development of others began later, proceeded more slowly and required leadership. This leader was Balakirev, who achieved everything with his amazing, versatile musical talent and practice...” (Rimsky-Korsakov). Enormous will, exceptionally versatile musical education, temperament - these are the personal qualities that determined his influence on all members of the circle. Balakirev’s methods of teaching his students were original. He directly asked to compose symphonies, overtures, scherzos, opera excerpts, etc., and then examined and strictly analyzed what was done. Balakirev managed to impress upon his circle comrades the need for extensive self-education. Kuchkist composer Balakirevsky circle
In addition to Balakirev, V.V. Stasov also played a huge role in leading young composers. Stasov's participation in the activities of the group was varied. It manifested itself primarily in promoting the general artistic education of composers and influencing the ideological direction of their work. Stasov often suggested plots for works and helped in their development and in a comprehensive discussion of already created works. He presented composers with a variety of historical materials under his jurisdiction, and spared no effort in promoting their work.
Stasov was the first to appear in print and attract public attention to the works of the “Mighty Handful” composers. Stasov was a conductor of the ideas of Russian democratic aesthetics among the “kuchkists.”
So in everyday communication with Balakirev and Stasov, in statements and disputes about art, in reading advanced literature, the views and skills of the circle’s composers gradually grew and strengthened. By this time, each of them had created many large independent works. Thus, Mussorgsky wrote the symphonic painting “Night on Bald Mountain” and the first edition of “Boris Godunov”. Rimsky-Korsakov - symphonic works “Antar”, “Sadko” and the opera “Pskovite”; Balakirev composed his main works: the symphonic poem “In the Czech Republic”, the overture “1000 Years”. Brilliant piano fantasy “Islamey”, “Overture on Three Russian Themes”, music for Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear”; Borodin created the first symphony; Cui graduated from the opera "Ratcliffe". It was during this period that Stasov called the Balakirev circle “a small but already mighty group of Russian musicians.”
Each of the composers who were part of the “Mighty Handful” represents a bright creative individuality and is worthy of independent study. However, the historical originality of the “Mighty Handful” lay in the fact that it was a group of not just friendly musicians. In this respect, The Mighty Handful was a typical phenomenon of its time. Similar creative communities, circles, and partnerships were created in various fields of art. In painting it was the “Art Artel”, which then laid the foundation for “peredvizhniki”, in literature it was a group of participants in the magazine “Sovremennik”. The organization of student “communes” also dates back to this period.
The composers of The Mighty Handful acted as direct successors of the advanced trends of Russian culture of the previous era. They considered themselves followers of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, called upon to continue and develop their work.
2 . RussianpeopleVcreativitycomposers
2.1 Developmentmore creativestva
The leading line in the themes of the works of the “kuchkists” is occupied by the life and interests of the Russian people. Most of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” systematically recorded, studied, and developed samples of folklore. Composers boldly used folk songs in both symphonic and operatic works (“The Tsar’s Bride”, “Snow Maiden”, “Khovanshchina”, “Boris Godunov”).
The national aspirations of the “Mighty Handful” were, however, devoid of any shade of national narrow-mindedness. The composers had great sympathy for the musical cultures of other peoples, which is confirmed by numerous examples of the use of Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Spanish, Czech and other national themes and melodies in their works. The eastern element occupies a particularly large place in the work of the “kuchkists” (“Tamara”, “Islamey” by Balakirev; “Prince Igor” by Borodin; “Scheherazade”, “Antara”, “The Golden Cockerel” by Rimsky-Korsakov; “Khovanshchina” by Mussorgsky).
By creating works of art for the people, speaking in a language that was understandable and close to them, composers made their music accessible to the widest layers of listeners. This democratic aspiration explains the great attraction of the “new Russian school” to programming. “Program” is usually called such instrumental works in which ideas, images, plots are explained by the composer himself. The author's explanation can be given either in the explanatory text attached to the work or in its title. Many other works by the composers of the “Mighty Handful” are also programmatic: “Antar” and “The Tale” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Islamey” and “King Lear” by Balakirev, “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky.
Developing the creative principles of their great predecessors Glinka and Dragomyzhsky, the members of the “Mighty Handful” were at the same time bold innovators. They were not satisfied with what they had achieved, but called their contemporaries to “new shores”, strived for a direct, lively response to the demands and demands of modernity, inquisitively searched for new subjects, new types of people, new means of musical expression.
The “kuchkists” had to pave these new roads of their own in a persistent and irreconcilable struggle against everything reactionary and conservative, in sharp clashes with the dominance of foreign music, which had long been stubbornly propagated by the Russian rulers and aristocracy. The ruling classes could not be pleased with the truly revolutionary processes taking place in literature and art. Domestic art did not enjoy sympathy and support. Moreover, everything that was advanced and progressive was persecuted. Chernyshevsky was sent into exile; his works were stamped with a censorship ban. Herzen lived outside Russia. Artists who defiantly left the Academy of Arts were considered “suspicious” and were registered by the Tsarist secret police. The influence of Western European theaters in Russia was ensured by all state privileges: Italian troupes had a monopoly on the opera stage, foreign entrepreneurs enjoyed the broadest benefits unavailable to domestic art.
Overcoming obstacles to the promotion of “national” music and attacks from critics, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” stubbornly continued their work of developing their native art and, as Stasov later wrote, “Balakirev’s partnership won over both the public and the musicians. It sowed a new fertile seed, which soon yielded a luxurious and fruitful harvest.”
The Balakirev circle usually met in several houses that were familiar and close to each other: at L.I. Shestakova’s (sister of M.I. Glinka), at Ts.A. Cui’s, at F.P. Mussorgsky (the composer's brother), from V.V. Stasov. Meetings of the Balakirev circle always took place in a very lively creative atmosphere.
Members of the Balakirev circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were also close connections with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
2.2 PublicAnd"Mightybunch"
The composers of the “Mighty Handful” carried out great public educational work. The first public manifestation of the activities of the Balakirev circle was the opening of the Free Music School in 1862. The main organizer was M.I. Balakirev and choirmaster G.Ya. Lomakin. The free music school's main goal was to disseminate musical knowledge among the broad masses of the population.
In an effort to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic principles and to strengthen their creative influence on the surrounding social environment, members of the “Mighty Handful” not only used the concert platform, but also spoke on the pages of the press. The speeches were sharply polemical in nature, the judgments were sometimes harsh, categorical, which was due to the attacks and negative assessments to which the “Mighty Handful” were subjected from reactionary criticism.
Along with Stasov, Ts.A. Cui acted as an exponent of the views and assessments of the new Russian school. Since 1864, he was a permanent music reviewer for the St. Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper. In addition to Cui, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov published critical articles in the press. Despite the fact that criticism was not their main activity, in their musical articles and reviews they gave examples of accurate and correct assessments of art and made a significant contribution to Russian classical musicology.
The influence of the ideas of the “Mighty Handful” also penetrates the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov was invited here in 1871 to the position of professor in instrumentation and composition classes. From that time on, Rimsky-Korsakov's activities were inextricably linked with the conservatory. He becomes the figure who concentrates young creative forces around himself. The combination of the advanced traditions of the “Mighty Handful” with a solid and solid academic foundation constituted a characteristic feature of the “Rimsky-Korsakov school,” which was the dominant direction at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from the late 70s of the last century to the beginning of the 20th century.
By the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” was gaining wide fame and recognition not only in their homeland, but also abroad. An ardent admirer and friend of the “new Russian school” was Franz Liszt. Liszt energetically contributed to the dissemination of the works of Borodin, Balakirev, and Rimsky-Korsakov in Western Europe. Mussorgsky's ardent admirers were the French composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, and the Czech composer Janacek.
2.3 Decay"Fives"
The “Mighty Handful” existed as a single creative team until the mid-70s. By this time, in the letters and memoirs of its participants and close friends, one can increasingly find reasoning and statements about the reasons for its gradual collapse. Borodin is closest to the truth. In a letter to singer L.I. Karmalina in 1876, he wrote: “...As activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over the school, over what a person has inherited from others. ...Finally, for the same thing, in different eras of development, at different times, views and tastes in particular change. All this is completely natural.”
Gradually, the role of leader of advanced musical forces passes to Rimsky-Korsakov. He educates the younger generation at the conservatory, and since 1877 he has become the conductor of the Free Music School and the inspector of musical choirs of the naval department. Since 1883, he has been teaching at the Court Singing Chapel.
The first of the leaders of the “Mighty Handful” to pass away was Mussorgsky. He died in 1881. The last years of Mussorgsky's life were very difficult. Failing health, financial insecurity - all this prevented the composer from concentrating on creative work, causing a pessimistic mood and alienation.
With the death of Borodin, the paths of the surviving composers of the “Mighty Handful” finally diverged. Balakirev, withdrawing into himself, completely moved away from Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui has long fallen behind his brilliant contemporaries. Stasov alone remained in the same relationship with each of the three.
Balakirev and Cui lived the longest (Balakirev died in 1910, Cui in 1918). Despite the fact that Balakirev returned to musical life in the late 70s (at the beginning of the 70s Balakirev stopped engaging in musical activities), he no longer had the energy and charm that characterized him in the 60s. The composer's creative powers died out before his life.
Balakirev continued to direct the Free Music School and the Court Singing Chapel. The educational routines he and Rimsky-Korsakov established in the choir led to the fact that many of its students went on the real road, becoming outstanding musicians.
Cui’s creativity and inner appearance also bore little resemblance to his former connection with the “Mighty Handful.” He successfully advanced in his second specialty: in 1888 he became a professor at the Military Engineering Academy in the department of fortification and left many valuable published scientific works in this area.
Rimsky-Korsakov also lived a long time (died in 1908). Unlike Balakirev and Cui, his work followed an ascending line until its completion. He remained faithful to the principles of realism and nationalism, developed during the great democratic upsurge of the 60s in the “Mighty Handful”.
Based on the great traditions of the “Mighty Handful,” Rimsky-Korsakov raised an entire generation of musicians. Among them are such outstanding artists as Glazunov, Lyadov, Arensky, Lysenko, Spendiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Steinberg, Myaskovsky and many others. They brought these traditions alive and active to our time.
2.4 Continuation"Mightyheaps"
With the cessation of regular meetings of five Russian composers, the growth, development and living history of the “Mighty Handful” was by no means completed. The center of Kuchkist activity and ideology, mainly thanks to the pedagogical activity of Rimsky-Korsakov, moved to the classes of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and also, starting in the mid-1880s, to the “Belyaev circle”, where Rimsky-Korsakov was the recognized head for almost 20 years and a leader. At the beginning of the 20th century, he shared his leadership as part of the “triumvirate” with A.K. Lyadov, A.K. Glazunov and a little later (from May 1907) N.V. Artsybushev. Thus, minus Balakirev’s radicalism, the “Belyaev circle” became a natural continuation of the “Mighty Handful”. Rimsky-Korsakov himself recalled this in a very definite way: “Can the Belyaev circle be considered a continuation of Balakirev’s? Was there a certain amount of similarity between the two, and what was the difference, besides the change in its personnel over time? The similarity, which indicated that Belyaev’s circle is a continuation of Balakirev’s, except for the connecting links in the person of mine and Lyadov, lay in the common excellence and progressiveness of both. But Balakirev’s circle corresponded to the period of storm and stress in the development of Russian music, and Belyaev’s circle corresponded to the period of calm march forward; Balakirevsky was revolutionary, Belyaevsky was progressive...”
Among the members of the Belyaev circle, Rimsky-Korsakov separately names himself (as the new head of the circle instead of Balakirev), Borodin (in the short time that remained before his death) and Lyadov as “connecting links”. Since the second half of the 80s, musicians of such different talents and specialties as Glazunov, brothers F. M. Blumenfeld and S. M. Blumenfeld, conductor O. I. Dyutsh and pianist N. S. have appeared in Belyaev’s “Mighty Handful”. Lavrov. A little later, as they graduated from the conservatory, the number of Belyaev students included such composers as N. A. Sokolov, K. A. Antipov, Y. Vitol and so on, including a large number of later graduates of Rimsky-Korsakov in the composition class. In addition, the “venerable Stasov” always maintained good and close relations with the Belyaev circle, although his influence was “no longer the same” as in Balakirev’s circle. The new composition of the circle (and its more moderate head) also determined the new face of the “post-Kuchka”: much more oriented towards academicism and open to a variety of influences that were previously considered unacceptable within the framework of the “Mighty Handful”. The Belyaevites experienced a lot of “alien” influences and had broad sympathies, starting from Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and ending “even” with Ravel and Debussy. In addition, it should be especially noted that, being the successor of the “Mighty Handful” and generally continuing its direction, the Belyaev circle did not represent a single aesthetic whole, guided by a single ideology or program.
Conclusion
The Mighty Handful is an outstanding phenomenon of Russian art. She left a deep mark on many spheres of cultural life in Russia - and not only in Russia. In the next generations of musicians - up to our time - there are many direct heirs of Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev. The ideas that united them, their progressive views, became a model for leading artists for many years.
It is noteworthy that the powerful group was mainly made up of non-professional musicians who achieved success in their professions: Alexander Borodin - a professor at the Medical-Surgical Academy, Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov - a naval officer who became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory without any special education, Caesar Cui - a major scientist in the field of fortification, one of the founders of Russian fortification. Each of the works created by the “Kuchkists” bears the imprint of the author’s creative individuality, and at the same time, their music is marked by the features of a single style, a single aesthetics. Spreading to the world compositional practice, “Kuchkism” gives the most magnificent shoots in truly innovative achievements of the 20th century, with a different world of imagery and conceptual thinking, with a decisively updated system of musical expressive means.
Bibliographiclist
1. Komissarskaya M.A., “Russian music of the 19th century.”: [Text] / Russian music of the 19th century Moscow, 2010;
2. Ratskaya L.A., “History of Russian music.”: [Text]/ History of Russian music, Moscow, 2011;
3. Asafiev I.B., “On choral art.”: [Text]/ On choral art, Len., 2013;
4. Asafiev I.B., “On symphonic and chamber music.”: [Text]/ On symphonic and chamber music, Leningrad, 2015;
5. Usova Y.M., “Choral literature.”: [Text]/ Choral literature, Moscow, 2014;
6. Keldysh Yu.V., Levashev E.M., Korabelnikova L.Z., “History of Russian music.”: [Text]/ History of Russian music, volume 7 Moscow, 2012;
7. Gordeeva E.M., Composers of the “Mighty Handful”.: [Text]/ Mighty Handful, Moscow, 2011;
8. Nazarov A.F., “Caesar Antonovich Cui.”: [Text]/ Caesar Antonovich Cui, Moscow, 2015;
9. Romanovsky N.V., “Choral Dictionary.”: [Text]/ Choral Dictionary, Moscow, 2009;
10. Zorina A.P., “The Mighty Handful.”: [Text]/ The Mighty Handful, Leningrad, 2014.
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creative community of Russian composers
Mighty bunch
« Mighty bunch"(Balakirevsky Circle, New Russian Music School) is a creative community of Russian composers that formed in St. Petersburg in the late 1850s and early 1860s. It included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) . The ideological inspirer and main non-musical consultant of the circle was the art critic, writer and archivist Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (1824-1906).
Name " Mighty bunch" first appears in Stasov's article "Slavic Concert of Mr. Balakirev" (1867): "How much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small but already mighty group of Russian musicians have." The name “New Russian Music School” was put forward by the members of the circle themselves, who considered themselves heirs of M. I. Glinka and saw their goal as the embodiment of the Russian national idea in music.
Group " Mighty bunch" arose against the background of revolutionary ferment that by that time had gripped the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. Riots and uprisings of peasants became the main social events of that time, returning artists to the popular theme. In implementing the national aesthetic principles proclaimed by the ideologists of the commonwealth Stasov and Balakirev, M. P. Mussorgsky was the most consistent, and Ts. A. Cui was the least consistent. Participants " Mighty bunch"We systematically recorded and studied samples of Russian musical folklore and Russian church singing. They embodied the results of their research in one form or another in works of chamber and large-scale genres, especially in operas, including “The Tsar’s Bride”, “Snow Maiden”, “Khovanshchina”, “Boris Godunov”, “Prince Igor”. Intensive search for national identity in " Mighty bunch” were not limited to arrangements of folklore and liturgical singing, but also extended to dramaturgy, genre (and form), right down to certain categories of musical language (harmony, rhythm, texture, etc.).
Initially, the circle included Balakirev and Stasov, who were keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. With their ideas they inspired the young composer Cui, and later they were joined by Mussorgsky, who left the rank of officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment to study music. In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of a circle whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.
Meetings of the Balakirev circle always took place in a very lively creative atmosphere. Members of this circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were close, although not always smooth, ties with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
In the 70s " Mighty bunch"how the cohesive group ceased to exist. Activity " Mighty bunch"became an era in the development of Russian and world musical art.
Sequel to "The Mighty Handful"
With the cessation of regular meetings of five Russian composers, increment, development and living history " Mighty bunch"are by no means completed. The center of Kuchkist activity and ideology, mainly thanks to the pedagogical activities of Rimsky-Korsakov, moved to the classes of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and also, starting in the mid-1880s, to the “Belyaev circle”, where Rimsky-Korsakov for almost 20 years was the recognized head and leader, and then, with the beginning of the 20th century, he shared his leadership as part of the “triumvirate” with A.K. Lyadov, A.K. Glazunov and a little later (from May 1907) N.V. Artsybushev. Thus, minus Balakirev’s radicalism, the “Belyaev circle” became a natural continuation of “ Mighty bunch" Rimsky-Korsakov himself recalled this in a very definite way:“Can the Belyaev circle be considered a continuation of Balakirev’s? Was there a certain amount of similarity between both, and what was the difference, besides the change in its personnel over time? The similarity, which indicated that Belyaev’s circle is a continuation of Balakirev’s, except for the connecting links in the person of me and Lyadov, lay in the common advancedness and progressiveness of both; but Balakirev’s circle corresponded to the period of storm and stress in the development of Russian music, and Belyaev’s circle corresponded to the period of calm march forward; Balakirevsky was revolutionary, Belyaevsky was progressive...”
- (N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Chronicle of my musical life”)
Among the members of the Belyaev circle, Rimsky-Korsakov separately names himself (as the new head of the circle instead of Balakirev), Borodin (in the short time that remained before his death) and Lyadov as “connecting links”. Since the second half of the 80s, musicians of such different talents and specialties as Glazunov, brothers F. M. Blumenfeld and S. M. Blumenfeld, conductor O. I. Dyutsh and pianist N. S. have appeared in Belyaev’s “Mighty Handful”. Lavrov. A little later, as they graduated from the conservatory, the number of Belyaev students included such composers as N. A. Sokolov, K. A. Antipov, Y. Vitol and so on, including a large number of later graduates of Rimsky-Korsakov in the composition class. In addition, the “venerable Stasov” always maintained good and close relations with the Belyaev circle, although his influence was “no longer the same” as in Balakirev’s circle. The new composition of the circle (and its more moderate head) also determined the new face of the “post-Kuchka”: much more oriented towards academicism and open to a variety of influences that were previously considered unacceptable within the framework of the “Mighty Handful”. The Belyaevites experienced a lot of “alien” influences and had broad sympathies, starting from Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and ending “even” with Ravel and Debussy. In addition, it should be especially noted that, being the successor of the “Mighty Handful” and generally continuing its direction, the Belyaev circle did not represent a single aesthetic whole, guided by a single ideology or program.
In turn, Balakirev did not lose his activity and continued to spread his influence, releasing more and more new students during his time as head of the court Chapel. The most famous of his late students (who later also graduated from Rimsky-Korsakov’s class) is considered to be the composer V. A. Zolotarev.
The matter was not limited only to direct teaching and free composition classes. The increasingly frequent performances on the stages of the imperial theaters of new operas by Rimsky-Korsakov and his orchestral works, the production of Borodin’s “Prince Igor” and the second edition of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”, many critical articles and the growing personal influence of Stasov - all this gradually multiplied the ranks of the nationally oriented Russian music school. Many students of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev, in the style of their writings, fit well into the continuation of the general line of the “Mighty Handful” and could be called, if not its belated members, then, in any case, faithful followers. And sometimes it even happened that followers turned out to be much more “faithful” (and more orthodox) than their teachers. Despite some anachronism and old-fashionedness, even in the times of Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, until the middle of the 20th century, the aesthetics and predilections of many of these composers remained completely “Kuchka” and, more often than not, not subject to fundamental stylistic changes. However, over time, more and more often in their work, Rimsky-Korsakov’s followers and students discovered a certain “fusion” of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools, to one degree or another combining the influence of Tchaikovsky with “Kuchkist” principles. Perhaps the most extreme and distant figure in this series is A. S. Arensky, who, until the end of his days, maintaining an emphatic personal (student) loyalty to his teacher (Rimsky-Korsakov), nevertheless, in his work was much closer to traditions Tchaikovsky. In addition, he led an extremely riotous and even “immoral” lifestyle. This is what primarily explains the very critical and unsympathetic attitude towards him in Belyaev’s circle. No less indicative is the example of Alexander Grechaninov, also a faithful student of Rimsky-Korsakov, who lived most of the time in Moscow. However, the teacher speaks much more sympathetically about his work and, as a form of praise, calls him “partly a St. Petersburger.” After 1890 and Tchaikovsky’s frequent visits to St. Petersburg, the eclecticism of tastes and an increasingly cool attitude towards the orthodox traditions of the “Mighty Handful” grew in Belyaev’s circle. Gradually, Glazunov, Lyadov and Rimsky-Korsakov also became personally close to Tchaikovsky, thereby putting an end to the previously irreconcilable (Balakirev) tradition of “enmity of schools.” By the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of new Russian music increasingly reveals a synthesis of two directions and schools: mainly through academicism and the erosion of “pure traditions”. Rimsky-Korsakov himself personally played a significant role in this process. According to L.L. Sabaneev, Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical tastes and his “openness to influences” were much more flexible and broader than those of all his contemporary composers.
Many Russian composers of the late 19th - first half of the 20th centuries are considered by music historians as direct successors of traditions Mighty bunch; among them:
- Fedor Akimenko
- Nikolay Amani
- Konstantin Antipov
- Anton Arensky
- Nikolay Artsybushev
- Jazep Vitol
- Alexander Glazunov
- Alexander Grechaninov
- Vasily Zolotarev
- Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
- Vasily Kalafati
- Georgy Kazachenko
The fact that the famous French “Six”, assembled under the leadership of Erik Satie (as if “in the role of Miliy Balakirev”) and Jean Cocteau (as if “in the role of Vladimir Stasov”), deserves special mention. " - as the composers of the “Mighty Handful” were called in Paris. The article by the famous critic Henri Collet, which notified the world about the birth of a new group of composers, was called: “Russian Five, French Six and Mister Satie.”