N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography of the composer

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

The works of Rimsky-Korsakov are characterized by their figurativeness, they are characterized by a special purity of lyrics. All of them are connected with the fairy-tale world, with the life of the people, with the nature of Russia. The representation of oriental images in them is also important.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography: childhood years

The future composer was born in Tikhvin in March 1844. His father was from a noble noble family. Starting with his great-great-grandfather, who was the rear admiral of the fleet under Elizaveta Petrovna, all his ancestors held important positions in the administration or in the army. Nika (as the boy's relatives called him) began to study music from the age of six. But boring teachers failed to instill in the child a love for the subject.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography: departure to Petersburg

At the age of twelve, his father brought Nikolai to the northern capital and assigned him to the naval corps as a cadet. His childhood dream came true. The boy studied with zeal, but over time it turned out that both the local customs and the drill were all alien to him. In the same year, cellist Ulich began to teachhis piano playing. At the age of 16, Nikolai began to take lessons from F. A. Canille, a famous pianist. Music overshadowed the maritime business, which was very dissatisfied with the elder brother of Nikolai. In addition, the young man in 1861 joined the Balakirev circle. Rimsky-Korsakov was very glad that people who were passionate about music accepted him as an equal. In the same period, Nikolai is experiencing a heavy loss - the death of his father. A year later, Rimsky-Korsakov set off on a voyage around the world. During the trip, he wrote only one Andante for a symphony.

Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography: 1865-1882

After returning to his homeland, he eagerly makes up for everything that he missed during the voyage: he reads, plays, communicates, works on the First Symphony and performs it in concert. In 1867 he composed "Sadko" for orchestra. This "musical picture" brought him real recognition. In the same period, love came to Nikolai. He is passionate about Nadezhda Purgold, who, together with her sister Alexandra, performed works written by members of the circle. For the next four years, the composer worked on the opera The Maid of Pskov. At this time, many exciting events took place: the elder brother died, in 1871 Nikolai began teaching at the conservatory, in the same year Nadezhda Purgold became his bride. Returning from their honeymoon, the couple began to learn a new opera. It premiered in 1873. The public approved the work. From 1873 to 1878, Rimsky-Korsakov was busy improving his own technique, asfelt significant gaps in his musical education. The members of the circle did not understand this diligence.

They warned that technically perfect works would be an order of magnitude lower than those written by the soul. And so it happened. The third symphony, performed in 1876, was received rather reservedly by the public and the press. And finally, the long-awaited inspiration came to the composer: very quickly he wrote the opera May Night. Immediately after her, Rimsky-Korsakov asked Ostrovsky's permission to use his play The Snow Maiden for composing music. The playwright agreed and was shocked by the result.

Rimsky-Korsakov. Biography: 1894-1902

During this period, the composer began to work on the second opera based on the plot of Gogol's works - "The Night Before Christmas". The next work, "The Tsar's Bride", was received ambiguously. But there was no end to the applause when, in 1900, The Tale of Tsar S altan came to life on the stage. It was written on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of A. S. Pushkin.

Brief biography of Rimsky-Korsakov: recent years

The combination of composing and teaching activities could not but affect the he alth of Nikolai Andreevich. However, this did not prevent him from writing his most innovative work - the opera "Kashchei the Immortal". Then came the shock of "Bloody Sunday" in 1905. Students at the meeting demanded to stop classes until the fall. Nikolai Andreevich supported them, for which he was fired. Behind him, thus protesting, from the conservatoryMany more professors have left. Since then, the idea of writing such an opera, in which tsarism could be exposed, did not leave Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1906, he began work on The Golden Cockerel. The opera was written a year later. The governor-general of Moscow opposed its staging, as he was alerted by the sharpness of the satire on the tsar. The opera was nevertheless performed in 1909, but the composer did not see this. In June 1908 he died.