Alexander Dargomyzhsky: biography, interesting facts, creativity. “Dargomyzhsky is a great teacher of musical truth!”

Alexander Dargomyzhsky was born on February 2 (according to the new calendar, February 14), 1813. The researcher established that Alexander Dargomyzhsky was born in the village of Voskresenskoye (now Arkhangelsk) in the Tula province. His father, Sergei Nikolaevich, was illegitimate son rich landowner Alexei Petrovich Ladyzhensky, who owned the estate in the Chernsky district. Shortly after his birth, Sergei was taken into care and eventually adopted by Colonel Nikolai Ivanovich Boucharov, who brought him to his estate Dargomyzhka in the Tula province. As a result, the son of A.P. Ladyzhensky became Sergey Nikolaevich Dargomyzhsky (after the name of the estate of his stepfather N.I. Boucharov). Such a change of surname was required for admission to the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University. Mother, nee Princess Maria Borisovna Kozlovskaya, sister of the famous wit Peter Kozlovsky, married against the will of her parents.

Until the age of five, the boy did not speak, his late-formed voice remained forever high and slightly hoarse, which did not prevent him, however, from subsequently touching him to tears with the expressiveness and artistry of his vocal performance. In 1817, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where Dargomyzhsky's father got a position as the head of the office in a commercial bank, and he himself began to receive musical education. His first piano teacher was Louise Wolgeborn, then he began studying with Adrian Danilevsky. Finally, Franz Schoberlechner was Dargomyzhsky's teacher for three years. Having achieved a certain skill, Dargomyzhsky began to perform as a pianist at charity concerts and in private collections. By that time, he had already written a number of piano compositions, romances and other works, some of which were published.

In the autumn of 1827, Dargomyzhsky, following in his father's footsteps, entered the public service and thanks to diligence and a conscientious attitude to business, he quickly began to move forward career ladder. In the spring of 1835 he met Mikhail Glinka, with whom he played the piano four hands. Having visited the rehearsals of Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, which was being prepared for production, Dargomyzhsky decided to write a major stage work on his own. On the advice of Vasily Zhukovsky, the composer turned to the author's work, which was very popular in Russia in the late 1830s - Hugo's Notre Dame Cathedral. Dargomyzhsky used a French libretto written by Hugo himself for Louise Bertin, whose opera Esmeralda had been staged shortly before. By 1841, Dargomyzhsky completed the orchestration and translation of the opera, for which he also took the name Esmeralda, and handed over the score to the directorate. Imperial theaters. An opera written in the spirit French composers, has been waiting for its premiere for several years, since Italian productions were much more popular with the public. Despite the good dramatic and musical decision of Esmeralda, this opera left the stage some time after the premiere and was practically never staged in the future. In his autobiography, published in the newspaper Music and Theatre, published by A. N. Serov in 1867, Dargomyzhsky wrote:
Esmeralda lay in my briefcase for eight years. These eight years of vain waiting, and in the most ebullient years of my life, laid a heavy burden on my entire artistic activity.

melancholic waltz.

experiencesDargomyzhsky about the failure of "Esmeralda" was aggravated by the growing popularity of Glinka's works. The composer begins to give singing lessons (his students were exclusively women, while he did not charge them) and writes a number of romances for voice and piano, some of which were published and became very popular. In 1843, Dargomyzhsky retired, and soon went abroad.

He meets the leaders European composers that time. Returning to Russia in 1845, the composer is fond of studying Russian musical folklore, elements of which were clearly manifested in the romances and songs written during this period: “Darling Maiden”, “Fever”, “The Miller”, as well as in the opera “Mermaid”, which the composer began to write
in 1848."Mermaid" occupies a special place in the composer's work, written on the plot tragedy of the same name in the verses of A. S. Pushkin. The premiere of "Mermaid" took place in May 1856 in St. Petersburg. Biggest Russian musical critic of that time, Alexander Serov responded to it with a large-scale positive review.

Fantasy "Baba Yaga". Scherzo.

In 1859Dargomyzhsky is elected to the leadership of the newly founded Russian Musical Society, he meets a group of young composers, the central figure among whom was Mily Balakirev (this group would later become the "Mighty Handful"). Dargomyzhsky plans to write a new opera. The choice of the composer stops at the third of Pushkin's "Little Tragedies" - "The Stone Guest". Work on the opera, however, is proceeding rather slowly due to the creative crisis associated with the exit from the repertoire of the "Mermaid" theaters and the dismissive attitude of younger musicians. The composer again travels to Europe, where his orchestral piece"Cossack", as well as fragments from "Mermaid". Approvingly speaks about the work of Dargomyzhsky Franz Liszt.

"Bolero"

Returning to Russia, inspired by the success of his compositions abroad, Dargomyzhsky, with renewed vigor, takes up the composition " stone guest". The language he chose for this opera - built almost entirely on melodic recitatives with simple chordal accompaniment - interested the composers " mighty handful". However, the appointment of Dargomyzhsky to the post of head of the Russian Musical Society and the failure of the opera The Triumph of Bacchus, which he wrote back in 1848 and had not seen the stage for almost twenty years, weakened the composer's health, and on January 5, 1869, he died, leaving the opera unfinished. According to his will, The Stone Guest was completed by Cui and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Laura's first song from the opera "The Stone Guest"

Prince's aria from the opera "Mermaid"

Romance "I still love him, crazy"

Evgeny Nesterenko performs romances by A. Dargomyzhsky

1, Timofeev - "Ballad"

2. A.S. Pushkin - "I loved you"

3. M.Yu. Lermontov - I'm sad

Dargomyzhsky's innovation was not shared by his younger colleagues and was condescendingly considered oversights. The harmonic dictionary of the style of the late Dargomyzhsky, the individualized structure of consonances, their typical characteristic were, as in an ancient fresco recorded with later layers, “ennobled” beyond recognition by Rimsky-Korsakov’s edition, brought into line with the requirements of his taste, like Mussorgsky’s operas “Boris Godunov” and "Khovanshchina", also radically edited by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Dargomyzhsky was buried in the Necropolis of Masters of Arts at the Tikhvin Cemetery, not far from Glinka's grave.

Opera "The Stone Guest".

(1813-1869) Russian composer

A contemporary of Pushkin and Lermontov, a friend of Glinka and Varlamov, a senior colleague of Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Dargomyzhsky was a brilliant pianist and violinist, worked as a singing teacher in difficult times, collaborated with the Iskra magazine, and was chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society. But for us, he is primarily a composer, one of the founders of classical Russian music.

A. Dargomyzhsky was born in a difficult time for Russia: Patriotic War 1812. Their family then lived in the Tula province with relatives. Returning home, Dargomyzhsky's father threw himself into business. In May 1816, a commission was set up to investigate abuses in the distribution of government benefits for the devastated Smolensk province. Participation in this commission brought S. Dargomyzhsky not only the respect and gratitude of fellow countrymen, but also the rank of collegiate secretary and the Order of St. Anna of the third degree. This was followed by an invitation to serve in St. Petersburg - in the State Commercial Bank. In a new place, Sergei Nikolayevich advanced to the rank of court adviser, but in 1826 he was fired without any explanation. After a long red tape, he received a position as an official for special assignments at the Ministry of the Imperial Court.

A modest salary, of course, was not enough to support big family and educating children, but helped by income from the estates of his wife and her brother. Dargomyzhsky's mother came from a family of princes Kozlovsky. She was an intelligent woman, endowed with a lively and cheerful character, a kind and loving heart. She got the usual for that time home education, had a penchant for literature, composed poems that were even published in magazines and almanacs (one of them was placed in A. Delvig's almanac "Northern Flowers" in 1825).

Parents zealously cared about the fate of their children and sought to give them a versatile education. On the recommendation of acquaintances, the best teachers were invited to the house, and the father never spared money for this. great attention in the Dargomyzhsky family they devoted themselves to music. My brother played the violin, my sister played the harp. In 1819 Sasha was taught to play the piano. Noticing the child's inclination towards music, the parents invited a more experienced teacher.

In addition to the fact that the Dargomyzhsky children studied literature, history, foreign languages, parents encouraged them to compose poetry, to translate from French. Children's literary albums were full of fables, parables, epigrams. Mother wrote small plays, which were played by the whole family.

For three years, from 1828 to 1831, Sasha studied with the Austrian musician Schoberlechner. Already in the thirties, Dargomyzhsky was considered a very strong pianist in St. Petersburg. Although the father, not without reason, feared that music lessons son, even the most successful, will not be able to provide him financially. Therefore, he began to worry early about his service career.

When Alexander was fourteen years old, he was appointed to the public service. In September 1827, the young official took up his duties in the office, at first without monetary reward- he began to pay a salary only two years later. True, this service was not too burdensome for Dargomyzhsky. He served under the command of his father's good friends, besides, they were great music lovers and did not interfere with Alexander's art. IN track record the zeal of the young clerk was noted, and he was regularly promoted: in 1829 Dargomyzhsky became collegiate registrar, three years later - the provincial secretary, and then - the junior assistant controller. After that, he moved to the department of the Ministry of Finance - a clerical officer of the State Treasury. He finished his service in 1843, having retired with the rank of titular adviser.

In the thirties, disaster struck in the Dargomyzhsky family: two sons and a son-in-law died, a few years later a daughter and her child died. Because of these sad events, the Dargomyzhskys almost did not accept anyone, and therefore the grown-up Alexander, accustomed to home concerts from childhood, often visited literary and musical salons of his acquaintances. Watching with interest metropolitan life, young Dargomyzhsky was getting closer and closer to the circle creative intelligentsia Petersburg. He visited the houses of the poet I. Kozlov, V. Odoevsky, visited the literary salon of the writer and historian N.M. Karamzin, where his widow and daughters led brilliant meetings. Here he played the piano and sang his romances with Karamzin's daughter, accompanied. It is believed that here he could also meet Lermontov, whose poems he loved very much. A huge role in the creative life of Dargomyzhsky was played by many years of friendship with M.I. Glinka.

Long conversations with Glinka and other composers strengthened Dargomyzhsky in his decision to write onera, and he set to work. He wrote his first opera Esmeralda for about four years and completed work on it in 1842, but it was staged in Moscow in Bolshoi Theater only five years later. I must say that the composer himself was not very pleased with his music.

In 1844 Dargomyzhsky went abroad for the first time. He visited Berlin, then went to Brussels, to Paris, played excerpts from his opera, romances, piano works. Returning to his homeland, the musician again plunged into work. At this time he wrote many romances, gave charity concerts in memory of his friend, composer A. Varlamov, to support his family. But the main thing for him was work on the new opera "Mermaid". In 1855, Dargomyzhsky finished writing the opera, and on May 4, 1856, it premiered. However, this time the composer was dissatisfied with the staging of his work, the sound of the orchestra.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began to contribute to the democratic magazine Iskra. He showed the gift of a satirist, and he mostly wrote feuilletons in collaboration with one of the journalists. During these years, Dargomyzhsky decided to write satirical novel"Confessions of a Liberal". However, this work remained unfinished, only the opening page of the novel is known.

In 1864, another misfortune happened: Dargomyzhsky's father, his support and chief adviser, died. Not having own family, the composer lived all his life side by side with his father, whom he loved and respected very much. The father conducted the economic and financial affairs of his son, he was also responsible for managing the estate of his late wife, from where the family received the main means of subsistence.

In the last years of his life, the composer worked hard on the opera The Stone Guest, completely preserving the text of A.S. Pushkin. But he already felt unwell and more than once told his friends that he would like to transfer The Stone Guest for completion and staging to Caesar Antonovich Cui. He asked Rimsky-Korsakov to instrument the opera.

Soberly assessing the patient's condition, the friends still did not lose hope that Dargomyzhsky would have time to complete the work. At some moments he felt better, and then in the composer's apartment they again played and sang, and not only the works of the owner of the house. So, in November 1868, Mussorgsky introduced his friends to fragments from new opera"Boris Godunov", which Dargomyzhsky accepted with keen interest and said that Mussorgsky in this opera goes much further than him. He especially liked the scenes Novodevichy Convent and in the tavern.

Temporary improvement, however, was soon replaced by a new onset of illness, which eventually bedridden the composer. Now he wrote lying down, barely holding a naughty pencil with weak hands, suffering from unbearable pain in his chest: as he himself said, every breath "cut with a knife." And yet he continued to write, in a hurry to finish his last work.

The composer died at the very beginning of 1869. On January 9, a memorial service was held at the Semyonovskaya Church on Mokhovaya Street, which brought together the entire musical Petersburg: composers, Dargomyzhsky's colleagues in the Russian Musical Society, his students - students of the conservatory, friends, artists and simply admirers of the composer's talent. Dargomyzhsky was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Fulfilling his will, the composers C. Cui and N. Rimsky-Korsakov completed his opera The Stone Guest in September 1869. Then Cui proposed to the directorate of the Mariinsky Theater that the opera be staged with the line-up of performers that the author himself wanted to see. This opera has become the pinnacle of creativity of the talented composer, it clearly shows the author's desire to create a strong fusion of music and text, to look for new operatic forms, and above all a special, melodic recitative.

Evaluating all the work of the last year of Dargomyzhsky's life, the Russian music critic Stasov wrote: “This victory of the spirit over the body, this triumph of the spirit over the most unbearable suffering, this boundless devotion to the cause, which alone is full of the soul, is this not greatness! Indeed, such colossal creations as the "Stone Guest" can only come from the head of the one for whom its creation creative spirit- all, all life, all love, all his existence.

Since then, the music of Dargomyzhsky, whom Mussorgsky called "a great teacher musical truth", is one of best pages Russian classical culture.

In 1813, on February 2, Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was born in the Tula province. Unfortunately, the exact name of the village where the future composer was born is unknown. In the same year, a few months after the birth of the boy, the Dargomyzhskys left the Tula province and went to an estate near Smolensk. It is located near the city of Vyazma. It is in the Tverdunovo estate that the very young Alexander spends the first years of his childhood. At the age of 3, Sasha moved with his family to Smolensk, and a year later - to St. Petersburg. The estate of the parents, Tverdunovo, remains forever in the memory of the composer. Much later, at the age of 48, he will return here. He will return to distribute to the former forced peasants not only their shares of land, but all the land that they had to cultivate before. He also did not raise the land tax. This behavior of a wealthy landowner caused bewilderment and gossip.

From a young age, Alexander liked to visit musical performances, opera. At the age of 22, a fate-forming acquaintance took place in his life. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka became his true friend and inspiration. It is thanks to communication with Mikhail Ivanovich that Alexander Sergeevich decides to write a major work. Unfortunately, his opera Esmeralda waited a very long time to be staged, and practically did not win recognition. This becomes a serious mental trauma for the composer.

After the unsuccessful production of the opera, Alexander Sergeevich devotes himself to writing romances. Many of them (for example, “I have passed 16 years old”) were subsequently published and became known.

In 1843 the composer left the country and returned only in 1845. Dargomyzhsky's next opera, The Mermaid, which was created from 1848 to 1855, was staged only in May 1856. It was a success! Positive reviews critics greatly influenced the further work of Alexander Sergeevich. Later, when the excitement from the production noticeably subsides, and Dargomyzhsky again begins to experience a crisis in his work, he decides to go to Europe again.

Seeing how his “Mermaid” is appreciated in Europe, Alexander Sergeevich returns to Russia and begins to actively work on the work “The Stone Guest”. However, the composer's weakened health, as well as his position in the leadership of the musical society, do not allow the composer to complete the work he has begun. In January 1869 he dies. The Stone Guest was subsequently completed. The production also took place, but only in 1872 in St. Petersburg.

Biography details

Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky, musical figure, teacher and author musical works mid-19th century, was born on February 2 (14), 1813 in the Russian outback, in the Tula province (Belevsky district, the village of Troitskoye). However, in terms of the place of birth of the future musician, there are discrepancies. According to some sources, this place is the village of Voskresenskoye, Chernsky district, in the Tula province. The father of the future musician and composer, Sergei Nikolaevich, was an illegitimate descendant of a wealthy landowner and bore the surname Ladyzhensky, who was later sent to be raised by Boucharov (an army colonel) and lived in his estate Dargomyzhka, hence the future name of Alexander Sergeevich. The composer's mother, Maria Borisovna Kozlovskaya, of princely origin, married Sergei Nikolaevich against the will of her parents. The family was big little Sasha She had five more children.

In 1817 the whole family moved to the capital, the father got a job in St. Petersburg. Alexander gets the opportunity to study music. In 1821, the well-known musician A. T. Danilevsky began to conduct musical classes with Alexander. For classes with the boy, the parents invited the famous pianist Franz Schoberlechner. In addition, the serf musician Vorontsov, who introduced the boy to the violin and encouraged his composing experiments, Benedikt Tseybikh, who developed Dargomyzhsky's vocal abilities, had a significant influence on the formation of the future author.

In 1827, the young man began to work in the office, in the public service, where he was advancing quite successfully. During this period, he performs a lot of works by leading Italian authors and musicians at home. The composer was greatly influenced by his acquaintance and work with M.I. Glinka, which took place in the spring of 1835.

In 1841, Dargomyzhsky finished work on his first major work, the opera Esmeralda, which did not have any particular success with the public. During this period, he writes romances, gives vocal lessons (and often on an absolutely free basis). After a couple of years, the composer leaves the service and visits Europe for two years, gets acquainted with various composers, authors and musicians of that time, studies musical material and folklore. He writes the opera The Triumph of Bacchus. A prominent place among the works of Alexander Sergeevich is occupied by the opera "Mermaid", written in the period from 1848 to 1855.

In the 60s, Dargomyzhsky worked on the operas Mazepa and Rogdan, which remained unfinished, wrote works for orchestra, vocal chamber works and works for piano. And in 1866 - 1869, the composer was working on his most famous creation, the opera "The Stone Guest", based on one of the "Little Tragedies" (written by A. S. Pushkin). Your own famous work the author does not have time to complete, he completed work on the "Stone Guest" by Ts. A. Cui.

Completed my earth path famous domestic composer on February 5 (17), 1869, having lived for 56 years. Last days he spent completely alone - the great Russian composer had neither a family nor heirs.

Composers and musicians various countries showed themselves different ways. Mozart and Beethoven, Rimsky - Korsakov and Glinka - they are all great and their actions and knowledge were imprinted in the development of classical music

Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky, whose brief biography is presented in the article, is a great Russian composer who brought a lot of new things to Russian classical music. The years of his life - 1813-1869. Dargomyzhsky was born on February 14, 1813. His biography begins in p. Troitsky (Dargomyzhe) Tula province, where he was born. His father served as an official, and his mother Alexandra was an amateur poetess.

How Dargomyzhsky spent his early childhood

Biography, summary works, Interesting Facts about the composer - all this is of interest to numerous admirers of his work. Let's start from the beginning and talk about early childhood future composer.

Alexander Sergeevich spent it in the estate of his parents, which was located in. After some time, the family moved to St. Petersburg. got here home education Alexander Dargomyzhsky. His biography of this time is marked by 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 (his portrait is presented above), who gave him theoretical manuscripts brought from Professor Dehn from Berlin. They contributed to the expansion of Alexander Sergeevich's knowledge in the field of counterpoint and harmony. At the same time, Dargomyzhsky began to study orchestration. His biography continues with the creation of the first independent works.

First works, students of Dargomyzhsky

The first piano pieces and romances were published in the 1830s. Romances based on Pushkin's words have the greatest artistic value: "Night Zephyr", "Vertograd", "Young Man and Maiden", "I Loved You", etc. And in later years vocal music was one of the main creative interests of Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who happily gave vocal lessons, and for free. A huge number of his students. Among them, L.N. Belenitsyna (Karmalina), Bibibina, Shilovskaya, Girs, Barteneva, Purholt (Molas), Princess Manvelova. Dargomyzhsky was always inspired by female sympathy, especially singers. About the latter, he half-jokingly said that if it were not for them, it would not be worth becoming a composer.

Opera "Esmeralda"

The opera "Esmeralda" (years of creation - 1837-41) is considered the first serious work of Alexander Sergeevich. The libretto for it was previously created by Hugo himself famous novel This work, for all its immaturity (it was written in the style French opera) testifies to the realistic aspirations of Dargomyzhsky. Esmeralda was never published. In St. Petersburg, in the library of the Imperial Theaters, there is a clavier, a handwritten score and an autograph of Dargomyzhsky. A few years later, this work was staged. The premiere took place in St. Petersburg in 1851, and in Moscow in 1847.

Romances of Dargomyzhsky

Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was dissatisfied with the production of the opera. His biography is marked by a turn in his work. "Esmeralda", apparently, disappointed the composer. Dargomyzhsky again began to compose romances, whose biography was marked by their writing before. Together with early works new ones (only 30 romances) were published in 1844. They brought Dargomyzhsky fame. The best romances of the 1840s are works based on Pushkin's poems: "Night Marshmallow", "Tear", "Wedding", "I Loved You". In 1843, Dargomyzhsky's cantata "The Triumph of Bacchus" was created to the verses of the same poet. This work was presented in 1846 at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater at a directorate concert. However, the author was refused permission to stage "The Triumph of Bacchus" in the form of an opera created in 1848. Only much later, only in 1867, was a work created by the composer Dargomyzhsky presented in Moscow. His biography continues with the next period of creativity.

Journey and new trends in the composer's work

New trends in Dargomyzhsky's work appeared in the second half of the 1840s and early 1850s. They were associated with the birth and flourishing in our country of the so-called natural school in art and literature. Alexander Sergeevich began to be attracted mainly by folk stories. In addition, his interest in folklore became even greater. Dargomyzhsky took up the processing of a peasant song. We can say that the aggravation of the national consciousness at that time is due to the fact that the composer was abroad in the period from 1844 to 1845. He visited Germany, Vienna, Brussels and Paris. Dargomyzhsky went there as an admirer of everything French, and returned to St. Petersburg as an adherent of Russian, as in the case of Glinka.

It was to this time that the final design of "intonational realism" belongs - creative method composer (reproduction of intonations of speech is the main means by which images are created). The composer said that he strives to ensure that the sound expresses the word. In the song "Melnik" the principle professed by Alexander Dargomyzhsky was put into practice. short biography it is marked by the active implementation of "intonational realism". From the "Melnik" song to Pushkin's poems, threads stretch to "The Stone Guest" - an opera where the principles of musical recitation were embodied. "Musical speech" appears in the romances "You will soon forget me" and "Both boring and sad."

Opera "Mermaid"

The opera "Mermaid", created in 1855 based on the drama by A.S. Pushkin, is central work of this period. It truly describes tragic fate peasant girl who was deceived by the prince. Dargomyzhsky in this work created a genre that raises the problem of social inequality (popular musical drama). On May 4, 1856, "Mermaid" was first presented at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater. It was staged with old sets, sloppy performances, inappropriate costumes, inappropriate bills. It is not surprising that this opera was not a success. 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. The new version of the opera was a huge success. It was included in the repertoire of many theaters and 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 textbooks contains only the most basic information about him. Meanwhile, Dargomyzhsky was not only a composer. The musical and social activities of Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky began in the late 1850s. In 1859, the composer became a member of the committee of the RMS (Russian Musical Society). Participating in the commission that considered the compositions sent to the competition, he contributed to the development of Russian music. Dargomyzhsky also participated in the creation of the charter of the first conservatory in our country. At the same time, Alexander Sergeevich became close to the composers, who later became members of the "Mighty Handful" (Balakirev Circle). The result was mutual creative enrichment.

Cooperation with Iskra

Dargomyzhsky, whose biography and work are closely connected throughout his life, in 1859 collaborated with Iskra. It was an influential satirical magazine at the time. Cooperation left an imprint on the further work of the composer. Alexander Sergeevich created music to the verses of P. I. Veinberg and V. S. Kurochkin - poets who were published in Iskra. Dargomyzhsky's innovative romances dating back to this time are permeated with social content: "Worm", "Titular Counselor", "Old Corporal". At the same time, the composer continued to study with amateur singers, and also created lyrical romances: "I remember deeply", "What is in my name to you", "We parted proudly".

Dargomyzhsky's last opera

Composer's attention last years his life was again riveted to the opera. Having decided to carry out a radical 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 Pushkin's text. Dargomyzhsky abandoned historical forms of opera: vocal ensembles, extended arias. His goal was the continuity of the musical action. The recitative-ariose recitation was taken as a basis, that is, the opera is almost completely built on melodic 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" according to the will of the composer. He also created the introduction to this opera, which was orchestrated by N. Rimsky-Korsakov.

Meaning of "Stone Guest"

"The Stone Guest" through the efforts of Alexander Dargomyzhsky's friends was staged on February 16, 1872 at Mariinsky stage in St. Petersburg. In 1876, the opera was resumed, but did not stay in the repertoire. To this day, it is still not appreciated. Not only among domestic composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky) did the innovative principles of Alexander Sergeevich's final opera find followers. She was appreciated and foreign musicians. In particular, Ch. Gounod wanted to create his own opera, taking The Stone Guest as a model. In the work "Pelléas and Melisandre" K. Debussy relied on the principles of the reform that Dargomyzhsky carried out. His brief biography would be incomplete if we did not talk about orchestral works Alexander Sergeevich.

Orchestral works by Dargomyzhsky

The brightest among them can be considered "Baba Yaga", "Chukhon fantasy" and "Little Russian Cossack". household images of these works are exacerbated by the composer with the help of a grotesque exaggerated interpretation. It is from here that the novelty of the artistic techniques. They found 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).

A brief biography of him today is studied in all music schools Russia. And the works of Alexander Sergeevich 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 his main works and achievements. We will be glad if you want to continue your acquaintance with Russian classical music. Very interesting is such a representative of it as Dargomyzhsky (biography and creativity). You can now briefly talk about his life and legacy.

Russian composer Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was born on February 2 (14), 1813 in the village of Troitsky, Belevsky district, Tula province, in the ancient noble family. Here he spent his early childhood. His father, Sergei Nikolaevich, was a poor nobleman. Mother, Maria Borisovna Kozlovskaya, was a nee princess. She was well educated; her poems were published in almanacs and magazines. Some of the poems she wrote for her children were included in the collection: “A Gift to My Daughter” (“Children's Almanac”, St. Petersburg, 1827).

In 1817, the Dargomyzhsky family moved to St. Petersburg, where the future composer spent his childhood. Alexander did not speak at all until the age of 5, and his late-formed voice remained forever hoarse and squeaky, which, however, did not prevent him from subsequently touching him to tears with the artistry and expressiveness of his vocal performance.

Alexander Sergeevich never studied in any educational institution, but received a thorough home education, in which the main place was occupied by music. Creative skills he showed up at an early age. Music was his passion. In 1822, the boy began to learn to play the violin, and later the piano. Already at the age of eleven, Dargomyzhsky preferred his own plays. Having completed his studies in piano playing with the once famous musician F. Schoberlechner, at the age of seventeen Dargomyzhsky became known to the St. Petersburg public as a virtuoso musician. In addition, he studied singing with B.L. Zeibich and violin playing by P.G. Vorontsov, participating from the age of 14 in the quartet ensemble.

By the age of eighteen, Dargomyzhsky was the author of many works in various genres. His earliest works - rondo, variations for pianoforte, romances to the words of Zhukovsky and Pushkin - were not found in his papers, but were published during his lifetime in 1824-1828. In the 1830s, Dargomyzhsky was known in the musical circles of St. Petersburg as a "strong pianist" and also as the author of several piano pieces brilliant salon style and romances: "I'm sorry, uncle", "The Maiden and the Rose", "Oh, ma charmante" and others, not much different from the style of romances by Verstovsky, Alyabyev and Varlamov, with an admixture of French influence. Many of the young composer's musical works were printed.

In 1831, Dargomyzhsky entered the civil service in the Ministry Imperial court. However, he does not forget about music lessons. In 1834 he met M.I. Glinka. This acquaintance played a decisive role in the choice life path for Dargomyzhsky. It was Glinka who persuaded him to seriously study theory and handed over to him the theoretical manuscripts brought from Berlin from Professor Den, contributed to the expansion of knowledge in the field of harmony and counterpoint; then Dargomyzhsky began to study orchestration. Glinka's advice helped Dargomyzhsky master the technique of composing. The works written by him in the 1830s testify to the original implementation of musical traditions Glinka. In the 1830s and 40s, many romances and songs were written, among them - whole line romances on verses by A.S. Pushkin: "Wedding", "I loved you", "Vetrograd", "Night Zephyr", "A tear", "Youth and Maiden", "The fire of desire burns in the blood" who had big success at the public. In this regard, in 1843 they were issued by a separate collection.

In 1839 Dargomyzhsky wrote his first opera "Esmeralda". The opera turned out to be weak and imperfect. However, Dargomyzhsky's features were already noticeable in this work: the desire for expressiveness vocal style, drama. Esmeralda was staged only in 1847 in Moscow and in 1851 in St. Petersburg. “Those eight years of vain waiting and in the most ebullient years of my life laid a heavy burden on my entire artistic activity,” writes Dargomyzhsky. Not very bright in music, "Esmeralda" could not resist on stage. This failure stopped opera Dargomyzhsky. He took up writing romances, which were published in 1844.

In 1844-1845, Dargomyzhsky made a great trip to Europe (Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Vienna), where he met J. Meyerbeer, J.F. Halevi and G. Donizetti. Personal acquaintance with European musicians influenced his further development. Having left as an adherent of everything French, Dargomyzhsky returned to Petersburg a much greater champion of everything Russian than before (as happened with Glinka).

After a trip abroad in 1844-1845, Dargomyzhsky lived in St. Petersburg. In the 1840s he wrote a large cantata with choirs to a text by Pushkin "The Triumph of Bacchus". It was performed at the Directorate's concert at the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg in 1846, but the author was refused permission to stage it as an opera, and only much later (in 1867) was it staged in Moscow. Disappointed by the refusal to stage Bacchus, Dargomyzhsky closed himself in a close circle of his admirers and admirers, continuing to compose small vocal ensembles(duets, trios, quartets) and romances, published at the same time and made popular.

Dargomyzhsky was engaged in a lot of private musical and pedagogical activities, taught singing. Among his students, L.N. Belenitsyna, M.V. Shilovskaya, Girs, Bilibina, Pavlova, Barteneva, A.N. Purholt, Princess Manvelova.

In 1848 Dargomyzhsky began work on a lyric-dramatic opera "Mermaid", to the text of Pushkin, and lasted 8 years. It is worth noting that he conceived this opera as early as 1843, but the composition progressed extremely slowly. This work opened new page in the history of Russian music. It is distinguished by psychological depth, accuracy in the depiction of characters. Dargomyzhsky for the first time in Russian opera embodied not only social conflicts of that time, but also the internal contradictions of the human personality. P.I. Tchaikovsky highly appreciated this work, believing that in a number of Russian operas it ranks first after Glinka's brilliant operas. In April 1853, in the hall of the Noble Assembly in St. Petersburg, Dargomyzhsky gives big concert of his works, enthusiastically received by the public, and in 1855 the "Mermaid" was completed.

In May 1956, the first performance of The Mermaid took place at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg under the direction of K. Lyadov, but was not successful. The opera lasted only 26 performances until 1861, but resumed in 1865 with Platonova and Komissarzhevsky, it was a huge success and has since been considered one of the most beloved Russian operas. The Rusalka was first staged in Moscow in 1858. In this opera, Dargomyzhsky consciously cultivated Russian musical style created by Glinka. It is known that after the initial failure of the "Mermaid" Dargomyzhsky fell into depression. According to the story of his friend, V.P. Engelhardt, he intended to burn the scores of "Esmeralda" and "Mermaid", and only the formal refusal of the directorate to give them to the author, supposedly for correction, saved the scores from destruction. During these years, Dargomyzhsky wrote a lot of romances based on Pushkin's poems. But other genres also appeared: romances of a lyrical monologue, comedy skits.

The last period of Dargomyzhsky's work was perhaps the most significant and original. Its beginning is marked by the appearance of a number of original vocal pieces, distinguished by their comicality ( "Titular Advisor" 1859), drama ( "Old Corporal", 1858; "Paladin", 1859), subtle irony ( "Worm", to the text of Beranger-Kurochkin, 1858) and always remarkable in terms of strength and truth of vocal expressiveness. These vocal pieces were a new step forward in the history of Russian romance after Glinka and served as models for the vocal masterpieces of Mussorgsky, who wrote on one of them a dedication to Dargomyzhsky - "the great teacher of musical truth." The comic streak of Dargomyzhsky also manifested itself in the region orchestral composition. His orchestral fantasies belong to the same period: "Baba Yaga, or From the Volga nach Riga" (1862), "Little Russian Cossack"(1864), inspired by Glinka's Kamarinskaya, and "Fantasy on Finnish Themes" ("Chukhon fantasy", 1867).

The new vocal verse of Dargomyzhsky influenced the development of the vocal style of young composers, which especially affected Cui's work and Mussorgsky. Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin were particularly affected by Dargomyzhsky's new opera techniques, which were the practical implementation of the thesis expressed by him in a letter (1857) to Karmalina: “I want the sound to directly express the word; I want the truth." These words of Dargomyzhsky became his creative credo.

In the early 1860s, Dargomyzhsky set to work on a magic-comic opera "Rogdan", but wrote only five issues. A little later he conceived an opera "Mazepa", on the plot of Pushkin's "Poltava", but, having written a duet of Orlik with Kochubey ( "There you are again, despicable person"), and stopped there. I lacked the determination to expend energy on a large work, the fate of which I was not sure.

In the period from 1864 to 1865, Dargomyzhsky made another trip abroad. He visited Warsaw, Leipzig, Brussels, Paris. The concert performance of his works causes indescribable delight of the public. But the main impetus for the extraordinary awakening of creativity was given to Dargomyzhsky by his young comrades, the composers of the "Balakirev circle", whose talents he quickly appreciated. Dargomyzhsky played very important role in their formation, rendered big influence on their further work (especially M.P. Mussorgsky), becoming " godfather"The Mighty Handful." Young composers, especially Cui, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, discussed ideas together opera reform. Their energy was communicated to Dargomyzhsky himself; he decided to boldly embark on the path of operatic reform and sang (in his words) the swan song, starting with extraordinary zeal to compose his last opera - "Stone Guest", setting an innovative task - to write an opera in full text literary work without changing a single line of Pushkin's text or adding a single word to it.

All the last years of his life, Dargomyzhsky worked on The Stone Guest. There are no arias or choirs in this opera, it consists exclusively of talented and original melodic recitatives. Their goal is not only to reproduce the psychological truth, but also in the artistic reproduction of human speech with all its shades with the help of music. Dargomyzhsky's disease (a rapidly developing aneurysm and hernia) did not stop creativity. In recent weeks he has been writing in bed with a pencil. Young friends, gathering at the patient's, performed scene after scene of the opera as it was being created, and with their enthusiasm gave new strength to the fading composer. Dargomyzhsky did not stop working, the opera was almost over. The death of the composer prevented him from completing the music only for the last seventeen verses. According to Dargomyzhsky's will, he completed Cui's The Stone Guest; he also wrote the introduction to the opera, borrowing from it thematic material, and orchestrated the opera Rimsky-Korsakov. Through the efforts of Dargomyzhsky's young friends, members of the Mighty Handful, the opera The Stone Guest was staged in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Stage on February 16, 1872 and resumed in 1876. The "Stone Guest" was received coldly, it seemed too complicated and dry. However, the significance of The Stone Guest, which logically completes the reformist ideas of Dargomyzhsky, cannot be overestimated.

Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky is one of the founders of the Russian classical composer school, creator of lyrical operatic drama. He died on January 5 (17), 1869 in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.