Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky, whose brief biography is presented in the article, is a great Russian composer who has contributed a lot to Russian classical music. The years of his life - 1813-1869. February 14, 1813 was born Dargomyzhsky. His biography begins in s. Troitsky (Dargomyzhe) of the Tula province, where he was born. His father served as an official, and Alexander's mother was an amateur poetess.
How Dargomyzhsky spent his early childhood
Biography, a summary of the works, interesting facts about the composer - all this interests many fans of his work. Let's start from the very beginning and tell about the early childhood of the future composer.
Alexander Sergeyevich spent it in the estate of his parents, which was located in the Smolensk province. After some time, the family moved to St. Petersburg. Here Alexander Dargomyzhsky received his home education. His biography of this time is marked by classes in music, theater and literature. The teachers of Alexander Dargomyzhsky were A.T. Danilevsky (pianist), P.G. Vorontsov (serf violinist), F. Schobernehler (Viennese composer and pianist), B.L. Tseybikh (singer).
In addition, Dargomyzhsky met M.I. Glinka (a portrait of him is presented above), who handed him the theoretical manuscripts brought from Professor Dan from Berlin. They contributed to the expansion of knowledge of Alexander Sergeyevich in the field of counterpoint and harmony. At the same time, Dargomyzhsky began to study the orchestration. His biography continues with the creation of the first independent works.
The first works, students of Dargomyzhsky
The first piano pieces and romances were published in the 1830s. The romances created by Pushkin’s words have the greatest artistic value: “Night Marshmallow”, “Vertograd”, “Young Man and the Virgin”, “I Loved You” and others. And in subsequent years, vocal music was one of the main creative interests of Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who happy to give vocal lessons, and for free. A huge number of his students. Among them stands out L.N. Belenitsyna (Karmalina), Bibibina, Shilovskaya, Girs, Barteneva, Purgolt (Molas), Princess Manvelova. Dargomyzhsky was always inspired by female sympathy, especially singers. About the latter, he half-jokingly said that if they were not for them, it would not be worth becoming a composer.
Opera "Esmeralda"
Opera "Esmeralda" (years of creation - 1837-41) is considered the first serious work of Alexander Sergeevich. The libretto to her had previously been created by Hugo himself from the famous novel Notre Dame de Paris. This work, with all its immaturity (it was written like a French opera), testifies to the realistic aspirations of Dargomyzhsky. Esmeralda was never published. In St. Petersburg, in the library of the Imperial Theaters, there are clavieruszug, handwritten score and autograph of Dargomyzhsky. A few years later this work was delivered. In St. Petersburg, the premiere took place in 1851, and in Moscow in 1847.
Romances of Dargomyzhsky
The staging of the opera was not satisfied with Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky. His biography is marked by a turn in creativity. Esmeralda appeared to disappoint the composer. Once again began to compose romances Dargomyzhsky, whose biography was noted by their writing before. Together with the early works, new ones (30 romances in total) were published in 1844. They brought fame to Dargomyzhsky. The best romances of the 1840s are considered to be works created on Pushkin’s poems: “Night Marshmallow”, “Tear”, “Wedding”, “I Loved You”. In 1843, the poetry of the same poet created the cantata of Dargomyzhsky "Triumph of Bacchus." This work was presented in 1846 at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg at a concert by the directorate. However, the author was refused the production of "The Bacchus Triumph" in the form of an opera created in 1848. Only much later, only in 1867, the work created by the composer Dargomyzhsky was presented in Moscow. His biography continues with the next period of creativity.
Travel and new trends in the work of the composer
New trends in the work of Dargomyzhsky appeared in the second half of the 1840s - early 1850s. They were associated with the origin and flowering in our country of the so-called natural school (critical realism) in art and literature. Alexander Sergeevich began to attract mainly folk stories. In addition, his interest in folklore became even greater. Dargomyzhsky engaged in the processing of peasant songs. We can say that the aggravation of national consciousness at this time was due to the fact that the composer was abroad from 1844 to 1845. He traveled to Germany, Vienna, Brussels and Paris. Dargomyzhsky went there as an admirer of everything French, and returned to Petersburg as a Russian adherent, as in the case of Glinka.
It was to this time that the final design of "intonational realism" - the creative method of the composer (the reproduction of the intonations of speech is the main means by which images are created) dates back. The composer said that he wanted the sound to express a word. In the song "Miller" the principle that Alexander Dargomyzhsky professed was implemented. His brief biography is marked by the active implementation of "intonational realism." From "Miller" songs to Pushkin's verses stretch threads to the "Stone Guest" - the opera, where the principles of musical recitation were embodied. “Musicalized Speech” appears in the novels “You Will Forget Forget Me Soon” and “Both Boring and Sad.”
Opera "Mermaid"
Opera "Mermaid", created in 1855 based on the drama of A.S. Pushkin is the central work of this period. It truly describes the tragic fate of a peasant girl who was deceived by the prince. Dargomyzhsky in this work created a genre that raises the problem of social inequality (folk drama). May 4, 1856 was first introduced "Mermaid" in the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater. It was delivered with old decorations, sloppy execution, inappropriate suits, inappropriate bills. It is not surprising that this opera was not successful. By the way, the production took place under the direction of K. Lyadov, who did not like Dargomyzhsky. Until 1861, Mermaid withstood only 26 performances. However, in 1865 it was renewed by Komissarzhevsky and S. Platonova. In the new version, the opera was a huge success. She was included in the repertoire of many theaters, became one of the most beloved Russian operas.
Musical and social activities
How much do you know about such a composer as Dargomyzhsky? The biography in the table, placed in the textbooks, contains only the most basic information about him. Meanwhile, Dargomyzhsky was not only a composer. Musical and social activities of Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky unfolded from the end of the 1850s. In 1859, the composer became a member of the committee of RMO (Russian Musical Society). Participating in a commission that considered essays sent to the competition, he contributed to the development of Russian music. Dargomyzhsky also participated in creating the charter of the first conservatory in our country. At the same time, Alexander Sergeyevich became close to composers, who later became members of The Mighty Handful (Balakirev Circle). The result was mutual creative enrichment.
Collaboration with Iskra
Dargomyzhsky, whose biography and work are closely related throughout his life, in 1859 collaborated with Iskra. It was an influential satirical magazine at that time. Collaboration left an imprint on the further work of the composer. Alexander Sergeevich created music to the verses of P.I. Weinberg and V.S. Kurochkin - poets who were published in Iskra. Social content is permeated with Dargomyzhsky’s innovative romances dating back to this time: Worm, Titular Advisor, Old Corporal. At the same time, the composer's classes with amateur singers continue, and lyrical romances are created: "I remember deeply", "What is in my name", "We parted proudly."
The last opera of Dargomyzhsky
The composer's attention in the last years of his life was again riveted to the opera. Thinking of implementing a fundamental reform, Dargomyzhsky in 1866 began to work on the “Stone Guest” based on the work of A. S. Pushkin. He wanted to write music without changing the text of Pushkin. Dargomyzhsky refused historical forms of opera: vocal ensembles, deployed arias. His goal was the continuity of musical action. The recitative-ariotic recitation was taken as a basis, that is, the opera is almost entirely based on a melodized recitative. The work was almost completed a few months later. The death of Dargomyzhsky prevented him from creating music only for the last 17 verses. C. Cui completed the "Stone Guest" at the will of the composer. He also created an introduction to this opera, which N. Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrated.
Meaning of "Stone Guest"
The “Stone Guest” was staged by friends of Alexander Dargomyzhsky on February 16, 1872 on the Mariinsky stage in St. Petersburg. In 1876, the opera was resumed, but could not resist the repertoire. To this day, it is still not appreciated. Not only among domestic composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky) found the followers of the innovative principles of the final opera of Alexander Sergeyevich. She was appreciated by foreign musicians. In particular, S. Gounod wanted to create his own opera, taking the Stone Guest as a model. In the work "Pelléas et Mélisandre" C. Debussy relied on the principles of reform carried out by Dargomyzhsky. His brief biography would be incomplete if we had not talked about the orchestral works of Alexander Sergeyevich.
Orchestral works of Dargomyzhsky
The most striking among them are “Babu Yaga”, “Chukhonsky Fantasy” and “Little Russian Cossack”. The everyday images of these works are sharpened by the composer with the help of a grotesquely exaggerated interpretation. It is from here that the novelty of the artistic techniques used by him comes. They found a continuation in the work of such Russian composers as A. Lyadov, M. Mussorgsky and others. On January 17, 1869, Dargomyzhsky died in St. Petersburg (his grave is shown in the photo below).
His short biography is currently being studied in all music schools in Russia. And the works of Alexander Sergeyevich are performed in the best theaters of our country to this day. There are not many among our compatriots who have never heard of such a composer as Dargomyzhsky. The biography for children and adults, presented in this article, concerns only its main works and achievements. We will be glad if you would like to continue your acquaintance with Russian classical music. Such a representative as Dargomyzhsky (biography and creativity) is very interesting. Now you can briefly talk about his life and legacy.