The eighteenth century is glorified by many prominent representatives of Russian musical culture. These include Bortnyansky Dmitry Stepanovich. This is a talented composer with a rare charm. Dmitry Bortnyansky was both a conductor and a singer. He became the creator of a new kind of choral concert.
Childhood
Dmitry Bortnyansky, whose biography is described in this article, was born on October 28, 1751. His father, Stefan Shkurat, was a Cossack, served under the leadership of Hetman Razumovsky. Even before marriage and the birth of a son, a servant came to the city of Glukhov, and stayed there to live. He changed his surname to Bortnyansky, as his native village was called. After some time, he married Tolstoy Marina Dmitrievna, a widow-Cossack. And soon the spouses had a son Dmitry.
The first sprouts of talent
When the boy was six years old, his parents noticed a clear talent for him. Dmitry had a beautiful clear voice, excellent hearing. The boy sang correctly, never faked. He grabbed any melody on the fly; Dmitry did not need to repeat it to remember it. Parents, having seen talent from their son, enrolled him in the Glukhov Singing School.
The beginning of music education
Studying was easy for Dmitry, and he himself showed great interest in music. The boy sang with great pleasure, and this was not unimportant, since it was stipulated for the children that permanent service was at the head of the training. After a short time, teachers began to set Dmitry as a soloist. When the young talent went to school, the boy immediately began to learn to play musical instruments.
Departure to St. Petersburg
Bortnyansky was distinguished by an amazing treble. Its purity for the choir was very important. And Dmitry was highly appreciated by teachers. In 1758, the singers were sent to St. Petersburg, to the Capella. Marina Dmitrievna baptized her son, gave on the road a bundle with gifts and a small icon. Bortnyansky Dmitry left his hometown and never saw his parents again.
Fateful meeting with the Italian composer
In those days, the Italian music trend was in fashion. There were many foreign maestros at court, and the technique of performing works was also appropriate. In 1763, when the mourning for Elizabeth ended, the new empress took on the service of the Venetian bandmaster Galuppi Buronelli. This decision had a great influence on the fate of young Dmitry Bortnyansky.
At that time he sang with pleasure arias in various operas. Galuppi decided to find his students, one of them was Dmitry. The famous bandmaster noticed other talents of the teenager. Galuppi noticed how Dmitry literally on the fly grasps even the most complex passages, motives and whole arias that the composer played. The greedy desire of a teenager to learn new things was also important. As a result, Galuppi, when he was going back to Italy, took Dmitry with him.
Studying in Italy
Long months of training followed. Dmitry learned to play the organ and harpsichord, was engaged in counterpoint. The young man became a regular visitor to the Venetian theaters and did not miss a single significant premiere. The works of the young musician became more independent, more professional. However, Dmitry was still too early to speak with finished works.
Short-term military service
For a short time he rejoiced at a pleasant and cloudless study. At that time there was a war, and the fate of Dmitry did not save her from participating in it. Count Orlov unexpectedly arrived in Venice and met with the Consul Marucius. A long conversation took place between influential people, and Dmitry was already brought to them early in the morning.
The count offered him the position of translator in the Russian army. A day later, Dmitry Stepanovich was already riding in the retinue of Orlov to the Allied rebels. The negotiations were successful, and after a while the young musician returned to his favorite music again.
The first famous operas
In 1776, the posters of San Benedetto invited people to visit the opera Creon, composed by Bortniansky, a Russian musician. The work did not fail, but also did not find much success. The next work “Alcide” turned out to be more mature among the young composer. Dmitry Stepanovich was very attentive to the nature of the characters, the music became more relaxed, more diverse. The composer tried to convey the mood of the hero, his alertness, doubts and indecision. The premiere of Alkida took place in Venice. The work was a resounding success.
The debut of the next opera Quint Fabius was held in Modena. Dmitry Stepanovich received good reviews from the local press. Critics have noticed ingenuity, grace of execution and skillful plotting. As a result, the performance even received the approval of the court and the thunderous applause of the audience. In 1779, Dmitry Stepanovich returned to Russia.
Obtaining court ranks
At first, Bortnyansky became a court bandmaster. In 1784, the Italian maestro D. Paisiello had to urgently leave for his homeland, in Italy. It was proposed to Bortnyansky to replace him at the small court of Maria Fedorovna. At the same time, his duties were charged with filling musical gaps in the princess's education.
Dmitry Stepanovich prepared an album of plays for playing on the clavichord, piano and harpsichord. The princess liked the gift, and in April 1785 Bortnyansky became the official owner of his first, albeit low rank. Dmitry Stepanovich received the post of college assessor. In comparison with the army service, he was equated with the rank of major.
Court Career
In 1786, the work "The Feast of the Senior" appeared (Bortnyansky). Princess Maria Fedorovna asked to make the opera more meaningful. As a result, Dmitry Stepanovich wrote music for the new libretto. The opera was called the Falcon, many of the motifs were taken from Alkida. The premiere of the new work took place in October 1786. Bortnyansky's opera Sokol was a huge success.
It reflects the virtuosity and skill of the maestro. He was able to find a combination of individual arias and ballet inserts, harmoniously linking them, transmit along with the music warmth, emancipation and emotional expressiveness. The work "Falcon" has become one of the textbooks. At first the opera sounded in the Gatchina Theater, then it transferred to Pavlovsky. Then the work fell on almost all small scenes.
A year later, Bortniansky’s new masterpiece, “The Opponent Son, or New Stratonica,” appeared. The work has become one of the best. Then Dmitry Stepanovich began to write choral concerts. At that time it was a familiar genre. The works were performed mainly at special church services. However, concerts often took place at court celebrations, during important ceremonies. Bortnyansky Dmitry was able to change the choral works so much that they became a new direction in music.
For several decades he has written more than 50 concerts. Each of them has elements of folk songs. Connoisseurs of European music spoke with admiration about the works of Bortnyansky. The choirs had marvelous melodic shades, full-bodied harmonies and were distinguished by a free arrangement of voices.
In a senior position in the court chapel
Since 1796, Dmitry Stepanovich ran the court chapel. The singers' service was not easy, and Bortnyansky knew this firsthand. He was able to gradually change a lot in the Chapel. Bortnyansky decided to create a separate stronghold of singers who perform works without instrumental accompaniment and save the new collective from participating in performances.
As a result, the best school of choral art was created. The singers no longer took part in theatrical productions. In 1800, the Chapel became an independent music department.
In 1801, Dmitry Stepanovich was appointed director. The chapel under his leadership expanded and became very popular. Bortnyansky Dmitry as a teacher was snapped up and became an indisputable musical authority. His school was considered first-class, he trained many professional choristers and bandmasters.
At the same time, Dmitry Stepanovich was also engaged in his own art, creating more and more attractive romances, instrumental music, chamber works and sonatas. Bortnyansky met the new century at the peak of his fame. The work "Son-rival, or New Stratonica" was associated with the heyday of the Chapel. This is the composer's most significant piece of music created in French texts.
Hobbies of Bortnyansky
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1751-1825) was a versatile person. Contemporaries called him handsome, strict in service and condescending to people. Throughout his life, Dmitry Stepanovich was devoted to art, and not only to music.
He participated in literary evenings, was an excellent connoisseur of fine arts and painting. Dmitry Stepanovich became interested in collecting canvases in Italy. There he also found time to study the history of European art. It was in Italy that Bortniansky began to collect a collection of paintings, which later was highly appreciated by connoisseurs of painting.
Dmitry Stepanovich brought all collected canvases to his homeland. He loved to show the collection to his guests. Bortnyansky had to participate in the design of palaces in Gatchina and Pavlovsk. He was a permanent consultant in the field of architecture and painting. Therefore, the design of buildings is partly his merit. Bortnyansky Dmitry chose and bought paintings for the Pavlovsky Palace.
In 1804, the composer was accepted into the ranks of honorary academicians. Since the 90s. he plunged into the creation of sacred music, especially choral concerts. In them, he often went beyond strict church boundaries. The compositions of Bortnyansky felt the influence of opera, marching and dance rhythms. The slow parts of the pieces sometimes resembled urban romances.
Dmitry Stepanovich was never in the Masonic lodges. However, some of his hymns were considered priority for secret societies. The history of Russian culture also includes Bortniansky’s work “A Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors”. In this masterpiece, Dmitry Stepanovich even surpassed himself, as it turned out a feast choral song. It could be performed in a solo version.
Creativity Bortnyansky
The works of Dmitry Bortnyansky cannot be fit into only one collection. The composer wrote a variety of music. For the court chapel - spiritual, for the small court - secular compositions. Many choral concerts are written with clear signs of a classic style. Works are mainly of 3 or 4 private cycles that are not related thematically.
The most famous of opera works are those that Bortniansky created in Italy. These first works are still considered the "golden collection". Instrumental collections were written by Dmitry Stepanovich already in the 80s.
Unfortunately, very few works of this direction have survived to this day. Most of these musical masterpieces are one-part. In instrumental works, many connoisseurs note that national Ukrainian features are noticeable.
Personal life of the composer
Wife Bortnyansky Dmitry Stepanovich was a modest, calm Anna Ivanovna. They had a son, whom they called Alexander. When he grew up, he served as a lieutenant in the guard. Over time, Alexander married, and he had two children - a daughter Mary and a son named after his grandfather.
The grandson of Bortnyansky went in the footsteps of his famous relative. The boy had a wonderful voice, and Dmitry Stepanovich enlisted his grandson as a singer in the Chapel. The Bortnyansky family lived in a large two-story house decorated with an oak carved door. Dmitry Stepanovich had his own study, in which he liked to spend time in thought in the evenings.
Alexandra Mikhailovna, a 27-year-old girl, was also among the close people. No one, not even herself, knew anything about her parents. Even the youngest Alexandra was sheltered by Dmitry Stepanovich with his wife, and since then the girl began to be considered a member of the family. The Bortnyansky raised her as their own daughter.
last years of life
The court chapel remained the "brainchild" of Dmitry Stepanovich until the last years of his life. During these years, he taught and worked with wards with even greater pedantry, trying to maximize their singing.
All the days of Bortnyansky were filled to capacity. He walked home along the Moika embankment, crossed Senate Square and turned right at the corner of Millionnaya Street. When he reached home, he went up to his office, and sometimes sat for a long time in thought. Old age took its toll, Dmitry Stepanovich in recent years, very tired.
He worked hard on the complete publication of his works. He invested a lot of his own money in books, but he did not see many. Dmitry Stepanovich managed to publish only part of the choral concerts, which were written in his youth. The complete collection of his works from ten volumes appeared only in 1882, edited by Tchaikovsky.
Composer Dmitry Bortnyansky died in St. Petersburg on September 27 (October 10 according to the new calculus) in 1825. On this day, he summoned the Capella Choir. The composer asked to perform one of his concerts, and died quietly to his favorite sounds of music.
Dmitry Stepanovich was buried on Vasilyevsky Island, in the Smolensk cemetery. An obelisk and a monument were erected on the grave of the famous Russian composer. Then an act of vandalism followed, and in 1953 the burial was transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the Pantheon of cultural figures.
In memory of the great Russian composer, the Bortnyansky School was named after the Art School in Sumy, the Chernihiv Chamber Choir and the street in Lviv. In the homeland of Dmitry Stepanovich, in Glukhov, a monument was erected, which was sculpted by the sculptor I. Kolomiyets. In the 90s. Ukrainian artist Natalya Sviridenko created the Bortnyansky Trio (soprano, flute and harpsichord).
Legacy of the great composer
After the death of her husband, Anna Ivanovna handed over to the Chapel for storage manuscripts of works and engraved music boards. However, his choral concerts were performed more and more often, and secular compositions in the form of instrumental and opera works were gradually forgotten.
They remembered this music by Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky after many years, only in 1901, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. Early compositions were accidentally found in the Chapel, and their exhibition was arranged. Among them were such well-known works as Alkid, Falcon, Quint and others. The clavier collection has been preserved, which was dedicated to Princess Maria Fedorovna.
About secular writings again spoke another 50 years later. By this time, many of the composer's works had been lost forever, since after 1917 the Capella archive was disbanded into various repositories. Some of Bortnyansky's collections were never found. The works dedicated to Princess Maria Fedorovna also disappeared.