A.K. Lyadov is one of the outstanding composers of Russia at the turn of the two centuries, XIX and XX. He was a student, and later a like-minded person, of N. Rimsky-Korsakov, and he himself taught S. Prokofiev, N. Myaskovsky.
A.K. Lyadov. Biography: the first years of life
The future composer was born in May 1855 in St. Petersburg. And all his subsequent life will be connected with this city. Anatoly's interest in music cannot be called an accident. His father was a conductor of Russian opera, he worked at the Mariinsky Theater. From childhood, the boy knew the entire repertoire, and in his youth he himself was an extras on performances. Playing the piano was taught by Anatoly by his maternal aunt, V. Antipova. However, these were irregular classes. Gen. Lyadova in childhood was very unsettled: when he was 6 years old, his mother died, his father led a rather chaotic life. This became the reason for the formation of not too good qualities in him: lack of will, lack of assemble. They extremely negatively influenced the creative process in the future.
Biography A. Lyadov: student years
From 1867 to 1878, Anatoly studied at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg. His teachers were such celebrities as Yu. Johansen, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Dubasov, F. Beggrov. He graduated from the Lyadov Conservatory brilliantly. With the assistance of N. Rimsky-Korsakov, even during his student days, Anatoly maintained friendly relations with The Mighty Handful, the community of composers. Here he joined the ideals of creativity and became aware of himself as a Russian composer. Soon, this association broke up, and Lyadov moved to a new one - the Belyaevsky Circle. Together with Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov, he immediately began to lead the process: to select, edit and publish new works.
A.K. Lyadov. Biography: Conservative Composer
As an artist, Anatoly Konstantinovich formed quite early. And in the future, all his activities were not marked by any sharp transitions. Outwardly, Lyadov’s life looked calm, stable and even monotonous. It was as if he was afraid of some kind of change for the worse and therefore was fencing himself off from the world. Perhaps he did not have enough strong impressions for creative activity. The smooth course of his life was disturbed by only two trips: in 1889 to Paris at the World Art Exhibition, at which his works were performed, and in 1910 to Germany.
A.K. Lyadov. Biography: personal life
The composer did not allow anyone here. Even from his closest friends, he hid his own marriage to N.I. Tolkacheva in 1884. He did not introduce his wife to anyone, although he subsequently lived with her all his life and raised two sons.
A.K. Lyadov. Biography: Creative Productivity
Contemporaries reproached him for not writing much. This was partly due to financial insecurity and the need to earn money: he devoted a lot of time to teaching. In 1878, Lyadov was invited to the post of professor at the conservatory, and he worked in this educational institution until the end of his life. Additionally, since 1884, the composer taught in the singing chapel at court. His students were Myaskovsky, Prokofiev. Lyadov himself admitted that he composed in small intervals between teaching. Since 1879, he also worked as a conductor. In the early period, the most original was the cycle he created created by him. By the end of the 80s, Lyadov proved to be a master of miniatures. The apex of the chamber form can be considered his foreplay. This genre was closest to his worldview. From 1887 to 1890, he wrote three notebooks of Children's Songs. Their basis was the ancient texts of jokes, spells, sayings. In the 1880s, the composer also began to study Russian folklore. In total, he processed 150 folk songs.
A.K. Lyadov is a composer. Biography: recent years
During this period of life, the composer's symphonic masterpieces appeared. They brilliantly confirmed his creative evolution. From 1904 to 1910, Lyadov created Kikimora, Magic Lake and Babu Yaga. They can be considered both as independent works, and as an artistic triptych. In the field of symphonic music, the last work of the composer, his “swan song”, was “Sorrowful Song” (“Keshe”). She is associated with the images of Meterlink. This confession of the soul completed the work of Lyadov. And soon, in August 1914, his earthly path ended.