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

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

Brief biography

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

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

Success and recognition began to accompany him in his work, but family life failed. Just a few years after his marriage, another woman appeared in his life - Ekaterina Kern. Ironically, the daughter of Pushkin's muse Anna Kern became the composer's muse. Glinka left his wife, and a few years later began divorce proceedings. Maria Glinka also did not experience heartfelt affection for her husband and, while still married, secretly got married to someone else. The divorce dragged on for several years, during which the relationship with Kern also ended. Mikhail Ivanovich did not marry again, he also did not have children.

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

Interesting facts

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

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

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

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

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

Creation

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

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

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

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

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

RUSSIAN MAESTRO MIKHAIL GLINKA

He entered the history of world music as the founder of Russian national opera. His talent as a composer was not always approved, and was sometimes criticized and ridiculed, but the composer passed all the tests with honor and took a well-deserved place in the galaxy of great musicians.

Polish nobleman

Homeland Mikhail Glinka there was the Smolensk province, where his family lived in the village of Novospasskoye since the time of his great-grandfather, a Polish nobleman, who swore allegiance to the tsar and continued military service in Russia.

Mikhail's parents were each other's second cousins. Therefore, Glinka’s father, Ivan Nikolaevich, needed to obtain the bishop’s permission to marry his second cousin. The young couple got married and lived for many years in happiness and harmony, raising nine children.

Hereditary Polish nobleman Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka born on his parents' estate in 1804. The father, who was a retired captain, spared no money on the improvement of his village, for which the peasants loved him immensely. Over the course of several years, the settlement was literally transformed, streets with bridges, an English-style park appeared, peasant houses were whitewashed with chalk, and the mansion itself was two-story and had 27 luxuriously furnished rooms.

However, no rich decoration of the house prevented Mikhail from feeling simple rural life, communicate with peasants on equal terms, understand their problems, honor traditions and gravitate toward the simple folk art. According to critics of the time, the impressions of childhood years spent in the village were reflected in best works Mikhail Glinka. The composer kept autobiographical notes, in which he himself confirmed that the songs he heard in childhood became the reason for his deep love for Russian music. Since childhood, he learned to play the violin and piano, even then he tried to compose music, sang wonderfully and drew just as well.

Soon after the Patriotic War of 1812, Mikhail's parents sent him to study in St. Petersburg. In the capital young man had the honor to meet famous people of its time. First of all, these were Evgeny Baratynsky, Alexander Pushkin and Vasily Zhukovsky. And at the institute, the curator of Glinka’s course was Pushkin’s friend from the Lyceum days, Wilhelm Kuchelbecker. Strong friendship then began between Mikhail Glinka and the writer and composer Vladimir Odoevsky.

Temptation by music

In those years I realized that the craving for music is not a simple hobby. He began taking private lessons from famous teachers of that period - John Field and Karl Zeiner. Glinka studied European classical music, played music in famous salons, and began to try his hand at composing. Soon his efforts were crowned with success, he had works in different genres. Even then, his romances to the words of Baratynsky “Don’t tempt me unnecessarily” and Pushkin’s “Don’t sing, beauty, in front of me” were known in musical circles. But the composer himself was dissatisfied with what he was doing.

In 1823, Mikhail Ivanovich went to the Caucasus and got acquainted with music different nations, then worked for several years in the transport department, and at the age of 26 he decided to finally devote himself to creativity and went to the cradle of musical culture - Milan.

First opera

Imbued with the Italian spirit, the composer composes plays based on famous operas and writes music for instrumental ensembles. In 1833 he moved to Germany, where, under the guidance of Siegfried Dehn, he began to study pages of music theory unknown to him. In Germany, he was caught by the news of his father’s death, and Glinka urgently left for his homeland, already planning to create a national opera.

When he shared his thoughts and idea with Vasily Zhukovsky, he suggested that he take the story about Ivan Susanin as a basis. At the same time, he proposed to 17-year-old Marya Ivanova (to whom he dedicated the romance “I Just Recognized You”), in April 1835 they got married and left for the composer’s native village, where he began writing his future opera “A Life for the Tsar.”

A year later the work was ready, but putting it on stage turned out to be a very difficult task. The director of the imperial theaters, Alexander Gedeonov, prevented this. He submitted the score to the conductor Kavos, who had his own opera on a similar theme. But he acted nobly, wrote a flattering review of Glinka’s work and removed his opera from the repertoire. But Gedeonov refused to pay a fee to Mikhail Ivanovich for his opera.

The national epic of Mikhail Glinka

The premiere was a great success in November 1836. Glinka I couldn't believe my luck. The emperor himself expressed gratitude to him for a long time, and critics called “A Life for the Tsar” a national heroic and patriotic epic.

There were some intrigues at the opera's premiere. One of the spectators loudly shouted that this work was worthy only of coachmen. In response to this, in his autobiographical notes, Glinka noted that he agreed with this assessment, since the coachman was more efficient than many gentlemen.

In the background creative success worsened family relationships Mikhail and Marya. He realized that he had fallen in love with an invented, idealized image and quickly became disillusioned with his wife, who was more interested in balls and dresses than in her husband’s creative plans. The official divorce dragged on for six years. During this time, Marya managed to have an affair with a certain cornet, and Glinka’s heart was healed of emotional wounds by Ekaterina Kern, the daughter of Pushkin’s muse Anna Kern.

Inspired by Pushkin

Thanks to the successful production of A Life for the Tsar, he became a bandmaster at court, and two years later he went to Ukraine to select the most talented choristers for the chapel. Among those who went back with the composer was Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky, who later became famous composer and the author of the first Ukrainian opera “Cossack beyond the Danube”.

Mikhail Ivanovich conceived new opera based on the plot of Pushkin's "Ruslan and Lyudmila". He dreamed of working with a great poet, but sudden death Pushkina crossed everything out. Glinka worked on the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” for six years, constantly rehearsed with the artists, improved his creation, and in November 1842 released it to the public. Critics and the elite were completely unfavorable to the work Mikhail Glinka, and Prince Mikhail Pavlovich even said that he sent offending soldiers to listen to Glinka’s opera as punishment.

European recognition of Mikhail Glinka

Vladimir Odoevsky stood up in defense of his friend, calling the opera a luxurious flower on the soil of Russian music. He also helped Mikhail Ivanovich in creating the scenery, especially for the Chernomor stage. Glinka thought for a long time about what should be in fairy garden, until Odoevsky brought him a book by a German naturalist, in which microorganisms were depicted in a greatly enlarged form. This idea amazed the composer, and the audience was delighted with the scenery they saw.

with my sister

While on tour in St. Petersburg in 1843, he went to the theater for an opera Glinka“Ruslan and Lyudmila” a special visit was made by the Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. He had long shown a keen interest in Russian music, so he came to penetrate it and understand it even more deeply. Liszt was so impressed by what he saw and heard that he arranged “Chernomor’s March” for piano and brilliantly performed it at one of his performances. Such recognition of the European composer played a significant role in his career Mikhail Glinka. Soon the composers met in person and often met in musical circles. Ferenc often asked Mikhail Ivanovich to sing romances, and he himself accompanied or played his works.

Glinka's sister asked Liszt for permission to write a dedication to him when publishing her brother's works, to which Ferenc responded with sincere gratitude.

Faded wonderful moment

Glinka’s life was filled not only with creativity, but also with personal tragedies and experiences. While the divorce proceedings were going on, he built a relationship with Catherine Kern. The romance “I Remember” was dedicated to her wonderful moment"to Pushkin's poems, which were written for her mother. The girl was waiting for them to start a family. In 1841, Catherine became pregnant, the divorce was still not registered, the girl suffered and demanded Glinka decisive action. Then the composer could not allow her to give birth to an illegitimate child and gave a lot of money for an abortion, which he later very much regretted. To prevent the whole situation from becoming public knowledge, the girl left for almost a year in the city of Lubny, Poltava province. During this time, the composer's ardent feeling for Catherine faded, and they were never able to renew their relationship, although Kern retained her love for Glinka until the end of her days.

Russian classic

Mikhail Ivanovich fell into despair. The opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” almost failed, the relationship with Kern was a fiasco, there were no orders for new works, it seemed that the homeland simply turned its back on its composer. Then he decided to leave for Europe again. Traveling through France and Spain, he wrote the Aragonese Jota and the overture A Night in Madrid. At the same time, the famous orchestral fantasy “Kamarinskaya” was created, which, according to the apt expression of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, contained the entire Russian symphonic school.

In February 1857, his opera “A Life for the Tsar” was successfully performed in Berlin. Coming out of the premiere into the cold winter wind, Mikhail Ivanovich caught a cold and got pneumonia. He died painfully, and no one at home even knew about it. The composer died in 1857. They found out about his death in Russia only three months later and transported his ashes to the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

And only after the death of the composer did he gain universal recognition. Two of his operas began to be staged on all stages of the empire, and Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was recognized as a classic of Russian music. For the first time at the world musical Olympus a Russian author appeared who formed composer school his country and became a big name in European culture.

FACTS

At the rehearsals of “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” the performer of the role of Gorislava, Emilia Lileeva, was unable to exclaim "ABOUT!" before the phrase “my Ratmir”. One day Mikhail Ivanovich he quietly crept up to the singer and at the right moment strongly pinched her hand, which caused the girl to utter a completely genuine “Oh!” Glinka asked her to continue singing like this in the future.

Once “secretly” accompanied to the young singer Nikolaev. He learned that the maestro himself was in front of him only after he had performed almost all of his romances. Having learned that he sang to the author himself, he was embarrassed, but he heard wonderful advice from the composer: never sing in the company of amateurs, because they can spoil you with praise and bombard you with useless criticism, but real musicians can only give useful instructions.

Updated: April 8, 2019 by: Elena

Abstract

on the topic

Glinka M.I. - composer

8th grade students B

secondary school No. 1293

with in-depth study

English language

Chaplanova Kristina

Moscow 2004

1. Introduction

2. Glinka’s childhood

3. Beginning independent life

4. First trip abroad (1830-1834)

5. New wanderings (1844-1847)

6. Last decade

8. Glinka's main works

9. List of Literature

10. Appendix (illustrations)

Introduction

The beginning of the 19th century was a time of cultural and spiritual upsurge in Russia. Patriotic War 1812 accelerated the growth of national self-awareness of the Russian people and its consolidation. Height national identity people during this period had a huge impact on the development of literature, fine arts, theater and music.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka - Russian composer, founder of the Russian classical music. The operas “Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”, 1836) and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1842) laid the foundation for two directions of Russian folk opera musical drama and fairy tale opera, epic opera. Symphonic works, including Kamarinskaya (1848), Spanish Overtures (Aragonese Jota, 1845, and Night in Madrid, 1851), laid the foundations of Russian symphonism. A classic of Russian romance. Glinka's "Patriotic Song" became musical basis national anthem Russian Federation.

Glinka's childhood

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on May 20, 1804, in the village of Novospasskoye, which belonged to his father, a retired captain, Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka. This estate was located 20 versts from the city of Yelnya, Smolensk province.

According to the mother's story, after the first cry of the newborn, right under her bedroom window, in a dense tree, a ringing voice nightingale. Subsequently, when his father was dissatisfied with the fact that Mikhail left the service and studied music, he often said: “It was not for nothing that the nightingale sang at the window at his birth, so the buffoon came out.” Soon after his birth, his mother, Evgenia Andreevna, nee Glinka, handed over the upbringing of her son to Fekla Alexandrovna, his father’s mother. He spent about three or four years with her, seeing his parents very rarely. The grandmother doted on her grandson and spoiled him incredibly. The consequences of such initial upbringing affected throughout life. Glinka’s health was poor, he could not stand the cold at all, he constantly caught colds and therefore was afraid of all kinds of diseases, and easily lost his composure for any reason. As an adult, he often called himself “touchy,” “mimosa.” He received his primary education at home. Listening to the singing of serfs and the ringing of the bells of the local church, he early showed a craving for music. He became interested in playing the orchestra of serf musicians on the estate of his uncle, Afanasy Andreevich Glinka. Music classes playing the violin and piano began quite late (1815-16) and were of an amateur nature. At the age of 20 he began to sing tenor.

Musical abilities at this time were expressed by a “passion” for bell ringing. Young Glinka eagerly listened to these sharp sounds and knew how to deftly imitate bell ringers on two copper basins. Glinka was born, spent his first years and received his first education not in the capital, but in the village, thus, his nature absorbed all those elements of musical nationality that, not existing in our cities, were preserved only in the heart of Russia...

Once, after Napoleon's invasion of Smolensk, the Krusel quartet with clarinet was playing, and the boy Misha remained in a feverish state all day. When asked by the art teacher about the reason for his inattention, Glinka replied: “What can I do! Music is my soul! At this time, a governess, Varvara Fedorovna Klyammer, appeared in the house. With her, Glinka studied geography, Russian, French and German, as well as playing the piano.

Start of independent life

At the beginning of 1817, his parents decided to send him to the Noble boarding school. This boarding school, opened on September 1, 1817 at the Main Pedagogical Institute, was a privileged educational institution for children of nobles. After graduating, the young man could continue his studies in one specialty or another or go into public service. In the year the Noble boarding school opened, Lev Pushkin, the poet’s younger brother, entered there. he was a year younger than Glinka, and they met and became friends. At the same time, Glinka met the poet himself, who “came to visit his brother at our boarding house.” Glinka's tutor taught Russian literature at the boarding school. In parallel with his studies, Glinka took piano lessons from Oman, Zeiner and S. Mayr, a fairly famous musician.

At the beginning of the summer of 1822, Glinka was released from the Noble boarding school, becoming the second student. On the day of graduation, he successfully played Hummel's piano concerto in public. Then Glinka entered the service of the Department of Railways. But since she took him away from his music studies, he soon retired. While studying at the boarding school, he was already an excellent musician, he played the piano delightfully, and his improvisations were charming. At the beginning of March 1823, Glinka went to the Caucasus to use mineral waters, but this treatment did not improve his health. At the beginning of September, he returned to the village of Novospasskoye and took up music with new zeal. He studied music a lot and stayed in the village from September 1823 to April 1824; in April he left for St. Petersburg. During the summer of 1824 he moved to Faliev's house, in Kolomna; around the same time he met Italian singer Belolli and began to learn Italian singing from him.

The first unsuccessful attempt at composing with text dates back to 1825. Later he wrote the elegy “Do not tempt me unnecessarily” and the romance “Poor Singer” to the words of Zhukovsky. Music increasingly captured Glinka's thoughts and time. The circle of friends and admirers of his talent expanded. He was known as an excellent performer and writer, both in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Encouraged by his friends, Glinka composed more and more. And this early works many have become classics. Among them are romances: “Don’t tempt me unnecessarily”, “Poor singer”, “Memory of the heart”, “Tell me why”, “Don’t sing, beauty, in front of me”, “Oh, you, darling, are a beautiful maiden”, “ What a young beauty." At the beginning of the summer of 1829, the “Lyrical Album” was published, published by Glinka and N. Pavlishchev. In this album, the romances and dances he composed, cotillion and mazurka, were published for the first time.

First trip abroad (1830-1834)

In April 1830, Glinka received a passport to travel abroad for a period of three years and went on a long trip abroad, the purpose of which was both treatment (on the waters of Germany and in the warm climate of Italy) and acquaintance with Western European art. After spending several months in Aachen and Frankfurt, he arrived in Milan, where he studied composition and vocals, visited theaters, and made trips to other Italian cities. It was also assumed that the warm climate of Italy would improve his poor health. After living in Italy for about 4 years, Glinka went to Germany. There he met the talented German theorist Siegfried Dehn and took lessons from him for months. According to Glinka himself, Den brought his musical theoretical knowledge and skills into the system. Abroad, Glinka wrote several bright romances: “Venice Night”, “Winner”, “Pathetic Trio” for piano, clarinet, bassoon. It was then that he conceived the idea of ​​creating a national Russian opera.

In 1835 Glinka married M. P. Ivanova. This marriage turned out to be extremely unsuccessful and darkened the composer’s life for many years.

Returning to Russia, Glinka enthusiastically began to compose an opera about the patriotic feat of Ivan Susanin. This plot prompted him to write a libretto. Glinka had to turn to the services of Baron Rosen. This libretto glorified autocracy, therefore, contrary to the wishes of the composer, the opera was called “A Life for the Tsar.”

The premiere of the work, called “Life for the Tsar” at the insistence of the theater management, on January 27, 1836, became the birthday of the Russian heroic-patriotic opera. The performance was a great success and was attended by royal family, and among Glinka’s many friends in the hall was Pushkin. Soon after the premiere, Glinka was appointed head of the Court singing choir. After the premiere, the composer became interested in the idea of ​​​​creating an opera based on the plot of Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”.

Back in 1837, Glinka had conversations with Pushkin about creating an opera based on the plot of “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” In 1838, work began on the essay,

The composer dreamed that Pushkin himself would write a libretto for it, but the poet’s premature death prevented this. The libretto was created according to a plan drawn up by Glinka. Glinka’s second opera differs from the folk-heroic opera “Ivan Susanin” not only in its fairy-tale plot, but also in its development features. Work on the opera lasted more than five years. In November 1839, exhausted by domestic troubles and tedious service in the court chapel, Glinka submitted his resignation to the director; in December of the same year, Glinka was fired. At the same time, music was composed for the tragedy “Prince Kholmsky”, “Night View” to the words of Zhukovsky, “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” and “Night Zephyr” to the words of Pushkin, “Doubts”, “Lark”. The "Waltz-Fantasy" composed for piano was orchestral, and in 1856 it was converted into an extensive orchestral piece.

In 1838, Glinka met Ekaterina Kern, the daughter of the heroine of Pushkin’s famous poem, and dedicated his most inspired works to her: “Waltz-Fantasy” (1839) and a wonderful romance based on Pushkin’s poems “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” (1840).

New wanderings (1844-1847)

In 1844, Glinka again went abroad, this time to France and Spain. In Paris he meets French composer Hector Berlioz. A concert of Glinka's works was held in Paris with great success. On May 13, 1845, Glinka left Paris for Spain. There he met Spanish folk musicians, singers and guitarists, using recordings folk dances, Glinka in 1845 wrote the Spanish Overture “Brilliant Capriccio on the Theme of Aragonese Jota”, later renamed Spanish Overture No. 1 “Aragonese Jota”. The musical basis for the overture was the melody spanish dance“jota” which Glinka recorded back in Valladolid from a folk musician. She was known and loved throughout Spain. Returning to Russia, Glinka wrote another overture, “Night in Madrid,” and at the same time the symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya” was composed on the theme of two Russian songs: a wedding lyric (“Because of the mountains, high mountains”) and a lively dance song.

The last years of his life, Glinka lived in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Paris, and Berlin. He was full of creative plans.

In 1848 - Glinka began to compose large works on the theme "Ilya Muromets". It is not known whether he then conceived an opera or a symphony.

In 1852, the composer began composing a symphony based on Gogol’s story “Taras Bulba”.

In 1855, work on the opera “The Bigamist”.

Last decade

Glinka spent the winter of 1851-52 in St. Petersburg, where he became close to a group of young cultural figures, and in 1855 he met the head of the “New Russian School”, which creatively developed the traditions laid down by Glinka. In 1852, the composer again went to Paris for several months, and from 1856 he lived in Berlin.

In January 1857, after a concert at the Royal Palace, where a trio from A Life for the Tsar was performed, Glinka became seriously ill. Just before his death, Glinka dictated the theme for the fugue to V.N. Kashpirov; moreover, he asked to finish “Notes”. He died on February 3, 1857 in Berlin and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery. In May of the same year, his ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The significance of Glinka's work

“In many respects, Glinka has the same significance in Russian music as Pushkin in Russian poetry. Both are great talents, both are the founders of the new Russian artistic creativity, ... both created the new Russian language, one in poetry, the other in music,” as the famous critic wrote.

In Glinka’s work, two most important directions of Russian opera were defined: folk musical drama and fairy tale opera; he laid the foundations of Russian symphonism and became the first classic of Russian romance. All subsequent generations of Russian musicians considered him their teacher, and for many, the impetus for choosing a musical career was their acquaintance with the works of the great master, their deeply moral content, which is combined with a perfect form.

Glinka's main works

Operas:

"Ivan Susanin" (1836)

"Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1837-1842)

Symphonic pieces:

Spanish Overture No. 1 "Aragonese Jota" (1845)

"Kamarinskaya" (1848)

Spanish Overture No. 2 "Night in Madrid" (1851)

"Waltz Fantasy" (1839, 1856)

Romances and songs:

“Venetian Night” (1832), “I am here, Inesilla” (1834), “Night View” (1836), “Doubt” (1838), “Night Zephyr” (1838), “The fire of desire burns in the blood” (1839 ), wedding song “The Wonderful Tower Stands” (1839), “A Passing Song” (1840), “Confession” (1840), “Can I Hear Your Voice” (1848), “A Happy Cup” (1848), “Margarita’s Song” from Goethe's tragedy "Faust" (1848), "Mary" (1849), "Adele" (1849), "Gulf of Finland" (1850), "Prayer" ("In a difficult moment of life") (1855), "Don't say that it hurts my heart" (1856).

References

1. Vasina-Grossman V. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. M., 1979.

2. TSB. M. 1980

3. Musical literature. M., Music, 1975.

4. Russian music before mid-19th century, "ROSMAN" 2003

5. Internet.

Appendix (illustrations)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Hello, curious student!

You are on a page dedicated to the great Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka!

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka- Russian composer, founder of Russian classical music. Author of the operas “Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”, 1836) and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1842), which laid the foundation for two directions of Russian opera -folk musical drama and fairy tale opera, epic opera.

They laid the foundations of Russian symphonism.A classic of Russian romance.

First, you need to get acquainted with the personality of the composer; for this, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the biography of Mikhail Ivanovich.

Born June 1, 1804. in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, in the family of a landowner. In 1818 he entered the Noble boarding school at the St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute, which he graduated in 1822. At the boarding school, Glinka began composing music and became popular as the author of wonderful romances. In total, he wrote 80 works for voice and piano, including masterpieces vocal lyrics: elegies “Do not tempt”, “Doubt”, the cycle “Farewell to St. Petersburg” and others.

After graduating from the boarding school, Glinka entered the Main Directorate of Communications, but soon left the service to devote himself entirely to music.

In 1830-1834. he undertook great trip in Italy, Austria and Germany, getting acquainted with European musical traditions and improving their composing skills. Upon his return, he began to realize his cherished dream - to write a Russian opera. The plot was suggested by V. A. Zhukovsky - the feat of Ivan Susanin. Already in 1836The premiere of the opera took place in St. Petersburg"Life for the Tsar" . After success, Glinka began writing a second opera, this time based on Pushkin’s plot. The work continued, albeit intermittently, for about six years. In 1842 took place before miera "Ruslana and Lyudmila", which became the first fairy-tale-epic opera in the history of the Republic Russian music.

Glinka's work was highly valued by musicians - his contemporaries. Thus, F. Liszt arranged for piano “Chernomor’s March” from “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and very often performed it in his concerts.

In 1844-1847 Glinka traveled through France and Spain. Images of Spain are reflected in the overtures “The Aragonese Hunt” (1845) and “Night in Madrid” (1851). The composer embodied it no less colorfully in symphonic music and image home country. While
in Warsaw, he wrote the orchestral fantasy "Kamarinskaya" (1848) on the theme of two Russians folk songs. About this composition P. I. Tchaikovsky said that it, “like an oak in an acorn, contains all Russian symphonic music.”

In 1856, Mikhail Ivanovich went to Berlin to study the polyphony of the old masters in order to resurrect ancient Russian znamenny church chants in his work. It was not possible to realize the plan: on February 15, 1857, Glinka died.

Now it’s time to introduce you to two operas by M. Glinka; to do this, watch the presentation.

Two operas by M. Glinka

Two operas by M. Glinka

Listen to Susanin's Aria

YouTube Video

This document presents the main significant works composer.

Works by Glinka

Works by Glinka

Glinka's main works. Operas: “Ivan Susanin” (1836) “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1837-1842) Symphonic plays: Music for the Puppeteer’s tragedy “Prince Kholmsky” (1842) Spanish Overture No. 1 “Aragonese Jota” (1845) “Kamarinskaya” (1848) Spanish Overture No. 2 “Night in Madrid” (1851) “Waltz Fantasy” (1839, 1856) Romances and songs: “Venetian Night” (1832), “ I’m here, Inezilya” (1834), “Night View” (1836), “Doubt” (1838), “Night Zephyr” (1838), “The fire of desire burns in the blood” (1839), wedding song “Wonderful Tower Stands” (1839), “A Passing Song” (1840), “Confession” (1840), “Do I Hear Your Voice” (1848), “A Cup of Health” (1848), “Margarita’s Song” from Goethe’s tragedy “Faust” (1848) , “Mary” (1849), “Adele” (1849), “Gulf of Finland” (1850), “Prayer” (“In a difficult moment of life”) (1855), “Don’t say that your heart hurts” (1856).

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Glinka

The Patriotic War of 1812 accelerated the growth of the national self-awareness of the Russian people and its consolidation. The growth of national self-awareness of the people in.. The operas “A Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”, 1836) and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1842).. Glinka’s childhood Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on May 20, 1804, at dawn in the morning, in the village of Novospasskoye that belonged to him..

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Glinka's childhood
Glinka's childhood. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on May 20, 1804, at dawn in the morning, in the village of Novospasskoye, which belonged to his father, a retired captain, Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka. This estate was located in

Start of independent life
The beginning of independent life. At the beginning of 1817, his parents decided to send him to the Noble boarding school. This boarding school, opened on September 1, 1817 at the Main Pedagogical Institute, was instilled

Last decade
Last decade. Glinka spent the winter of 1851-52 in St. Petersburg, where he became close to a group of young cultural figures, and in 1855 he met with the head of the “New Russian School”, which creatively developed

The significance of Glinka's work
The meaning of Glinka's work. In many ways, Glinka is as important to Russian music as Pushkin is to Russian poetry. Both are great talents, both are the founders of the new Russian art.