Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky is an outstanding composer of the Russian Empire, the most brilliant author and member of the famous organization "The Mighty Handful". He influenced the development of not only domestic but also foreign music, and not only classical. His creative heritage includes operas, cycles of piano and vocal music, orchestral plays, choral music, romances and songs.
Biography: The Beginning
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was born on March 21, 1839 in Karevo - a village in the Pskov province of the Russian Empire.
Until the age of 10, he and his brother were at home schooling and only in 1849, having moved to St. Petersburg, did they enter Petrishula, the first school of the cultural capital, founded in 1709.
Youth and maturity
The young man does not finish his studies and enters the School of Warrant Officers, studying in which he was deeply imbued with church music (Protestant, Greek, Catholic). Studying at school will leave a big imprint on the work of Mussorgsky.
In 1856, after graduation, he went to serve in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, where he met with the famous Russian composer Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky. Then he changes his job to the Ministry of State Property.
Three years later, life introduces Modest to Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev - the head of the "Mighty Handful". Under his watchful control, Mussorgsky devotes his free time to music: studies harmony, reads scores, analyzes compositions and develops criticism skills.
He was lucky by nature, he had a beautiful voice (baritone) and liked to perform at musical evenings. Thanks to Anton Avgustovich Gerka (Russian teacher), I was able to sufficiently master the piano.
Last years
Towards the end of his life, he was very upset by the collapse of The Mighty Heap. Mussorgsky could not calmly endure the misunderstanding and criticism of the compositions by his close friends (members of the musical collection) and called his condition "nervous fever", later it led to alcohol dependence. He loses cash income by resigning from the position of junior head-captain, as well as any financial support for loved ones.
The only enlightenment of that time was the ability to tour as a accompanist to the singer D.M. Leonova, since in addition to the compositions included in the program, he could also perform his own works.
In 1881, the last major release of the composer took place. In St. Petersburg (at the evening in memory of Dostoevsky) Modest sat down at the instrument and composed an improvisation of mourning bell ringing on the go. Impromptu, which struck everyone present, became a kind of prototype of the "forgive" author himself for all the dead and the living.
On February 13, 1881, Mussorgsky, who was admitted to the Nikolaev hospital after an attack of delirium tremens, dies without having time to finish his last works. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Creative way
Musical talent Modest manifested itself in early childhood. At the age of 7, under the supervision of his mother, he could play not very complex piano works by Franz Liszt. But in the family, no one took music seriously, because they did not provide him with a professional musical education.
Composer work began quite rapidly. With the writing of each work, Modest opened up new possibilities and sources of inspiration, even if they were not complete.
Mussorgsky's romances
Vocal music was his favorite direction. The composer wrote romances throughout his life, in his collection includes about 70 works.
Mussorgsky continued the work of Dargomyzhsky, whose motto was the statement "about life and truth."
In the 50-60s of the XIX century, he wrote a number of romances in which one can already recognize his individual style. As an author, he was interested not in the lyrical, but in the social side of life.
In the work of Mussorgsky reflected, original and bright, national Russian features. For example, in Trepak we see a drunken peasant drunk, and the song Lullaby is essentially the monologue of a mother standing by the bed of a dying child.
Sometimes the source of inspiration could be any simple event. Here are just a few of his famous works:
- "Prayer" to the poems of Lermontov;
- "Outcast";
- "Forgotten" on the famous pictorial plot of the artist Vereshchagin;
- "Calistratus" to the words of Nekrasov;
- "Orphan";
- "With a doll"
Mussorgsky had a great sense of humor. For example, the work “The Workshop” is filled with an accusatory meaning, the essence of which is contained in iron shackles that do not allow young life to break through the traditional order of society.
However, subsequently the work was under censorship.
Other his works of this genre:
- "Arrogance";
- "Rake";
- "The Tale of the Goat."
Opera "Boris Godunov"
The works that have glorified the composer all over the world are operas. The pinnacle of his work was the opera Boris Godunov. M.P. Mussorgsky is the author of all the libretto in it. The libretto was based on the drama of A.S. Pushkin. The work was a real breakthrough and went beyond the usual opera at that time.
In the first edition, the work in 1869 was presented to the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters, but only after 5 years it was put on stage. The second edition refers to 1872.
"Boris Godunov" is an opera that first portrayed the Russian people as a great large-scale force, and earlier it served only as a backdrop for the main character. In the work, the author demonstrates the doomed being of ordinary people and the inevitability of mass revolutions.
Opera "Khovanshchina"
Even while working on the previous opera, Modest already kept in mind the outline of a new masterpiece.
The peculiarity of the opera Khovanshchina by M.P. Mussorgsky lies in the faceless generalized protagonist, whose face is the people.
Work on the work went on hard and for a long time due to unforeseen circumstances, therefore, by the end of life it was not completed. The author wrote the libretto based on his own script.
Events unfold in Russia since the 17th century, when the riflemen split and rebelled.
The collapse of The Mighty Handful, the deterioration of relations with Cui and Rimsky-Korsakov, the resignation of the head of the Balakirev circle dealt a strong emotional blow to Mussorgsky, but despite this, the composer continued his work.
Piano piece
In the works of Mussorgsky, in addition to the vocal genre, piano music is widely represented.
In 1874, the cycle "Pictures from the Exhibition" by Mussorgsky was born. The impetus for writing the work was the exhibition of the artist Hartmann at the initiative of Stasov (music critic), which made a great impression on Modest.
The cycle consists of 10 paintings, alternating reality with imagined fantasies and figures of the past.
Interesting fact: all numbers are interconnected by the leitmotif (musical theme), which is associated with the feeling of a walk. Thus, Mussorgsky draws an analogy with a trip through the gallery. Such a comparison is unique in its kind. Each number is given an individual name (in Latin and Russian), as in painting art paintings.
"Pictures from the exhibition" Mussorgsky have dozens of orchestral arrangements and piano recordings, as well as are present in some film adaptations, for example, Soyuzmultfilm studio.
Summarizing
In addition to the genres listed above, Modest Mussorgsky contributed to the symphonic work. "Night on the Bald Mountain" is a famous example of fantasy for the orchestra, composed in 1867.
Mussorgsky’s work is a brilliant wealth that influenced further domestic art. The composer forced to rethink the canons operating at that time and left a masterpiece of musical heritage as a gift.