Embodiment in Russian music national idea was the main goal of the Balakirev circle, which took shape in St. Petersburg in the 1850s and 60s, later called " mighty bunch”, the composition of which practically did not change.

The name of this "New Russian Musical School" (another name) was given by the ideological inspirer - the famous critic V.V. Stasov (1824-1906).

big five

How did this creative community come about, uniting five great Russian composers - M. A. Balakirev and Ts. A. Cui, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov? It must be added that at some point the Mighty Handful had a more extended line-up. It included composers A. S. Gussakovsky, H. H. Lodyzhensky and N. V. Shcherbachev, less known to the general public, especially modern ones. Later they left the Balakirev circle and generally moved away from composing. Therefore, it is generally accepted that only five composers were members of the "New School", in France they were called that - "Group of Five", or "Five". The main members of the circle themselves considered themselves the heirs of the great Russian composers M. I. Glinka and A. S. Dargomyzhsky.

Adherents of the "Russian idea"

This time in Russia is associated with the fermentation of minds, which did not bypass the creative intelligentsia. Constantly flaring popular unrest forced progressive-minded artists and composers to turn to folk theme, learn Russian folk music and spiritual songs. They were united by the idea of ​​implementing folk aesthetic principles in music. It was proclaimed by the head of a mighty handful, M. A. Balakirev (1837-1910) and V. V. Stasov, who worked out the general ideological and aesthetic positions of the circle. They were like-minded and shared the views of famous democratic writers of the 60s. They were patriots, selflessly loving Russia, devoted to the “Russian idea”.

Russian talent

The composer who most of all shared their views and consistently implemented them in life was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881). The most distant from the rest of the participants was Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918), although he came to the group first. These five composers were united not only by regular meetings and conversations - they systematically collected, studied and systematized Russian musical folklore in order to embody national identity in their works. It is clear that these Russian composers took their subjects from Russian history. And their innovation extended to the form of musical works, and to harmony and rhythm.

Brilliant composers, talented publicists

There were few of them, but they had a huge impact not only on the musical life of Russia, but on the whole culture. Therefore, the name given to them by V.V. Stasov is so understandable - “The Mighty Handful”. The composition of this free community united the most talented composers of that time, except for P. I. Tchaikovsky, with whom the relations of the Five were close, but difficult.

These Russian composers also propagated their views in the press. So, since 1864, Cui published systematically, defending his views and tendencies, which largely coincided with the position of the Balakirev circle. Borodin also spoke a lot in periodicals. And Rimsky-Korsakov regularly stated his positions and principles, the fundamental of which were the nationality and nationality of music. Therefore, the theme of their work was connected only with Russia, its historical past, ancient beliefs, folk tales and legends.

Ideological center

The “Mighty Handful”, whose composition has already loudly declared itself, created the Free Music School (1862), which became a kind of center not only educational activities, but also cultural life capital Cities.

The progressive public of that time gathered here - writers and artists, sculptors and scientists, whose views were close to the principles of composers. The musicians presented and discussed their new works here.

Erudite, all-round gifted, talented

The brightest and most radical "Kuchkist" was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. For the sake of music, he left the service in the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. It was erudite and brilliant educated person, who was fluent in several European languages ​​​​and played the piano perfectly. In addition, Modest Petrovich had a wonderful baritone. He was the most consistent adherent of the principles declared by the "Mighty Handful", the collapse of which he experienced very painfully and considered it a betrayal of the "Russian idea". His great operas "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina", "Sorochinsky Fair" put the composer among the greatest musicians of Russia.

In the last years of his life, his innovative work was rejected not only by academic circles, but also by close friends - the rest of the "Mighty Handful". The composer drank, the last and only portrait of him in his lifetime was made by I. Repin shortly before his death, which overtook Mussorgsky in a military hospital in St. Petersburg.

Geniuses do not get along for a long time

The Mighty Handful fell apart for several reasons. So, Balakirev, who was experiencing a deep mental crisis, stepped aside, went to the Academy Rimsky-Korsakov, whom Mussorgsky and Balakirev considered a defector, although it was thanks to him that the ideas of the “Kuchkists” did not disappear, but were embodied in the work of composers members of the Belyaevsky circle. Borodin, in addition to music, also had chemistry. The work of the "Mighty Handful" not only left a deep mark on Russian music, it radically changed it. A national characteristic, scope and nationality appeared in it (there were many folk scenes in the works). Absolutely all representatives of this musical association, soldered by a common idea, were bright and talented people. Their work has replenished the treasury of not only Russian, but also world music.

The era of the 60sXIX century.

The era of the 60s is usually calculated from 1855 - the date of the inglorious end of the Crimean War. Military defeat tsarist Russia was the last straw that overflowed the cup of people's patience. A wave of peasant uprisings swept through the country, which could no longer be pacified either by exhortations or guns. It was a significant time in the social and cultural life of Russia. New trends penetrated everywhere; the new made its way in science, literature, painting, music and theatre. Carried out by the tsarist government as a response and preventive measure against the growing wave of the revolutionary democratic movement, the reform of 1861 actually worsened the situation of the peasants. The best minds of Russia were occupied with the question of the fate of their native people, "humanity and concern for the improvement human life”, according to N.G. Chernyshevsky, determined the direction in the development of advanced Russian science, literature and art. There was not a single area of ​​culture that would have remained aloof from the people's liberation ideas. The Russian revolutionary democrats Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, developing the ideas of Belinsky and Herzen, powerfully advanced materialist philosophy. The development of materialistic propositions has enriched various fields of science with discoveries of world significance. Suffice it to recall that at that time mathematicians P.A. Chebyshev and S.V. Kovalevskaya, physicist A.G. Stoletov, chemists D.I. Mendeleev and A.M. Butlerov, physiologist I.M. Sechenov, biologist I.I. Mechnikov.

The heyday comes in Russian literature and art. This era gave mankind the unsurpassed singer of peasant life N.A. Nekrasov; a subtle master of the word, who created poetic pictures of Russian nature, wonderful images of Russian people, Turgenev; a deep psychologist who strove to know the innermost in the human soul, Dostoevsky; powerful writer thinker Leo Tolstoy.

In the field of music, the 60s were also an era of unusually bright flowering. Major changes are observed in the way musical life. If until the middle of the 19th century the musical life of Russia was closed, accessible only to a privileged aristocratic public, now its centers are acquiring a much wider, democratic character. A number of organizations of a musical and educational nature arose, a whole galaxy of major figures in musical art was put forward: P.I. Tchaikovsky, the Rubinstein brothers, A.N.

Appearance of the Mighty Bunch

Accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, the expression "mighty bunch" firmly entered life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833- 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). Often the “Mighty Handful” is called the “New Russian Musical School”, as well as the “Balakirev Circle”, after its leader M.A. Balakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called the "Five" according to the number of main representatives. The composers of the "Mighty Handful" entered the creative arena during the period of a huge public upsurge of the 60s of the 19th century.

The history of the creation of the Balakirev circle is as follows: in 1855, M.A. Balakirev arrived in St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old youth was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Of particular importance for Balakirev is his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.

Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov is the most interesting figure in the history of Russian art. Critic, art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, acting as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all major Russian artists, appeared in the press with the propaganda of their best paintings and was also their best adviser and assistant.

The son of the outstanding architect V.P. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilyevich, was born in St. Petersburg, he received his education at the School of Law. Stasov's service throughout his life was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka.

Stasov heard Glinka's review of Balakirev: "In ... Balakirev, I found views that came so close to mine." And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov, undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly knowing classical and modern art, ideologically guides Balakirev and directs him.

In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met with Caesar Antonovich Cui, who at that time studied at the Military Engineering Academy and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui was very fond of music. In his early youth, he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.

With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui, arouses in him a serious interest in art. Under the direction of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano four hands, the opera Prisoner of the Caucasus, and in 1859 a one-act comic opera The Son of a Mandarin.

The next composer to join the Balakirev - Stasov - Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guards officer. He began to compose very early and very soon realized that he should devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, being already an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev happened in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything struck Mussorgsky in Balakirev: his appearance, his bright original game, and his bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, “a new world, unknown to him until now, opened up before him.”

In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature person, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.

In music, Borodin was self-taught. He owed his relatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to a serious acquaintance with literature. chamber music. While still a student at the Medical and Surgical Academy, Borodin, playing the cello, often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he replayed the entire literature of bow quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting with Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber compositions. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin's bright musical talent, but his versatile erudition.

Thus, by the beginning of 1863, one can speak of a formed Balakirev circle.

The formation and development of the views of the "Kuchkists".

A great merit in the upbringing and development of its participants at that time belonged to M.A. Balakirev. He was their leader, organizer and teacher. “He needed Cui and Mussorgsky as friends, like-minded people, followers, fellow students; but without them he could have acted. On the contrary, they needed him as an adviser and teacher, as a censor and editor, without whom they could not even take a step. Musical practice and life made it possible for Balakirev's bright talent to develop rapidly. The development of others began later, proceeded more slowly and required a leader. This leader was Balakirev, who achieved everything with his amazing versatile musical talent and practice ... ”(Rimsky-Korsakov). A huge will, an exceptionally versatile musical education, temperament - these are the personal qualities that determined his influence on all members of the circle. Balakirev's teaching methods with his students were peculiar. He directly asked to compose symphonies, overtures, scherzos, opera excerpts, etc., and then he examined and strictly analyzed what was done. Balakirev managed to instill in his comrades in the circle the need for broad self-education.

In addition to Balakirev, V.V. Stasov also played a huge role in the leadership of young composers. Stasov's participation in the activities of the handful was diverse. It manifested itself primarily in promoting the general artistic education of composers, in influencing the ideological orientation of their work. Often, Stasov suggested plots for works and helped in their development and in a comprehensive discussion of already created works. He presented the composers with a variety of historical materials that were in his charge, and spared no effort to promote their work.

Stasov was the first to appear in print and drew public attention to the works of the composers of The Mighty Handful. Stasov was a conductor of the ideas of Russian democratic aesthetics among the "Kuchkists".

So in everyday communication with Balakirev and Stasov, in statements and disputes about art, in reading advanced literature, the views and skills of the circle's composers gradually grew and strengthened. By this time, each of them had created many large independent works. So, Mussorgsky wrote a symphonic picture "Night on Bald Mountain" and the first edition of "Boris Godunov"; Rimsky-Korsakov - symphonic works "Antar", "Sadko" and the opera "Pskovityanka"; Balakirev composed his main works: symphonic poem"In the Czech Republic", overture "1000 years", brilliant piano fantasy "Islamey", "Overture on three Russian themes", music for Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear"; Borodin created the first symphony; Cui graduated from the opera Ratcliffe. It was during this period that Stasov called the Balakirev circle "a small, but already powerful bunch of Russian musicians."

Each of the composers who were part of the "Mighty Handful" is a bright creative individuality and is worthy of independent study. However, the historical originality of the "Mighty Handful" was that it was a group of not just friendly musicians located to each other, but creative team, a military commonwealth of advanced artists of their time, soldered by ideological unity, common artistic guidelines. In this regard, The Mighty Handful was typical of his time. Similar creative communities, circles, partnerships were created in various fields of art. In painting, it was the "Art Artel", which then laid the foundation for "wandering", in literature - a group of participants in the journal "Contemporary". The organization of student "communes" also belongs to the same period.

The composers of the "Mighty Handful" acted as direct successors of the advanced trends of Russian culture of the previous era. They considered themselves followers of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, called to continue and develop their work.

Russian people in the work of composers.

The leading line in the theme of the works of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the life and interests of the Russian people. Most of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" systematically recorded, studied and developed samples of folklore. Composers boldly used the folk song in both symphonic and operatic works (The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov).

The national aspirations of the "Mighty Handful" were, however, devoid of any tinge of national narrow-mindedness. Composers were very sympathetic to the musical cultures of other peoples, which is confirmed by numerous examples of the use of Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Spanish in their works. Czech and other national stories and melodies. A particularly large place in the work of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the eastern element ("Tamara", "Islamei" by Balakirev; "Prince Igor" by Borodin; "Scheherazade", "Antara", "The Golden Cockerel" by Rimsky-Korsakov; "Khovanshchina" by Mussorgsky).

By creating works of art for the people, speaking in a language understandable and close to them, composers made their music accessible to the widest strata of listeners. This democratic aspiration explains the great inclination of the "new Russian school" towards programming. "Software" refers to such instrumental works in which ideas, images, plots are explained by the composer himself. The author's explanation can be given either in the explanatory text attached to the work or in its title. Many other works by the composers of The Mighty Handful are also programmatic: Antar and The Tale by Rimsky-Korsakov, Islamey and King Lear by Balakirev, Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

Developing the creative principles of their great predecessors Glinka and Dragomyzhsky, the members of the Mighty Handful were at the same time bold innovators. They were not satisfied with what they had achieved, but called their contemporaries to the “new shores”, strove for a direct lively response to the demands and demands of modernity, inquisitively searched for new plots, new types of people, new means of musical embodiment.

The “Kuchkists” had to pave these new roads of their own in a stubborn and uncompromising struggle against everything reactionary and conservative, in sharp clashes with the dominance of foreign music, which had long and stubbornly been propagated by Russian rulers and aristocracy. The ruling classes could not be pleased with the truly revolutionary processes taking place in literature and art. Domestic art did not enjoy sympathy and support. Moreover, everything that was advanced, progressive was persecuted. Chernyshevsky was sent into exile, his writings bearing the stamp of a censorship ban. Herzen lived outside of Russia. Artists who defiantly left the Academy of Arts were considered "suspicious" and were taken into account by the tsarist secret police. The influence of Western European theaters in Russia was ensured by all state privileges: Italian troupes owned monopoly opera stage, foreign entrepreneurs enjoyed the widest benefits inaccessible to domestic art.

Overcoming the obstacles posed to the promotion of “national” music, attacks from critics, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” stubbornly continued their work of developing their native art and, as Stasov later wrote, “Balakirev’s partnership defeated both the public and the musicians. It sowed a new fertile seed, which soon gave a luxurious and fruitful harvest.

The Balakirev circle usually gathered in several familiar and close houses: at L.I. Shestakova (sister of M.I. Glinka), at Ts.A. Cui, at F.P. .Stasova. Meetings of the Balakirev circle always proceeded in a very lively creative atmosphere.

Members of the Balakirev circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were also close ties with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The public and the Mighty bunch.

The composers of The Mighty Handful did a great deal of social and educational work. The first public manifestation of the activities of the Balakirev circle was the opening in 1862 of the Free Music School. The main organizer was M.I.Balakirev and the choirmaster G.Ya.Lomakin. The free music school's main task was to distribute musical knowledge among the general population.

In an effort to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic principles, to strengthen creative influence on the surrounding public environment, members of the "Mighty Handful" not only used the concert platform, but also spoke on the pages of the press. The speeches were of an acutely polemical nature, judgments sometimes had a sharp, categorical form, which was due to the attacks and negative assessments that the Mighty Handful was subjected to by reactionary criticism.

Along with Stasov, C.A. Cui acted as a spokesman for the views and assessments of the new Russian school. Since 1864, he was a permanent music reviewer for the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti. Besides Cui, critical articles Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov spoke in the press. Although the criticism was not theirs main activity, in their musical articles and reviews they gave examples of accurate and correct assessments of art and made a significant contribution to Russian classical musicology.

The influence of the ideas of the "Mighty Handful" penetrates the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Here in 1871 Rimsky-Korsakov was invited to the post of professor in the classes of instrumentation and composition. Since that time, Rimsky-Korsakov's activity has been inextricably linked with the conservatory. He becomes the figure that concentrates young creative forces around him. The combination of the advanced traditions of the "Mighty Handful" with a solid and solid academic foundation constituted a characteristic feature of the "Rimsky-Korsakov school", which was the dominant trend in the St. Petersburg Conservatory from the late 70s of the last century to the beginning of the 20th century.

By the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the work of the composers of the Mighty Handful was gaining wide popularity and recognition not only at home, but also abroad. An ardent admirer and friend of the "new Russian school" was Franz Liszt. Liszt energetically contributed to the dissemination of the works of Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov in Western Europe. Mussorgsky's ardent admirers were the French composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, the Czech composer Janacek.

Breakup of the Five.

The "Mighty Handful" as a single creative team existed until the mid-70s. By this time, in the letters and memoirs of its participants and close friends, one can increasingly find arguments and statements about the reasons for its gradual disintegration. Closest to the truth is Borodin. In a letter to the singer L.I. Karmalina in 1876, he wrote: “... As activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over school, over what a person has inherited from others. ... Finally, in the same, in different epochs of development, in various times, attitudes and tastes in particular are changing. It's all very natural."

Gradually, the role of the leader of the advanced musical forces passes to Rimsky-Korsakov. He educates the younger generation at the conservatory, since 1877 he became the conductor of the Free Music School and the inspector of the musical choirs of the maritime department. Since 1883, he has been teaching at the Court Singing Chapel.

Mussorgsky was the first of the leaders of the "Mighty Handful" to die. He died in 1881. Last years Mussorgsky's life was very difficult. Shaky health, financial insecurity - all this prevented the composer from concentrating on creative work, caused a pessimistic mood and alienation.

In 1887 A.P. Borodin died.

With the death of Borodin, the paths of the surviving composers of the Mighty Handful finally diverged. Balakirev, withdrawing into himself, completely departed from Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui had long lagged behind his brilliant contemporaries. Only Stasov remained in the same relationship with each of the three.

Balakirev and Cui lived the longest (Balakirev died in 1910, Cui died in 1918). Despite the fact that Balakirev returned to musical life in the late 70s (in the early 70s Balakirev stopped playing musical activity), he no longer had the energy and charm that characterized him at the time of the 60s. The creative forces of the composer died out before life.

Balakirev continued to lead the Free Music School and the Court Choir. The training procedures established by him and Rimsky-Korsakov in the chapel led to the fact that many of its pupils entered the real road, becoming outstanding musicians.

Creativity and the inner appearance of Cui also did not remind much of the former connection with the "Mighty Handful". He successfully advanced in his second specialty: in 1888 he became a professor at the Military Engineering Academy in the department of fortification and left many valuable printed scientific works in this area.

Rimsky-Korsakov also lived a long time (he died in 1908). Unlike Balakirev and Cui, his work went on an ascending line until the very end. He remained true to the principles of realism and nationalism developed during the great democratic upsurge of the 60s in the Mighty Handful.

On the great traditions of the "Mighty Handful" Rimsky-Korsakov brought up a whole generation of musicians. Among them are such outstanding artists as Glazunov, Lyadov, Arensky, Lysenko, Spendiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Steinberg, Myaskovsky and many others. They brought these traditions alive and active to our time.

The influence of the creativity of the "Kuchkists" on the world musical art.

The work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" belongs to the best achievements of world musical art. Based on the heritage of the first classic of Russian music Glinka, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov embodied the ideas of patriotism in their works, sang the great forces of the people, created wonderful images of Russian women. Developing the achievements of Glinka in the field of symphonic creativity in program and non-program compositions for orchestra, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin made a huge contribution to the world treasury symphonic music. The composers of the "Mighty Handful" created their music on the basis of wonderful folk song melodies, endlessly enriching it with this. They showed great interest and respect not only for the Russian musical creativity, Ukrainian and Polish, English and Indian, Czech and Serbian, Tatar, Persian, Spanish and many other themes are presented in their works.

The work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" is the highest example of musical art; at the same time, it is accessible, expensive and understandable to the widest circles of listeners. This is its great enduring value.

The music created by this small but powerful group is a high example of serving the people with its art, an example of true creative friendship, an example of heroic artistic work.

On the pipe in the form of a monkey - V. A. Hartman); N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (in the form of a crab) with the Purgold sisters (in the form of pet dogs); M. P. Mussorgsky (in the form of a rooster); A. P. Borodin is depicted behind Rimsky-Korsakov; At the top right, A. N. Serov is throwing angry thunderbolts from the clouds.

"Mighty bunch"(and Balakirev circle, New Russian Music School or, sometimes, Russian Five) is a creative community of Russian composers that developed in St. Petersburg in the late 1850s and early 1860s. It included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833-1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) . The ideological inspirer and main non-musical consultant of the circle was the art critic, writer and archivist Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (1824-1906).

The name "Mighty Handful" is first found in Stasov's article "Slavonic Concert of Mr. Balakirev" (): "How much poetry, feelings, talent and skill a small but already mighty handful of Russian musicians have." The name "New Russian Musical School" was put forward by the members of the circle, who considered themselves the heirs of M. I. Glinka and saw their goal in the embodiment of the Russian national idea in music.

The Mighty Handful group arose against the backdrop of revolutionary ferment that had by that time engulfed the minds of the Russian intelligentsia. Riots and uprisings of peasants became the main social events of that time, returning artists to the folk theme. In the implementation of the national aesthetic principles proclaimed by the ideologists of the Commonwealth Stasov and Balakirev, M. P. Mussorgsky was the most consistent, less than others - Ts. A. Cui. Members of the "Mighty Handful" systematically recorded and studied samples of Russian musical folklore and Russian church singing. They embodied the results of their research in one form or another in the works of the chamber and major genres, especially in operas, including The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov, and Prince Igor. The intense search for national identity in The Mighty Handful was not limited to arrangements of folklore and liturgical singing, but also extended to dramaturgy, genre (and form), down to individual categories. musical language(harmony, rhythm, texture, etc.).

Initially, the circle included Balakirev and Stasov, who were keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. They also inspired the young composer Cui with their ideas, and later they were joined by Mussorgsky, who left the rank of officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment in order to study music. In 1862, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature person, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science and art as Mendeleev, Sechenov , Kovalevsky , Botkin , Vasnetsov .

Meetings of the Balakirev circle always proceeded in a very lively creative atmosphere. Members of this circle often met with writers A. V. Grigorovich, A. F. Pisemsky, I. S. Turgenev, artist I. E. Repin, sculptor M. M. Antokolsky. Close, although far from always smooth, ties were with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In the 70s, the "Mighty Handful" ceased to exist as a close-knit group. The activities of the "Mighty Handful" became an era in the development of Russian and world musical art.

Sequel to "The Mighty Bunch"

With the cessation of regular meetings of five Russian composers, the increment, development and living history The Mighty Handful is far from over. The center of Kuchkist activity and ideology, mainly due to pedagogical activity Rimsky-Korsakov moved to the classes of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and also, starting from the mid-s, to the “Belyaev circle”, where Rimsky-Korsakov was the recognized head and leader for almost 20 years, and then, with the beginning of the 20th century, shared his leadership in the composition "triumvirate" with A. K. Lyadov, A. K. Glazunov and a little later (from May 1907) N. V. Artsybushev. Thus, minus Balakirev's radicalism, the Belyaev circle became a natural continuation of The Mighty Handful.

Rimsky-Korsakov himself recalled this in a very definite way:

“Can the Belyaev circle be considered a continuation of the Balakirev circle, was there a certain amount of similarity between the one and the other, and what was the difference, besides the change in its personnel over time? The similarity, indicating that the Belyaev circle is a continuation of the Balakirev one, except for the connecting links in the person of me and Lyadov, consisted in the common advancement and progressiveness to both of them; but the circle of Balakirev corresponded to the period of storm and onslaught in the development of Russian music, and the circle of Belyaev - to the period of a calm march forward; Balakirevskiy was revolutionary, while Belyaevskiy was progressive…”

- (N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, "Chronicle of my musical life")

Among the members of the Belyaev circle, Rimsky-Korsakov names himself separately as the "connecting links" (as the new head of the circle instead of Balakirev), Borodin (at that for a long time, which remained before his death) and Lyadov. Since the second half of the 80s, such musicians of different talent and specialty as Glazunov, brothers F. M. Blumenfeld and S. M. Blumenfeld, conductor O. I. Dyutsh and pianist N. S. Lavrov. A little later, as they graduated from the conservatory, such composers as N. A. Sokolov, K. A. Antipov, Ya. Vitol and so on, including big number later graduates of Rimsky-Korsakov in the composition class. In addition, the "venerable Stasov" always maintained good and close relations with the Belyaev circle, although his influence was "far from the same" as in Balakirev's circle. The new composition of the circle (and its more moderate head) also determined the new face of the “post-Kuchkists”: much more academically oriented and open to a variety of influences, previously considered unacceptable within the framework of the “Mighty Handful”. The Belyaevites experienced a lot of “alien” influences and had wide sympathies, starting from Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and ending “even” with Ravel and Debussy. In addition, it should be especially noted that, being the successor to the "Mighty Handful" and generally continuing its direction, the Belyaev circle did not represent a single aesthetic whole, guided by a single ideology or program.

In turn, Balakirev did not lose his activity and continued to spread his influence, releasing more and more new students during his tenure as head of the court chapel. The most famous of his later students (who later also graduated from the class of Rimsky-Korsakov) is the composer V. A. Zolotarev.

It wasn't just about direct teaching and classrooms. free composition. The ever more frequent performance on the stages of the imperial theaters of new operas by Rimsky-Korsakov and his orchestral works, the production of Borodino's "Prince Igor" and the second edition of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, many critical articles and the growing personal influence of Stasov - all this gradually multiplied the ranks of the nationally oriented Russian music school. Many of the students of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev, in terms of the style of their writings, fit perfectly into the continuation of the general line of the “Mighty Handful” and could be called, if not its belated members, then in any case, faithful followers. And sometimes it even happened that the followers turned out to be much more “true” (and more orthodox) than their teachers. Despite some anachronism and old-fashionedness, even in the times of Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, until the middle of the 20th century, the aesthetics and predilections of many of these composers remained quite "Kuchkist" and most often - not subject to fundamental stylistic changes. However, over time, more and more often in their work, the followers and students of Rimsky-Korsakov discovered a certain “fusion” of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools, to one degree or another combining the influence of Tchaikovsky with the “Kuchkist” principles. Perhaps the most extreme and distant figure in this series is A. S. Arensky, who, until the end of his days, maintaining an emphasized personal (student) loyalty to his teacher (Rimsky-Korsakov), nevertheless, in his work was much closer to traditions Tchaikovsky. In addition, he led an extremely riotous and even "immoral" lifestyle. It is precisely this that primarily explains the highly critical and unsympathetic attitude toward him in the Belyaev circle. No less indicative is the example of Alexander Grechaninov, also a faithful student of Rimsky-Korsakov, most while living in Moscow. However, the teacher speaks much more sympathetically about his work and, as a compliment, calls him "partly a Petersburger." After 1890 and Tchaikovsky's more frequent visits to

"Mighty bunch"

ill. to the chapter "The Mighty Bunch"

Music entered Mussorgsky's life more and more powerfully. He spent every free minute at the piano. With his brother, comrades or mother, he often attended concerts, opera and ballet performances.

Not far from Nikolsky Cathedral, on a huge square (now Teatralnaya), two theaters stood one against the other - the Bolshoi and the Circus Theatre. reigned in the Bolshoi Italian opera and ballet. Performances here were staged with incredible luxury. The Italian troupe enjoyed the patronage of the royal court and the attention of the directorate of the imperial theaters. In a different situation was the Russian opera, huddled in the Circus Theatre, where, along with operas, dramatic performances were staged, and circus performances were also arranged. The hall here had poor acoustics, the scenery and costumes were old. Noble patrons and theatrical management did not recognize national art.

However, the democratic public that visited the Circus Theater had great sympathy for the Russian opera troupe. Of the Russian operas, Verstovsky's "Askold's Grave" enjoyed the greatest love. Glinka's brilliant operas were almost never performed. "A Life for the Tsar" (as the opera "Ivan Susanin" was then called) was staged only on service days, that is, on royal holidays, and the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" was not included in the repertoire at all.

In 1859, the Circus Theater burned down, and in its place was built Mariinskii Opera House(now the Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet named after S. M. Kirov).

Brilliant Transfiguration officers rarely deigned to visit the Circus Theatre. They were more attracted to the Italian opera. Modest was delighted with the famous singers Bosio and Lotti, the singers - Calzolari, Debassini, Marini, Tamberlica. He did not miss Verdi's operas, the most popular then, along with everyone admired Donizetti's Lucia, Charles the Bold ( So the tsarist censorship renamed the opera "William Tell".), "Barber of Seville", Rossini's Thieving Magpie, applauded Lagrois in Bellini's Norma, Bosio in Meyerbeer's North Star.

Upon returning from the theater, Modest sat down at the piano and improvised for hours on the motives of the arias he especially liked.

Over time, Mussorgsky began to visit the Mariinsky Theater more and more often. Many foreign operas from the repertoire Bolshoi Theater were also staged by a Russian troupe, and Modest could compare the excellent singing and soulful playing of O. A. Petrov, D. M. Leonova, A. A. Latysheva, P. P. Bulakhov with the bel canto of Italian prima donnas and premieres.

Along with the opera, Mussorgsky was also attracted to dramatic performances. He visited the Alexandrinsky Theater, where dramas and vaudevilles were performed, and sometimes a Russian opera troupe gave a performance.

Of the concerts at that time, university concerts were especially famous. Their participants were amateur musicians - students and teachers of the university. The well-known St. Petersburg conductor Karl Bogdanovich Schubert was at the head of the orchestra, and popular pianists Anton Rubinstein and Mily Balakirev performed as soloists.

The musical life of St. Petersburg did not stop even in the summer months. In the summer, concerts were held at the famous institution of artificial mineral waters in Novaya Derevnya. Serious music was performed here, and sometimes gypsy and Tyrolean choirs performed. The audience arrived at New Village to the "Institution of Isler", named after the owner, on steamboats from the pier near the Summer Garden.

The concerts at Villa Borghese also enjoyed fame. This was the name of a vast garden at the end of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt (now the garden named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky), at the Kushelev-Bezborodko dacha, on the right bank of the Neva (now Sverdlovskaya embankment, 40), and others. But, of course, the most popular were symphony concerts in the famous Pavlovsky railway station under the direction of the "king of waltzes" Johann Strauss.

In the 1850s, there were many musical entertainments in St. Petersburg, designed for the tastes of people of different classes. Italian organ-grinders or Savoyards with monkeys and small organs, wandering singers, walked through the streets and courtyards. The boys, the children of the poor, showed hedgehogs, guinea pigs in a box or basket, loudly appealing to the audience: "Look, gentlemen, look, gentlemen, look at the sea beast!" Such scenes often happened to be observed by Modest. They were put aside in memory and after many years were revived in his works.

Raeshniks, or puppeteers, were indispensable participants in the capital's entertainment. Not a single festivity on Admiralteyskaya Square for Shrovetide and Easter could do without them. Many booths were set up here. And what numbers were not offered to the St. Petersburg public! Noise, uproar, cries of sbitenshchikov and sellers of sweets, the sounds of a hurdy-gurdy, loud sing-song jokes and jokes of the Raeshniks: "And here, if you please, the battle: the Turks are falling like chocks, and ours are healthy, only headless ..." The laughter of the crowd in response to the antics of the "grandfathers" from the carousels and the discordant dialect - everything merged into a discordant cheerful chorus. Performances in some booths were distinguished by great luxury. Not only comic, but also "patriotic" plays were staged.

Under the influence of various musical and theatrical impressions, Mussorgsky tried to compose himself. He began to write an opera, choosing Victor Hugo's novel "Gan the Icelander" as a libretto. The plot with its dramatic episodes captured him. However, "nothing came out of this plan, because it could not come out," as the composer himself later, laughing at his youthful attempt, remarked.

One of Mussorgsky's comrades in the regiment, Fyodor Ardalionovich Vanlyarsky, a lover of serious music (later a major official, with whom the composer kept friendly relations for life), was familiar with A. S. Dargomyzhsky. The premiere of "Mermaid" in the spring of 1856, which was not successful with the aristocratic public, aroused the interest of Mussorgsky and his friends, and the personality of the creator of "Mermaid" seemed exceptional to Modest.

Mokhovaya street, house 30, now marked with a memorial plaque indicating that the wonderful composer Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky lived here since the mid-1840s ( The numbering of houses on Mokhovaya changed several times: in the 1850s, Esakov's house was number 25, in the 60-70s it was house 26. In Esakov's house, Dargomyzhsky first occupied a large apartment with his father, and after his father's death in 1864 moved to another, smaller one.). This house (Esakov) was attractive to everyone who loved Russian music.

The hospitable salon of Dargomyzhsky was widely known. Musical evenings of Alexander Sergeevich played big role in the cultural life of St. Petersburg, especially since the second half of the 1840s. It was here that one could most often hear new works by Russian composers. Indeed, in those years, national music was in distress. Italian opera reigned supreme on the imperial stage, foreign virtuosos labored in concert halls, and Russian musicians had nowhere to show their works. Dargomyzhsky's house became the only place in St. Petersburg where the works of Russian composers were performed.

Alexander Sergeevich himself was famous as an excellent performer of romances. He had an ugly hoarse voice, but everything was forgotten as soon as he sang, so truthfully and expressively he conveyed the thought embodied in the work, recited with such feeling and taste. Dargomyzhsky was also an excellent pianist.

Having visited the famous composer, Mussorgsky was delighted both with the personality of Dargomyzhsky and with the music he heard. It was after meeting Dargomyzhsky that he realized that music was the purpose and content of his life. Alexander Sergeevich Mussorgsky also liked it, he especially appreciated the brilliant piano technique of the young Preobrazhensky.

The year 1857 proved to be a turning point in Mussorgsky's life. This year began tragically for Russian music. On February 3, the great Glinka died in Berlin. And, as if making up for this loss, a galaxy of young talented composers, followers and successors of the founder of Russian classical music, entered the musical arena.

Back in January 1856, at a musical evening at the inspector of St. Petersburg University Alexander Ivanovich Fitzum, a great lover of music and organizer of university concerts, two young people met for the first time - the composer and brilliant pianist Mily Alekseevich Balakirev and a military engineer, an aspiring critic and composer Caesar Antonovich Cui. They became friends and began to see each other often. At the end of 1857, at one of the evenings at Dargomyzhsky's, they met Mussorgsky.

These seemingly ordinary acquaintances turned out to be significant. They laid the foundation for a creative community of young Russian musicians, which later entered the history of Russian music under the name of the Balakirev Circle, or "The Mighty Handful" ( For the first time in print, the name "Mighty Handful" appeared in 1867 in an article by V.V. Stasov "Slavic concert of Balakirev", dedicated to the concert under the direction of Balakirev in honor of the congress of representatives of the Slavic countries.).

The birth of the "Mighty Handful" coincided with a period of social upsurge. After Russia's defeat in Crimean War advanced people countries began to realize even more clearly that the autocratic-feudal system had become obsolete. In all spheres of public life there were searches for new ways. The progressive public understood that further development Russia is impossible without the abolition of serfdom. The problem of the emancipation of the peasants and the means of resolving it - through revolution or through reform - were the cause of a sharp ideological struggle. It divided the Russian public into two camps: on the one hand, democrats and revolutionaries, on the other, conservatives and liberals.

In St. Petersburg, the social upsurge manifested itself with particular force. He caused an unprecedented flourishing of science, literature, art, including music. The tasks of advanced Russian art were outlined by the leader of revolutionary democracy P. G. Chernyshevsky in his dissertation "Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality".

Chernyshevsky considered the basis for the development of all types of art to be close to the people, reflecting their fundamental interests, depicting the true truth of life and fighting against the so-called " pure art, leading away from living reality.

The beautiful, taught Chernyshevsky, is life itself. It is life in all truth that should be the subject of art, which is designed to help people understand reality, to be a "textbook of life."

Chernyshevsky's ideas had a huge impact on the development of advanced democratic art. There is no doubt that Chernyshevsky's aesthetic teaching played a role in shaping the views of the Balakirevites, including Mussorgsky. The Balakirev circle, in terms of its ideological and aesthetic orientation, occupied an outstanding place in Russian art of the 60s - early 70s of the XIX century. The composers included in it were, in their views, close to the representatives of revolutionary democracy.

The circle was formed in 1857-1862. Gradually, new faces joined him. In the autumn of 1861, Balakirev's friend, the well-known piano teacher F. A. Kanille, brought Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov, a young graduate of the Naval Corps, to Mily Alekseevich. In 1862, a young professor at the Medico-Surgical Academy and a talented chemist Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin joined the Balakirevites. IN different years the circle also included talented musicians A. S. Gussakovsky, N. V. Shcherbachev, N. N. Lodyzhensky, who, however, for various reasons, moved away from it and did not leave a noticeable mark in the history of Russian musical culture.

United by a commonality of views and aesthetic aspirations, the same understanding of the tasks and goals of Russian musical culture, the four outstanding musicians of the circle - Balakirev, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov - made a huge contribution to the development of Russian music. Cui gained fame as a music critic, but his composing activities historically turned out to be quite modest, and only due to random circumstances did he enter the Five ( Under this name, "The Mighty Handful" gained fame abroad, in particular in France ("Les cinqs").) almost equally.

Relying on the creative heritage of Glinka and on the folk song, young composers struggled with the routine and looked for unbeaten roads. They stood up for the nationality and the vital truth of musical art, for the affirmation in it of large, socially significant themes.

Special attention in the Balakirev circle enjoyed folk song. Collecting and studying works folk art along with the development of Glinka's heritage, they determined the direction of the circle. However, unlike Glinka, who widely used not only the peasant song, but also urban folklore, the Balakirevians considered only the peasant song to be truly folk, which was reflected in the well-known limitedness of their views.

Members of the circle showed great interest in the musical culture of other peoples. And in this they also followed the precepts of the founder of Russian classical music - Glinka turned to Ukrainian, Spanish and Eastern folklore. The oriental theme - completely new to Russian music - was his remarkable contribution to Russian musical art. The Balakirevites successfully developed this achievement of their great predecessor.

The circle consisted of people with very different creative personalities, but they were united and brought together by their favorite work and common views. The head of the "Mighty Handful" was Mily Alekseevich Balakirev. This outstanding musician was born in 1836 in Nizhny Novgorod in poor noble family. From childhood, he showed extraordinary musical abilities. Having received an education at the Nizhny Novgorod Noble Institute, Balakirev entered the Kazan University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. But, after studying for two years, he left the university and decided to devote himself exclusively to music. Soon Balakirev met a well-known philanthropist and music writer A. D. Ulybyshev. At the evenings of Ulybyshev, the talented young man acted as a conductor, at the same time he began to compose music. At Ulybyshev's house, Balakirev met with the famous pianist Anton Kontsky. He appreciated the talent of the young musician and began to give him free lessons. At the end of 1855, Ulybyshev took Balakirev to the capital.

In St. Petersburg, no one has hitherto famous musician from the provinces immediately won recognition as an excellent pianist, and Glinka drew the attention of him. The great composer, whom Balakirev was introduced to by Ulybyshev, predicted a brilliant future for Mily Alekseevich.

Balakirev had a phenomenal memory. Sitting at the piano and constantly illustrating his words with music, he could carry on fascinating conversations about any famous composer. He brilliantly played works by Beethoven, Glinka, Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt. At the same time, Balakirev was a talented teacher. Although he did not study anywhere, thanks to his innate musicality and huge memory, he independently comprehended the laws of composition.

Shortly after the first acquaintance, Modest Mussorgsky also became his student. Balakirev intuitively approached his pet correctly. He based his teaching on a practical acquaintance with the musical heritage of the past, which was an excellent school for Mussorgsky. Joint music-making, analysis and criticism of performed works, experiments in composing in classical sonata form gave Mussorgsky much more than he could have received from a teacher who knew all the intricacies of the school methodology. At the same time, Balakirev was surprisingly sensitive to the slightest flaws in form and did not recognize blind adherence to classical models, but demanded that the young composer look for new forms that would correspond to the new content.

The youngest in Balakirev's circle was Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov. He was born in 1844 in Tikhvin and by the time he met Balakirev he was in the last class of the Naval Corps. In the Rimsky-Korsakov family, the profession of sailors was hereditary, and Nikolai Andreevich's parents dreamed that their son would be an admiral. But their hopes did not come true. Although after graduating from the corps, Rimsky-Korsakov spent three years at sea and for a long time after that he did not part with the naval service, nevertheless the music prevailed. He became a composer.

Caesar Antonovich Cui was a year older than Balakirev. He was born in 1835 in Vilna to a French and Lithuanian family. In his youth, he took lessons from the famous Polish composer Stanislav Moniuszko, author of the opera "Galka". Arriving in St. Petersburg, Cui graduated from the Military Engineering Academy and taught in the military educational institutions fortification. By the time the Balakirev circle arose, Cui began to try his hand at composition.

The oldest in the circle was Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin. He was born in 1833 in St. Petersburg. Illegitimate son bourgeoisie and aristocrat, he received the surname and patronymic of his father's courtyard man. The boy was raised by his mother. In 1843, shortly before his death, his father made him "free".

After graduating from the Medical-Surgical Academy, Borodin went to Germany, where he intended to improve his knowledge as a chemist. In Heidelberg, he met a Muscovite, a talented pianist Ekaterina Sergeevna Protopopova. The commonality of musical interests - Borodin was fond of music since childhood - brought them closer, and upon returning to St. Petersburg they got married. Borodin received the Department of Chemistry at the Medico-Surgical Academy and an apartment at the laboratory (now Pirogov Embankment, Building 2). Soon he met Balakirev.

If Balakirev was music director mug, then Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov is rightly considered its spiritual leader. He was born in 1824 and was much older than his comrades. A lawyer by education (he graduated from the School of Law), Stasov, who from his youth was fond of literature and art, left law early and became an art critic. He was remarkable for his amazing erudition, outstanding literary abilities and the brilliant gift of a polemist who knew how to enthusiastically and passionately express his convictions. From 1856 until the end of his life, Stasov served in the Public Library, heading its art department.

Work in the library, painstaking study of its richest funds gave Stasov extensive knowledge in the field of literature, history, archeology, and folk art. Possessing a remarkable artistic intuition and understanding what subjects could captivate one or another of his artist and composer friends, Stasov became their first assistant and adviser. He was full of interesting ideas and knew how to indicate in time the topic on which one or another of them should work.

In the ideological formation of V. V. Stasov, the works of revolutionary democrats played an important role. From his youth he was fond of Belinsky, read Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen.

Stasov met Balakirev in 1856. Vladimir Vasilyevich inspired his comrades with boldness and passion for his judgments, and infected them with unbending faith in their vocation. He firmly defended nationality, democracy and the truth of life in art, resolutely fought against routine and conservatism.

Stasov was the first to appreciate the historical significance of the work of the composers of the Balakirev circle for Russian music. It was he who called this commonwealth "The Mighty Handful".

From the late 1850s, Balakirev lived "on the ditch", at the corner of Bolshaya Podyacheskaya, near Kharlamov Bridge, in the house of Kamenetsky (now the Griboyedov Canal, house 116/29). "Ditch" was colloquially called the Catherine Canal. It is curious that Mussorgsky often addressed letters to Balakirev in this way: "The ditch at the Kharlamov Bridge." Balakirev lived there until 1860, and then moved to Ivanov's house on Voznesenskaya Street (now 47 Mayorova Avenue).

During the week he gave lessons, was engaged in composing and preparing for performances, and on Saturdays, friends and like-minded people gathered with him - Mussorgsky, Cui, Stasov, Gussakovsky. The regular visitors were amateur singers - the orientalist A.P. Arsenyev, jokingly nicknamed "Mustafa", and the amateur singer officer V.V. Zakharyin, nicknamed "Vasenka". Zakharyin's wife (Arsenyev's sister) Avdotya Petrovna, an excellent pianist, also took part in these meetings. Sometimes the painter G. G. Myasoedov, who came from Moscow, and also the writer P. D. Boborykin, visited Balakirev. Sometimes there were so many people that one could hardly turn around in the room. But no one paid attention to the tightness. The evenings were interesting and lively. They played works by Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, Beethoven, as well as their own. Each brought to the judgment of his comrades not only completed things, but for the most part fragments.

The performances were discussed in detail. This made it possible for young musicians to learn in practice the laws of composition, the technique of instrumentation, and to study the patterns they aspired to follow. The writings of the members of the circle were also strictly analyzed, and Mily Alekseevich gave instructions and corrected a lot. He instantly caught technical miscalculations, immediately sat down at the piano and showed how, in his opinion, this or that place should be changed. All those present took an ardent part in the discussion of the new work.

Mussorgsky was a particularly prominent figure at Balakirev's evenings. He played with Mily Alekseevich in four hands, accompanied the singers and sang willingly, delighting the listeners with his amazing gift of recitation. In addition to playing music, they read aloud the works of Herzen, Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, the historians Solovyov, Kostomarov and Kavelin; from fiction - Homer, Shakespeare, Gogol. V. V. Stasov had a magnificent gift as a reader. The listeners especially admired his masterful reading of Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" and "Mirgorod".

When Borodin entered the circle, they began to meet at his house. The wife of Alexander Porfiryevich, a well-known pianist, who was interested in the work of young composers, warmly received the whole company.

Cui often held home performances, which were attended by all members of the circle. Posters of such performances have been preserved. In one of them it is said that Mussorgsky played the main role in Viktor Krylov's one-act comedy Directly White. The performance took place at a bachelorette party at the bride's Cuya Malvina Rafailovna Bamberg on the eve of their wedding (Malaya Italianskaya Street - now Zhukovsky Street; the house has not been found).

In another performance - also at the Bambergs - Mussorgsky sang the main role of the Mandarin Kau-Tsing in Cui's comic opera The Son of the Mandarin. Dargomyzhsky was also present at the performance. The listeners admired the inimitable comedy with which Modest Petrovich played the role of the Mandarin, forcing the audience to laugh merrily. On the same evening, Gogol's "Litigation" stage was played, in which Filaret Mussorgsky played the role of Proletaev's official.

Cui, after his marriage, settled on Voskresensky Prospekt (now Chernyshevsky Prospekt).

He had two pianos, so at his evenings they usually performed piano transcriptions of large symphonic works. Friends were especially fond of Balakirev's recently composed music for Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. Mussorgsky made an arrangement of the score of "Lear" for piano four hands, and it was a great joy for him to play "Procession" from this work together with his teacher.

Rapprochement with the Balakirev circle expanded Mussorgsky's circle of acquaintances. Especially great importance for him, she had a friendly relationship with the Stasov family - the brothers and sister of Vladimir Vasilyevich.

With his younger brother, Dmitry Vasilyevich, Modest Petrovich met for the first time at Balakirev in the spring of 1858. Mily Alekseevich was then seriously ill, and Mussorgsky and Dmitry Stasov were on duty at the patient's bedside. Since that time, their rapprochement began.

Dmitry Vasilievich graduated, like his brother, from the School of Law and was versatile and well-educated and widely erudite. An excellent amateur musician, in the past he was one of Glinka's friends. Dmitry Vasilievich later became widely known, acting as a lawyer at the populist trials of the 60s and 70s, for which the tsarist government repeatedly subjected him to repression.

Before his marriage in 1861 to the well-known public figure in the field of women's education, Poliksena Stepanovna Kuznetsova, Dmitry Vasilyevich lived with his brothers and sister. The Stasov brothers - Nikolai, Alexander, Vladimir and Dmitry - and their sister Nadezhda occupied a large apartment on Mokhovaya Street in the Melikhova house (now house 26). A memorial plaque dedicated to V.V. Stasov is now installed on the facade of this house.

Each of the inhabitants of the "Melikhov establishment", as friends jokingly called their apartment, was an interesting, informative person. Modest Petrovich became especially close to the elder sister of the Stasovs, Nadezhda Vasilievna. A man of great intelligence and progressive views, she, like the wife of Dmitry Vasilyevich, was a major figure in the field of women's education.

There was a long tradition in the Stasov family - from the time when their father was alive, famous architect On Sundays, they always gathered relatives and friends. Some came for dinner, others in the evening. The meetings were multilateral. The Stasovs were visited by writers, artists, musicians, scientists - friends of all brothers and sisters. Here one could meet the historian N. I. Kostomarov, the art critic P. V. Pavlov, the engraver N. I. Utkin, the pianist and composer A. G. Rubinshtein. The philologist V. I. Lamansky, the writer D. V. Grigorovich, the architects A. I. Shtakenshneider and V. M. Gornostaev, the violinist Henryk Wienyavsky, the pianist Iosif Gunke, and many others often came by.

There were conversations here on various hot topics- O women's education, about peasant and judicial reform, about economics and politics, new literary works were read and discussed. And music always sounded in the Stasovs' house.

In the "Melikhov institution" Modest Petrovich was a dear and welcome guest. As before, he visited - however, now much less often - and Dargomyzhsky, who lived across the house from the Stasovs.

How many times over the years, after musical evenings at Dargomyzhsky's or Stasov's, Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Mussorgsky and their friends came out in a lively crowd! At the entrance they began to say goodbye in order to disperse in different directions, but it was a pity to interrupt the fascinating conversation, and they, having stamped their feet, began to see each other off. Either they reach the ancient church of Simeon and Anna at the corner of Simeonovskaya Street (now Belinsky), then they turn back, unable to part ... And so often Modest Petrovich, seeing everyone in turn, walked alone through the night Petersburg, admiring the fantastic silhouettes of buildings. Then, recollecting himself, he called out to the night cab and drove home, overwhelmed with the impressions of the past evening.

Friendship with the Stasov family played a big role in intellectual development Mussorgsky. His sharp mind with extraordinary speed perceived life impressions and knowledge, which gave him communication with versatile educated people of the Stasov circle and reading. He read a lot and, as Modest Petrovich himself admitted, necessarily "between the lines", that is, comprehending what he read in all its depth and complexity, drawing conclusions and generalizations that relate not only directly to the subject of reading, but also to others, seemingly distant , themes - first of all to the tasks of art in general and music in particular.

He greatly appreciated and loved a lively exchange of opinions, he always willingly took part; in disputes. It is no coincidence that later he somehow remarked in one of his letters to Stasov: "... if I didn’t push, without asking, into any more or less interesting dispute or a good conversation, I wouldn’t be."

Already at that time, Modest Petrovich began to attract the attention of his friends with his complete independence and independence of judgment. For him, there were no authorities who could force him to renounce his beliefs. His views on the goals and objectives of art, which had developed under the undoubted influence of the ideas of revolutionary democracy, were clearly defined by this time.

A wide circle of acquaintances, meetings with writers, scientists, artists expanded Mussorgsky's horizons. He became interested not only in music, literature, but in fine arts and science. Modest Petrovich studied works on philosophy and natural science. Late big interest evoked from him the teachings of Darwin, which gave a natural-scientific explanation of the origin of man, refuting idealistic ideas. No wonder Mussorgsky wrote to Stasov: "Darwin firmly established me in what was my cherished dream."

The end of the 1850s and the beginning of the 1860s were in the life of Mussorgsky a period of teaching and searching for his own creative way. He was finally convinced that his vocation was music. At the same time, he realized that military service was incompatible with serious studies, with the desire to devote his life to composing. And Modest Petrovich decided to retire.

VV Stasov dissuaded him from this intention. “Could Lermontov remain a hussar officer and be a great poet, regardless of any duty in the regiment and in the guardhouse, regardless of any divorces and parades,” he said to Mussorgsky. But Modest Petrovich firmly answered this: "That was Lermontov, and that was me; he, perhaps, knew how to cope with both, but I didn’t; the service prevents me from doing what I need to do."

And he submitted his resignation. On June 11, 1858, an order was issued for the Preobrazhensky Regiment, which stated that "ensign Mussorgsky II, due to domestic circumstances, is resigning from service as a second lieutenant."

While financial situation The family was far from brilliant, but still Modest Petrovich could exist independently on a modest income from the estate. He still lived with his mother and brother, still worked diligently with Balakirev, studying the laws of composition, visited acquaintances, with whom he willingly sang and played one or four hands and, of course, composed.

These were mainly educational works: parts of sonatas - for mastering the sonata form, transpositions of orchestral pieces by other composers. But along with this, the young composer, regardless of Balakirev's instructions, also wrote independent works. Among them are several romances. Then he also conceived the first major work - music for Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus in Athens". Mussorgsky was carried away by the collisions of this work - a violent clash of passions, historical turns in the fate of the people. The people at the time of the disasters that befell him is an image that attracted Mussorgsky from an early age and later became central in his work. Of the numerous sketches of music for Oedipus, only the scene in the temple has survived: the people pray to the gods to ward off impending disasters from them. In the music of the choir, the Russian melody is clearly visible.

After retiring, Mussorgsky changed a lot both internally and externally. When, at the end of 1859, his second meeting with Borodin took place at the adjunct professor of the Medico-Surgical Academy and the doctor of the artillery school Ivanovsky, Borodin could not help but note that there was not a trace left of the former foppishness in Mussorgsky's appearance. Modest Petrovich told Borodin that he had retired to study music specifically and played his Scherzo for him. B major.

“I confess,” Borodin recalled, “his statement that he wanted to devote himself seriously to music was at first met with distrust by me and seemed like a little boasting; inwardly I laughed a little at this, but, having got acquainted with his Scherzo, I thought: to believe or do not believe?"

And when they met at Balakirev's in 1862, Borodin was amazed at what a change had taken place in his old acquaintance, how interesting his judgments about life and music became, with what brilliance and at the same time depth of comprehension of the idea he performed the works of different composers. A new, very interesting, spiritually grown man appeared before Borodin.

And this is no coincidence. After retiring, Modest Petrovich worked hard on himself, "put his brain in order," as he later remarked jokingly.

In the summer of 1862, Mussorgsky's mother moved to her Pskov village. Filaret Petrovich retired, got married and moved to Znamenskaya Street (the house number has not been established, it is only known that the apartment was on the first floor). And Modest Petrovich left for a while in the Pskov province, to relatives. Returning to St. Petersburg in the fall, he settled with his brother "in the Znamensky countries," as he jokingly wrote to Balakirev, inviting him to visit.

Balakirev also moved in the summer of 1862 - to Khilkevich's house on the corner of Officerskaya Street and Prachechny Lane (now Dekabristov Street, house 17/9). As before, musician friends gathered at his house - now on Wednesdays. In addition to them, many writers and music lovers became visitors to Balakirev's environments.

The well-known choral conductor Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin. Both at this time were carried away by the idea of ​​​​creating a Free Music School. According to their plan, such a school was supposed to contribute to the democratization of music education in Russia and to resist the Conservatory, which seemed to them the embodiment of bureaucracy and routine, a hotbed of propaganda for German music to the detriment of the development of the national one.

The conservatory was the brainchild of the Russian Musical Society, founded in 1859 on the initiative of A. G. Rubinshtein. It set as its goal "the development of musical education and taste for music in Russia and the encouragement of domestic talents." The committee of directors, which was at the head of the RMS, included progressive public figures and prominent musicians Matvei Yuryevich Vielgorsky, V. A. Kologrivov, A. G. Rubinshtein, D. V. Stasov and others. The activities of the RMO gradually expanded. Branches were opened in other cities.

In addition to arranging symphony and chamber concerts, the RMS opened, first in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow, Music Classes. Based Music classes Petersburg, and later the Moscow Conservatory arose.

Unfortunately, the dependence of the directorate of the RMS on high-ranking patrons, their conservatism and reactionary character hindered the work of the Society in many respects. However, despite this, the activity of the Society itself and the conservatories it created was of great progressive importance. The emergence of the St. Petersburg Conservatory marked the beginning of a professional music education in Russia. The founder and leader of the first Russian conservatory, A. G. Rubinshtein, was an ardent admirer of the work of M. I. Glinka.

Objectively-historically, both the Conservatory and the Free Music School, which opened almost simultaneously - in 1862, served common purpose- to bring musical culture to the broad masses of the population. However, during the creation of the Conservatory, some particular shortcomings in its activities prevented the members of the Balakirev circle from understanding this. Particulars were perceived as fundamental vices, and the Balakirevites denounced the conservative teachers with militant fervor. Time has shown how erroneous and subjective their opinion about the Conservatory was.

Meanwhile, sharp contradictions gradually began to appear in the circle itself. Young composers from timid, insecure students who unquestioningly followed Balakirev's instructions grew up and acquired independence. Over time, more and more clearly manifested in each of them creative individuality. Remaining like-minded in the main thing - in understanding the goals and objectives of music, in their work they became more and more unlike one another, acquired an independent manner, developed their own style. But Balakirev could not understand this.

Being an excellent teacher, he possessed one character trait, which intensified over time and subsequently - in the 1870s - caused the alienation of many people close to him from him: he was very domineering and did not tolerate any contradiction to himself. The members of the circle at first humbly endured this, but over time, when they began to acquire creative independence, Balakirev's authority, which reached despotism, began to provoke their protest. Before all, Mussorgsky began to free himself from the control of the teacher.

The first clash between him and Balakirev took place in the winter of 1861. Mussorgsky was then in Moscow. There Modest Petrovich met young people whom he called "former students" in a letter to Balakirev. It must be assumed that they were expelled from the university for freethinking. In a letter to Balakirev, he defined the content of his conversations with them as follows: "...we put everything on its feet - history, administration, chemistry, and the arts." In a veiled manner - the letters were being read at that time - he reported that in this circle there were disputes about politics, and urgent issues of public life were discussed. If we recall that this happened on the eve of the appearance of the manifesto on the "liberation" of the peasants, then the content and political coloring of the conversations do not raise any doubts.

Mussorgsky's enthusiastic story about meetings with interesting people Balakirev unexpectedly took with hostility. Mily Alekseevich in a reply letter reproached him with an empty pastime. Balakirev's letter has not been preserved, but its content is not difficult to guess from Mussorgsky's reply.

The previously submissive student suddenly rebelled against the teacher and reprimanded him himself. Modest Petrovich ended his answer with the following, very significant words: "... your letter is an incitement of erroneous annoyance, because it is time to stop seeing in me a child who needs to be led so that he does not fall."

Yes, Mussorgsky was already firmly on his feet. Two years after his retirement were not in vain. Stubborn, purposeful and systematic work on oneself had an effect. A bright, original artist grew up from an amateur musician.

Striking was his talent to quickly grasp and comprehend the impressions that life gave him. It was impossible to keep up with him not only to his peers, but also to older comrades. Mussorgsky was always aware of all significant events in the artistic and cultural life of the capital. At that time, life in St. Petersburg was unusually lively. Various societies and committees were created, public lectures were held, open literary readings.

Mussorgsky attended public lectures on music by the famous music critic and composer A. N. Serov, and did not miss interesting concerts. It must be assumed that Modest Petrovich was present on January 10 -1860 in the Passage hall (on Nevsky) at the public Literary reading of I. S. Turgenev, when the writer spoke with his article "Hamlet and Don Quixote" in favor of the newly organized Literary fund.

The Passage building, which housed shops, exhibitions, concert and theater halls, became a place of meetings, lectures, and debates from the second half of the 1850s. In the Passage hall, the first literary readings were also held, at which Dostoevsky, Pisemsky, Apukhtin, Maikov spoke.

It is possible that Mussorgsky was also present at the performance of Gogol's comedy The Inspector General, performed by writers. This evening took place on April 14 of the same year in the Ruadze Hall (later - the Kononov Hall at 61 on the Moika Embankment, where the M.A. Bonch-Bruevich Electrotechnical Institute of Communications is now located). In this performance, Pisemsky played the mayor, Veinberg - Khlestakov, Dostoevsky - the postmaster, and Turgenev, Maikov, Druzhinin, Grigorovich, Kurochkin and Ostrovsky - merchants.

Mussorgsky's presence at this performance is all the more likely because he was personally acquainted with most of the participants. The composer himself reported this in his "Autobiography", written in 1880: "Rapprochement ... with a talented circle of musicians, constant conversations and strong ties with a wide circle of Russian scientists and writers, such as Vladimir Lamansky, Turgenev, Kostomarov, Grigorovich, Kavelin , Pisemsky, Shevchenko and others, especially excited the brain activity of the young composer and gave it a serious, strictly scientific direction" ( "Autobiography" was written in the third person for a German musical dictionary.).

The names of the writers Turgenev, Grigorovich, Pisemsky and Shevchenko need no explanation. As for V. I. Lamansky, he is a prominent Slavic philologist, later an academician; N. I. Kostomarov is a famous historian, and K. D. Kavelin is a lawyer, historian, publicist and psychologist who took part in the development of the project for the liberation of the peasants, who later, among other advanced professors, defiantly left the department at St. Petersburg University in protest against the persecution of students . Where exactly Modest Petrovich met with them is not established. It is possible that V.V. Stasov.

With V. I. Lamansky and his brothers - great music lovers - Mussorgsky constantly saw each other in their apartment on Gorokhovaya Street (now Dzerzhinsky Street, house 40). Apparently, Modest Petrovich was introduced to them by Balakirev. Together with Mily Alekseevich, Mussorgsky often visited them and performed with him the works of his comrades, as well as Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt.

Undoubtedly, Mussorgsky's attention was also attracted by the first public lectures of professors of St. Petersburg University Kavelin, Kostomarov, Stasyulevich. True, these lectures, which were held in the hall of the City Duma (now Nevsky Prospekt, building 33), were terminated after two and a half months at the behest of the "bosses", but they, of course, gave a lot to the young composer.

In the 1860s, Mussorgsky became an indispensable participant in musical evenings with his comrades and numerous acquaintances. How indispensable his presence was is confirmed by Balakirev's letter to a common friend with Mussorgsky, written when Modest Petrovich was leaving for the village: "Thursdays at Cui were completely upset, there was no one to play."

Mussorgsky was at the center of all events in the life of St. Petersburg related to music. He often visited the Mariinsky Theatre, listening to the same operas many times, attended the concerts of the Russian Musical Society and, of course, at all concerts, and, if possible, rehearsals of the Free Music School. These concerts, which were very popular, attracted mainly student youth, female students, petty officials, and teachers.

They were arranged in the Great Hall of the Nobility Assembly, in the Kononov Hall on the Moika or in the City Duma Hall on Nevsky Prospekt. This hall had good acoustics and was one of the best concert halls in St. Petersburg. Along with world masterpieces of classical music, works by contemporary Western European composers and new Russian compositions were performed there.

The concerts of the Russian Musical Society were also very famous in St. Petersburg. When Balakirev led these concerts, Mussorgsky, who had previously been reluctant to attend symphony evenings where contemporary music was rarely performed, became a regular. They invariably took place in the hall of the Noble Assembly.

The composition of the audience at the concerts was different. Along with the democratic public, there were many titled persons - major officials, secular music lovers.

Having headed the management of the RMS concerts, Balakirev resolutely restructured their programs. He began to widely include works by Russian composers in them. This caused dissatisfaction among reactionary circles, and after several brilliant seasons, Balakirev was removed from managing the concerts of the Russian Musical Society.

The great triumph of the Balakirev circle was the success of Mily Alekseevich as a composer and conductor on April 23, 1864. A concert organized by the Literary Fund in honor of the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth was held in the hall of the Russian Credit Society (modern address: Ostrovsky Square, 7). Turgenev and Maikov performed at the concert. Turgenev read "Speech on the anniversary of Shakespeare", and Maikov read the poem "Shakespeare", specially written for the anniversary. The program of the evening also included musical works on the plots of the great playwright. Conducted by Balakirev. Along with the music of Berlioz, Schumann and Mendelssohn, Balakirev's overture and intermissions to the tragedy "King Lear" were performed. The success was enormous. Friends were overjoyed. Mussorgsky was so excited that shortly after the concert he wrote to Balakirev: "I have not endured such a complete, lively impression (until then) from a single evening. Thank you very much for that."

The first public performance of Mussorgsky's work is connected with the Russian Musical Society. In a concert conducted by A. G. Rubinstein, his orchestral Scherzo sounded B major. It was January 11, 1860. The debut went well.

In a review of the concert, A. N. Serov, who had an unfriendly attitude towards the work of members of the Balakirev Circle, wrote: "... it was even more pleasant to meet the public's ardent sympathy for the Russian composer M. P. Mussorgsky, who made his debut very good, unfortunately, only too short orchestral piece. This scherzo ... reveals ... a decisive talent in young musician... It is remarkable that the symphonic excerpt of a composer still unknown next to the music of the "famous" maestro (the play of the famous composer D. Meyerbeer was performed. - A. O.) not only did not lose anything, but gained a lot.

A year later, on April 6, 1861, at the Mariinsky Theater in a concert of Russian opera conducted by K. N. Lyadov, the people's choir from Oedipus was successfully performed. But still, in those years, Mussorgsky was better known in musical circles than in the general public. The recognition of the composer came late.