Composer Glinka M.I.: creativity and biography

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

The Russian composer Glinka left a significant mark on world music, stood at the origins of a kind of Russian composer school. His life contained a lot: creativity, travel, joys and difficulties, but his main asset is music.

Family and childhood

The future outstanding composer Glinka was born on May 20, 1804 in the Smolensk province, in the village of Novospasskoye. His father, a retired captain, had sufficient we alth to live comfortably. Glinka's great-grandfather was a Pole by origin, in 1654, when the Smolensk lands passed to Russia, he received Russian citizenship, converted to Orthodoxy and lived the life of a Russian landowner. The child was immediately given to the care of the grandmother, who raised her grandson in the traditions of that time: she kept him in stuffy rooms, did not develop him physically, and fed him with sweets. All this had a bad effect on Michael's he alth. He grew up sickly, capricious and pampered, later calling himself a "mimosa".

Glinka almost spontaneously learned to read after the priest showed him the letters. From an early age, he showed musicality, he himself learned to imitate on copper basinsringing bells and sing along to nurse's songs. Only at the age of six does he return to his parents, and they begin to take care of his upbringing and education. A governess is invited to him, who, in addition to general education subjects, taught him to play the piano, later he also masters the violin. At this time, the boy reads a lot, is fond of travel books, this passion will later turn into a love of changing places, which will own Glinka all his life. He also draws a little, but music is the main place in his heart. A boy in a fortress orchestra learns many works of that time, gets acquainted with musical instruments.

Years of study

Mikhail Glinka lived in the village for a short time. When he was 13 years old, his parents took him to the recently appeared in St. Petersburg Noble Boarding School at the Pedagogical Institute. The boy was not very interested in studying, since he had already mastered most of the program at home. His tutor was the former Decembrist V. K. Küchelbecker, and his classmate was the brother of A. S. Pushkin, with whom Mikhail first met at that time, and later became friends.

In his boarding years, he converges with the princes Golitsyn, S. Sobolevsky, A. Rimsky-Korsakov, N. Melgunov. During this period, he significantly expanded his musical horizons, got acquainted with opera, attended numerous concerts, and also studied with famous musicians of that time - Boehm and Field. He improves his pianistic technique and receives his first lessons in the composer's profession.

Famous pianist Sh. Mayer worked with Mikhail in the 1920s, teaching him how to work as a composer, correcting his first opuses, and giving him the basics of working with an orchestra. At the graduation party of the boarding house, Glinka, paired with Mayer, played a concert by Hummel, publicly demonstrating his skills. Composer Mikhail Glinka graduated second in school in 1822, but had no desire to study further.

First writing experiences

After graduating from the boarding school, the composer Glinka was in no hurry to look for a job, since his financial situation allowed him. The father did not rush his son with the choice of a place of work, but did not think that he would be engaged in music all his life. Composer Glinka, for whom music becomes the main thing in life, got the opportunity to go to the waters in the Caucasus to improve his he alth and abroad. He does not leave music lessons, studies the Western European heritage and composes new motives, this becomes a constant inner need for him.

In the 1920s, Glinka wrote the famous romances "Do not tempt me needlessly" to the verses of Baratynsky, "Do not sing, beauty, with me" to the text of A. Pushkin. His instrumental works also appear: adagio and rondo for orchestra, string septet.

Life in the light

In 1824, the composer M. I. Glinka entered the service, became an assistant secretary in the Office of Railways. But the service did not work out, and in 1828 he resigned. At this time, Glinka acquires a large number of acquaintances, communicates with A. Griboyedov, A. Mitskevich, A. Delvig, V. Odoevsky, V. Zhukovsky. He continuesto study music, participates in musical evenings in Demidov's house, writes many songs and romances, publishes together with Pavlishchev "Lyric Album", which collected works by various authors, including himself.

Overseas experience

Traveling was a very important part of Mikhail Glinka's life. He makes his first big foreign trip after leaving the boarding house.

In 1830, Glinka went on a big trip to Italy, which lasted for 4 years. The purpose of the trip was treatment, but it did not bring the proper result, and the musician did not take it seriously, constantly interrupting therapy courses, changing doctors and cities. In Italy, he met K. Bryullov, with outstanding composers of that time: Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Bellini, Donizetti. Impressed by these meetings, Glinka writes chamber works on themes by foreign composers. He studies a lot abroad with the best teachers, improves his performing technique, and studies music theory. He is looking for his strong theme in art, and homesickness becomes such for him, she pushes him to write serious works. Glinka creates the "Russian Symphony" and writes variations on Russian songs, which will later be included in other major compositions.

Great composer's work: M. Glinka's operas

In 1834, Mikhail's father dies, he gains financial independence and starts writing an opera. While abroad, Glinka realized that his task was to write in Russian, thiswas the impetus for the creation of an opera based on national material. At this time, he entered the literary circles of St. Petersburg, where Aksakov, Zhukovsky, Shevyrev, Pogodin visited. Everyone is discussing the Russian opera written by Verstovsky, this example inspires Glinka, and he takes up the sketches for the opera based on Zhukovsky's short story Maryina Grove. The idea was not destined to come true, but this was the beginning of work on the opera A Life for the Tsar based on the plot suggested by Zhukovsky, based on the legend of Ivan Susanin. The great composer Glinka entered the history of music precisely as the author of this work. In it, he laid the foundations of the Russian opera school.

The premiere of the opera took place on November 27, 1836, the success was grandiose. Both the public and critics received the work extremely favorably. After that, Glinka was appointed bandmaster of the Court Choir and became a professional musician. Success inspired the composer, and he begins work on a new opera based on Pushkin's poem Ruslan and Lyudmila. He wanted the poet to write the libretto, but his untimely death prevented the implementation of these plans. In his work, Glinka demonstrates a mature composer's talent and the highest technique. But "Ruslan and Lyudmila" was received more coolly than the first opera. This upset Glinka very much, and he again decided to go abroad. The composer's operatic heritage is small, but it had a decisive influence on the development of the national school of composition, and until now these works are a vivid example of Russian music.

Symphonic musicGlinka

The development of the national theme is also reflected in the author's symphonic music. Composer Glinka creates a large number of works of an experimental nature, he is obsessed with finding a new form. In his compositions, our hero shows himself as a romantic and melodist. The works of the composer Glinka develop such genres in Russian music as folk-genre, lyrical-epic, dramatic. His most significant compositions are the Night in Madrid and Aragonese overtures, the symphonic fantasy Kamarinskaya.

Songs and romances

The portrait of Glinka (composer) would be incomplete without mentioning his songwriting. All his life he writes romances and songs, which become incredibly popular during the life of the author. In total, he wrote about 60 vocal works, of which the most notable are: “I remember a wonderful moment”, “Confession”, “Accompanying song” and many others, which today are part of the classical repertoire of vocalists.

Private life

In his personal life, the composer Glinka was not lucky. He married the lovely girl Ivanova Marya Petrovna in 1835, hoping to find in her a like-minded person and a loving heart. But very quickly a lot of disagreements arose between husband and wife. She led a stormy social life, spent a lot of money, so that even the income from the estate and payment for Glinka's musical works was not enough for her. He was forced to take on apprentices. The final break occurs when, in the 1840s, Glinka becomes infatuated with Katya Kern, the daughter of the musePushkin. He files for divorce, at which time it turns out that his wife secretly married cornet Vasilchikov. But the separation dragged on for 5 years. During this time, Glinka had to endure a real drama: Kern became pregnant, demanded drastic measures from him, he subsidized her getting rid of the child. Gradually, the heat of the relationship faded, and when the divorce was obtained in 1846, Glinka no longer had the desire to marry. He spent the rest of his life alone, indulging in friendly revels and orgies, which had a detrimental effect on his already poor he alth. Glinka died on February 15, 1857 in Berlin. Later, at the request of his sister, the ashes of the deceased were transported to Russia and buried at the Tikhvin cemetery in St. Petersburg.