19 years ago, the world lost the greatest composer, musical genius - Basner Veniamin Efimovich. As a boy, Benjamin wanted to break out of the circle of poverty and everyday life, and, as you know, he succeeded. Basner spent his childhood and youth in Yaroslavl. His family experienced some financial difficulties, as they were all immigrants from Dvinsk. The reason for this was the First World War.
Yaroslavl The first steps towards high art
Basner Veniamin Efimovich was born on January 1, 1925. And, perhaps, he would become the same tailor as his father, but thanks to his grandfather Hirsch Yakovlevich Gredor, who knew a large number of Jewish songs and dialects, Benjamin realized that only the music would open the whole world for him. And from that moment on, the guy chooses the path of a great musician, a famous composer. After graduating from the Yaroslavl College of Music,
Basner Veniamin Efimovich was invited to the Philharmonic, but because of the hostilities of 1942 he was forced to join the Red Army, where he played the role of the main orchestra conductor and from time to time repaired broken or damaged musical instruments. And only after demobilization before Basner does the real world of music open.
What does the homeland begin with?
The film “Shield and Sword” of 1965 is well known to all lovers of the high. At the beginning and at the end of each film from this quadrology, you heard a song performed by Mark Bernes. “Where does the Homeland begin?” Is the name of the composition. The text for this work was written by Mikhail Matusovsky, and these words were put on lyric music by the young Veniamin Basner. Most critics believe that this song became so famous not because of the words, but precisely because of the music of Veniamin Efimovich. And those who watched the magnificent film “Shield and Sword”, listening to the song “What is the Homeland Starting from?”, First of all remember the motive, and then the text itself.
Dmitry Shostakovich and his influence on the formation of Basner as a composer
Hearing for the first time the 5th symphony of Dmitry Shostakovich in 1938, Basner Veniamin Efimovich finds himself an idol. Shostakovich’s music influenced him very much, and often inexperienced musicians can even confuse the works of these rightfully great composers.
Having been educated at the N.A. Conservatory Rimsky-Korsakov, Basner personally gets acquainted with Shostakovich, which in the future, promises them a very strong friendship both in terms of music and in life. Besides the fact that they were fascinated by each other's music, Gustav Mahler’s compositions equally excited the hearts of sensitive musicians.
The family of the great composer
Efim Semenovich Basner worked at the Severohod shoe factory. It was not a very good and simple job, but the family had to be fed, since the mother was a housewife. Benjamin himself after the war, namely in 1947, meets a young girl - Nina Kaplan. Love instantly turned the head of the young people, and soon they got married. Nina gave Basner two lovely daughters - Olga and Elena. But Veniamin Efimovich did not live out his last days with Nina. His second love was Aisla Rasimovna Gubaidulina. Already in this marriage, Basner Veniamin Efimovich becomes the third time a happy father. The composer named his youngest daughter Anna. At that time, Jewish traditions were revered, so the name sounded differently - Avital.
The younger brothers of Benjamin Basner, Mark and German, did not follow in the footsteps of the elder, but stepped on the path of science. Herman eventually became a candidate of medical sciences, and Mark became a mathematician.
Music by Benjamin Basner
Benjamin Basner’s compositions are not only playing musical instruments, but also the strings of the human soul. The melody falls through the ears of the listener into his soul, heart and into the darkest corners of consciousness. Basner’s art very well describes the human nature: bursts of emotions, anger and notes of peace, tranquility and balance. If a film was made in the Soviet Union, and it was necessary to give it a share of romanticism, human suffering or joy, then not a single director could not afford to abandon the music of Veniamin Efimovich Basner.
And for all his compositions, musicals and operettas, the composer was awarded the greatest awards of the Soviet Union in terms of music and art: Order of Friendship (1994), Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1974), People's Artist of the RSFSR (1982) and the RSFSR State Prize named after Vasiliev brothers (1980).
Songs of Benjamin Efimovich Basner
After himself, the great composer left a very deep and tangible mark in the art of the Soviet Union and modern Russia. Benjamin Basner devoted his songs and music to the ordinary people - the working population and soldiers. This is evidenced by his huge discography: "For the rest of my life ... Songs of the war", "White acacia clusters of fragrant ... Songs from the movies", "String Quartets", "You and Me" and a large number of released or never recorded compositions . It really was a great man, a great musician! His motives will exist forever in Soviet films, good old sincere songs, and in classical music in general.
This is only a short story about the work of this ingenious man, only an annotation to the story. In many post-Soviet and Russian conservatories, you can still hear Basner's creations as an example of high multifaceted music, the feelings of which can be understood by both adults and children. On the banks of the Moika River, a large marble monument was erected on house No. 16, which reads as follows: "composer Veniamin Efimovich Basner lived and worked in this house." This indicates that the composer's art is not forgotten and is still valued.
On August 18, 1971, Smirnova Tamara Mikhailovna, observing the starry sky over the Crimea at the observatory, noticed a small flying fragment. It was not put on the map of asteroids, therefore, using the right of the discoverer, Smirnova named the asteroid in honor of the composer Basner Veniamin Efimovich - (4267) Basner. It would seem that a person who is completely immersed in astronomy and space exploration should have slightly different preferences than Basner's music, but there it was!