Mussorgsky's portraits were not often made. This is not Rembrandt, who peered at himself annually and watched him change. Mussorgsky's portraits, as a rule, reflect only the external, but we are interested in his inner world, which allowed him to create great musical works.
early years
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was the son of not a rich, but a noble landowner. He was born in the northern Pskov territories in 1839. Two older brothers died early, and mother Julia Ivanovna gave all her tenderness and love to her youngest son.
The closeness with her Modest Petrovich kept his whole life, and later her death was a hard blow for him. Maman first taught him how to play the piano. From this time, the portraits of Mussorgsky were not preserved. But his future was decided long ago: the boy will be a military man.
Petersburg
After graduating from the school of guards ensigns, Modest Mussorgsky began his service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. In the photo on the left is an officer of the Life Guard. This is the year 1856. He is 17. Youngish and with a good posture, modest, almost a child, a young man who has not yet defined his life. It feels a readiness to serve, to follow a duty, self-control and willpower.
Near the right is his photograph with his brother in 1858. Inner freedom, a strict look, as if the future composer is deciding something for himself. Reasonableness, self-deepening is present in each of its features.
By this time Modest Mussorgsky - gifted musician. He is also a very educated person: he speaks and writes fluently in French and German, reads Greek and Latin. He is already familiar with A.S. Dargomyzhsky and M.A. Balakirev and wrote two scherzo. One of them, a musician who did not study at the conservatory, managed to successfully orchestrate.
Under the leadership of Balakirev, Mussorgsky worked on orchestral scores, carefully studying them, and also analyzed the harmony, counterpoint and form of the works of famous composers, learned to critically, very in-depth evaluate them. By this time he leaves the service in the army, but makes the most stringent demands on himself, which do not allow for any promiscuity.
Socialite
Modest Petrovich cared about his appearance.
The musician tried to give people the impression of him as a prosperous person. Indeed, from a neatly combed hair to the hair of the head to the tips of polished graceful shoes, a well-groomed elegant man with complete calmness on his face looks through us.
In life, he was a man with such manners, elegance, excellent speech, wit and education that all women melted under his charm. He also had a secret love for a woman whose name he did not reveal to anyone. Presumably - this is N.P. Opochinin, whom he put on the highest pedestal and dedicated the most lyrical compositions to her.
Maturity
This is the beginning of the darkest period in the life of the composer. The portrait presented below shows that Modest Mussorgsky holds on despite the blows inflicted by fate: the “Mighty Handful” broke up, the press viciously attacked his compositions, and the performance “Boris Godunov” was almost stopped staging. The beloved woman died, and the composer suffered immeasurably. After her death, he wrote the bitter romance “Tombstone”.
He lived only with creativity, creating romances to the verses of a new friend, Count A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov. But he got married and inflicted an irreparable blow to Mussorgsky on friendship and cooperation.
Creative take-off
Even in a military school, a craving for libations awakened. Under severe emotional distress, she awoke again. Developed imagination, coupled with wine, avoided the sad reality and create. The impulsiveness that was characteristic of him forced him to start new works, not bringing them to the end. Sublimating the inner strength, the individualist Modest Petrovich went headlong into the music. It was at this time that "Pictures from the Exhibition" was written, a piano suite in memory of friend-artist Hartmann. He himself composed the plot of Khovanshchina and began to write it, as well as Sorochinskiy Fair based on Gogol. He was already thinking about an opera on the topic of the Pugachev uprising. Despite everything, he wanted to create and enjoy life.
Ilya Repin “Portrait of Mussorgsky”
Modest Petrovich no longer served. Friends formed and paid him a small pension. In 1881, he had an attack of delirium tremens. He was admitted to the hospital. For four sessions from March 14 to 17, I. Repin created a portrait of M.P. Mussorgsky. And on March 28, the composer died. This gives the portrait a special depth and drama.
A hospital gown, disheveled hair and a beard do not distract us from the face of a completely sick person. In his eyes, brilliance burns and a vibrant mind shines and the thought of future works that he will not be able to compose. After all, he did not think about death. Repin did not embellish the composer at all, and therefore he turned out to be a living and real person.
The artist smoothed out the swelling and wrinkles, made the most complex light nuances on the face and left us with an image full of creative strength and inner nobility. The color is light and transparent. Against a light background, the face and figure look especially significant.
All the portraits of Mussorgsky show his change from an impeccable officer and a secular person to a person who has come to a breakdown.