Mily Alekseevich Balakirev is a Russian composer, pianist, conductor and musical and public figure. Head of the "Mighty Handful", one of the founders (in 1862) and leader (in 1868-1873 and 1881-1908) of the Free Music School. Conductor of the Russian Musical Society (1867-1869), director of the Court Choir (1883-94). "Overture on the themes of three Russian songs" (1858; 2nd edition 1881), symphonic poems "Tamara" (1882), "Rus" (1887), "In the Czech Republic" (1905), oriental fantasy for piano "Islamey" ( 1869), romances, adaptations of Russian folk songs.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev was born on January 2, 1837 (December 21, 1836 according to the old style), in Nizhny Novgorod, in the family of an official from the nobility. He took lessons from pianist Alexander Ivanovich and conductor Karl Eisrich (in Nizhny Novgorod). The musical development of Milia was facilitated by his rapprochement with the writer and music critic Alexander Dmitrievich Ulybyshev. In 1853 - 1855, Mily Alekseevich was a volunteer at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University. In 1856 he made his debut in St. Petersburg as a pianist and conductor.
"Ruslan" finally conquered the Czech public. The enthusiasm with which he was received does not diminish even now, although I have already conducted him 3 times. (about "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by Glinka)
Balakirev Mily Alekseevich
A great influence on the formation of Balakirev's ideological and aesthetic positions was his friendship with art and music critic, art historian, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov.
In the early 60s, under the leadership of Mily Alekseevich, a musical circle was created, known as the New Russian Musical School, the Balakirev Circle, and the Mighty Handful. In 1862, the composer, together with the choir conductor and musical figure Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin, organized the Free Music School in St. Petersburg, which became the center of mass musical education, as well as the center for the promotion of Russian music. In 1867 - 1869 he was the chief conductor of the Russian Musical Society.
MA Balakirev contributed to the popularization of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka's operas: in 1866 he conducted the opera Ivan Susanin in Prague, and in 1867 he directed the Prague production of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.
The late 1850s - 60s were a period of intense creative activity for Milius. Works of these years - "Overture on three Russian themes" (1858; 2nd edition 1881), the second overture on three Russian themes "1000 years" (1862, in a later edition - the symphonic poem "Rus", 1887, 1907) , Czech overture (1867, 2nd edition - symphonic poem "In the Czech Republic", 1906) and others - developed the traditions of Glinka, they clearly manifested the characteristic features and style of the "New Russian School" (in particular, reliance on genuine folk song). In 1866, his collection "40 Russian Folk Songs for Voice and Piano" was published, which was the first classic example of processing folk songs.
In the 70s, Balakirev left the Free Music School, stopped writing, giving concerts and broke with the members of the circle. In the early 80s, he returned to musical activity, but it lost its militant "sixties" character. In 1881 - 1908 he again headed the Free Music School and at the same time (in 1883 - 1894) was the director of the Court Choir.
The central theme of the composer's work is the theme of the people. Folk images, pictures of Russian life, nature run through most of his writings. Mily Balakirev is also characterized by an interest in the theme of the East (Caucasus) and the musical cultures of other countries (Polish, Czech, Spanish).
The main field of creativity of Mily Alekseevich is instrumental (symphonic and piano) music. He worked primarily in the field of program symphonism. The best example of his symphonic poem is "Tamara" (circa 1882, based on the poem of the same name by the Russian poet Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov), built on the original musical material of a visual-landscape and folk-dance character. The birth of the genre of Russian epic symphony is associated with the name Milia. The idea of the 1st symphony dates back to the 60s (the outlines appeared in 1862, the first part - in 1864, the symphony was completed in 1898). In 1908, the 2nd symphony was written.
Mily Balakirev is one of the creators of the original Russian piano style. The best of his piano works is the oriental fantasy "Islamey" (1869), which combines vivid picturesqueness, originality of folk-genre coloring with virtuoso brilliance.
A prominent place in Russian chamber vocal music is occupied by romances and songs by Mily Alekseevich.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev died on May 29 (May 16 according to the old style), 1910, in St. Petersburg.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev
Balakirev Mily Alekseevich (1836-1910) - Russian musical and public figure, composer, conductor and pianist. The head of the creative association of Russian composers "New Russian Musical School" ("Balakirev Circle" or "Mighty Handful"), which arose in 1856 and took shape in the early 1860s.
In 1862, together with the conductor G. Ya. Lomakin, he organized a free music school in St. Petersburg and was its leader (1868-1873, 1881 - 1908). In 1883-94. - chief conductor Imp. of the Russian Musical Society, managing the Court Choir.
Popularized the heritage of M. I. Glinka in Russia and abroad. Author of music for Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear", two symphonies (1897,1908), symphonic poems "Tamara" (1882), "Rus" (1887), "In the Czech Republic" (1905), chamber-instrumental compositions and romances .
Orlov A.S., Georgiev N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 28.
Balakirev Mily Alekseevich (12/21/1836-05/16/1910), Russian composer, conductor, musical and public figure, head of the creative association of Russian composers "New Russian Musical School" ("Balakirev Circle", or "Mighty Handful"), which arose in 1856 and formed in n. 1860s
In 1853 - 55 Balakirev - volunteer student of the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University. In 1855 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he began to meet M. I. Glinka And A. S. Dargomyzhsky, debuted as a composer and pianist. In 1862, together with the conductor G. Ya. Lomakin, he organized a free music school in St. Petersburg and was its leader (1868-73, 1881-1908). Chief conductor of the Russian Musical Society, director of the "Court Singing Chapel" (1883 - 94). As a conductor of the operas A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Lyudmila, Balakirev popularized Glinka's operatic heritage in Russia and abroad. Balakirev is the author of music for Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear", symphonic poems "Tamara", "Rus", "In the Czech Republic", oriental fantasy for piano "Islamey", chamber-instrumental compositions and romances, processed a number of Russian folk songs.
V. A. Fedorov
BALAKIREV, MILY ALEKSEEVICH (1837–1910), 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, into an impoverished noble family. Brought to Moscow at the age of ten, he briefly took lessons from John Field; later, A.D. Ulybyshev, an enlightened amateur musician, philanthropist, author of the first Russian monograph on Mozart, took a great part in his fate. 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 plots and texts.
A "mighty handful" took shape in St. Petersburg between 1857 and 1862, and Balakirev became its leader. He was self-taught and drew 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 did not last long, but it had a huge impact on Russian culture. In 1863, Balakirev founded the Free Music School - in contrast to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the direction of which Balakirev assessed as cosmopolitan and conservative. He performed a lot as a conductor, regularly acquainting listeners with the early works of his 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 a severe spiritual crisis, after which he did not study music for five years. He returned to composition in 1876, but by that 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 head of the 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 arrangements of ancient chants).
Balakirev played a huge role in the formation of the national music school, but he composed relatively little himself. In the 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 revision 1905). For piano, he wrote the sonata in B-flat minor (1905), the brilliant fantasy Islamey (1869) and a number of pieces in various genres. Romances and adaptations of folk songs are of high value. Balakirev's musical style relies on the one hand on folk origins and traditions of church music, on the other hand, on the experience of new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, Berlioz. Balakirev died in St. Petersburg on May 29, 1910.
Materials of the encyclopedia "The world around us" are used.
Literature:
M.A. Balakirev: Research. Articles. L., 1961
Balakirev M.A. Memoirs and letters. L., 1962
MA Balakirev: Chronicle of life and creativity. L., 1967
The name of Mily Alekseevich Balakirev is familiar to many, it immediately evokes associations with the "Mighty Handful". However, there is hardly a person far from musicology who is able to offhand name even one or two of his compositions. It so happened that Balakirev is known as a public figure, teacher, but not as a composer. Why, then, did his creative destiny remain in the shadow of his great contemporaries, and what is the true significance of his personality in Russian culture?
Read a short biography of Mily Balakirev and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.
Brief biography of Balakirev
Mily Balakirev was born on December 21, 1836, the heir to an old noble family, the first mention of which dates back to the 14th century. The Balakirevs served in the military for several centuries, but the father of the future composer, Alexei Konstantinovich, was a civil servant. The house where Mily Alekseevich was born is a family mansion in Nizhny Novgorod on Telyachya Street. The boy received such an unusual name from his mother, Elizabeth Ivanovna, in whose family it was quite common.
In the biography of Balakirev, like in many other Russian composers, one can find references to the fact that the first acquaintance with music in general and the piano in particular was due to his mother. Balakirev is no exception - Elizaveta Ivanovna played beautifully herself and taught her son the basics of owning an instrument, and at the age of 10 she took him to Moscow to the famous teacher A. Dubuc. Soon after returning home, she died, but Mily began to study with the conductor K. Eiserich.
At the age of 16, the young man graduates from the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Noble Institute and enters the volunteer student at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University. He had to earn a living by teaching music. Having not studied in Kazan even for two years, he returns home, where he begins to conduct the orchestra of K. Eiserich, performing at the fair, in the theater and the Assembly of the Nobility.
HELL. Ulybyshev, the first Russian musicologist, also from Nizhny Novgorod, in whose house symphony evenings with Balakirev's participation were often held, highly appreciated the young man's talent. He was a member of the musical circles of the capital and in 1855 brought 19-year-old Milia to St. Petersburg. Balakirev immediately began to perform as a pianist and met M.I. Glinka. This acquaintance, as well as rapprochement with the critic V. Stasov, became crucial in his life. Thanks to Glinka, he actively took up composing music, and together with Stasov they became ideologists " mighty handful”, which was subsequently joined by Ts.A. Cui, M.P. Mussorgsky, ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov And A.P. Borodin.
Balakirev considered the formation of Russian music and the music school to be the main task of his whole life. He actively participated in the work of not only the "Kuchkists", but also other composers, Tchaikovsky, for example, suggesting to them new themes and plots for creativity. Thus, his own writing faded into the background. In 1862, Balakirev founded the "Free Music School", and a few years later refused an invitation to become a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, considering himself insufficiently educated to teach within the academic walls. Since 1867 he has been the conductor of the concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. His removal from this position in 1869 is the result of both court intrigues and his own irreconcilable radicalism in his views on music.
By the beginning of the 1870s, the paths of the Kuchkist composers diverged, Balakirev was very upset by the loss of influence on his former like-minded people. He abandoned music lessons, entered the routine service on the Warsaw railway, fell into religion and, in moments of spiritual devastation, even thought about leaving for a monastery. Only in the next decade, the composer returned to full-fledged musical activity, again heading his school and accepting in 1883 an offer to become the head of the court choir. For 11 years in this position, he demonstrated his best organizational skills - starting with the reconstruction of the chapel building and ending with concern for the fate of singers who have lost their voice. From that moment on, the institution has its own full-fledged orchestra, which still exists today.
After his dismissal from the chapel, Miliy Alekseevich gets the opportunity and time to do his own work. He writes new works, reworks those that were written in his youth. Becoming more and more despotic and intolerant, he supports Slavophile views and condemns the revolution of 1905, which alienates many people from his inner circle. On May 10, 1910, the composer died. Despite the fact that he had not participated in public musical life for a long time, he was buried as a great figure in Russian culture.
Interesting facts about Balakirev
- The symphonic poem "Tamara" was not ignored "Russian Seasons" S.P. Diaghilev who was personally acquainted with the composer. In 1912, M. Fokine staged the ballet of the same name with Tamara Karsavina in the title role.
- It was Balakirev who became interested in the young pianist N.A. Purgold. Not meeting reciprocity, the girl turned her attention to Rimsky-Korsakov whom she later married. But Mily Alekseevich never married.
- Balakirev was an ardent opponent of conservatories, believing that talent is cultivated only at home.
- The composer spent the summer months in Gatchina, a remote suburb of St. Petersburg.
- After the death of Emperor Alexander III in 1894, Balakirev resigned from the post of head of the Court Chapel, also because he did not favor the heir to the throne, Nicholas II, and this was mutual. However, he still had an indifferent patron at court - the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. She took part in the fate of the composer, answered his requests. So, she allocated money to send Balakirev's nieces with tuberculosis to Europe for treatment.
- Balakirev's biography says that the composer studied folk art a lot, collecting unknown songs on trips to the Volga villages and the villages of the Caucasian peoples - Georgians, Armenians, Chechens.
- Balakirev was a very poor man all his life. He was able to improve his financial situation only during the years of service in the chapel. Nevertheless, those around him noted his generosity and responsiveness, he always came to the aid of those who turned to him.
- Through the efforts of Balakirev in Berlin, on the house where Glinka died, in 1895 a memorial plaque was installed. This historic building was demolished and a new one was built in its place, but the memory of the Russian composer has been immortalized to this day. The new commemorative plaque includes an image of the original, Balakirevskaya, with an inscription in Russian.
Creativity Milia Balakirev
Balakirev wrote his first works while still a student at Kazan University. Among them is Fantasia on the themes of the opera " Ivan Susanin", which he played when he first met Glinka, making a huge impression on the latter. Dargomyzhsky I also liked the young musician, and with great enthusiasm Mily left for Kazan for the summer to work as a private teacher, hoping to create and compose. His plans included both a symphony and a piano concerto... But, being left face to face with a sheet of music paper, he experienced excitement that grew into depression. He was not confident in himself, he wanted to be the best, to become on the same level with Glinka or Beethoven but was afraid of disappointment and failure. Much better he succeeded in the role of musical consultant and editor, the inspirer of his colleagues in " mighty handful", so as not to write yourself. Ideas “for himself” quickly disappointed him and, as a result, were rejected. Perhaps because he gave the most winning plots to his Kuchkist students.
According to Balakirev's biography, in 1857 he began work on the theme of the Overture on the theme of the Spanish march, presented to him by Glinka. Written in the same year, the Overture was completely revised after 30 years. It is symbolic, but the first work, which in 1859 introduced the St. Petersburg public to the young composer, was the Overture on the themes of three Russian songs. In 1861, Shakespeare's King Lear was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theater, and Balakirev was commissioned for the music for the play. As a result, the composer got an independent symphonic work, the plot of which in some scenes did not correspond to the plot of the tragedy. But this music never sounded in Alexandrinka - Balakirev did not have time to finish it by the day of the premiere.
In 1862, the composer published the symphonic poem "1000 Years", which was later renamed "Rus". The reason for writing it was the opening in Veliky Novgorod of a monument to the millennium of Rus'. This music became a reflection of the views of the emerging "Mighty Handful", its ideas can be traced in the later works of Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.
In 1862-63, the composer visited the Caucasus and, impressed by the trips, began to write the symphonic poem "Tamara" based on the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov, his favorite poet. The work dragged on for nearly 20 years. The premiere of the work took place only in 1882. On the oriental theme in 1869, after the third visit to the Caucasus, the most technically complex piano work of the composer "Islamey" was written.
In 1867, after a trip to Prague to conduct concerts from the works of Glinka, Balakirev wrote the overture "In the Czech Republic", in which he gave his interpretation of Moravian folk songs. The creation of the First Symphony took a long time: the first drafts date back to the 1860s, and the completion in 1887. This symphony certainly comes from the time of The Mighty Handful, since the construction of its main themes is reflected in both Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. The work is based on the melody of folk Russian and oriental music. The second symphony was born on the slope of the composer's life, in 1908. In his symphonic works, Balakirev focuses primarily on Berlioz And Liszt However, the lack of academic education does not allow him to fully use all the achievements of the style of these composers.
In 1906, a monument to M.I. Glinka. For this ceremony, Balakirev writes a Cantata for choir and orchestra, one of his four choral works. Another work written for the opening of the monument, this time Chopin , in 1910 - Suite for orchestra, composed of 4 works by the Polish composer. Concerto Es-dur for piano and orchestra is Balakirev's last major work, which was already completed by his colleague S.M. Lyapunov. It, like many compositions for pianoforte, is notable for its complex performance. Balakirev, being an excellent pianist, tried to emphasize the skill of the musician in his works, sometimes to the detriment of the melodic value of the piece. The legacy of Balakirev in the genre of romance and song remained the most extensive in terms of quantity - in total more than 40 works based on poems by the leading poets of the era: Pushkin, Lermontov, Fet, Koltsov. The composer created romances throughout his life, starting in the 1850s.
Sadly, Balakirev's works almost never go beyond the narrow philharmonic circle of lovers of Russian classical music. Even the experts of the world cinema turned to the composer's work only once - in the 2006 Swiss film "Vitus" about a young virtuoso pianist, where the oriental fantasy "Islamey" sounded.
Domestic cinema used the image of Balakirev in the 1950 film Mussorgsky, his role was played by Vladimir Balashov.
With the members of the "Mighty Handful" Balakirev shared not only time, but also what he aspired to - their original compositional development on the basis that he gave them. Ultimately, he was not only a brilliant composer or an outstanding performer. He was something big - a great Russian musician. A man who, like no one else, felt music. A man whom the universe endowed with the gift of discovering talents. He did not write an opera, but would the successful chemist Borodin have created his only, but infinitely brilliant, "Prince Igor" without him? He was unable to establish his own school of composition, but was it not under his influence that the naval officer Rimsky-Korsakov found the strength to quit his service and become not only a composer, but also the greatest teacher? Mily Alekseevich Balakirev is one of the main passionaries of Russian music. And just as the big is better seen from a distance, so today his services to the national culture are becoming more and more valuable.
Video: watch a film about Balakirev
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev is a Russian composer, pianist, conductor, musical and public figure, p.Born January 2, 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod in an impoverished noble family.
Mily Balakirev studied at the Nizhny Novgorod gymnasium, the Nizhny Novgorod Alexander Noble Institute.
Balakirev discovered his musical abilities in early childhood - his mother and older sister taught him to play the piano. Seeing her son's musical talent, his mother took him to Moscow, where he studied with the famous pianist Dubuc. He also briefly took lessons from John Field.
For financial reasons, classes in Moscow did not last long, the boy returned to Nizhny Novgorod and began to take music lessons from the conductor of the local theater orchestra, Karl Eisrich, who not only gave him basic information on music theory, but also introduced him to the local philanthropist Ulybyshev (the author of the first Russian monograph about Mozart), who had an excellent library. Balakirev was able to get acquainted with the best examples of classical world literature. In addition, he got the opportunity to work with Ulybyshev's home orchestra and learn the basics of instrumentation in practice, gain initial conducting skills.
In 1853-1855 Balakirev was a volunteer at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University, earning his living by playing the piano lessons.
In 1855, Balakirev met in St. Petersburg with Glinka, who convinced the young composer to devote himself to composing music in the national spirit. Leaving for Berlin, Glinka gave him his portrait.
On February 12, 1856, Balakirev made his brilliant debut in St. Petersburg in a university concert as a pianist and composer, with his concerto Allegro (fis-moll). The orchestra was directed by Karl Schubert. “Balakirev is a rich find for our national music”, Serov wrote, impressed by his performance.
The name of the young composer immediately becomes known in the musical circles of St. Petersburg. They write about him in the newspapers. Representatives of the nobility willingly invite him to take part in home concerts. However, he is not attracted by the role of a fashionable virtuoso, fulfilling the whims of noble patrons. He resolutely breaks secular ties, although he dooms himself thereby to a life full of need and deprivation. Private music lessons remain his main source of livelihood. At that. At the same time, he devotes all his energy, all his strength to the struggle for meaningful, highly ideological musical art.
Balakirev became close friends with Stasov, in whom he found a sensitive, loving friend and ideological inspirer. Acquaintance with Dargomyzhsky also influenced him.
From the end of 1858 to 1861, Mili Balakirev was busy composing music for Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. The impetus was a new production of the tragedy on the stage of the Alexandria Theater. Balakirev's music for King Lear, which, according to Stasov, belongs to "among the highest and most capital creations of new music", is distinguished by a deep penetration into the character of Shakespearean drama, the relief of musical images and an organic connection with stage dramaturgy. However, in the theater this music neverNotwas performed, and the overture, which acquired the character of a completely finished, independent work, became the first example of Russian program symphonism.
In the same period, the community of composers of the Mighty Handful was formed. Back in 1856, Balakirev met the young military engineer Cui, with whom he quickly became friends on the basis of common musical interests. In 1857 there was a meeting with a graduate of the military school Mussorgsky, in 1861 - with a seventeen-year-old naval officer Rimsky-Korsakov, and in 1862 - with a professor at the Medical and Surgical Academy in the Department of Chemistry Borodin. Thus the circle was formed. According to Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev “They obeyed implicitly, for his personal charm was terribly great. Young, with wonderful, mobile, fiery eyes, with a beautiful beard, speaking decisively, authoritatively and directly; every minute ready for excellent improvisation at the piano, remembering every measure known to him, memorizing the compositions played to him instantly, he had to produce this charm like no one else..
Balakirev built classes with his fellow students according to the method of free exchange of creative thoughts. The works of all members of the circle were played and discussed together. Criticizing the writings of his friends, Balakirev not only pointed out how individual shortcomings should be corrected. Often he himself added whole pieces of music, instrumented, edited. He generously shared his creative ideas and experience with his friends, suggested topics and plots to them. An important place in the classes was also occupied by the analysis of outstanding works of classics and contemporary composers. As Stasov wrote, Balakirev's conversations “For his comrades, they were like real lectures, a real gymnasium and university music course. It seems that none of the musicians was equal to Balakirev in terms of the power of critical analysis and musical anatomy. The disputes that arose in the circle often went far beyond purely musical issues. Problems of literature, poetry, and social life were hotly discussed.
Mily Balakirev was the first Russian musician to undertake an expedition to record songs on the Volga (summer 1860). He went on a steamboat from Nizhny Novgorod to Astrakhan, together with the poet Shcherbina, a researcher and connoisseur of Russian folklore. Shcherbina wrote down the words, Balakirev - the melodies of folk songs.
A.K. Glazunov and M.A. Balakirev.
The first creative result of the trip was a new overture (or picture) on the themes of three Russian songs recorded on the Volga. Balakirev gave it the name "1000 years", and later, in 1887, having revised it, he called it the symphonic poem "Rus". The external reason for the composition was the opening in 1862 in Novgorod of the monument "The Millennium of Russia".
Mily Alekseevich created a new type of musical arrangements that reproduce the peculiarities of folk song art using original artistic means. In these adaptations, as well as in his own compositions on folk themes, he boldly combined the clear diatonicism of a peasant song with the coloristic richness of contemporary romantic harmony, found unusual instrumental colors, new interesting development techniques that emphasized the originality of Russian song and recreated the characteristic pictures of folk life, nature.
A valuable contribution to the field of Russian musical ethnography is the Collection of Russian Folk Songs, published by Balakirev in 1866.
Balakirevhe visited the Caucasus three times: in 1862, 1863 and 1868. Impressed by these travels, he wrote the piano fantasy "Islamey", the main theme of which was the melody of Kabardian dance heard during the wanderings. As a result of these travels, Balakirev began working on the symphonic poem "Tamara".
On March 18, 1862, Balakirev, together with the choir conductor Lomakin, founded the Free Music School. This school at the first stages of its existence launched a wide range of activities. In the concerts organized by this school, vocal and choral pieces were conducted by Lomakin, and orchestral pieces by Balakirev. On January 28, 1868, after Lomakin's refusal to manage the school, Balakirev, as one of its founders, took over this work and, as a director, was in charge of the school until the fall of 1874.
Wagner, being in Russia and having heard Balakirev's speech, spoke with great praise of his conducting art and added that he saw him as his future Russian rival.
In 1867, Balakirev acted as a conductor in Prague, where he first introduced the Czech public to Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila: "Ruslan" finally conquered the Czech public. The enthusiasm with which he was received does not decrease even now, although I have already conducted him 3 times. Prague listeners presented wreaths to Balakirev, and he decided to take one of them to Glinka's grave. Czech newspapers recognized in the person of Balakirev a worthy student of Glinka, the successor of his work
From the autumn of 1867 to the spring of 1869, Mily Balakirev conducted symphony concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (in 1867 together with Berlioz), in which, for the most part, works by Berlioz, Liszt and orchestral works by Russian composers: Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Mussorgsky.
By the end of the sixties, friendly relations between Balakirev and Tchaikovsky were established. Composers conduct a lively correspondence. Balakirev, with his advice, in many ways helps the development of Tchaikovsky's programmatic symphonic work, and he, in turn, promotes the popularization of Balakirev's works in Moscow.
By this time, heavy blows are already beginning to fall on Balakirev one after another.
In the spring of 1869, representatives of the court clique roughly removed him from conducting concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. This caused deep indignation among the advanced musical community. Tchaikovsky published an article in the Modern Chronicle expressing the attitude of all honest musicians to the fact of the unceremonious expulsion from a higher musical institution of a person who is the pride and decoration of Russian musical culture. Tchaikovsky wrote: “Balakirev can now say what the father of Russian literature said when he received the news of his expulsion from the Academy of Sciences: “The Academy can be dismissed from Lomonosov, but Lomonosov cannot be dismissed from the Academy.”
By the same time, the financial situation of the "Free Music School" was greatly shaken. She was on the verge of closing. Balakirev experienced this very hard.
Serious troubles arose in his personal life: the death of his father entailed the need to take care of the maintenance of unmarried sisters, while the composer himself had no means of subsistence.
By the beginning of the seventies they changedand Balakirev's relations with members of the "Mighty Handful". Balakirev's pupils became mature, well-established composers, no longer needed his daily care. There was nothing unnatural in such a phenomenon, and one of the members of the circle - Borodin - gave this correct explanation, although dressed in a playful form: “While everyone was in the position of eggs under the hen (meaning Balakirev by the latter), we were all more or less similar . As soon as the chick hatched from the eggs, they were overgrown with feathers. The feathers of all came out of necessity different; and when the wings grew, each one flew where he was drawn by his nature. The lack of similarity in direction, aspirations, tastes, the nature of creativity, etc., in my opinion, is a good and by no means a sad side of the matter. However, morbidly proud, heavily wounded by failures, Balakirev could not come to terms with the loss of his former influence on recent students.
The failures of Mily Alekseevich ended with an unsuccessful concert in Nizhny Novgorod, conceived to improve the financial situation.
Difficult experiences caused an acute spiritual crisis. At one time, Balakirev was occupied with the idea of suicide. Forced to work as an ordinary employee on the board of the Warsaw Railway for the sake of earning money, he distances himself from his former friends and for a long time refuses any musical studies.
Only towards the end of the seventies did he gradually revive his interest in music. He again takes up the interrupted composition of the symphonic poem "Tamara". Balakirev's return to musical activity was largely facilitated by the efforts of his friends. In particular, Shestakova played a significant role, inviting him to take part in editing Glinka's scores being prepared for publication. Balakirev actively set about this work, inviting Rimsky-Korsakov and his student Lyadov to help.
But Balakirev returned to musical life no longer the former "eagle", as Dargomyzhsky once called him. His spiritual strength was broken, a painful isolation appeared. His friends were especially struck by Balakirev's appeal to religion.
From 1883 to 1894 Balakirev was the manager of the Court Choir. He concentrated all the musical work of the singing chapel in his hands, he developed a program of scientific classes. He introduced Rimsky-Korsakov, who held the position of inspector of music classes, to work in the choir. Balakirev paid special attention to the development of the orchestra class at the chapel.
The last public performance of Balakirev as a pianist dates back to 1894. It was at the celebrations in Zhelyazova Wola - in the homeland of Chopin, where, on the initiative of Balakirev, a monument to the great Polish composer was unveiled.
Until the end of his life, Balakirev retained an ardent love for Glinka. In 1885, in Smolensk, he participated in the opening ceremony of the monument to the great composer and conducted two concerts there. In 1895, he achieved the installation of a memorial plaque on the house in Berlin in which Glinka died, he himself went to celebrations as part of the Russian delegation and conducted his symphony in Berlin. And in 1906, in honor of the opening of the Glinka monument in St. Petersburg (Balakirev was the initiator this time too), a solemn cantata composed by him was performed.
Balakirev was directly involved in the creation of Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Cui opera works, helping them in choosing plots and working on music, promoted Russian operas as a conductor and publicist. Balakirev's activities were especially significant in the field of popularizing Glinka's operas in Russia and abroad.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev died on May 16, 1910 in St. Petersburg, in his apartment at 7 Kolomenskaya Street. According to his will, Lyapunov completed a number of works that he had not completed, including the piano concerto in E-flat major.
Balakirev was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1936, during the reconstruction of the Necropolis of Masters of Arts, Balakirev's ashes were moved from the southern fence of the cemetery closer to the wall of the former Tikhvin Church, and buried on the Composer's Path next to Rimsky-Korsakov, who died in 1908.
Mily Balakirev played a huge role in the formation of the national music school, although he composed relatively little himself. In symphonic genres, he created two symphonies, several overtures, music for Shakespeare's "King Lear", symphonic poems "Tamara", "Rus", "In the Czech Republic". For piano, he wrote a sonata in B-flat minor, a brilliant fantasy "Islamey" and a number of pieces in various genres. Romances and adaptations of folk songs are of high value. Balakirev's musical style relies on the one hand on folk origins and traditions of church music, on the other hand, on the experience of new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, Berlioz.
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There are people who personified an entire era. Such a person was Mily Alekseevich Balakirev, who was one of the key and influential figures in the development of Russian classical music. A person without whom all knowledge of music would look and sound completely different. A brief biography of Balakirev Mily Alekseevich will be presented to your attention further.
Childhood
In the parish registers of the Ascension Church of Nizhny Novgorod for 1836, there is a record of the birth of a son in the family of the titular adviser Alexei Konstantinovich Balakirev. A few days later, Balakirev, together with his wife Elizaveta Ivanovna, baptizes the boy in the same church and calls him Mily.
The boy receives a classical upbringing, inherent in that time. On Sunday mornings, as well as holidays, the whole family attended church without fail. Mom Milia, Elizaveta Ivanovna, organized a corner in her son's room, in which there were icons. The boy was very proud of this part of his room and spent a lot of time there. Often the child simply sat in silence and looked at the icons.
Mily grew up as a very active and inquisitive child. He was not even 6 years old when he began to be interested in music. The first musical instrument he wanted to learn to play was the piano.
Elizaveta Ivanovna, seeing her son's interest in music, decides to check his hearing. Convinced that the boy has an absolute ear for music, she directs all her strength to the development of his musical talent.
First years of study
Mily and his mother go to Moscow to study. Luck smiles on them, because Alexander Dubuc himself, one of the most famous teachers and musicians of that time, teaches the boy how to master the piano. It is thanks to his teacher that Milia manages to polish his technique of playing a musical instrument very quickly and masterfully.
After some time, the boy returns home to Nizhny Novgorod, but does not stop his studies. Karl Eiserich, a talented musician and conductor, becomes his mentor. Milia's daily lessons are held under his supervision.
During these years, life often presents the boy with fateful gifts. One of them is an acquaintance with Alexander Dmitrievich Ulybyshev, a true lover and true connoisseur of music. A new acquaintance appreciated Balakirev's talent. Mily becomes a frequent visitor to Ulybyshev's house, where the musical elite of the city gathers. It is under the influence of these circles that the inner world and the ideological views of the young man are formed.
At the end of the 40s of the XX century, when Milia was only 13 years old, he entered the Nizhny Novgorod Noble Institute. The training lasts 4 years, and after graduating from the institute, the young man moves to Kazan. For two years, Mily has been listening to lectures at the Kazan University at the Faculty of Mathematics. It was then that the early works of a talented young man appeared, the romance “You are full of captivating bliss” and the concert Allegro.
By this time, the young man's mother, who had always been his main support and support, had died several years ago. The father, having entered into a new marriage, in which new children were born, could barely make ends meet. In order to somehow stay afloat, Mily gave music lessons.
Acquaintance with M. I. Glinka
All this time, Mili Balakirev continues to maintain close relations with Ulybyshev. It should be noted that the latter in the life of our hero played a very important role. On his estate, the philanthropist kept a personal orchestra, on which Balakirev first tried his hand as a musician. He not only conducted Beethoven's symphonies, but also understood how the orchestra works and how to lead people. And on the landowner's instrument, Mily had an unlimited opportunity to practice a lot and hone his technique. Later, a wealthy landowner brought Balakirev to St. Petersburg and introduced him to Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka.
The latter is considered the first classic of Russian music. Glinka was then going to leave Petersburg for good. However, the meeting of the two musicians did take place, although it was very short. Mikhail Ivanovich praised Balakirev, promised a great future, and also said that the glory of the "second Glinka" awaits him.
From that moment on, the legend of Balakirev began to spread in musical circles. The whole of St. Petersburg spoke about a young, talented and ardent musician who knows everything and knows a lot. The gates of great opportunities opened before the musician. At the age of 19, Balakirev gave his first big concert in front of the spoiled St. Petersburg audience. The audience received the virtuoso pianist with admiration. Many true connoisseurs of musical art became interested in the work of Mily Balakirev.
Balakirev Music School
There was another passion in the life of the composer Mily Balakirev. This is a passion for teaching, a desire to pass on your skills to someone else, to teach you how to play classical music and write your own works. Under the influence of this desire and with the support of the emperor, Mily Alekseevich, together with his friend Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin, founded a music school.
However, in 1866, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka invited Balakirev to work together and cooperate. The young genius moves to Prague, where he works on the operas Ruslan and Lyudmila and A Life for the Tsar. The audience enthusiastically accepts the work of two eminent musicians.
The fate of the school all this time was dealt with by Lomakin. However, in 1868 he shifted all duties from himself to Mily Alekseevich, who remained its director for 6 years.
Balakirev and his students
Balakirev very responsibly approached the position of a teacher in his school. He dreamed that dozens of talented musicians would come out of the walls of his institution, who would glorify his name. However, his teaching and mentorship was extremely rigid and authoritarian.
The first of the students, in which Mily Alekseevich tried to realize his ambitions, was the chemistry student Apollon Gussakovsky. The young man showed great promise and was ready to play music for hours on end. Balakirev taught his student a lot, putting a lot of physical and moral strength into him. Gussakovsky, after graduating from the institute, said goodbye to his mentor and went abroad. They never met again.
However, the Balakirev school gained popularity by that time. And young men came in droves to study. Among the students was an officer from the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Modest Mussorgsky. Acquaintance with him was of crucial importance for Balakirev.
"Mighty bunch"
Officer Mussorgsky brings with him Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, a doctor from the hospital where he was once on duty, also a passionate lover of classical music. And a little later, engineer officer Caesar Cui, librarian Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov and a very young teenager, future midshipman Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov adjoin them.
Balakirev was delighted with his new students. For each of them he became a mentor. However, in the process of work and creativity, men became like-minded people. And Balakirev understood that it would be difficult to continue his ideology within the walls of the school.
Therefore, Mily Alekseevich, who lived in rented apartments, arranges mugs and gatherings for his new friends in them. The group of musicians very soon became famous and was called the "Mighty Handful". In fact, they were an amateur philharmonic society, they became a folk project of amateur performances.
However, their judgments were not always acceptable. The goal of the "Mighty Handful" was to develop their own characteristic style in music, which would be opposed to official musical organizations, the Imperial Russian Musical Society and the Conservatory.
All members of the group were self-taught musicians. They composed musical works, and Balakirev was the main critic. He made changes, approved and supported his like-minded people. Often, using his authority among his comrades, Mily Alekseevich in a sharp form and quite aggressively could cross out the entire musical composition.
This affected the further fate of the "Balakirev group". Disputes and discontent within like-minded people increased. As a result, in the late 60s of the XIX century, all members of the "Mighty Handful" finally quarreled. The group broke up, but still left a significant mark on Russian music.
Musical career of Mily Alekseevich
After the collapse of the Mighty Handful, Mily Alekseevich worked in the Imperial Russian Musical Society, which he hated. The musician is at the top of his career. The whole world and the elite of St. Petersburg come to listen to the eminent pianist and conductor.
However, the radical views on conservatism in classical music, which he had to play at concerts in this institution, put an end to his work. Mily Alekseevich allowed himself to speak harshly to the leadership of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. Tolerate the rudeness of the conductor, no one began. After two years of work, he was dismissed with a scandal.
Balakirev is left alone with his music. The conductor returns to his place in Nizhny Novgorod and gives a concert there, which is attended by very few spectators. However, at this time, he finally finishes his oriental fantasy "Islamey" on the piano. At that time, only this work and several of its overtures were known to the general public.
mental crisis
As evidenced by the biography of Mily Balakirev, by the age of 33 he had outlived himself as a musician. He is going through a severe mental crisis and disappears from the musical community. Nobody knew where he was. Balakirev did not maintain relations with any of his friends. However, in narrow circles it was known that the musician entered the public service.
He went to work every day at the freight station of the Warsaw Railway. His position was called Store Management Officer. He was in charge of warehousing and freight transport. In this service, Balakirev, who in his youth was a student of the Faculty of Mathematics, quickly advances in the service.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev, whose biography is presented to your attention in the article, gets acquainted with the personnel officer of the Warsaw Railway Terty Ivanovich Filippov, who was a well-known person in the highest circles. Balakirev and Filippov are united and brought closer by religious views and faith. At this time, the musician, who is experiencing a mental crisis, even thinks about leaving for the church.
Terty Ivanovich, when the question arose of strengthening the court singing chapel, proposes the candidacy of Mily Alekseevich. Thanks to his authority among top officials, Balakirev is invited to a new position.
Work in the court choir
As soon as Mily Alekseevich took the post of head of the court singing chapel, he appointed Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov as his assistant, who was a sensible and true professional. Balakirev entrusted all musical affairs to him, while at first he himself dealt exclusively with administrative issues.
The current building of the academic chapel in St. Petersburg at Moika, 20 was built thanks to the efforts of Mily Alekseevich. He showed himself as a responsible official.
Balakirev did a lot for the court chapel. He ensured that a school was created under her, in which students received a high-quality singing education. Music classes were created in which they taught how to play the instruments. This made it possible for students after graduation to stay to work here, in the orchestra.
Rimsky-Korsakov, who was involved in the selection of talented musicians for the orchestra, created an excellent team of talented professionals. Balakirev did not teach in the chapel, but only controlled this complex mechanism. He kept everything under control: from the kitchen of the institution to the organization of the educational process. In this mode, he worked for 11 years, resigning in 1884 with the rank of State Councilor.
Balakirev's musical legacy
Having retired, Balakirev no longer thought about financial problems. He devoted himself entirely to composing musical works. 4 years after his resignation, Mily Alekseevich finished the First Symphony, which was discussed and played for quite a long time.
Balakirev died in 1910, leaving little musical legacy. Among the main masterpiece works of Balakirev Mily Alekseevich can be noted:
- symphonic poem "Tamara";
- piano fantasy "Islamey";
- music for the tragedy "King Lear"
- fantasy on the theme of the opera "Ivan Susanin";
- first symphony in C-dur;
- as well as many romances and songs.
The unfinished works of Mily Alekseevich after his death were finalized and completed by his like-minded people and students.
Mily Alekseevich Balakirev went down in history as one of the first critics of Russian music. His life was a series of victories and failures. The musician never started a family, devoting himself entirely to music. In addition to musical achievements, Balakirev left his mark as a talented official and leader.
