Composer Sergei Taneyev: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Composer Sergei Taneyev was born in 1856, belonged to a noble family. His father was also a talented music lover, he raised Seryozha as a musical child. At an early age, S. Taneyev entered the conservatory, where he studied with Tchaikovsky. Subsequently, showing professionalism in the genres of classical music: cantata, choir, vocal miniatures and chamber instrumental music, he carried out scientific and pedagogical activities in the field of musicology. But the main business of life is composing. A very interesting creative biography. Taneev Sergey Ivanovich was an outstanding personality.

About activities and creativity

Being authoritative in the cultural sphere, Sergey Taneyev was the country's first musicologist. Classes were held at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process of teaching and teaching, he brought up creative youth, among his students were famous composers: Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Glier.

Taneyev's works, created on the threshold of the 20th century, belong todirection of neoclassicism that developed at the beginning of this century. Composer activity was not immediately recognized. Musical works were considered dry, the result of learning and armchair creativity. Taneyev's fascination with Bach and Mozart also did not add interest. But from a historical point of view, the search for solid foundations for domestic music, applicable to merging with European culture, was justified. His music was versatile.

Perspectives and facts

Broad prospects opened up before the musician after receiving his education. He performed at concerts, taught and was engaged in composing activities. Even at a young age he traveled to France to get acquainted with European culture. Everyone recognized Taneyev's outstanding moral qualities, calling him "the conscience of musical Moscow." Taneev Serey Ivanovich, whose brief biography is being considered, glorified his name.

Training

In 1866 Nikolai Rubinstein founded the Moscow Conservatory. Until that time, professional musicians were not taken seriously, and their activities, too. But through the conservatory, the musician as such began to gain respect for himself. Sergey Taneev immediately, from the moment the institution was founded, entered the 1st year of study at the age of 9 years. Tchaikovsky, who gave a parting speech at the opening, oriented the students towards an interest in art and "the glory of an honest artist." N. G. Rubinstein taught the piano class with Taneyev and recommended him as a chosen one,predicted a promising future. And Taneyev's teacher of composition was P. I. Tchaikovsky.

From the point of view of the early musical development that Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev received, a short biography for children will also be interesting.

Trip abroad

Having brilliantly graduated from the conservatory with a gold medal, in 1975 Taneyev came to Paris. It was a tradition for the intelligentsia to get acquainted with the art of France. Weekly he visited Pauline Viardot and met the writers Turgenev, G. Flaubert, the French composer Gounod there. He also visited Saint-Saens and performed Tchaikovsky's work - the first piano concerto. Having become acquainted with French culture, the musician decided that the education and outlook he received was not enough for him. Leaving France at the age of 20, Taneyev noted in his notebook that another time he would come abroad as a pianist, composer and educated person.

After graduation and travel activities

Showing purposefulness, the composer Taneyev decided to master European traditions in music, trying to correlate them with domestic ones. He believed that Russian music lacked the historical foundations that European music had. Lyricism in the work was romantically combined with the classics.

In Moscow, Sergei Ivanovich lived for a long time in the Prechistenka area with his nanny, performed at concerts. In 1878, work began at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky convincingly asked him to take up teaching. Composer's workhad to be sidelined as time was devoted to teaching theory.

He told students that there are no unshakable rules, if something does not fit this style, then it will be useful in another. Teacher Taneyev taught in several disciplines, and also lectured on the discipline of counterpoint, which he founded himself.

Scientific work "Movable counterpoint strictly style" was the result of deep research. The theory was notable for its universality and mathematical precision. At the age of 28, Taneyev takes the position of director of the Moscow Conservatory, again at the insistence of Tchaikovsky. He was also the first pianist to perform major works by Tchaikovsky.

About Taneyev's early works

The cantata "John of Damascus" on the text by A. Tolstoy glorified the composer, and he himself called it the first number in his creative biography. This was in 1884.

The cantata genre of classical music characterizes the musician's work. Bach's cantatas inspired him to create such a Russian Orthodox work. According to the plan, this is preparation for the opening of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but later the plans had to be changed. Nevertheless, this is a philosophical work on the life of a church writer who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries.

From the same moment, choral music entered the work. In the works there is a desire to create a picture of the world, to show its grandiosity through monumental designs. Another cantata by Taneyev "After readingpsalm" is also the pinnacle of his work, but created later.

The only opera - the trilogy "Oresteia" based on the works of Aeschylus - translates the ancient style and plot, applying it to Russian music. It took 10 years to compose the opera. Painstakingness shows how demanding Taneyev treated his works. But the unique work turned out to be untimely and was not recognized, because it did not receive understanding. Expressing individuality, different from modern trends, the composer was looking for generalizations in the form of moral ideas, the ideal. Such was Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev.

The composer's choral work is a special and significant section of his biography. To create choral works, both individual numbers and combined into cycles, he turns to the poetry of Tyutchev, Fet, Polonsky, Khomyakov, Balmont.

The creative impulse to create a cycle, which is recognized as the pinnacle of Russian choral music, called "Twelve choirs a cappella for mixed voices" was the poems of the famous Russian poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky. Before him, Russian music had not yet known such monumental and serious choral compositions. They embody his philosophical, highly moral nature, breadth and power of ideas, as well as the bright talent of the polyphonic composer.

Stage of activity after work at the conservatory

After the transfer of powers of the director of the conservatory in 1889 to V. Safronov, Taneyev formed friendly contacts with St. Petersburg musicians. Followed by the pre-revolutionary period of historycountries, and many students went on strike. Taneyev opposed their expulsion for these actions. After he stopped teaching, Taneyev continued to teach for free, giving private lessons, because he considered payment an obstacle to the selection of musicians.

On the threshold of the 20th century, a friendship with L. Tolstoy was established, as a result of which the composer often visited Yasnaya Polyana. He even lived there in the wing provided by L. Tolstoy, worked, was fond of chess. At the end of the chess game, the loser had to perform his work in the form of reading aloud or playing the piano. But L. Tolstov had a family discord in connection with this friendship, since the writer's wife began to feel sympathy for Taneyev. But at the same time, she expressed delight in music and said that she remained alive after the death of her son thanks to her. But the composer himself behaved, as usual, dryly, secretly and was not the cause of a personal conflict. Sofya Andreevna was a grateful listener of works, symphonies, but in search of beauty and ideality, this was not noticed by the composer.

Private life

At the same time, the composer was not insensitive, but he was strong-willed and had a subtle sense of humor. He kept a diary in Esperanto and wrote several romances in it. Taneyev also had love for the wife of the artist Benois, the mother of four children. According to the laws of that time, divorce meant the transfer of children to the spouse, father. Drama haunted Taneyev on this occasion for several years, as the relationship had to be broken off.

Interesting facts from life

Nanny Taneeva lived with him and took care of his household. After the concertslovers of his work gave him wreaths of laurel. It turns out that the nanny used this bay leaf for cooking, as she once said: "You should have given a concert, otherwise the bay leaf is running out."

This is not the only humorous story that Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev came across. We will consider interesting facts from life further.

Once a student who suffered from drunkenness was recommended to him, saying that he was a good musician, but often sick. To this, Taneyev replied that the question was not this, but whether he was recovering in time?

The life path that Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev went through is quite accompanied by humor. Interesting facts from his life can be listed for a long time.

There were a lot of people in Russia who liked to drink. The musician was tolerant of this. He said: "Drunkenness is most likely not a disadvantage, but an excess."

Creativity of the period of the early 20th century

The symphony "C minor" with features of philosophical symphonism was dedicated to Glazunov, who also directed its premiere. In the center of the plot is a lyrical hero overcoming the chaos of being and the tragedy of life. Appearing after Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, this work could be put on a par with some of the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms.

Contribution to the genre of instrumental music, the prosperity of the chamber ensemble was provided by Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev. Biography, whose works testify to the beginning of a cultural transformation in the country's music. Subsequentlythe direction was developed by other composers of the already Soviet period. Methods and means of expression were subject to selectivity. The quartets and ensembles used the style of polyphony, the smooth development of the theme. Romances were also popular, distinguished by their melodiousness.

Taneyev gives concerts and participates in the life of musical Moscow. In 1910, the young composer Sergei Prokofiev received his support in an attempt to publish the work. Portrait photographs of those years reflect the creative image. Taneev Sergey Ivanovich, whose photo can be seen in the article, is a national pride.

The end of life and creativity

A. Scriabin, the composer's student, died in 1915. Sergei Taneyev came to the funeral in light clothes, as a result of which he caught a cold and died a few weeks later. All of Moscow came to see the composer off. This ends the biography. Taneev Sergey Ivanovich passed away at the age of 58.

Conclusion

Taneyev's name adorns a memorial plaque in front of the entrance to the stalls of the Small Hall of the Conservatory. He is undoubtedly an outstanding composer, as well as a scientist who worked as a professor at the conservatory. A virtuoso pianist of his time, Taneyev was a renowned performer. His diverse work has features inherent in late romanticism and symbolism, and also spans several genres.

A great contribution to Russian culture was made by Sergei Taneyev, whose biography testifies to this. Occupying a special place in Russian music of the 19th and 20th centuries, he captured hiscreativity with an exclusive relationship to art.