The creative community of Russian composers that arose at the turn of the 50s and 60s. XIX century, during the period of social-democratic rise in Russia and the flourishing of Russian culture. It is also known as the Balakirevsky circle, or the New Russian music school. The name “Mighty Handful” was given to the circle by V.V. Stasov. The circle took shape over several years (1856–1862) around M. A. Balakirev with the active participation of Stasov.
“A mighty bunch. Balakirevsky circle. Painting by A. V. Mikhailov. 1950 (fragment).
Earlier than others (1856), a military engineer by profession, composer and musical critic C. A. Cui. In the winter of 1857, they were joined by an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, M. P. Mussorgsky, and in November 1861, a 17-year-old graduate of the Naval Officer Corps, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In the late autumn of 1862, in the house of Professor S.P. Botkin, Balakirev met the young associate professor of the Medical-Surgical Academy A.P. Borodin. In the autumn of 1865, after Rimsky-Korsakov returned from his circumnavigation of the world, meetings of the circle began to take place in full.
Balakirev became the generally recognized head of the “Mighty Handful”. This was given to him by his enormous talent, creative courage, inner strength and conviction in upholding nationally distinctive ways of developing Russian music. He, according to Stasov, came to St. Petersburg “as a young professor... of Russian national music.” At the meetings of the "Mighty Handful" much attention was paid to the study best works classical heritage and modern music. They played works by R. Schumann, F. Liszt and G. Berlioz, but more often by F. Chopin and M. I. Glinka. The Kuchka composers highly valued the work of L. Beethoven, whom they considered the founder of all new music.
The Balakirev circle was not only a school of professional excellence for young musicians. This is where their social and aesthetic views took shape. At the meetings, works of world literature were read classical literature, discussed political and historical events, studied articles by V. G. Belinsky, N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, A. I. Herzen. The ideologist of the circle was Stasov, his influence on the worldview of the “kuchkists” was enormous. He often suggested ideas for future works to the Balakirevites: he suggested that Borodin write an opera based on “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” and gave Mussorgsky the idea of “Khovanshchina.” Stasov dedicated a number of articles to the figures of the “Mighty Handful”, created monographs on Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui; in his works “Our Music for the Last 25 Years” and “Art of the 19th Century” he paid great attention to the activities of the “Mighty Handful”.
The “Mighty Handful” was not a closed circle; its connections with artistic life have always been distinguished by their versatility. Among like-minded people and friends of the Balakirevites are A. S. Dargomyzhsky, Glinka’s sister L. I. Shestakova, sisters A. N. and N. N. Purgold. With the participation of the sisters, “The Stone Guest” by Dargomyzhsky, “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky, and “The Woman of Pskov” by Rimsky-Korsakov were performed in their home.
From the second half of the 60s. The activities of the “Mighty Handful” assumed a wide social scope. This was facilitated by the growing scale of activity of Balakirev himself. In 1862, he, together with G. Ya. Lomakin, organized a Free Music School, conducted symphony concerts Russian musical society, in which the music of his circle comrades was performed (see Russian music of the 18th - early 20th centuries). At this time, the connections of the “Mighty Handful” with Moscow musicians - P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. G. Rubinstein and others - were strengthening. The relations connecting the Balakirevites with figures of musical culture were sometimes very complex. They, for example, underestimated the positive role of the conservatory created in 1862, seeing in it a hotbed of “academicism” and “German influence.” Over time, the contradictions were smoothed out, but even at first they were not insurmountable, since they were not generated by personal enmity, but by the desire for the progress of national culture and the sincere conviction of the Balakirevites that this path was the only correct one.
All members of the “Mighty Handful” were united by the desire to continue Glinka’s work for the glory and prosperity of Russian music. Like Glinka, the life of the people became the main theme of their work, an object of constant observation and study. They recreated it through the events of history and through the images of poetic fairy tales and epics; through philosophical thoughts about the fate of the Motherland and vivid pictures of everyday life, through images of Russian people of all classes and times. According to Stasov, the Balakirevites unfolded before the listeners “an ocean of Russian people, life, characters, relationships.”
Balakirevo residents admired the beauty of Russian folk song. 40 Russian folk songs were collected and processed by Balakirev, 100 by Rimsky-Korsakov. The love for Russian song was also reflected in the style of the works of the composers themselves, which are distinguished by a clear national flavor. The Kuchkists were also keenly interested in the songs of other peoples of Russia, especially the melodies of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The democratic orientation of the creativity of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” was also expressed in the desire to create music that is bright, accessible and understandable to a wide range of listeners. This was one of the reasons for turning to vocal genres(romance, opera), creating programmatic instrumental works that brought music closer to literature and painting.
The educational activities of the “Mighty Handful” and the work of the Free Music School encountered hostility from reactionary noble and aristocratic circles. Balakirev was unable to resist them and long time moved away from music and social activities. During this time, his students and comrades became mature artists. Each of them went their own way, and the circle disintegrated. However, no one betrayed the ideals of the “Mighty Handful” or renounced their comrades. The ideas of the Balakirevites were developed in creative and educational activities composers of the new generation. Their creativity and innovative ideas had a great influence on the development of foreign (in particular, French) music.
Embodiment in Russian music national idea was the main goal of the Balakirev circle, which formed in St. Petersburg in the 1850s and 60s, which later became known as the “Mighty Handful,” the composition of which remained virtually unchanged.
This name was given to the “New Russian Music School” (another name) by its ideological inspirer - the famous critic V.V. Stasov (1824-1906).
Great Five
How did this creative community arise, uniting five great Russian composers - M. A. Balakirev and Ts. A. Cui, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov? It must be added that at some period the “Mighty Handful” had a more expanded composition. It included composers A. S. Gussakovsky, N. N. Lodyzhensky and N. V. Shcherbachev, less known to the general public, especially the modern one. They later left the Balakirev circle and generally moved away from composing activities. Therefore, it is generally accepted that only five composers were members of the New School; in France they were called the “Group of Five” or “Five”. The main members of the circle themselves considered themselves heirs of the great Russian composers M. I. Glinka and A. S. Dargomyzhsky.
Supporters of the “Russian idea”
This time in Russia is associated with a ferment of minds, which did not bypass the creative intelligentsia. Constantly flaring up popular unrest forced progressive-minded artists and composers to turn to folk theme, study Russian folk music and spiritual chants. They were united by the idea of implementing folk aesthetic principles in music. It was proclaimed by the head of the powerful group, M. A. Balakirev (1837-1910) and V. V. Stasov, who developed the general ideological and aesthetic positions of the circle. They were like-minded people and shared the views of famous democratic writers of the 60s. These were patriots who selflessly loved Russia, devoted to the “Russian idea.”
Russian talent
The composer who most shared their views and consistently implemented them in life was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881). The most distant from the other participants was Cesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918), although he was the first to join the group. These five composers were united not only by regular meetings and conversations - they systematically collected, studied and systematized Russian musical folklore with the aim of embodying national identity in their works. It is clear that these Russian composers took their plots from Russian history. And their innovation extended to the form of musical works, and to harmony and rhythm.
Brilliant composers, talented publicists
There were few of them, but they had a huge influence not only on the musical life of Russia, but also on the entire culture. Therefore, the name given to them by V.V. Stasov is so clear - “The Mighty Handful”. The composition of this free community united the most talented composers of that time, except for P. I. Tchaikovsky, with whom the “Five” had close but complex relations.
These Russian composers also propagated their views in the press. Thus, from 1864, Cui published systematically, defending his views and tendencies, which largely coincided with the position of the Balakirev circle. Borodin also spoke a lot in periodicals. And Rimsky-Korsakov regularly outlined his positions and principles, the fundamental of which were the people and nationality of music. Therefore, the themes of their work were connected only with Russia, its historical past, ancient beliefs, folk tales and legends.
Ideological center
The “Mighty Handful,” whose composition had already loudly announced itself, created the Free Music School (1862), which became a kind of center not only for educational activities, but also cultural life capital Cities.
The progressive public of that time gathered here - writers and artists, sculptors and scientists, whose views were close to the principles of the composers. The musicians presented and discussed their new works here.
Erudite, comprehensively gifted, talented
The brightest and most radical “kuchkist” was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. For the sake of music, he left his service in the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. He was an erudite and brilliantly educated man who spoke several languages fluently. European languages and played the piano beautifully. In addition, Modest Petrovich had a wonderful baritone. He was the most consistent adherent of the principles declared by the “Mighty Handful,” whose collapse was very painful and considered it a betrayal of the “Russian idea.” His great operas “Boris Godunov”, “Khovanshchina”, “Sorochinskaya Fair” place the composer among greatest musicians Russia.
In the last years of his life, his innovative work was rejected not only by academic circles, but also by his close friends - the remaining members of the “Mighty Handful”. The composer drank; his last and only lifetime portrait was made by I. Repin shortly before his death, which overtook Mussorgsky in a military hospital in St. Petersburg.
Geniuses don't get along for long
The Mighty Handful broke up for several reasons. So, Balakirev, who was experiencing a deep mental crisis, pulled away and went to the Rimsky-Korsakov Academy, whom Mussorgsky and Balakirev considered a defector, although thanks to him, the ideas of the “kuchkists” did not disappear, but were embodied in the work of composers-members of the Belyaev circle. Borodin, in addition to music, also had chemistry. The work of the “Mighty Handful” not only left a deep mark on Russian music, it radically changed it. It acquired a national character, scope and nationality (there were many folk scenes in the works). Absolutely all representatives of this musical association, united by a common idea, were bright and talented people. Their creativity replenished the treasury of not only Russian, but also world music.
Among the many creative schools and aesthetic movements in - musical culture In the second half of the 19th century, one of the leading positions was occupied by the “Mighty Handful”. This musical group consisted of five Russian composers: M. A. Balakirev, Ts. A. Cui, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. They were connected not only by joint activities and not just great friendship. They were united general views on musical art, general goals and objectives. The position of each of these composers in the history of Russian music is different. Balakirev is known primarily as the head of a musical circle; Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov opened a new period in Russian classical music with their works. A brilliant creative community began its existence in the 60s, marked by the rise of the democratic social movement, the flourishing of Russian literature, theater and painting, the humanities and exact sciences. The very formation of the Balakirev circle was a striking manifestation of new trends. Young composers paved their way in art, relying on the traditions of M. I. Glinka, and following their first creative experiences A. S. Dargomyzhsky watched with sympathetic attention. He openly supported the diverse activities of young composers and did a lot to invite Balakirev as the head of the Russian Musical Society. The circle's meetings were held weekly at Balakirev's apartment. He himself became the educator and mentor of the composers of the “Mighty Handful”, although he was their peer, and two of them - Borodin and Cui - were even older than him. Subsequently, such members of the circle as Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, each found their own special, unique path in art and in many ways creatively “outgrew” their former teacher; however, the grains thrown into their consciousness by Balakirev were not in vain. Stasov was often present at the meetings. Young composers learned a lot of new things in communication with each other, enriching themselves with new musical impressions and ideas. Cui subsequently wrote: “since there was nowhere to study (the conservatory did not exist), our self-education began. It consisted in the fact that we replayed everything written by the greatest composers, and subjected every work to comprehensive criticism and analysis of its technical and creative side. We were young and our judgments were harsh. We treated Mozart and Mendelssohn with great disrespect, contrasting the latter with Schumann, who was then ignored by everyone. They were very interested in Liszt and Berlioz. They idolized Chopin and Glinka. There were heated debates, talking about musical forms, about program music, about vocal music, and especially about operatic forms.” One of the principles of the Balakirev circle was the principle of “brainstorming,” when all the forces of the mind and heart are directed toward solving one major problem. The creative discovery of one immediately became common property. Individual experience became part of the collective experience. The creative result of the first decade of the existence of the “Mighty Handful” were works that were original and bold, immediately declaring the innovative nature of this musical direction: operas depicting the people at turning points in Russian history and at the same time marked by great psychological depth (“Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky and “The Woman of Pskov” by Rimsky-Korsakov), works for orchestra, representing the main streams of Russian classical symphonism - epic, national-genre and programmatic (Borodin’s First Symphony, Overture on the themes of three Russian songs by Balakirev, “Sadko” and “Antar” by Rimsky-Korsakov), a variety of vocal genres - from subtle lyrical sketches (romances by Cui and Balakirev) to characteristic socially oriented scenes (“Seminarist”, “Svetik Savishna”, “The Orphan” by Mussorgsky) and “monumental miniatures” (“The Sleeping Princess” by Borodin). In the 70-80s, the art of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” developed further, without losing in comparison with the work of their brilliant contemporary P. I. Tchaikovsky and withstanding all comparisons, be it the instrumental music of the German composer J. Brahms, embodying classical traditions, or monumental orchestral and choral compositions by the Austrian A. Bruckner, marked by the unique national originality of the opuses of the founder of Norwegian classical music, E. Grieg. The strength of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” lies in the spirituality of their music, in its organic connection with modernity, with advanced ideas and the best achievements of the era, the significance of creativity in the fundamentally new things that they brought to the opera, symphony and chamber genres. Connections with modernity can be traced in different directions. The life of the people, widely represented in operas, is nothing more than an artistic embodiment of those liberation tendencies on which the social upsurge of the 60s was based - the second, heterogeneous period in the history of the Russian liberation movement, leading to 1917. Each of the works of the composers of the “mighty handful” bears the imprint of the creative individuality of the authors, and at the same time, the music of the composers as a whole is marked by common features - features of a single style, a single aesthetics.
Symphonic genres in the works of composers of the “Mighty Handful” and their stylistic features. Symphonic music of the 60s-70s could not remain aloof from the main tasks of the era. Chief among them is the truthful reproduction of life. This goal was set for themselves by artists, writers, and musicians. However, due to its characteristics, music does not reveal connections with reality as directly as other forms of art. When listening to instrumental music, it is not always possible to say exactly what events and collisions the composer had in mind when creating it. The large place that programming occupies in the work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” is due to the realistic and democratic basis of their technique. Program works made it possible to most “visually” show listeners that the musical themes of an instrumental composition can embody images of literature and painting, and the sequence of these themes, the nature of their development, the musical form itself can convey the sequence of certain life events. It was program music that gave grounds to assert, firstly, the presence of objective content in music and, secondly, the ability it shared with other arts - literature, painting - to reproduce the phenomena of reality. Hence the great closeness between program music and opera (common plots, a common range of images and characteristic methods of expression: the epic about “Sadko” served as the plot basis for both the opera and the symphonic picture of Rimsky-Korsakov; many symphonic episodes in operas are essentially close to program works ; these are the introductions to “Khovanshchina” (“Dawn on the Moscow River”), to the third act of “The Pskov Woman”, “Three Miracles” in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “The Battle of Kerzhenets” in “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh”. Much of the originality of the operatic and symphonic style of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” is determined by the enormous role that folk songs play in their work. They drew the themes of their compositions from folk songs, and folk songs determined their characteristic features. musical language, and the images created by folk fantasy found new life in the operatic and symphonic works of Mussorgsky and Balakirev, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. The instrumental work of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” is characterized by the borrowing of themes from folk music, the predominantly variational principle of development of these themes. Based on Glinka's traditions, the composers of The Mighty Handful discovered new stage in the implementation of folk music in professional art, moreover, a new stage in musical folkloristics. And Balakirev, and Mussorgsky, and Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov studied various collections of folk songs. Almost all of the most significant collections published at that time were assessed in reviews by Cui, and Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov themselves acted as compilers of the collections. In their approach to folk song samples, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” developed their own aesthetic criteria. The song is alive and integral, natural in its development and at the same time carrying within itself the harmonious and uniquely strict laws of harmonization, polyphonic and symphonic development - this is how composers understood it and this is how it entered their art. Regardless of whether the Russian folk song sounded quotation in one or another work, its significance was decisive in the formation of the musical language of Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mussorgsky. This is clearly felt in the melody, rich in folk song patterns, characteristic chants and intonations; the origins of the colorful and, for each of the “kuchkists” in their own way, original harmony largely go back to Russian folk music; folk polyphony gave birth to an original polyphonic structure, which was widely developed in Russian classical music; metrorhythmic ease and freedom are the result of comprehending the characteristics of Russian folk song; The variation form, so widely represented in opera and symphonic music, also arose as a result of the creative development of folk performing style. Rimsky-Korsakov occupies a special place among musicians who developed certain techniques for the best use of folk song for its further development in conditions of pan-European musical mastery. All of his instrumental work is imbued with song harmony and song sources. Such creative, extremely thrifty and consistent use of sound wealth gave Rimsky-Korsakov the opportunity to express himself in a variety of compositions that varied in concept and execution. The composers of the “Mighty Handful” widely developed the musical creativity of not only the Russian people; Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Spanish, and English songs are heard in their works, and the melodies of the peoples of the East are widely represented. All this enriched the musical language of each of them with new melodic-rhythmic features, mode-harmonic findings, and timbre-instrumental effects. For example, images of the Caucasus occupy a special place in Balakirev’s work. Trips to the Caucasus, acquaintance with its majestic nature and the colorful life of the Caucasian tribes made a deep impression on him and were vividly reflected in his work. Listening carefully to the songs and instrumental tunes of the peoples of the Caucasus, he tried to comprehend their internal structure, the source of their beauty and originality. It was there that he conceived a large orchestral work to express his impressions of the Caucasus. Later, the symphonic poem “Tamara” appeared, notable for its special poetry, brightness of images, and richness of orchestral and harmonic coloring. In it, the composer does not resort to direct quotation of Caucasian folk themes, but reproduces their unique melodic-rhythmic structure with remarkable fidelity. In terms of the brightness of the material, the imagery of the music, the richness and richness of color, “Tamara” ranks among the best examples of “Russian music about the East.” “Tamara” is an example of the finest orchestral sound design and perfect motivic work with a natural, like breathing, flow of background intonations into thematic elements and their dissolution in the texture of the accompaniment. A combination of multinational elements is found in Balakirev's second symphony: the second theme of the first movement is of an oriental nature, the finale includes a Russian folk song, similar to a Czech folk song. Some compositions, not based on original song themes, are written in the spirit of national samples. Such are the whole “Polish” act in “Boris Godunov”, the beginning of the finale of Balakirev’s Second Symphony (Tempo di Rollassa) or the genre of mazurka, widespread in Russian music, such are many works of an oriental character. In the process of creative work, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” studied songs of various peoples along with other historical sources, and this helped to recreate the correct coloring of the composition. Before the Kuchkists, there was no symphony of the classical type in Russian music; neither Glinka nor Dargomyzhsky created it. Mussorgsky in his educational works did not go beyond individual sketches; the Rimsky-Korsakov symphony, completed by the author and performed publicly, did not become a milestone either in his work, or, especially, in the history of music. Balakirev found the strength to complete his wonderful First Symphony after many years. And this task faced Borodin. He tackled it with concentration and purpose. The themes of his symphony were borrowed from folk songs, but they felt a blood relationship with Russian folk art and with folk music East. Their development was uniquely fresh, and the entire symphony as a whole was powerful and harmonious.
Opera creativity. The focus of the creative attention of the composers of the “Mighty Handful” was opera - the most democratic genre musical art, accessible to a wide circle of listeners, and they considered the development of its realistic foundations to be fundamentally important. To bring the art of opera closer to life, to recreate the image of the people, to reveal the inner world of human feelings - these are the tasks that Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin set for themselves. This gave rise to questions both general aesthetic and specifically musical: questions of choice of theme, plot, image of the hero, questions of dramatic content and its musical embodiment, the relationship between music and stage action, the relationship between the word and the vocal melody. The results of creative quests were works in such a variety different genres, such as recitative chamber opera (“Marriage”, “Mozart and Salieri”, “Feast during the Plague”) and monumental epic “Prince Igor”, folk musical drama and fairy tale opera or opera legend “Khovanshchina”, “Snow Maiden”, "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh." These works were distinguished by the mastery of dramaturgy and the high perfection of musical expression, the brightness of the characteristics and the versatility of the scenes, the subtlety of the motivic work, the richness of the vocal style, combining flexible recitative, ariosous and declamatory singing and completed arias-portraits . Deep historicism, which placed Russian classical opera at an unattainable height, is in the same vein with the development in the second half of the 19th century of Russian historical science, which brought forward such scientists as N. I. Kostomarov, S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky, who based their research on the careful collection and study of authentic historical documents. This documentary thoroughness, especially in historical themes, was adopted from science by Russian music in the person of the composers of the “Mighty Handful”. In revealing the inner life of a person in all its complexity, as in the operatic images of Prince Igor, Yaroslavna, Boris Godunov, Martha the schismatic, Ivan Grozny, found manifestation of the same interest in personality that gave rise to the novels of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky, and the best picturesque portraits of Russians artists of the XIX century. In opera and symphonic works, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” followed the models created by Glinka - the folk historical tragedy “Ivan Susanin. In Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” the epic compositional structure and the basic principles of dramatic development undoubtedly have as their prototype the composition “Ruslana,” but at the same time, the openly stated patriotic idea of the operatic work, the historical specificity and severity of the huge scale of clashes between nations - all this clearly goes back to to the conflict dramaturgy of “Susanin” and, for example, with enormous force and stunning artistic effect is revealed in the scene of the Polovtsian raid on the Russian city. The method of conflictual opposition of national musical spheres developed by Glinka in “Susanin” was also used by Modest Mussorgsky in “Boris Godunov”, and again, following Glinka, he builds his characterization of the Polish camp mainly on dance rhythmic intonations. In Boris, Mussorgsky wanted to show the people in development - from the downtrodden, submissive - to the formidable and powerful, when the forces hidden in the people break out in a spontaneous and terrible people's movement for the enslavers. About the first picture of the prologue - near the Novodevichy Monastery, Stasov wrote: “The people are submissive, like sheep, and elect Boris to the kingdom from under the stick of a policeman, and then, only this policeman stepped aside, full of humor at himself.” For the first time in history Opera Mussorgsky in “Boris Godunov” broke the custom of presenting the people as something unified. He often divides the choir into several groups, thereby achieving a realistic depiction of the people as a multifaceted mass. The text written by the composer is like a real folk dialect. About the scene near Kromy, Stasov said: “the entire “Underground Rus'” was expressed with amazing talent, rising to its feet with its power, with its harsh, wild, but magnificent impulse at the moment of all kinds of oppression falling on it.” Mussorgsky himself defined the idea of “Boris” this way: “I understand the people as a great personality, animated by a single idea. This is my task. I tried to resolve it in an opera. Fundamentally, the plots of the operas of the composers of the “mighty handful” are connected with Russian folk songs. Folk art is inspired by the images of individual characters of folk singers: Lelya in “The Snow Maiden”, Nezhata and the hero himself in “Sadko” and the buffoons - Skula and Eroshka in "Prince Igor"; the depiction of the people through various aspects of folk life, including through rituals, gave rise to special types of arias, songs and entire opera scenes: lullabies in “Pskovite” and “Sadko”, lamentations in “Boris Godunov” and “Prince Igor” , wedding ceremony in “The Snow Maiden” and in “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh”; and finally even individual species operatic recitative developed as a result of the influence of the performing style of folk tales. The composers of the “mighty handful” have much in common in their operas - this is something that was a consequence of the spiritual closeness of the musicians, and connections with the basic ideas of the era, and the requirements of the musical circle (truthfulness in depiction historical events), but also a lot of different things - something that comes from the individual characteristics of each of the composers. The similarities and differences between the operas can be seen in the operas “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky and “The Woman of Pskov” by Rimsky-Korsakov. These operas have a lot in common. During the period of their composition, the composers were especially friendly, and their inner closeness was reflected not only in their treatment of similar subjects, but also in the peculiarities of its interpretation. In both operas, the personal drama unfolded against the background of genuine historical events, the fate of the heroes turned out to be inextricably linked with the people's. The central characters in both operas are shown in many ways. Ivan the Terrible in “Pskovian Woman” is not just cruel. A despotic ruler uncontrollable in anger; he is a strongly feeling person. He knew great love, was imbued with fatherly tenderness for Olga and suffered for her. And Boris Godunov, who came to the kingdom through a crime and is painfully experiencing remorse, is a loving and caring father. The main characters in both operas are depicted in addition to vocal means with the help of bright musical leitmotifs. Revealing different sides of these complex characters
Municipal educational institution
Additional education for children
"Children's music school"
ABSTRACT
on the topic of:
“COMPOSERS OF THE “MIGHTY FUNCH””
by subject
"MUSICAL LITERATURE"
Work completed
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. Especially great importance For Balakirev, his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov gains.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov is a 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 modern 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 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 group “Balakirev – Stasov – Cui” 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 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.
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. Especially great place in the works of the “kuchkists” the eastern element is occupied (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 creative principles 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 embodiment.
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 demonstratively 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 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.
Striving to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic principles, to strengthen creative influence on the surrounding public 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. Besides Cui, with critical articles Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov spoke 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 strong 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 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” - “The 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 lasted relatively short-lived, but had a huge influence 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 1905) . For piano, he wrote a sonata in B flat minor (1905), a brilliant fantasy Islamey (1869) and a number of plays in different genres. Romances and adaptations of folk songs are of high value. Musical style Balakireva rests on one side on folk origins and the traditions of church music, on the other - to the experience of the new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, 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 participant creative group 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 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 the human personality in all its diversity and complexity 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 fact, the future composer was illegitimate son 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” 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 activity 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 art 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 papers on 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 the cellist of the Alexandria Theater Orchestra, Ulich. 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 an Andante for a symphony on the theme of a Russian folk song about the Tatar Polon, 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 the Prophetic Oleg” and the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, his son, the 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. Last years Mussorgsky's life was very difficult. Failing health, financial 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 working 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 previous 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.
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 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 widest circles of 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
http://music.edusite.ru/p59aa1.html
http://referat.kulichki.net/files/page.php?id=30926
ANNEX 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"
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 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 as 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 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), 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 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, indicating that Belyaev’s circle is a continuation of Balakirev’s, except for the connecting links in the person of me and Lyadov, consisted 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...”
- (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 as part of Belyaev’s “Mighty Handful”. Lavrov. A little later, as they graduated from the conservatory, Belyaev’s students included such composers as N. A. Sokolov, K. A. Antipov, Y. Vitol and so on, including big number later graduates of Rimsky-Korsakov in 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 the 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 late XIX- the 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 winged words and expressions
Exist., number of synonyms: 1 clan (3) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary