Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. Brief biography of Glinka the most important thing for children

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857).
The founder of Russian classics, the first composer in the history of the country, with extraordinary breadth and power, revealed the national character in his music. Mikhail Glinka raised the music of the Russian people to the highest heights of world art. It is no coincidence that Glinka is compared with the progenitor of new Russian literature, the poet A.S. Pushkin.

In his native village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, from childhood, the future composer absorbed the bright intonations and spiritual breadth of folk peasant songs. By the age of ten, with his uncle's orchestra, where he mastered playing various instruments, classical music also entered his life.

Glinka began to receive musical education at the age of fourteen at the St. Petersburg Noble Boarding School, where he first turned to writing. Here he met the future Decembrists (one of Glinka's teachers was V.K. Kuchelbecker) and communication with them had a great influence on the formation of the personality of the young musician.

Gradually, music becomes a matter of his whole life. However, at that time in Russia there was still no systematic composing education, and in order to improve his skills, the composer goes for new impressions to Germany, Austria and Italy, which especially attracts the musician with its nature, historical monuments and the perfection of melodies. The well-known overtures "Jota of Aragon" and "Night in Madrid", written later in the period 1845-1851, became the embodiment of the romantic images of this country.

Returning from a trip, under the influence of the poet V.A. Zhukovsky, Glinka began composing an opera that became a breakthrough in the history of Russian art and marked the beginning of a new period in the development of Russian music. In 1936, the patriotic opera Ivan Susanin, originally called A Life for the Tsar, was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg. For the first time the folk melody sounded in the "serious" operatic genre.

Continuing the Russian theme in his work, Glinka turns to the plot of the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Ruslan and Lyudmila", on which he has been working for six years. In 1842, the premiere of a new opera was held with unfailing success. Like the poet himself, the composer managed to penetrate into the character and musical intonations of other nations in it.
In 1856, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka again visits Berlin, intending to study the European school of polyphonic mastery in depth. In his plans - to resurrect the old Russian church tunes. However, these plans were not destined to come true. In February 1857, the composer died, leaving behind a huge legacy of the Russian symphony school.

The founder of Russian classical music, Russian bel canto. M.I. Glinka was born on June 1, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, on the estate of his parents, which belonged to his father, retired captain Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka, located a hundred miles * from Smolensk and twenty miles * from the small town of Yelnya. From 1817 Glinka lived in St. Petersburg. He studied at the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical School (his tutor was the poet, Decembrist V. K. Küchelbecker). He took piano lessons from J. Field and S. Mayer, violin lessons from F. Bem; later he studied singing with Belloli, the theory of composition - with Z. Den. In the 20s. In the 19th century, he was famous among St. Petersburg music lovers as a singer and pianist. In 1830-33. Glinka made a trip to Italy and Germany, where he met with outstanding composers: G. Berlioz, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti. In 1836 Glinka was bandmaster of the Court Singing Chapel (retired from 1839).
Mastering the experience of domestic and world musical culture, the impact of progressive ideas that spread during the Patriotic War of 1812 and the preparation of the Decembrist uprising, communication with prominent representatives of literature (A. S. Pushkin, A. S. Griboyedov, etc.), art, art criticism contributed expanding the horizons of the composer and developing innovative aesthetic foundations for his work. Folk-realistic in its aspirations, Glinka's work influenced the further development of Russian music.
In 1836 Glinka's heroic-patriotic historical opera Ivan Susanin was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg. Contrary to the concept imposed on the composer (the libretto was compiled by Baron G. F. Rosen in the spirit of monarchical officialdom, at the insistence of the court the opera was called “Life for the Tsar”), Glinka emphasized the folk beginning of the opera, glorified the patriotic peasant, greatness of character, courage and unbending stamina of the people . In 1842, the premiere of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila took place in the same theater. In this work, colorful pictures of Slavic life are intertwined with fairy-tale fantasy, pronounced Russian national features with oriental motifs (hence the origin of orientalism in Russian classical opera). Rethinking the content of Pushkin's playful, ironic youthful poem, taken as the basis of the libretto, Glinka brought to the fore the majestic images of Ancient Rus', the heroic spirit and the multifaceted emotionally rich lyrics. Glinka's operas laid the foundation and outlined the paths for the development of Russian opera classics. "Ivan Susanin" is a folk musical tragedy based on a historical plot, with a tense, effective musical and dramatic development, "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is a magical opera-oratorio with a measured alternation of wide, closed vocal-symphonic scenes, with a predominance of epic, narrative elements. Glinka's operas confirmed the world significance of Russian music. In the field of theatrical music, Glinka's music for N. V. Kukolnik's tragedy "Prince Kholmsky" (posted in 1841, Alexandrinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg) is of great artistic value. In 1844-1848. the composer spends in France and Spain. This trip confirmed the European popularity of the Russian genius. Berlioz, who performed Glinka's works in the spring of 1845 at his concert, became a great admirer of his talent. The author's concert of Glinka in Paris was a success. In the same place, in 1848, he wrote a symphonic fantasy "Kamarinskaya" with Russian folk themes. This is an unusually cheerful fantasy full of humor, enjoying which brings up associations with Russian folk holidays, folk instruments and folk choral singing. "Kamarinskaya" is also a brilliant masterful orchestration. In Spain, Mikhail Ivanovich studied the culture, customs, language of the Spanish people, recorded Spanish folklore melodies, observed folk festivals and traditions. The result of these impressions were 2 symphonic overtures: "Jota of Aragon" (1845) and "Memories of Castile" (1848, 2nd edition - "Memories of a summer night in Madrid", 1851 ).
Glinka's musical art is characterized by the completeness and versatility of the coverage of life phenomena, the generalization and convexity of artistic images, the perfection of architectonics and the general light, life-affirming tone. His orchestral writing, combining transparency and impressiveness of sound, has a vivid imagery, brilliance and richness of colors. Mastery of the orchestra was revealed in many ways in stage music (overture "Ruslan and Lyudmila") and in symphonic pieces. "Waltz-Fantasy" for orchestra (originally for piano, 1839; orchestral editions 1845, 1856) is the first classical example of the Russian symphonic waltz. "Spanish overtures" - "Jota of Aragon" (1845) and "Night in Madrid" (1848, 2nd edition 1851) - laid the foundation for the development of Spanish musical folklore in world symphonic music. The scherzo for orchestra "Kamarinskaya" (1848) synthesized the wealth of Russian folk music and the highest achievements of professional skill.

Glinka's vocal lyrics are marked by the harmony of the worldview. Diverse in themes and forms, it included, in addition to Russian songwriting - the foundation of Glinka's melody - also Ukrainian, Polish, Finnish, Georgian, Spanish, Italian motifs, intonations, genres. His romances to the words of Pushkin stand out (including “Don’t sing, beauty, with me”, “I remember a wonderful moment”, “The fire of desire burns in the blood”, “Night marshmallow”), Zhukovsky (ballad “Night review” ), Baratynsky (“Do not tempt me unnecessarily”), Puppeteer (“Doubt” and a cycle of 12 romances “Farewell to St. Petersburg”). Glinka created about 80 works for voice and piano (romances, songs, arias, canzonettes), vocal ensembles, vocal etudes and exercises, choruses. He owns chamber instrumental ensembles, including 2 string quartets, the Pathétique Trio (for piano, clarinet and bassoon, 1832).

The following generations of Russian composers remained faithful to the basic creative principles of Glinka, enriching the national musical style with new content and new means of expression. Under the direct influence of Glinka, a composer and vocal teacher, the Russian vocal school was formed. Singing lessons were taken from Glinka and singers N. K. Ivanov, O. A. Petrov, A. Ya. M. Leonova and others A. N. Serov wrote down his Notes on Instrumentation (1852, published 1856). Glinka left memoirs ("Notes", 1854-55, published 1870).

GLINKA Mikhail Ivanovich, Russian composer, founder of Russian classical music. He was the author of the operas A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin, 1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842), which laid the foundation for two directions of Russian opera - folk musical drama and opera-fairy tale, opera-epic. Symphonic compositions: "Kamarinskaya" (1848), "Spanish Overtures" ("Jota of Aragon", 1845, and "Night in Madrid", 1851), laid the foundations of Russian symphony. Classic of Russian romance. Glinka's "Patriotic Song" became the musical basis of the national anthem of the Russian Federation. The Glinka Prizes were established (by M. P. Belyaev; 1884-1917), the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (in 1965-90); the Glinka Vocal Competition has been held (since 1960).

Childhood. Studying at the Noble Boarding School (1818-1822)

Glinka was born into a family of Smolensk landowners I. N. and E. A. Glinka (former second cousins). He received his primary education at home. Listening to the singing of serfs and the ringing of the bells of the local church, he showed an early passion for music. He was fond of playing the orchestra of serf musicians on the estate of his uncle, Afanasy Andreevich Glinka. Musical lessons - playing the violin and piano - began rather late (1815-1816) and were of an amateur nature. However, music had such a strong influence on him that once he remarked to a remark about absent-mindedness: "What should I do? ... Music is my soul!"

In 1818, Glinka entered the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg (in 1819 it was renamed the Noble Boarding School at St. boarding house to his brother. Glinka's tutor was V. Kuchelbecker, who taught Russian literature at the boarding school. In parallel with his studies, Glinka took piano lessons (first from the English composer John Field, and after his departure to Moscow - from his students Oman, Zeiner and Sh. Mayr - a fairly well-known musician). He graduated from the boarding school in 1822 as the second student. On graduation day, Hummel's Piano Concerto was played in public with great success.

The beginning of an independent life

After graduating from the boarding school, Glinka did not immediately enter the service. In 1823, he went to be treated at the Caucasian Mineral Waters, then went to Novospasskoye, where he sometimes "directed his uncle's orchestra, playing the violin," then he began to compose orchestral music. In 1824 he was hired as assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways (he resigned in June 1828). The main place in his work was occupied by romances. Among the works of that time are "The Poor Singer" to the verses of V. A. Zhukovsky (1826), "Do not sing, beauty, with me" to the verses of A. S. Pushkin (1828). One of the best romances of the early period is an elegy on poems by E. A. Baratynsky "Do not tempt me without need" (1825). In 1829, Glinka and N. Pavlishchev published the Lyric Album, which included Glinka's plays among the works of various authors.

First overseas trip (1830-1834)

In the spring of 1830, Glinka went on a long trip abroad, the purpose of which was both treatment (on the waters of Germany and in the warm climate of Italy) and acquaintance with Western European art. After spending several months in Aachen and Frankfurt, he arrived in Milan, where he studied composition and vocals, visited theaters, and traveled to other Italian cities. In Italy, the composer met V. Bellini, F. Mendelssohn and G. Berlioz. Among the composer's experiments of those years (chamber-instrumental compositions, romances), the romance "Venetian Night" to the verses of I. Kozlov stands out. Glinka spent the winter and spring of 1834 in Berlin, devoting himself to serious studies in music theory and composition under the guidance of the famous scholar Siegfried Dehn. At the same time, he had the idea of ​​creating a national Russian opera.

Mikhail Glinka's father was a retired captain - Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka. Their family descended from the gentry. The composer's mother is Evgenia Andreevna. Immediately after the birth of the boy, the grandmother, Fyokla Alexandrovna, took him. She was so diligent in raising the boy that already in childhood he became painfully touchy. By the age of six, Misha was completely removed from society, even from his own parents. In 1810, the grandmother dies, and the boy is returned to be raised in the family. Education Mikhail Glinka, whose brief biography is incredibly interesting, was convinced from an early age that he would devote his life to music. The fate of the musician has been known since childhood. While still a small child, he learned to play the violin and piano. The boy was taught all this by the governess Varvara Klammer from St. Petersburg.

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  • The birthplace of the great Russian composer is the small village of Novospasskoye in the Smolensk province. The large Glinka family lived there from the very time that their great-grandfather, a Polish nobleman, took the oath of allegiance to the Russian Tsar and continued to serve in the Russian army.
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Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on May 20, 1804. They say that at the birth of Mikhail, nightingales sang all morning near his house. Among his ancestors there were no outstanding creative personalities, perhaps that is why no one, at first, betrayed this sign of particular importance.

Attention

His father is a retired captain of the Russian army, Ivan Nikolaevich. The first years of the boy's life, his upbringing was done by his paternal grandmother, who did not let his mother near him.

Already at an early age, little Misha was sensitive to folk fun and songs. Folklore made a great impression on the boy, which he tremblingly kept all his life.

These impressions and experiences will later be reflected in the work of the great Russian composer.

Biography of Mikhail Glinka

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But the training had to be interrupted (due to the death of his father) and return home. After returning to Russia, all the composer's thoughts are occupied with music. He lives in St. Petersburg, attends poetry evenings with V.

Zhukovsky and dreams of composing his first opera. This idea haunted him even in his youth. This is how the opera Ivan Susanin was born, the successful premiere of which took place at the Bolshoi Theater in 1836.

This date can be safely called the birthday of the Russian patriotic opera. And already in 1842. the composer finished work on the second opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila".

Important

But this essay was less successful and was criticized. The not very successful premiere of the opera and the crisis in his personal life spurred the composer on a new trip abroad. In 1845.

Brief biography of Glinka

His dissatisfaction with the style required improvement, which the composer worked on scrupulously. The 30s brought a move to Italy and a trip to the cities of Germany. Living on Italian soil, Glinka, whose brief biography reveals to us the essence of how the composer tries to create Italian operas, and he succeeds.

In 1833 he moved to Berlin, where he got a job. And with the receipt of a letter about the death of his father, he leaves for his homeland. Being in his native country, Mikhail Ivanovich had the idea to create a Russian opera. As evidenced by his painstaking work on the tradition, which he chose to embody the idea.
The choice of the hero in the legend fell on the well-known among the people, Ivan Susanin. In the same year, Mikhail got married and moved to Novospasskoye, where he continued his work.
The result is an opera, A Life for the Tsar, which appeared in 1836.

Brief biography of Mikhail Glinka

After Glinka graduated from the boarding school, he began to devote all his free time to music. It was during this time period that his first works were written. It is also a well-known fact that the composer himself did not really like his early works. He constantly improved them to make them better. The heyday of the work of this great man falls on the period from 1822 to 1823.

It was in this time period that such compositions as “Do not tempt me unnecessarily” and “Do not sing, beauty, with me” were written. After that, the composer sets off on his journey through Europe, which gives a new round to his work. Upon returning to Russia, the composer still writes not a single great work.

Mikhail Glinka short biography

Mikhail Glinka short biography Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857) is a great Russian composer. Born May 20, 1804 in Novospasskoye, Smolensk province.

Mikhail began to play the piano at the age of ten. Since 1817, he began to study at the Noble Boarding School at the Pedagogical Institute of St. Petersburg. After graduating from the boarding school, he devoted all his time to music and created his first compositions. As a real creator, Glinka does not fully like his works, he seeks to expand the everyday genre of music. In 1822-1823, Glinka wrote well-known romances and songs: “Do not tempt me needlessly” to the words of E. A. Baratynsky, “Do not sing, beauty, with me” to the words of A. S. Pushkin and others. In the same years, he met the famous Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Griboyedov and others. After traveling to the Caucasus, he goes to Italy, Germany.

M. i. clay. short biography of the composer

In 1833 Glinka went to Berlin. On the way, he stopped briefly in Vienna. In Berlin, the composer intended to put his theoretical knowledge of music in order. He studied under the guidance of Z. Den. M. I. Glinka. Short biography: homecoming Glinka was forced to interrupt his studies in Berlin by the news of his father's death. When Mikhail Ivanovich arrived in St. Petersburg, he often visited Zhukovsky. Writers and musicians gathered at the poet's every week. At one of the meetings, Glinka shared with Zhukovsky his desire to write a Russian opera for the first time. He approved the composer's intention and offered to take the plot of Ivan Susanin. In 1835, Glinka married MP Ivanova. Happiness not only did not become an obstacle to creativity, but, on the contrary, spurred the composer's activity. He wrote the opera "Ivan Susanin" ("Life for the Tsar") rather quickly. In the autumn of 1836, its premiere had already taken place.

Brief biography of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

In particular, Dargomyzhsky and Tchaikovsky developed his original ideas in their musical compositions.

• Glinka created the first Russian national opera called A Life for the Tsar, based on a historical plot.
• Thanks to the influence of the composer, a Russian vocal school was formed in St. Petersburg.

Interesting facts Glinka's biography is of interest to adults and children.

• Not many people know that Fyokla Alexandrovna, the grandmother of Mikhail Glinka, the mother of his father, took the boy to be brought up for a reason. A year before the birth of Misha, a son was born in the family, who died in infancy.

  The grandmother blamed the mother for this, and therefore, with the advent of Misha, she took the child to her. She possessed unbridled autocracy, and therefore no one dared to object to her - neither her daughter-in-law, nor even her own son.

• The first wife of Mikhail Ivanovich, Maria Petrovna, was uneducated.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

She was a huge success with the public and even with the emperor. M. I. Glinka. Brief biography: new works Even during Pushkin's lifetime, the composer had the idea to write an opera based on the plot of his poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila".

She was ready in 1842. Soon the production took place, but the opera was less successful than A Life for the Tsar. It was not easy for the composer to survive the criticism. Two years later he went on a trip to France and Spain.

New impressions returned creative inspiration to the composer. In 1845, he created the overture "Jota of Aragon", which was a great success.

Three years later, Night in Madrid appeared. In a foreign land, the composer increasingly turned to Russian songs. Based on them, he wrote "Kamarinskaya", which laid the foundation for the development of a new type of symphonic music. Mikhail Glinka.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka short biography about the most important

After Mikhail has mastered the first basics in art, he is sent for education to the St. Petersburg boarding school, which is located at the Pedagogical Institute. Wilhelm Küchelbecker becomes his first tutor.

Glinka takes lessons from great music teachers, including John Field and Karl Zeiner. It is here that the future composer meets Alexander Pushkin.

Strong friendships are established between them, which last until the death of the great poet. The heyday of Glinka, whose biography is full of many events, was passionate about music from an early age, by the age of ten he was already skillfully handling the piano and violin.

Music for Mikhail Glinka is a vocation from an early age. Already at the end of the Noble Boarding School, he gives performances in salons, is actively engaged in self-education, studying the history and characteristics of Western European music.

Private bussiness

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857) Born in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, located twenty miles from the city of Yelnya. His father was a landowner. From the age of ten, the boy began to learn to play the piano and violin. In 1817 he was sent to the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg. Mikhail studied well, achieved special success in drawing and foreign languages. At the same time, he seriously studied music with the Irish pianist and composer John Field, who lived in Russia since 1802, as well as with other teachers. During the summer holidays in the estate of his parents, Glinka performed with serf musicians the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and other authors. In 1822 he graduated from the boarding school. In the summer of 1823 Glinka traveled to the Caucasus. From 1824 to 1828 he was assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways.

Mikhail Glinka created the first pieces of music in the 1820s. Already in 1825 he wrote the famous romance "Do not tempt" to the verses of Baratynsky. At the end of April 1830, Glinka went abroad. He visited Naples, Milan, Venice, Rome, Vienna, Dresden. Having settled in Milan, he listened to Italian operas a lot. “After each opera,” he recalled, “on returning home, we picked up sounds to remember the favorite places we heard.” He continued to work on his own compositions. Among the works created by him during these years, the Sextet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, Cello and Double Bass and the Pathetic Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Bassoon stand out. Glinka meets the greatest composers of that time: Donizetti, Bellini, Mendelssohn, Berlioz. In Berlin, he studies music theory under the guidance of the famous teacher Sigmund Wilhelm Dehn.

Glinka's studies abroad were interrupted by the news of his father's death. Returning to Russia, he began to implement the plan that had arisen in Italy - to create a Russian national opera. On the advice of Vyazemsky, Glinka chose a story about the exploits of Ivan Susanin. At the end of April 1835, Glinka married Maria Ivanova. (“In addition to a kind and pure heart,” he wrote to his mother about his chosen one, “I managed to notice in her the properties that I always wanted to find in my wife: order and frugality ... despite her youth and liveliness of character, she is very reasonable and extremely moderate in desires). The composer settled in the family estate, devoting almost all his time to work on the opera.

The premiere of the opera A Life for the Tsar took place on November 27 (December 9), 1836. The years after the production of the first opera became the time of Glinka's recognition in Russia and abroad. During this time he wrote many wonderful works. On the verses of Nestor Kukolnik, Glinka created a cycle of twelve romances "Farewell to Petersburg" and the romance "Doubt". At the same time, the best romances based on Pushkin's poems were composed - “I am here, Inezilla”, “Night marshmallow”, “The fire of desire burns in the blood”, “I remember a wonderful moment”. There were also romances based on the verses of Zhukovsky and Delvig. As the head of the court chapel, Glinka traveled around the country in search of good voices (he held this position until 1839).

In 1837 Glinka began work on the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. Due to the death of Pushkin, he was forced to turn to other poets with a request to compose a libretto. Among them were Nestor Kukolnik, Valerian Shirkov, Nikolai Markevich and others. The final text belongs to Shirkov and Konstantin Bakhturin. Some fragments of the poem were included there, but on the whole it was written anew. Glinka and his librettists made a number of changes to the composition of the characters. Some characters disappeared (Rogdai), others appeared (Gorislava), and the storylines of the poem underwent some alteration. The opera was written by Glinka for five years with long breaks: it was completed in 1842. The premiere took place on November 27 (December 9) of the same year at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg exactly six years after the premiere of the first opera. If Glinka designated the genre of A Life for the Tsar as a “domestic heroic-tragic opera”, then he called his second opera “a great magic opera”. According to Glinka, the audience received the opera "very unfriendly", the emperor and his court defiantly left the hall before the end of the performance. Fadey Bulgarin sharply criticized the opera in print. Odoevsky spoke out in support of Glinka. He wrote: “... a luxurious flower has grown on Russian musical soil - it is your joy, your glory. Let the worms try to crawl up onto its stem and stain it - the worms will fall to the ground, but the flower will remain. Take care of him: he is a delicate flower and blooms only once in a century.

In 1844 Glinka went to Paris, then from 1845 to 1848 he lived in Spain, studied folk songs and dances. The results of this were the overtures on the folk themes "Jota of Aragon" (1845) and "Night in Madrid" (1848). In subsequent years, he lives in different cities: St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Paris, Berlin. He writes orchestral variations of "Waltz Fantasy", the influence of which is felt in the symphonic waltzes of P. I. Tchaikovsky. Arriving in Berlin, Glinka meets again with her music theory teacher Den. He studies Bach's polyphonic works, dreaming of creating Russian polyphony. However, he did not have time to do this. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka died in Berlin in February 1857.

What is famous

Mikhail Glinka

The traditions laid down by Glinka's two operas have developed in Russian music into the genres of heroic-epic and fairy-tale opera. Dargomyzhsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky became the heirs of these traditions. A Life for the Tsar made such an impression on contemporaries and descendants that, despite the fact that Russian composers had created operas before it, the history of Russian opera music is often counted from its premiere. More scrupulous historians still recognize its significance, referring all previous Russian operas to the “pre-Glinka era”.

Initially, Glinka doubted whether he should take on an opera about Susanin, since there was already an opera by Katerino Cavos "Ivan Susanin", first staged in 1815. However, Zhukovsky convinced the composer, saying that many works were created on the same plots, and this does not prevent them from coexisting. At the suggestion of Zhukovsky, Baron Yegor Rozen was invited to write the libretto. In the Soviet period, biographers characterized him as imposed on Glinka by "a very mediocre poet, who also had a poor command of Russian." But it must be admitted that Rosen managed to cope with a very difficult task, since the opera was created in an unusual way: first Glinka wrote music, and only then Rosen composed poetry. Rosen was also characterized by extreme perseverance. If the composer did not like any verse, Rosen stubbornly argued with him to the last, defending his version.

The opera was completed in October 1836. The director of the imperial theaters, A. Gedeonov, gave it to Cavos, the author of the 1815 opera Ivan Susanin, for review. Kavos wrote a brilliant review and put in a lot of effort in helping the production, and on the day of the premiere, he conducted the orchestra himself. There is a legend that Nicholas I changed the title of the opera Ivan Susanin to A Life for the Tsar. In fact, Glinka himself changed the title on the advice of Zhukovsky - they considered it wrong to use the name of Cavos' opera, which was still running in theaters at that time. Chose a new option "Death for the king." Nicholas I, having said: “He who gave his life for the tsar does not die”, corrected the word “death” to “life”.

The premiere was scheduled for November 27 (December 9), 1836. Mikhail Ivanovich refused the fee due to him, saying: "I do not sell my inspiration!". The audience of the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg enthusiastically accepted the opera, the emperor wept during the performance.

What you need to know

After the February Revolution, A. Gorodtsov suggested replacing the final hymn in the libretto of the opera A Life for the Tsar with a new version with the words: "Glory to freedom and honest labor." After October 1917, the opera A Life for the Tsar was not staged until 1939, when, under the direction of conductor S. A. Samosud, a new production began to be prepared - under the name Ivan Susanin. The libretto was written by the poet Sergei Gorodetsky. In his version, the plot was changed quite a lot. The action was transferred from 1613 to October 1612, when the Polish troops in Moscow were surrounded by the militia of Minin and Pozharsky. The plot has become somewhat strange: King Sigismund sends a detachment to defeat the Russian militia, but the detachment heading from Poland to Moscow, for unknown reasons, ends up near Kostroma, in the village where Ivan Susanin lives. The Poles demand from Susanin that he show them the way to Minin's camp. The fact that Susanin saved Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, who was in a monastery near Kostroma, was not mentioned in the new version. In the libretto there was no mention of the king at all. In the final hymn, instead of " Be glorified, be glorified, our Russian tsar, / the tsar-sovereign given to us by the Lord! / May your royal family be immortal, / May the Russian people prosper with them!"began to sing: “Glory, glory, you are my Rus'! / Be glorified, my dear land! / May it be strong forever and ever / Our beloved native country!..". In this version, Glinka's opera was staged from February 21, 1939. In 1992, the Bolshoi Theater staged the opera with the original title and libretto.

Direct speech

“We have a big task ahead of us! Develop your own style and pave a new road for Russian opera music, ”- M. Glinka.

"Glinka ... corresponded to the needs of the time and the fundamental essence of his people to such an extent that the work he started flourished and grew in the shortest possible time and gave such fruits that were unknown in our fatherland during all the centuries of his historical life," - V. V. Stasov.

"Glinka elevated the folk melody to tragedy" - V. F. Odoevsky.

“Khota has just been performed with the greatest success ... Already at the rehearsal, the understanding musicians ... were amazed and delighted with the lively and sharp originality of this lovely piece, minted in such fine contours, trimmed and finished with such taste and art! What delightful episodes, witty connected with the main motive... what subtle shades of color, distributed over the different timbres of the orchestra! What the happiest surprises, abundantly emanating from the very logic of development! Franz Liszt on Glinka's Jota of Aragon.

“When you think about what, first of all, manifested the extraordinary power of Glinka’s creative genius, you invariably come to the idea of ​​the beginning of all beginnings in his art - about the composer’s deepest understanding of the spirit of the people,” D. D. Shostakovich

22 facts about Mikhail Glinka

• In addition to studying French, English, German, and Latin at the Noble Boarding School, Mikhail Glinka also studied Spanish, Italian and Persian.
• Because of his busy schedule, Zhukovsky could not write the libretto for the opera himself. He only created a small song for her, “Oh, not for me, poor…”.
• The part of Susanin in the first production of the opera was sung by Osip Petrov, and the part of Vanya was sung by the contralto singer Anna Vorobieva. Shortly after the premiere, she married her stage partner and also became Petrova. As a wedding gift, Glinka composed an additional aria by Vanya (“The poor horse fell in the field ...” in the fourth act).
• As a token of his admiration for the opera, Nicholas I presented Glinka with a diamond ring.
• On the day of the premiere of the opera A Life for the Tsar, A. S. Pushkin, V. A. Zhukovsky, P. A. Vyazemsky and M. Yu. Vielgorsky composed in honor of Glinka.
• Glinka was the first to use ballet scenes in an opera not for purely decorative purposes, but forcing them to serve to reveal the images of the characters and develop the plot. After Glinka, Russian opera even developed a stereotype: the Russians sing, the enemies dance (the polonaise in A Life for the Tsar, then the Poles with Mussorgsky, the Polovtsy with Borodin).
• In the third act, when the Poles convince Susanin to lead the detachment, the Poles' replicas are written in the rhythm of a polonaise or mazurka in 3/4 time. When Susanin is speaking, the size of the music is 2/4 or 4/4. After Susanin decides on self-sacrifice and pretends that he was interested in the money offered by the Poles, he also switches to a threefold size (in the words “Yes, your truth, money is power”).
• Until the end of the 19th century, it was accepted that the second act of A Life for the Tsar, where the famous “dance suite” sounds, was conducted not by an opera, but by a ballet conductor.
• "Patriotic Song" Glinka from 1991 to 2000 was the official anthem of the Russian Federation.
• A novel based on Pushkin’s poems “I Remember a Wonderful Moment”, dedicated to Anna Kern, Glinka dedicated to her daughter Ekaterina Kern.
• The first performers of the Pathetique Trio were in 1832 the musicians of the orchestra of the La Scala Theatre, clarinetist Pietro Tassistro, bassoonist Antonio Cantu, and Glinka himself, who performed the piano part.
• During the first production of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in the scenery of the garden of the wizard Chernomor, the artist used images of unicellular organisms: foraminifera and radiolarians, taken from the German zoological atlas.
• Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich disliked Glinka's second opera so much that he ordered the guilty soldiers to be sent to listen to Ruslan and Lyudmila instead of the guardhouse.
• In Finn's aria in the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila, Glinka used the melody of a Finnish folk song he had heard from a Finn driver.
• In "Ruslan and Lyudmila" Glinka came up with an orchestral device to imitate the harp: pizzicato harp and piano, which other composers adopted, in particular Rimsky-Korsakov in "The Snow Maiden" and "Sadko".
• The part of the Head is performed by a male choir hidden from the audience. The story of the Head about the history of Chernomor and the wonderful sword can be called the only aria for the choir in history.
• Ratmir's part is intended for the female contralto voice, and Glinka's Chernomor does not sing at all.
• In the march of Chernomor, the celesta usually sounds - an instrument that entered the orchestra only in the late 1880s. It replaces the now rare glass harmonica used by Glinka. Relatively recently, the original sheet music with the glass harmonica part was found in Berlin and the original version of the opera was staged at the Bolshoi Theater.
• The folk Georgian melody, which Glinka laid as the basis for the romance "Don't sing, beauty, with me ..." on Pushkin's poems, was recorded in Georgia and told to Glinka by Alexander Griboyedov.
• The reason for the creation of the "Passing Song" was the opening in 1837 of the first railway in Russia.
• The first monument to Glinka was erected in 1885 in Smolensk. The bronze fence of the monument is made in the form of musical lines, where 24 excerpts from the composer's works are recorded.
• On the basis of "A Life for the Tsar" in the 1920s, the play "Hammer and Sickle" was created, in which the action of Glinka's opera was transferred to the Civil War.

Materials about Mikhail Glinka