STASOV, VLADIMIR VASILIEVICH(1824–1906), Russian music and art critic. Born in St. Petersburg on January 2 (14), 1824 in the family of the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov (1769–1848); V.V. Stasov’s brother is lawyer Dmitry Vasilyevich Stasov (1828–1918). He graduated from the School of Law in 1843 and studied piano with the famous teacher A.L. Genselt. Served in the Senate and the Ministry of Justice. From 1856 he worked at the Public Library (now the Russian National Library, Russian National Library) in St. Petersburg, from 1872 until the end of his life he was in charge of its art department. In this post, he constantly advised writers, artists, composers, collected manuscripts of Russian artists, especially composers (largely thanks to Stasov, the Russian National Library now has the most complete archives of composers of the St. Petersburg school).
Along with new Russian music, Stasov strongly supported new Russian painting, in particular, he took part in the activities of the Artel of Artists (later the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions - “Peredvizhniki”); created a number of monographs about Russian artists. A special layer of Stasov’s activity consists of his historical and archaeological research - including works on folk ornaments, the origin of epics, as well as on ancient Russian singing; He collected extensive materials on all these topics, which he often passed on to other scientists for use.
Stasov has always been a figure of “extreme”, radical views, and he was often accused (and is accused) of one-sidedness. For example, he placed very high operatic creativity Glinka and the entire St. Petersburg school, but he valued Tchaikovsky almost exclusively as a symphonist, and not as an opera composer (which did not prevent him from maintaining very warm personal relations with Tchaikovsky); For quite a long time he opposed the system of conservatory education, believing that it neutralizes the national uniqueness of Russian talents. In his beloved work of the St. Petersburg school, Stasov fully accepted everything done by Mussorgsky and Borodin, but, for example, he did not immediately appreciate the evolution of Rimsky-Korsakov’s art. This was due to the main positions of Stasov, to which he remained faithful throughout his life - with the concepts of “realism” (which meant, first of all, the choice of topics relevant to modern times, anti-academicism) and “nationality” (Stasov considered this category absolutely mandatory when assessing works of art, and in the new Russian music, based on national material, he saw the future of all European art). His particular preference was for artistic concepts based on authentic historical material; he extremely highly appreciated the experiments of Dargomyzhsky and Mussorgsky in conveying the intonations of living speech in music; Stasov’s special “horse” was the “oriental theme,” which was for him an integral component of the new Russian art. The rigidity of Stasov’s attitudes and the categorical nature of his speeches were balanced, however, by his deep devotion to the interests of science and art, the sincerity of his desire for “new shores,” and his artistic nature. Stasov was often unfair and harsh, but he was always noble and generous and completely devoted to his friends.
Employees of the Russian National Library - scientists and cultural figures
Biographical Dictionary, vol. 1-4
(14.01.1824, St. Petersburg - 23.10.1906, ibid.), music. and artist critic, art historian, publicist, in PB 1872-1906.
From the nobles. Father - architect V.P. Stasov. In 1836 he enrolled in the School of Law, graduating in 1843. He began his service as assistant. secret in the boundary department of the Senate. From 1848 he served as secretary. in Dep. heraldry, and from 1850 - pom. legal adviser in Dept. Justice. Fluent in six languages. Having become interested in studying art, he retired in 1851 and went abroad with the Ural industrialist and philanthropist A. N. Demidov as his secretary. and art consultant. Visited England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and almost all cities in Italy. Worked in the largest foreign countries, libraries and archives. There was a brother on Demidov's estate in San Donato near Florence.
In 1854, S. returned to St. Petersburg, where he became close to the young composers M. A. Balakirev, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. P. Borodin, T. A. Cui, whom he called " a mighty bunch." In the 1860s, the ideologist and propagandist was a realist. and democrats art of the "Itinerants". Activist enc. type. Beginning of lit. activity dates back to 1847, when in "Otech. Zap." posted several “analysis” of foreign. book Published in more than 50 Russian publications. and foreign period, ed. Published in "Vest" fine arts", "B-ke for reading", "ZhMNP", "Yezhegod. imp. theaters", "Ist. West.", "North. Vest.", "Izv." and "Zap. Archaeol. island", "Books of the Week", "Rus. Vest.", "Artiste", "Rus. antiquity", "Ancient and new. Russia", "Vest. Europe", "Muz. and theater, news." and many others. In 1869, he received the Uvarov Prize for his work "The Origin of Russian Epics." In 1900, he was elected honorary, academician of the Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature as a representative of artistic criticism. Author of numerous monographs and articles . about music, painting, sculpture, Russian composers and artists; works in the field of archeology, history, philology, folklore, ethnography. Great importance had an album of drawings “Slavic and Eastern Ornament”, on which he worked for almost 30 years, widely using materials not only domestic, but also foreign. bk and museums. On ed. I received the album from the State. treasury 12 thousand rubles For this tr. received the rank of T. Sov. He took an active part in the publication. at the expense of A.V. Zvenigorodsky in Russian, French, German. language book "History and monuments of Byzantine enamel" (St. Petersburg, 1894). In lit. heritage of S. defined. place is taken by the book. and art., connection. from his bibliography activities.
S. first visited B-ku in 1845, intending to study the engravings stored here. OK. 1850 helped co. B-ki orientalist F.N. Popov in the description of the book. In 1855, he began to systematically visit the B-ku, especially the Department of Fine Arts, which was then headed by V. I. Sobolytsikov. In the end 1855 accepted Sobolytsikov’s proposal to compile a system. catalog of the Rossika Branch, which was completed in 1857. Proposal. im circuit diagram catalog was approved by the Academy of Sciences. He took part in staffing the Department of Fine Arts, sorted out prints, and organized exhibitions.
In the end 1856 dir. B-ki M.A. Korf offered S. a place as his assistant. according to Commission for collecting materials on the history of the life and reign of Nicholas I. In Komis. wrote a number of sources. tr.: "Young years of Nicholas I before marriage", "Review of the history of censorship during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I", "History of Emperor Ivan Antonovich and his family", "History of attempts to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Russia and in some Slavic countries " and others. All these studies. were written specifically for Alexander II and entered his personal library. In July 1863 he was assigned to the Second Department of his own. e.i. V. Chancellor "with leave during classes" according to the composition. history of the life and reign of Nicholas I. He served there until 1882. In the beginning. 1860 was ed. "Izv." archaeol. branches of the Russian Geographical Society.
In 1856-72 he continued to work “free” in the PB, having in Art. separate your desk. Together with Sobolshchikov he organized an exhibition of production. rus. engraving school. On his initiative, exhibitions of ancient Russian history are organized. manuscripts with miniatures, ancient Russian. hook manuscripts from the 11th century. From 1856 he compiled “Reports” of the PB (1856-61, 1872-73). Did a lot of work on preparation. report "A Decade of the Imperial Public Library (1849-1859)". In 1857 he put forward the idea of creating a collection of engravings. portrait Peter I and carried it out brilliantly. The collection included more than 200 portraits, images of various scenes and events from the life of Peter I, numerous. popular prints, cartoons, images of his houses and monuments. To the beginning 1862 a catalog of the collection was prepared, ed. only in 1903. In 1864 he took an active part in the controversy that flared up on the pages of St. Petersburg. gas. about the transfer of the B-ki to the building of the Engineering Castle, speaking out against this project. 27 Nov 1872, after the death of Sobolytsikov, S. was hired as a faculty member and headed the Department of Arts and Technology, where he worked for 34 years - until the last days of his life. Led all the work of the department: acquisition, processing of funds, classes with visitors. I carefully followed the bibliogr. decree, book trade catalogues, compiled lists of missing publications. On his initiative, collected collections were acquired. photogr. I. F. Barshchevsky, having eaten, Russian monuments. antiquity. Collected photographs relating to Russia. He paid great attention to portraits. collection, rus. and east popular prints. In order to replenish the funds, he obtained prints of valuable engravings that had disappeared from circulation from old boards stored in the Academy. arts and in Gen. headquarters Almost every year he gave manuscripts, photographs, books to B-ka. (1500 units). During his work, the Khudozh funds. branches increased by one third, and it became one of the richest in the world. In 1874 he dismantled many thousand. collection of small muses. production, dividing them into two chapters. groups: pieces for instruments and pieces for voices with instrument, accompaniment. Maintained all catalogues: inventory, alphabet. and syst. He compiled an extensive “Note on changing some rules regarding the maintenance of a systematic catalogue,” insisting on a uniform form of cards for catalogs of all departments and on simplifying the bibliogr. descriptions ed. In syst. I made many valuable annotations in the catalogue. on cards. Exhibitions and excursions were given an enlightening role. When serving visitors, he was highly qualified. consultations, advice, selected lit. Great help with information, selection of literature. rendered M. O. Mikeshin, M. M. Antokolsky, V. M. Vasnetsov, I. E. Repin, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. P. Borodin, L. N. Tolstoy, M. A. Balakirev, D. A. Rovinsky, N. P. Sobko and many others. etc. In the library he gave it to composers every year. Prize named after M. I. Glinka. With his assistance, the PB received manuscripts and arch. composers, artists, sculptors (M. I. Glinka, A. S. Dargomyzhsky, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin, M. A. Balakirev, A. G. Rubinstein, P. I. Tchaikovsky, Ts. A. Cui, A. K. Lyadov, A. K. Glazunov, M. M. Antokolsky, K. P. Bryullov, I. K. Aivazovsky, I. E. Repin, etc.). In 1876 he put forward the idea of creating two reading rooms instead of one: for “scientific and serious studies” and for “students and the reading public.” The project was not implemented at that time. He also participated in staffing other departments of the library and tried to provide timely orders for the latest books. in history, ethnography, archeology, geography, linguistics, production. artist lit. He was against exhaustive compilation ("pastor's speeches", "treatises on table turning" and the like). He collected materials on the Decembrist movement, on students. and roar. movement 1880-1900, prod. "free Russian press", according to the history of the first Russian. revolution. Many people came through him. illegal ed., including Bolshevik gas. Contributed to the acquisition of the collection of ed. Paris Commune. He advocated for expanding the premises with a new extension. In 1897 he presented to Stroit, commission, member. cut it was, a grandiose project for a new building, composed based on his idea by the architect I. P. Ropet. The project widely used ancient Russian motifs. architecture and ornaments. The project was rejected due to inconsistency with the classic. style of the old building. In 1905 S. compiled illustrations. guide to the B-ke (unpublished). On July 15, 1886, artists, musicians, scientists, and writers presented S. with gratitude for his 40 years of service to Russia. art. They also achieved the installation of a bust of S. by M. M. Antokolsky in the library and collected a large sum money for publishing his op. In 1882 S. was offered the post of vice-director, in 1899 - director. But he refused, although during his service he repeatedly had to replace the vice-director. and dir. From January 1 1884 S. assigned annually. allowance of 3 thousand rubles. "for his work in collecting materials for the history of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I", from January 1. 1900 rent was assigned for 1500 rubles. per year for 6 years. He refused to be awarded orders. 27 Nov 1902 S. received a diploma for the title of honor, member. PB in connection with the 30th anniversary of his activity in the position of a doctor.
He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.
The PB is reinforced on the façade of the building Memorial plaque WITH.
Op.: Collection Op. T. 1-4 (St. Petersburg, 1894-1906); Letters to relatives. T. 1-3 (M., 1953-62); Imp reports Public Library for 1856-61, 1872, 1873 (St. Petersburg, 1857-62, 1873, 1874); New acquisitions of the imp. Public Library for the Department of Fine Arts //SPbVed. 1859. June 25; JMNP. 1859. Part 103, July - September, department. 7; Decade of imp. Public Library (1849-1859): Note, rep. to the sovereign. imp, ... (St. Petersburg, 1859); Notes on the miniatures of the Ostromir Gospel (St. Petersburg, 1863); Slavic and eastern ornament according to manuscripts of ancient and modern times: [Album and explain, text to the table] (St. Petersburg, 1887); History of the book "Byzantine Enamels" by A. V. Zvenigorodsky (St. Petersburg, 1898); Miniatures of some Byzantine, Bulgarian, Jagatai and Persian manuscripts (St. Petersburg, 1902); Gallery of Peter the Great in the imp. Public Library /Preface. V.V. Stasova. Part 1. Abstract. catalog (St. Petersburg, 1903); Mark Matveevich Antokolsky, his life, works and articles, 1853-1883 / Ed. V. V. Stasova (St. Petersburg, 1905); Tolstoy L. N., Stasov V. V. Correspondence, 1878-1906. (L., 1929); Repin I. E., Stasov V. V. Correspondence. T. 1-3 (M.; L., 1948-50).
Bibliography: Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov: Materials for the biography. Description of manuscripts / Comp. E. N. Viner et al. M., 1956; Pokazy S. N. V. V. Stasov, 1824-1906: Abstract. decree. lit. for 1950-1973. L., 1974.
Reference: TSB; Brockhaus; Bibliology; Mezhov. Story; Riemann; Slavic studies.
Lit.: Sobolytsikov V.I. Memoirs of an old librarian //IV. 1889. T. 38, No. 11; Anniversary of Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov, January 2. 1894. St. Petersburg, 1894; Timofeev G.N. Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov: Essay on his life and activities //BE. 1908. No. 2-5; To the unforgettable Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov: Sat. playback St. Petersburg, 1910; Moscow archaeol. about; Botsyanovsky V. F. In memory of V. V. Stasov // Life of Art. 1923. No. 23; Karenin Vl. Vladimir Stasov: Essay on his life and work. L., 1927; Reet B. Books and people: Essays from the history of State. public library named after. M, E. Saltykova-Shchedrin, 1814-1939. L., 1939: Lebedev A.K. Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov, 1824-1906. M.; L., 1944; Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov 1824-1906: To the 125th anniversary of his birth: Sat. Art. and playback M.; L., 1949; Babintsev S. M. V. V. Stasov - librarian of the Public Library // Librarian. 1950. No. 11; Mebil B.I., Mesenyashin I.A. Library activities of V.V. Stasov //Sov. bibliogr. 1U52. Vol. 2; Stefanovich V. N. Library activities of V. V. Stasov. Author's abstract. dis. ...cand. ped. Sci. M., 1954; Hers. V. V. Stasov (1824-1906): Essay on the Bible. activities. M., 1956; Suvorova E.I.V.V. Stasov and Russian progressive social thought. M., 1956; Goldenblum A. M. Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov. Omsk, 1957; Chistyakova A.V. Work of V.V. Stasov with the readers of the Arts Department of the Public Library //Tr. /GPB. 1957. T. 3; Khotyakov (1); Vraskaya O. B. About the work of V. V. Stasov in preparing for printing materials on the history of Russian architecture // Book: Research. and materials. M., 1962. Issue. 6; Markevich A.P. Stasov - citizen, critic, democrat. Kyiv, 1969; Salita E. G., Suvorova E. I. Stasov in St. Petersburg. L., 1971; Lebedev A.K., Solodovnikov A.V.V.V. Stasov: Life and creativity. L., 1982; Barkhatova E. V. V. V. Stasov // Sov. library science. 1984. No. 6; Stuart M. Vladimir Stasov and the professionalization of librarianship in Russia //Solanus. 1993. Vol. 7.
100th anniversary. pp. 214, 256, 275, 286, 306-07, 311, 316, 331-33, 352, 390-92, 405, 432, 445.
Nekr.: Speech. 1906. 11 Oct.; Petersburg gas. 12, 14 Oct.; Light. 12 Oct; SPbVed. 12 Oct; Comrade. 12, 22 Oct.; Taganrog, west. Oct 15; IV. T. 106, Nov.; Byzantine. temporary T. 13, issue. 2; JMNP. N.S. 1907. Part 7, January; Izv. AN. Ser. 6, no. 10; Report on the activities of ORYAS AN. St. Petersburg, 1906; Kondakov N.P. Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov: Nekr., 1824-1906. St. Petersburg, 1907; Engel Yu. D. In memory of V. V. Stasov //Rus. music gas. 1907. No. 41-42.
Arch.: Arch. RNB. F. 1, op. 1, 1872, No. 78; OR RNB. F. 362; TsGALI. F. 238; F. 888; OR IRLI. F. 294.
Iconogr.: PC. 1895. T. 83, February; Niva. 1904. No. 1; 1907. No. 43; Grabar I. Repin. M., 1964. T. 2.
O. D. Golubeva
It seemed that this wonderful old man always and everywhere felt the secret work of his young heart. human spirit. The world for him was a workshop in which people paint pictures, books, build music, carve from marble beautiful bodies, create majestic buildings... Here is a man who did everything he could - and did everything he could!
A.M.
BITTER
Here is the man who did everything
I did everything I could, and I did everything I could. A.M.Gorky
. About Stasov.
This essay is about one of the largest figures of Russian culture, who did a lot for the development and establishment of such areas as music, painting, literature, and archeology. Thanks to such people, Russia gained greatness and acquired spiritual riches, with which it generously shared and is sharing with the world.
An essay about him will help, as we would like to hope, to remember and realize the greatness of the history of Russia, its unique culture, which has enriched many lands and peoples with its high spirituality, purity, sincerity and humanity. Many of the above statements and thoughts of Stasov, it seems to us, are not only relevant in today’s Russia, but also seem to have just been born.
When working on the essay, we used numerous literature about Stasov, his letters and memoirs about him, especially the work of literary critic O.D. Golubeva.ON THE FACADE
the main building of the Public Library named after M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in St. Petersburg (now the Russian National Library), overlooking Ostrovsky Square, there is a marble memorial plaque by the sculptor Yu.G. Kluge: “The outstanding figure of Russian culture Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov worked here from 1855 to 1906.” great librarian. With the help of the library, where Stasov was in charge of the art department, he influenced widest circle people of Russian culture, helped enrich national culture many immortal artistic creations that have won worldwide recognition and fame. His library activities organically merged with his encyclopedic knowledge in the field of art. He was an art librarian all in one, a great connoisseur and educator.
Exactly ten years after the opening of the Public Library to the public in St. Petersburg, on January 2, 1824, in house No. 18 on the First Line Vasilyevsky Island A son, Vladimir, was born into the family of the famous Russian architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov. The Stasov family was very ancient: since 1380 they were considered Russian nobles. Vladimir was the fifth child in the family. When he was six years old, he lost his mother, who died from cholera that was raging in St. Petersburg.
His father had a great influence on Vladimir’s upbringing. advanced man of his time, after the death of his mother he became very close to Volodya. Even during the life of the mother, the father formulated his views on raising children, so that they would grow up sincere, honest and hardworking, and respect others. In his youth he was close to the educator N.I. Novikov, was a member of the circle of the director of the Imperial Public Library and the president of the Academy of Arts A.N. Olenin, was friends with P.K. Khlebnikov - a bibliophile of Catherine's time, a collector of manuscripts and the founder of a family public library.
My father left a memory of himself in the form of many buildings that still decorate St. Petersburg. According to the designs of Vasily Petrovich and under his leadership, the Izmailovsky and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedrals, the Moscow and Narva Triumphal Gates were built, the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, the Tauride and Peterhof Palaces were rebuilt. He had the titles of academician and honorary free fellow of the Academy of Arts. Father was the dearest and closest person to Vladimir.
Young Vladimir received a good education at home. Nature generously endowed him with brilliant abilities: extraordinary memory, curiosity, and hard work. The boy became addicted to reading very early.
The Stasov family was often visited not only by architects, but also by artists and musicians. The influence of the latter turned out to be very strong. Passion for music and serious study of it changed plans young man: he began to see himself as a future composer! In his youth, the first composer to completely master it was L. Beethoven. In his more mature years, I.S. became an idol. Ba x. The nickname “our Bach” even stuck to him for many years.
To continue his education, his father decided to place Vladimir in the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, and when his son failed the exam, in the spring of 1836 he sent him to the recently opened School of Law. It was a closed aristocratic educational institution, which was designed to prepare enlightened officials: knowledgeable, honest, with moral principles.
Stasov considered all seven years of his stay at the school to be happiness. This opinion was greatly facilitated by the fact that music was intensively cultivated at the school. Almost all the pupils played some kind of musical instruments. After classes, as Stasov recalled, the whole house seemed to turn into a conservatory; pianos, cellos, violins, horns, flutes, double basses sounded on all floors... Vladimir himself played the piano beautifully. And here he continued to read books about art, attended concerts and theaters. A.N. became his friend. Serov, later famous composer and music critic.
ALLThe students of the school were fond of the magazine “Notes of the Fatherland,” the best magazine in Russia at that time, which called for the abolition of serfdom and the education of the people. “I remember,” writes Stasov, “with what greed, with what passion we rushed at the new book of the magazine (Otechestvennye Zapiski) when they brought it to us... All the first days we had nothing but conversations, reasoning, disputes, gossip, what about Belinsky, and about Lermontov... Belinsky was definitely our real educator. No classes, courses, writing essays, exams, etc. have done as much for our education and development as Belinsky alone with his monthly articles... he cleared the eyes of all of us, he cultivated characters, he chopped away patriarchal prejudices with the hand of a strongman... We are all his direct followers pupils."
Belinsky's articles awakened Stasov's love for Pushkin and Gogol. When Pushkin was killed, the students read a poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "Death of a Poet". " Dead Souls» Gogol was read collectively, since it turned out to be impossible to establish a queue. “For several days,” writes Stasov, “we read and reread this great, unheard of original, national and genius creation. We were as if intoxicated with delight and amazement.”
Belinsky and Russian classic literature, the literature of critical realism instilled in Stasov a critical attitude towards reality. From Belinsky, Stasov adopted ideas for the rest of his life the social purpose of art, its nationality, realism, patriotism and humanism. Many of Stasov’s fellow students subsequently became “pillars of order”, zealous defenders of serfdom. “Who would then,” Stasov lamented, “among all of us, would have imagined what would come out of these beautiful, sweet boys: from whom - the most submissive slave III departments, from which he is the most stupid and soulless despot, from whom he is indifferent to everything good and bad, a most vulgar official, who only grabs ribbons and rent, and who has danced at the ball in more than one important public matter.”
But finally, on June 10, 1843, his studies ended successfully for Stasov. He received the rank of titular councilor, 9th class official. He spends the next eight years in public service, holding various positions in Senate departments. The boring and monotonous service of a minor official began: assistant secretary, junior assistant secretary in the Land Survey Department, secretary in the Heraldry Department, and from the summer of 1850 - assistant legal adviser in the Ministry of Justice.
Dry official matters did not satisfy Vladimir Vasilyevich; his soul was not in the field of jurisprudence. However, it was necessary to serve, since there was little money for living. Titular adviser Stasov still devotes all his free time to art: he plays the piano a lot, often visits the Hermitage, along with music and painting he seriously studies graphics.
In a letter to his father dated January 1, 1844, Stasov wrote that he had decided to devote his life to artistic and critical activity. In the same year he met K.P. Bryullov, in 1849 - with M.I. Glinka. His first publications appeared in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski in 1847. These were reviews of new works of English, German and French literature, works of painting, sculpture, architecture and music.
When in 1851 he had the opportunity to go abroad together with the descendant of the Ural industrialists Demidovs, who had done a lot for Russia, the rich man and philanthropist A.N. Demidov, he happily agreed and retired on May 15, 1851. He worked for Demidov as a literary secretary, art consultant, librarian at the San Donato estate near Florence, annotated and reviewed purchased books for Demidov. And he himself recognized “the abyss of new books and things.”
FOR THREE YEARS,spent with Demidov, Stasov visited not only many cities in Italy, but also Germany, England, France, Switzerland, where he worked in archives and libraries, communicated with artists and scientists. He managed to thoroughly study the originals of the masters of ancient, medieval and modern Western art. He often met with Russian artists who lived in Italy - Alexander Bryullov, Sergei Ivanov, etc. In 1852, upon learning of the death of K.P. Bryullov, Stasov went to Rome, collected all the information about the last days of his life and wrote an article “ Last days K.P. Bryullov and the works remaining in Rome after him.” In the article, he assessed the artist as an unsurpassed master of Russian academic painting.
In 1854, together with the Demidovs, Vladimir Vasilyevich returned to his homeland. In St. Petersburg, he reads everything about art with “great greed.” During these years, the famous dissertation of N.G. had a huge influence on his worldview. Chernyshevsky “Aesthetic relations of art to reality” (1855), arguing that art is not only a special form of knowledge of life, but also a special means of struggle for its transformation.
Stasov now increasingly thinks that he is deprived of the opportunity to somehow influence the awakening national identity. “A great people, morally beautiful and patient, does not know their lights. He does not know the power of his creative spirit. Not only among the masses, but also among the intelligentsia, crude prejudices that are far from the truth prevail.” He often recalls Herzen, who with “great talent, intelligence, knowledge and strength fights against false human concepts.”
Following the most important tenets of democratic aesthetics, Stasov believed that art criticism, when evaluating works of art, should, just like art, reveal the needs of the people, evoke compassion for the weak and disadvantaged and pronounce their verdict. According to the critic artists and musicians must create art of great social significance that educates the thoughts and feelings of the people.
In the article “Artistic Statistics” (1887), he was indignant at the lack of rights of the people, at the inaccessibility of education for them, and denounced the autocracy for issuing a reactionary law, according to which access to gymnasiums was denied to children of poor classes. (How close this is to the state of affairs in the country and in education today!) “What would have happened if all this people had not had obstacles and logs across the road like serfdom, the lack of a free press, general humiliation?” - Stasov asked a question. Ilya Efimovich Repin, having read the article, was delighted and admitted to the author: “We truly should fall on our knees before you in awe... Especially for us, peasants, townspeople and other pariahs. What courage, what strength! I am completely amazed, surprised: how did you get away with it!!! In our vile time of the kingdom of idiots, mediocrity, cowards, lackeys and similar bastards called ministers... I shake your noble hand with all my heart and thank you with a bow to the ground for your noble feat!!!”
In all his articles and letters, demanding from the artist first of all content, Vladimir Vasilyevich persistently emphasized original, independent character of Russian art. Russia's defeat in Crimean War, according to Stasov, the fall of “the slab from the tomb where Russia lay buried alive” awakened art, “its images cannot wrap up and hide, they directly tell their whole truth.”
He considered P.A. to be the founder of the new Russian national school of painting. Fedotov, his heir V.G. Perova. Highly appreciated the work of V.V. Vereshchagin, “the most sworn, tireless and daring realist.” From 1874 to 1904, when Vereshchagin died, Stasov did not cease to glorify the artist and call him Leo Tolstoy in painting (Leo Tolstoy was for him all his life not only an authority, but also an idol, he called him Leo the Great everywhere). But for Vladimir Vasilyevich I.E. was superior to all contemporary artists. Repin is a realist exposer, truly a folk master.
Possessing a natural gift for recognizing young talents immediately, as they say, at first sight, he was able to be the first to “discover” I.N. Kramskoy, V.G. Perova, F.A. Vasilyeva, I.E. Repina, I.I. Shishkina, V.V. Vereshchagina, M.M. Antokolsky, V.M. Vasnetsova, V.A. Serov and many others. Here we must add the brilliant Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin, whom Stasov not only “discovered”, but also predicted a great future for him.
In the article “Regarding the exhibition at the Academy of Arts” (1861), the critic condemns the academy for the fact that, like ninety years ago, it offers graduate students mythological and ancient themes. He believed that artists themselves could and should choose subjects for paintings, not content with themes from Greek mythology, the Bible and ancient history. The artists faced challenges related to with the vital interests of the oppressed and suffering people.
Not without the influence of Stasov’s articles, fourteen students of the Academy of Arts twice submitted a petition to the Academy Council for the right to freely choose the subject of a painting submitted for competition for a large gold medal. Since the requests remained unanswered, the group led by I.N. Kramskoy, as a sign of protest, left the academy in November 1863 and formed her own “art artel,” which in 1871 became the “Partnership traveling exhibitions", which turned Russian art towards reflection real life. This partnership included: G.G. Myasoedov, I.N. Kramskoy, N.N. Ge, I.I. Shishkin, V.G. Perov, V.E. Makovsky, A.K. Savrasov, N.A. Yaroshenko, S.V. Ivanov, V.A. Serov, V.I. Surikov and other artists.
As you can see, this list includes outstanding names that will forever remain in the history of Russian and world culture. The power of exposure of the paintings of these artists was so great that, as they said, the historian N.I. Kostomarov, having seen the painting “Unequal Marriage” by V.V. Pukirev, refused to marry the young lady.
Stasov supported, inspired, enlightened, and defended the “Itinerants,” who were for him the standard of democratic and realistic art. In response to reactionary criticism blaming the “Wanderers” for the loss aesthetic feeling beautiful, in pessimism, in the depiction of “little” people with their grief and suffering, he wrote in the work “Art of the 19th Century”: “If the Russian people predominantly do not consist of generals and aristocrats ... not big people, and most of all from the small ones, not from the happy ones, but from the needy ones - then, of course, most of the subjects in new Russian films, if they want to be “national”, Russian, are unfeigned, as well as the majority characters Russian paintings should not feature Dante and Hamlets, not heroes and six-winged angels, but men and merchants, women and shopkeepers, priests and monks, officials, artists and scientists, workers and proletarians, all sorts of “true” figures of thought and intellect. Russian art cannot go somewhere aside from real life"(emphasis mine. - Yu.S.).
It must be emphasized that soviet art walked along the road that Stasov and other outstanding figures of Russian culture had pointed out long before the Soviets - along the way democratic, socialist realism.
In painting, as in literature, such realism became the dominant trend.
ONEone of the most high arts that bring happiness to a person, Vladimir Vasilyevich believed music, especially Russian. At the end of his life, as if summing up the results, he shared with his friend, Doctor of Astronomy and Philosophy V.P. Engelhardt (September 16, 1904): “I’ll tell you, hand on heart, that with all the troubles that attacked me and gnawed at me, the main and wonderful thing for me was always music. Not only no other art, but no other medium has brought me so much joy, help and, if possible, happiness and consolation as she did. What a blessing that there were once in the world before me, or at the same time as me, such people as Glinka, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, F. Schubert, Borodin, Mussorgsky and all great Russians. Exactly - Russians"(emphasis mine. - Yu.S.)
In 1854, Stasov joined a youth musical circle grouped around M.I. Glinka, and wrote a number of articles on musical issues. Russian society for a long time refused to understand the composer’s music, calling it the music of coachmen. Stasov was able to show the public that Glinka had begun “a new era in Russian music.”
Gorky, Stasov and Repin on Pushkin Alley in Penates. 1904
Stasov timed all more or less significant musical events to coincide with November 27, considering this day significant for Russian music. It was on this day that the premieres of two of the composer’s great operas took place - “A Life for the Tsar” (1836) and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1842). When Glinka died (1857), Vladimir Vasilyevich wrote his biography and worked on transporting the body from Berlin to St. Petersburg, arranging a solemn funeral service in the Stable Church, the very same one where Pushkin’s funeral was held in 1837. Stasov put a lot of work into erecting the tombstone for the composer in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and monuments in Smolensk and St. Petersburg. How important this was for strengthening and perpetuating the achievements of Russian music!
In the early 60s of the 19th century, a small circle of very talented young people who passionately loved Russian music formed in St. Petersburg. Its only professional musician was the head of the circle, composer Mily Alekseevich Balakirev. The others were not. M.P. Mussorgsky was a guards officer, A.P. Borodin - a military doctor, later pro-
professor of chemistry, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov - naval officer, Ts.A. Cui - military engineer.
The “kuchkists” saw their main task in the propaganda of Glinka’s works and in the development of the foundations of Russian culture laid by him (and developed by A.S. Dargomyzhsky). symphonic music. This was especially true at a time when the dominant position in theaters was Italian opera. Members of the “Mighty Handful” did their best to pave the way new, Russian ways of creating opera and symphonic music. And there were a lot of these forces! Through their efforts in the 60s, almost every day a romance, an act of an opera, or a piano piece appeared.
Stasov’s main merit was that he was the first to recognize, support and nurture this group, and became its “ godfather" He spoke to B.V. Asafiev, then an aspiring musicologist: “My role is to push them... They know better how and what to do. Well, in part necessary materials By my very position (of course, the Public Library) and my management, I help them all, and in fact protect them. They know that I fight with my teeth and fangs, just to work. And you have to push with all your might.”
The musicians gathered either at Balakirev’s or at Glinka’s sister L.I. Shestakova, or the Stasovs, whose friendly house was the center of musical and artistic St. Petersburg for many years. Vladimir Vasilyevich did not have his own family in the generally accepted sense; he lived with his three brothers and two sisters, as if he were a bachelor. He himself believed that he was in a civil marriage with Elizaveta Klementyevna Serbina, a distant relative. They had a daughter, Sofya Vladimirovna, whom her father loved dearly.
Stasov's evenings were marked not only by high intellectuality, but also by fun. Vladimir Vasilyevich himself was inexhaustible in inventions and jokes. All his life he had an aversion to smoking, wine and cards, so common at parties. Let's give the floor to S.Ya. Marshak, who was a guest of Stasov, however, at a later time: “... Stasov’s apartment on Peski,” he wrote, “could rightfully be called today’s “House of Arts” ... Here the doors were always wide open for the old and young masters - composers, singers, pianists. From here they left with new strength, and sometimes with new plans.”
Vladimir Vasilievich was a direct participant creative life“kuchkists”, made, as he put it, “suggestions” to them. He advised Balakirev to write music for Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear", a musical work dedicated to the millennium of Russia - the second symphonic overture "A Thousand Years" ("Rus"); Mussorgsky suggested the plot of “Khovanshchina”, Rimsky-Korsakov - the plots of “Sadko”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, Borodin - “Prince Igor”, Cui - “Angelo”. Under the influence of Stasov, Cui became a music critic.
Of the five, he considered Mussorgsky the most talented. His correspondence with Mussorgsky shows how much assistance he provided to the composer in his work on the opera Boris Godunov and in the creation of the libretto of Khovanshchina. On the advice of Stasov, Mussorgsky captured an exhibition of drawings and watercolors in musical images...
talented architect V.A. Hartmann, creating the famous piano miniatures “Pictures at an Exhibition” (the best transcriptions of this masterpiece for symphony orchestra made independently of each other in 1922 by the French composer Maurice Ravel and in 1954 by the Russian musician Sergei Gorchakov). Mussorgsky once admitted to Stasov that “no one is hotter than you.” warmed up me in every way; no one looked more simply and, therefore, deeper into my insides; no one showed me the path more clearly.” Worth a lot such confession such Masters!
The “Kuchkists” and Stasov reacted negatively to the opening of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, not fully understanding that its establishment was a progressive phenomenon in musical life. In contrast, in the same year, through the efforts of Balakirev, choral conductor G. Lomakin and Stasov created a free School of Music, which existed until 1917 and did a lot in propaganda best works Russian and world musical classics, and in introducing poor but talented people to music.
Paying tribute to the talents of the “Mighty Handful” and understanding their significance for music, for the history of Russia, Stasov wrote articles, biographies, obituaries about them, published their letters, organized concerts of their works, worked on the construction of monuments, collected creative archives, correspondence.
“Stasov, Stasov! Oh, what a guardian angel and encourager of the talents of his time he is!!! - wrote Repin K.I. Chukovsky in 1911. “How he cherished, how he prostrated himself with all his might for Russian art!..” As one contemporary put it, “No one valued him more highly and no one more passionately loved young Russian art.” When it was necessary to stand up for his friends and comrades-in-arms, Vladimir Vasilyevich did not mince words. One of his articles - “Musical Liars” - even caused a lawsuit. The article was directed against Balakirev’s enemies, who forced the composer to leave the conductor of symphonic concerts of the Russian Musical Society.
One of the “musical liars,” Conservatory professor A.S. Faminitsyn brought Stasov to court for libel. The court rejected the charge of libel (April 30, 1870), but found “abuse” in the article and sentenced the critic to a fine of 25 rubles and house arrest for seven days.
The feeling of gratitude and respect of Russian composers for Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov is evidenced by many works dedicated to him: the opera “Khovanshchina”, the romances “Paradise”, “The Mischievous”, “Beetle”, “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky; "King Lear" by Balakirev; romance “Let the snow fall on the ground”, “Hymn to Stasov”, “Mystical choir for three women's voices» Cui; “Scheherazade”, romances “Vice”, “To My Song”, as well as a collection folk songs Rimsky-Korsakov; symphonic fantasy"Storm" P.I. Tchaikovsky; symphonic picture “Forest”, “Solemn Procession”, String Quartet No. 4 A.K. Glazunov; four intermezzos and other works by A.K. Lyadova. After Stasov’s death, Glazunov wrote a prelude for the orchestra “In Memory of V.V. Stasova".
STASOVAoften reproached for paradoxicality, tendentiousness, and partiality. He replied that he saw nothing wrong with this, did not tolerate half-heartedness, the golden mean, did not like people who were neither cold nor hot, but always only lukewarm.
He was openly persecuted, especially by the newspaper men from Novoye Vremya. However, he did not bow his head and was even proud of the fact that his enemies called him “the trumpet of Jericho”, “Mama’s shafts”, “ram”, etc. “Well,” he wrote in the article “Results of the Three New Times” (1893), “I have nothing to complain about such nicknames, I would be ready to recognize them as extremely flattering and honorable... I would like to be that Mamaev’s shaft that should crush and overthrow those hated pens and papers that spread stupor and loss of thought, that sow the poison of concepts and extinguish the light of the soul.”(emphasis mine. - Yu.S.).
Stasov sincerely sympathized with the workers who stood up to fight lawlessness at the beginning of the twentieth century, and with all his soul wished them victory. He was firmly convinced that the autocracy must come to an end, that “this cannot continue for long: a maximum of 25-30 years...”. Soon after the events of January 1905, he wrote: “The great cause of people’s liberation has risen and moved forward...” He greeted Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov, who announced after Bloody Sunday his refusal of the title of lifelong member of the Academy of Arts - a title that was approved by the tsar: “Great to you honor and glory for your proud, courageous, deep and invincible sense of truth and for your disgust with the criminal and disgusting. Honor and glory to you."
During these years, “terrible news of deaths, gallows, bullets and whips” came from everywhere. And Stasov is “full of anger and frustration,” we learn from his letter to Repin. And then there are the decadents with their paintings, which are nothing more than “sad attempts of impotence and disheveled meaninglessness.” “...But not all artistic Russia consists only of paralytics,”- says Vladimir Vasilyevich in an article about the next exhibition of modernists. The critic believes in a better future: “We already have a whole mass of people who are able to understand something in art...”
Wasn’t it about these masses that he was thinking when he wrote to Leo Tolstoy: “...The Russian proletariat (as I now know and love it, and adore it - the first and best, most modern, most exalted proletariat in all of Europe) has become, as if on a granite foundation... Where you can see In the history of the world, where else is there such a spectacle? A strike of the entire state... All of Europe is listening to the Russian revolution.”
All his life, Stasov regarded his creative work as an activity “for Russia and the future,” and his “works for the common benefit, and also for the benefit of those from whose hands the money for salaries was collected - for the benefit to the people Man of words and advice,
But he didn’t compose it himself...
Kudos to you for that!
Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov passionately loved Russia and could not imagine life without it. To his granddaughter, Sofya Medvedeva, who was forced to leave for Switzerland due to police persecution, her grandfather instilled the idea that it was impossible to live outside her homeland. He wrote: “All the examples I have seen have always proven to me that it is impossible to leave Russia forever with impunity. After some time, repentance, bitter regret and vain, belated self-remorse always followed, regardless of any social, artistic, scientific successes, and even more so - limited and selfish family ones. I have seen that even great people (or at least significant people), for example, Herzen, A.A. Ivanov, Prince. Kropotkin, Gogol, Turgenev and dozens of others were never content (after some time) to live abroad for a long time and greedily sought to return to Russia, to everything that was theirs and to everyone that was theirs. Those of them who failed to do this withered away, suffered and suffered for a long time, incurably.”
He always believed in the talent of the Russian people, who “there is too much ineptitude and ignorance, but the initiative is mental and all that, perhaps, like no one else.” However, he did not suffer from national chauvinism, opposed any restrictions on the rights of any nationality, passionately desired “for people and nations to be each other’s brothers, and not rapists on the one hand and powerless, oppressed on the other.”
Enormous daily work (Stasov did not go to work at the Public Library only on Christmas and Easter) and time undermined his powerful body.
* * *
On October 13, all of cultural St. Petersburg came to pay their last tribute to the outstanding cultural figure of Russia. The students wanted to carry the coffin to the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in their arms. But the police did not allow it, as did the banners with the inscription “To the unforgettable Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov - a mighty fighter for original art.” Among the many wreaths are wreaths from the Korsakovs, from Chaliapin, Repin, Glazunov and Lyadov, from conservatory students with the inscription “To the freedom fighter in life and in art.” Wreaths from the Public Library, the Academy of Arts, the Russian Museum, and the editorial offices of newspapers and magazines were placed on the grave.
In the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra stands a bronze figure of a mighty man in a Russian blouse and boots. The monument, remarkable in its similarity, as a contemporary wrote, “to the point of complete illusion, reproducing the living Vladimir Vasilyevich at the best time of his life, full of cheerfulness and energy,” was sculpted by friends - sculptor I.Ya. Ginzburg and architect I.P. Ropet.
“His element, religion and god was art,” wrote Gorky. - He always seemed drunk with love for him and - sometimes - listening to his hasty, hastily constructed speeches, one could not help but think that he was anticipating great events in the field of creativity, that he was on the eve of the creation of some major works of literature, music, painting, always with trembling joy the child awaits the bright holiday...”
Sifting his life through the “sieve and sieve of time,” we must admit that Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov managed to fully realize himself and receive lifetime recognition. He made an invaluable contribution to the formation, propaganda and rapid development of Russian culture, which has won worldwide fame. We all owe him. While enjoying the many creations of Russian artists, composers, writers, grateful descendants should remember the name of Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov, this
a frantic seeker, guardian, propagandist and defender of a scattering of talented Russian cultural masters.
More than a hundred years have passed since the death of this giant. And Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak was right when he wrote about him:
But he came this way
That, remembering the last century,
It is impossible not to remember him.
Yuri SIDOROV, professor, doctor of technical sciences
Saint Petersburg
Yuri SIDOROV
Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences St. Petersburg Ladimir Stasov is a music and art critic. His articles popularized the ideas of democratic culture and explained art to the masses. Stasov participated in the creation of a community of composers " Mighty bunch
"and supported the movement of Peredvizhniki artists. Together they fought against academicism and the isolation of art from real life.
Young polymath Vladimir Stasov was born in St. Petersburg into a noble family. His mother died early, and his father raised the boy, famous architect Vasily Stasov. He taught his son to systematically read and express his thoughts on paper - that’s how Stasov fell in love literary work
. As a child, Vladimir Stasov dreamed of entering the Academy of Arts and following in his father’s footsteps, but his father wanted his son to become an official, so in 1836 he sent his son to law school. It was at the school that Vladimir Stasov became truly interested in art, especially music. Together with his friends, he acted out scores, rearranged operas and ballets, performed romances and arias, and took part in plays and concerts. “Hardly in any other Russian, educational institution music flourished to such an extent as in the law school. In our time, music played such an important role in our country that it could probably be considered one of the largest features of the general physiognomy of the school.”.
Vladimir Stasov. Photo: aeslib.ru
Mikhail Gorky, Vladimir Stasov and Ilya Repin in Kuokkala. 1900. Photo: ilya-repin.ru
Vladimir Stasov. Photo: nlr.ru
While studying, Stasov met the young musician Alexander Serov. Together they enthusiastically discussed the works of modern painters, new literature and works famous composers. During their studies, they studied almost all foreign and domestic musical literature. But the main ideological inspirer of Vladimir Stasov in matters of art was the critic Vissarion Belinsky.
“The enormous importance of Belinsky, of course, did not relate to just one literary part: he cleared the eyes of all of us, he educated characters, he chopped, with the hand of a strong man, the patriarchal prejudices with which all of Russia lived before him, he prepared from afar that healthy and powerful intellectual a movement that strengthened and rose a quarter of a century later. We are all his direct students.”
Vladimir Stasov
The formation of a critical view of art
In 1843, Vladimir Stasov graduated from college and got a job as an assistant secretary in the Land Survey Department of the Senate. Five years later he transferred to the Department of Heraldry, and two years later to the Department of Justice. But Stasov was not interested in either jurisprudence in general or the career of an official in particular. Most of all, he was interested in art.
Stasov believed that art needs professional critics. He shared the opinion of Vissarion Belinsky: art needs people “who, without producing anything themselves, nevertheless engage in art as their life’s work... studying it themselves, explain it to others.” Later, Stasov put forward the motto of his life “to be useful to others, if he himself was not born a creator.”
At the age of 23, Vladimir Stasov published his first critical article about French composer Hector Berlioz in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. In the same year, the chief publisher of the magazine, Andrei Kraevsky, invited Stasov to the department foreign literature and allowed him to write short review articles on the topics of painting, music and architecture. During his two years of work at Otechestvennye Zapiski, Vladimir Stasov wrote about 20 articles.
In 1851, Vladimir Stasov went abroad with the Ural industrialist and philanthropist Anatoly Demidov as his secretary. Stasov understood that a critic must understand all areas of culture, and therefore in Europe he communicated with musicians and scientists, artists and architects, and studied European art.
“Criticism must contain all the arts, certainly without exception, because they are different aspects and means of one and the same general whole... only then can a complete thought exist and there will be no more funny, hitherto existing disputes about which art above: sculpture, or poetry, or music, or painting, or architecture?
Vladimir Stasov
Critical realism of Vladimir Stasov
Ilya Repin. Portrait of Vladimir Stasov. 1905. State Russian Museum
Ilya Repin. Portrait of Vladimir Stasov. 1900. State Russian Museum
Ilya Repin. Portrait of Vladimir Stasov at his dacha in the village of Starozhilovka near Pargolov. 1889. State Tretyakov Gallery
Three years later, Vladimir Stasov returned to St. Petersburg. In Russia at this time, the democratic socio-political movement was gaining strength, and the dominant trend in culture became “ critical realism" He fought against academicism, religious and mythological themes and the isolation of art from the people. Realism proclaimed that art should explore the world and be a “textbook for life.”
Stasov believed that “every people should have their own national art, and not trail behind others along beaten paths, at someone else’s orders,” so he looked for and supported the best representatives of Russian art. In St. Petersburg, Vladimir Stasov became friends with young composers Mily Balakirev and Alexander Dargomyzhsky. Together they formed a small circle of Russian music lovers.
Later, members of this circle - Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Cesar Cui - created artistic association composers "The Mighty Handful", the name of which was given by Stasov. The Kuchkas sought to embody the Russian national idea in music, studied musical folklore and church chants - and later used their elements in their compositions. Vladimir Stasov not only wrote articles about young musicians, but also helped them in their work: he suggested plots for operas, selected materials and documents for the libretto.
In the 1860s, Stasov also became friends with members of the Artel of Free Artists. Representatives of the movement rebelled against academicism in painting: they wanted to paint pictures on life themes, and not on staged subjects. Stasov shared their ideas, defending the principles of realism.
In 1870, the artel was replaced by the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Inspired by the idea of populism, Moscow and St. Petersburg painters took up educational work and organizing exhibitions. Vladimir Stasov supported their movement and described in his articles social issues, which affected the work of the Wanderers, welcomed the reflection folk life in their paintings.
At the same time, Stasov worked at the Public Library in St. Petersburg: he helped collect historical materials and organized exhibitions Old Russian manuscripts, and in 1872 became head of the art department. During his 50 years of service at the St. Petersburg Public Library, Vladimir Stasov collected large collection works by artists and did a lot to open free access to the library.
In 1900, Stasov was elected an honorary member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Vladimir Stasov died in 1906 in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Two years later, a monumental tombstone with the inscription “To the Champion of Russian Art” was installed on his grave.
Name Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov I somehow can’t wrap my head around being a composer and a musician. And at the same time, he was the ideological inspirer of the most significant Russian composer formation of the mid-nineteenth century -.
Stasov was a music and art critic, art historian, archivist, and, of course, a public figure.
The future ideologist of the Great Russian Five came from an intelligent St. Petersburg family. His father, architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov, participated in the design national holidays during the coronation of Emperor Alexander, traveled around different countries, completed internships in France, Italy, Austria and Poland. Later he entered the Cabinet of Structures and Hydraulic Works. He designed a complex of buildings for the Provision Warehouses, the Catherine and Alexander Palaces. And he became the first master of the Russian style. Needless to say, this could not help but subsequently have an impact on his son, Vladimir Vasilyevich, who was born on January 2, 2010. 1824?
In 1836, Vasily Petrovich sent his son Vladimir to study at the newly created School of Law. There the young man became keenly interested in music. But I didn’t see myself as a composer. He didn’t have any special inclinations, or maybe he was simply afraid to develop them in himself. And, as is usual in such cases, he boldly gave in to criticism.
V.V. Stasov. Portrait of the artist I. E. Repin. 1883, Russian Museum, Leningrad. He wrote his first article in 1842. It was dedicated to what was then popular. He just came to St. Petersburg with a concert. But the article was never published.
After studying at the school, which ended in 1843, Vladimir began serving as an assistant secretary in the Land Survey Department of the Senate.
Five years later he already had the position of secretary in the Department of Heraldry. Two more years later he became assistant legal counsel at the Department of Justice. At that time he was already fluent in six languages. In addition, Stasov began his career as a music critic and published in Otechestvennye zapiski.
Their publisher once invited Stasov to the foreign literature department, and the young man also began publishing notes covering issues of painting, sculpture and architecture.
But the idyll did not last long. In 1848, for his connection with the Petrashevites, Stasov was removed from work in the magazine, and then completely imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The Petrashevites were distinguished by excessive freethinking, and that is why they began to be persecuted. This circle later went down in history, in no small part because the young Dostoevsky took part in it. What was the cost of just staging them? death penalty. The convicts were put through all the preparations, and only at the very end did they learn about the pardon. Many of the Petrashevites were arrested simply because they did not report on the meetings, and even because of the distribution of Belinsky’s letters.
1851. Stasov retired and went abroad. There he became the secretary of the Ural industrialist Demidov. He was a very rich man, who also sincerely loved art.
Demidov
Despite his Russian name and certainly of Russian origin, Anatoly Nikolaevich Demidov was born in Florence, lived and worked both in Russia and in France. In addition to being considered a Russian philanthropist, he was also the Prince of San Donato. He bought this title, which allows one to judge the magnitude of his wealth. He rarely appeared in Russia, since Nicholas the First did not like him, quite rightly believing that Demidov was taking a monstrously large amount of money out of Russia. On the other hand, if it weren’t for Demidov, no one would have gotten them anyway. And so, thanks to this entrepreneur, much of what we now consider cultural heritage has become available.
I. Repin. Portrait of V.V. StasovaStasov worked in San Donato, where Demidov bought the princely title. He had ample opportunities to work in libraries, and he worked not so much as a secretary, but as Demidov’s librarian. Vladimir had the opportunity to frequently visit various Russian artists and architects who lived in Italy. Among them, for example, were Alexander Bryullov, Sergei Ivanov and Ivan Aivazovsky.
In 1854 he managed to return to St. Petersburg. He was always inspired by his creative work, and therefore quickly formed the ideology of the circle, which would later become known as the “Mighty Handful.” A man of enormous erudition, Stasov simply amazed with the versatility of his interests. Consistently defending independent national paths of development of the Russian composer school, he had an invaluable influence on the formation of aesthetic and creative principles great five.
In addition, Vladimir Stasov, starting in the sixties and for the rest of his life, supported the activities of the association of traveling exhibitions. He even became one of the main inspirers and historians of the movement.
“True art looks with all eyes at what is happening around us,” said Stasov. “And around us people live, work, and suffer. This means that the heroes of the paintings should not be six-winged angels, not kings, ancient and modern, not counts and marquises, but men, workers, officials, artists, scientists.” And he added: “Only there is real art, where people feel at home.” That is why the works of the Itinerants were so dear to Stasov.
In 1856-1872, Stasov worked at the Public Library, where he had a personal desk in the art department. During his work, he organized an exhibition of ancient Russian manuscripts. Then he was hired as a librarian, and until the end of his life he was in charge of the art department.
Repin Ilya Efimovich (1844-1930): Portrait of Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov. 1900Working in this position, he could freely advise artists, writers, and, of course, composers.
In 1900, he was elected an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
During his life he did a lot: he was a researcher and promoter of the work of M. I. Glinka, compiled monographs about composers M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin, artists K. P. Bryullov, A. A. Ivanov, V. V. Vereshchagin, V. G. Perov, I. E. Repine, I. N. Kramskoy, N. N. Ge, M. M. Antokolsky and others. Stasov supported the work of A. K. Glazunov, A. K. Lyadov, A. N. Scriabin, F. I. Shalyapin. Vladimir Vasilyevich was one of the first to begin systematic work on collecting and publishing the epistolary heritage of Russian artists and composers (letters from Kramskoy, Antokolsky, A. A. Ivanov, Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, A. N. Serov, Mussorgsky). As an art historian, he affirmed the importance of the great realistic traditions of the works of D. Velazquez, Rembrandt, F. Hals, F. Goya. In Russia, Stasov promoted the music of L. Beethoven, F. Liszt, G. Berlioz, F. Chopin, E. Grieg and others.
Turgenev once wrote about Stasov. Read these lines, and you will see the inner world of this wonderful man more clearly:
Argue with a person smarter than you: he will defeat you... but you can benefit from your very defeat. Argue with a person of equal intelligence: whoever wins, you will at least experience the pleasure of fighting. Argue with a person of the weakest mind: argue not out of a desire to win, but you can be useful to him. Argue even with a fool! You won’t gain either fame or profit... But why not have fun sometimes! Just don’t argue with Vladimir Stasov!