British composers. Outstanding representatives of English music

World's Greatest Composers of All Time: Chronological and Alphabetical Listings, References and Works

100 Great Composers of the World

List of composers in chronological order

1. Josquin Despres (1450-1521)
2. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
3. Claudio Monteverdi (1567 -1643)
4. Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
5. Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
6. Henry Purcell (1658-1695)
7. Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
8. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
9. Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
10. Georg Handel (1685-1759)
11. Domenico Scarlatti (1685 -1757)
12. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
13. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1713-1787)
14. Joseph Haydn (1732 –1809)
15. Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)
16. Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (1751-1825)
17. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 –1791)
18. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 -1826)
19. Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 -1837)
20. Nicollo Paganini (1782-1840)
21. Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791 -1864)
22. Carl Maria von Weber (1786 -1826)
23. Gioacchino Rossini (1792 -1868)
24. Franz Schubert (1797 -1828)
25. Gaetano Donizetti (1797 -1848)
26. Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
27. Hector Berlioz (1803 -1869)
28. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 -1857)
29. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809 -1847)
30. Fryderyk Chopin (1810 -1849)
31. Robert Schumann (1810 -1856)
32. Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky (1813 -1869)
33. Franz Liszt (1811 -1886)
34. Richard Wagner (1813 -1883)
35. Giuseppe Verdi (1813 -1901)
36. Charles Gounod (1818 -1893)
37. Stanislav Moniuszko (1819 -1872)
38. Jacques Offenbach (1819 -1880)
39. Alexander Nikolaevich Serov (1820 -1871)
40. Cesar Franck (1822 -1890)
41. Bedrich Smetana (1824 -1884)
42. Anton Bruckner (1824 -1896)
43. Johann Strauss (1825 -1899)
44. Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein (1829 -1894)
45. Johannes Brahms (1833 -1897)
46. ​​Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833 -1887)
47. Camille Saint-Saens (1835 -1921)
48. Leo Delibes (1836 -1891)
49. Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837 -1910)
50. Georges Bizet (1838 -1875)
51. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839 -1881)
52. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 -1893)
53. Antonin Dvorak (1841 -1904)
54. Jules Massenet (1842 -1912)
55. Edvard Grieg (1843 -1907)
56. Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 -1908)
57. Gabriel Fauré (1845 -1924)
58. Leos Janacek (1854 -1928)
59. Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855 -1914)
60. Sergei Ivanovich Taneev (1856 -1915)
61. Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857 -1919)
62. Giacomo Puccini (1858 -1924)
63. Hugo Wolf (1860 -1903)
64. Gustav Mahler (1860 -1911)
65. Claude Debussy (1862 -1918)
66. Richard Strauss (1864 -1949)
67. Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov (1864 -1956)
68. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865 -1936)
69. Jean Sibelius (1865 -1957)
70. Franz Lehár (1870–1945)
71. Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin (1872 -1915)
72. Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov (1873 -1943)
73. Arnold Schoenberg (1874 -1951)
74. Maurice Ravel (1875 -1937)
75. Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 -1951)
76. Bela Bartok (1881 -1945)
77. Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (1881 -1950)
78. Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky (1882 -1971)
79. Anton Webern (1883 -1945)
80. Imre Kalman (1882 -1953)
81. Alban Berg (1885 -1935)
82. Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (1891 -1953)
83. Arthur Honegger (1892 -1955)
84. Darius Millau (1892 -1974)
85. Carl Orff (1895 -1982)
86. Paul Hindemith (1895 -1963)
87. George Gershwin (1898–1937)
88. Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (1900 -1955)
89. Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (1903 -1978)
90. Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich (1906 -1975)
91. Tikhon Nikolaevich Khrennikov (born in 1913)
92. Benjamin Britten (1913 -1976)
93. Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov (1915 -1998)
94. Leonard Bernstein (1918 -1990)
95. Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin (born in 1932)
96. Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933)
97. Alfred Garievich Schnittke (1934 -1998)
98. Bob Dylan (b. 1941)
99. John Lennon (1940-1980) and Paul McCartney (b. 1942)
100. Sting (b. 1951)

MASTERPIECES OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

The most famous composers in the world

List of composers in alphabetical order

English composers, like many others, gave us something wonderful - music. Of course, many composers other than English ones have done this, but now we will talk about English ones. Their music has a certain charm, and each composer has his own special approach to works.

The beginning of the development of music in England

Until the 4th century, England, from the point of view of art historians, was considered one of the most "least musical" countries. Based on this fact, it can be said that the works English composers classical music, and in other respects of any other, did not seem to connoisseurs of beauty to be something worthy of attention and respect. But even despite the opinion of skeptics and art historians, England had and has great and talented composers, whose names are known to everyone, and melodies and works are valued not only in the country itself, but also abroad.

The first fame of composers of those times

Famous English composers began to appear and become famous somewhere in the X-XV centuries. Of course, music appeared there much earlier, but the works were not very famous, and the names of composers have not survived to this day, just like their works. English composers of classical music first appeared and became somewhat famous in the 11th century. The first works appeared almost in the same period as the European ones. English composers of classical music conveyed stories about Celtic or simply military campaigns in their works. The works described the life of ordinary, or not quite, people living or having any connection with the Celtic islands and tribes.

After the adoption of Christianity, at the end of the 6th century, English composers of classical music began to actively develop their skills in the field of music, using church themes for this, and a little later, at the beginning and middle of the 7th century, domestic and state ones. Thus, it becomes clear that English music was dedicated to religion and the various military merits of the country.

The popularity of English classical composers in modern times

As you can see, music composers were not very popular in the fifth and seventh centuries, but how much of such composers are preferred now? Of course, in our time, they do not pay due attention to such music and often the latest musical novelties happen instead of the works of great composers. But the music of famous English composers can be heard in our time - in opera houses or simply by finding a beautiful musical phenomenon in the Internet. Today you will get acquainted with some of the most famous composers, whose works are known in many countries and on many continents. The music of English composers, of course, has distribution in England itself and abroad, but it does not have such a large number admirers, as then.

Who is Edward Benjamin Britten?

Benjamin Britten is a British composer of classical English music born in the 20th century. Benjamin was born in 1913 in Lowestoft. Benjamin is not only a composer, but also an excellent musician, namely a conductor and professional pianist. He also tried many musical directions as a composer, his repertoire included vocal and piano pieces and opera performances. By the way, it was the third repertoire that became one of his most basic. Like any other famous composer, Edward Benjamin Britten has many different masterpieces behind him. opera music and plays.

The plays of Benjamin Britten and his popularity

The most famous play, which is staged in theaters in our time - "Noah's Ark". Judging by the title, and also by the plot of the play, it is easy to understand that the title itself confirms the fact that many works written before the 20th century and at its beginning often had a religious theme. Speaking of Benjamin, it is impossible not to mention his significance among composers of the mid-twentieth century. He was the most famous composer of the 20th century, one might even say that it was he who exalted the significance and beauty of English musical masterpieces"to heaven". After Edward's death for a long time England "did not see" such talents.

Who is Gustav Holst?

Gustav Holst is one of the most famous English composers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Gustav was born in 1830 and to this day he has retained his popularity, and his creations are still famous for lovers of beauty. The symphonies and melodies of Gustav Holst are now not uncommon, they are very easy to get in our time: there are many works on the Internet in in electronic format, and to purchase a disc with a collection of works by the great master is as easy as shelling pears.

Plays and works of Gustav Holst, their role in cultural institutions

You will say: “He was great and talented, but is he popular and are his creations popular now?” It is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to your question, because, like any musician, and especially the famous English composer of those times, he did not remain a favorite of the public, and people preferred musical novelties to his works. And no matter how famous and beloved by the public Gustav may be, in our time, few will remember his name. But it is impossible not to include him in our list, because once his example was an ideal for beginning English composers who dream of world fame and fame.

In conclusion, I would like to say that although English classical composers and their music are not currently successful and almost no one prefers such a magnificent genre as classical, genres, works and their authors still have admirers, the number of which is incredibly great for beginners and Not only classical composers. And remember: the classic is eternal and unchanging, because what it has remained for many centuries is the same now.

In 1904, the German critic Oscar Adolf Hermann Schmitz published a book about Great Britain, calling it (both the book and the country itself) "A Land Without Music" (Das Land Ohne Musik). Perhaps he was right. Since Handel's death in 1759, Britain has made negligible contributions to the development of classical music. True, Schmitz did not come out with his condemnation at the right time: the 20th century witnessed the revival of British music, which manifested itself in the formation of a new national style. This era also gave the world four great British composers.

Edward Elgar

He did not formally study the art of composition anywhere, but from a modest Worcester conductor and bandmaster of the Worcester psychiatric hospital become the first British composer in two hundred years to achieve international recognition. Having spent his childhood in his father's shop on the main street of Worcestershire, surrounded by musical scores, musical instruments and music textbooks, young Elgar independently studied musical theory. In warm summer days he began to take manuscripts out of town with him for study (from the age of five he was addicted to cycling). Thus, for him, the beginning of a strong relationship between music and nature was laid. Later he will say: "Music, it's in the air, music is all around us, the world is full of it, and you can just take as much as you need." At the age of 22, he accepted the post of bandmaster at Worcester psychiatric hospital for the poor in Pawick, three miles southwest of Worcester, a progressive institution that believed in the healing power of music. His first major orchestral work"Variations on a mysterious theme" (Enigma Variations, 1899) - mysterious because each of the fourteen variations was written on a peculiar theme that no one had heard before. Elgar's greatness (or his English identity, some say) lies in his use of bold melodic themes that convey a mood of nostalgic melancholy. His best work is called the oratorio "The Dream of Gerontius" (The Dream of Gerontius, 1900), and his First March from the cycle "Solemn and Ceremonial Marches" (Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, 1901), also known as "The Land of Hope and Glory", invariably causes great delight among listeners at the annual "promenade concerts".

Elgar - The Dream of Gerontius

Gustav Holst

An English-born Swede, Holst was an exceptionally outstanding composer. A master of orchestration, in his work he relied on such different traditions like English folk songs and madrigals, Hindu mysticism and the avant-gardism of Stravinsky and Schoenberg. He was also interested in astrology, and its study inspired Holst to create his most famous (though not the best) work - the seven-part symphonic suite(The Planets, 1914-1916).

Gustav Holst. "Planets. Venus"

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams is considered the most English of the British composers. He rejected foreign influences, saturating his music with the mood and rhythms of national folklore and the work of English composers of the 16th century. Vaughan Williams is one of the greatest composers of the first half of the 20th century, who played important role in the revival of interest in British academic music. His legacy is very extensive: six operas, three ballets, nine symphonies, cantatas and oratorios, compositions for piano, organ and chamber ensembles, arrangements of folk songs and many other works. In his work, he was inspired by the traditions of the English masters of the 16th-17th centuries (he revived the genre of the English mask) and folk music. Williams's works are marked by the scale of the idea, melodism, masterful voice leading and original orchestration. Vaughan Williams is one of the founders of the new English school of composition - the so-called "English musical renaissance". Vaughan Williams is best known as the author of A Sea Symphony (1910), « London Symphony» (A London Symphony, 1913) and a delightful romance for violin and orchestra" (The Lark Ascending, 1914).

Vaughan Williams. "London Symphony"

Benjamin Britten

Britten was and remains to this day the last great British composer. His skill and ingenuity, especially as a vocal composer, brought him international recognition comparable to that of Elgar. Among his the best works opera "Peter Grimes" (Peter Grimes, 1945), orchestral work The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, 1946 and a large orchestral-choral work "War Requiem" (War Requiem, 1961) on the verses of Wilfred Owen. One of the main themes of Britten's work - the protest against violence, war, the affirmation of the value of the fragile and unprotected human world - received its highest expression in the "War Requiem" (1961). About what led him to the War Requiem, Britten said: “I thought a lot about my friends who died in two world wars. I will not claim that this work is written in heroic tones. It contains a lot of regret about the terrible past. But that is precisely why the Requiem is directed towards the future. Seeing examples of the terrible past, we must prevent such catastrophes as wars are. Britten was not a big fan of the "English tradition" characteristic of the previous generation of composers, although he arranged folk songs for his partner, tenor Peter Pierce. Neither in early years, neither at the later stages of his creative evolution did Britten set himself the task of discovering new techniques of composition or theoretical substantiations of his individual style. Unlike many of his peers, Britten was never fond of pursuing the "newest", nor did he try to find support in the established methods of composition inherited from the masters of previous generations. He is guided, first of all, by the free flight of imagination, fantasy, realistic expediency, and not by belonging to one of the many "schools" of our century. Britten valued creative sincerity more than scholastic dogma, no matter how ultra-modern attire it was dressed. He allowed all the winds of the era to penetrate his creative laboratory, to penetrate, but not dispose of it.

Britten. "Guide to the Orchestra for Youth"

Ever since Britten was buried in Aldborough, Suffolk in 1976, British classical music has struggled to maintain its glorious reputation. John Taverner, a direct descendant of the 16th-century composer John Taverner, and Peter Maxwell Davies produce critically acclaimed works, but nothing really outstanding has yet emerged. Classical music occupies a certain niche in British culture, but perhaps not as big as its fans would like. It is played in television advertisements and at various sporting events, and ordinary Britons may well watch the final evening of the "Promenade Concerts" on TV (if there is nothing more interesting), but in fact, a very small part of the nation listens to classical music, mainly representatives of the middle class . Respectable music for respectable people.

Used materials from the site: london.ru/velikobritaniya/muzika-v-velik obritanii

Introduction

The fate of English music turned out to be complex and paradoxical. From the 15th century until late XVII, at the time of the formation and heyday of the English classical musical tradition, its development was continuous. This process proceeded intensively due to the reliance on folklore, which was determined earlier than in other composer schools, and also due to the formation and preservation of original, nationally original genres (antem, mask, semi-opera). Early English music gave important impulses to European art, including polyphony, variational-figurative principles of development, and an orchestral suite. At the same time, it originally refracted stimuli coming from outside.

In the 17th century, events take place that deal powerful blows to English musical culture. This is, firstly, puritanism, which was established during the revolution of 1640-1660, with its fanatical desire to abolish the old spiritual values ​​and ancient types and forms of secular culture, and secondly, the restoration of the monarchy (1660), which dramatically changed the general cultural orientation of the country, strengthening external influence (from France).

Surprisingly, in parallel with the obvious symptoms of the crisis, there are phenomena that indicate a higher rise musical art. In a difficult time for English music, Henry Purcell (1659-1695) appeared, whose works marked the flowering of the national school of composers, although they did not have a direct impact on the work of subsequent generations. Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), working in England, with his oratorios established the primacy of the choral tradition in the spectrum of genres of English music, which directly influenced it. further development. In the same period, Gay and Pepusz's Beggar's Opera (1728), whose parodic character testified to the onset of an era of cultural change, became the ancestor of many samples of the so-called ballad opera.

It was one of the peaks of theatrical art in England and at the same time evidence of the overthrow of the art of music, - more precisely, the transfer of its "culture-creating energy" (A. Schweitzer) - from the professional to the amateur sphere.

The musical tradition is made up of many factors - such as composer creativity, performance, style musical life. Regulated by ideological, aesthetic, general artistic attitudes, these factors do not always act in a coordinated unity, often in certain historical conditions their interaction is disrupted. This can be confirmed by a period of approximately 100 years. mid-eighteenth until the middle of the 19th century in England.

Music of England

The high level of performance, the wide distribution and deep rootedness in everyday life of various forms of music-making - instrumental, vocal-ensemble and choral - created then fertile ground for the bright, large-scale concert life of London, which attracted continental musicians to the capital of the empire: Chopin, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov… Fresh breeze Modernity was also carried by German musicians, whose road to the British Isles was wide open since the reign of the Hanoverian dynasty (from 1714 to 1901) - recall, for example, the weekly concerts of Bach - Abel and the concerts of Haydn - Salomon. Thus, England participated in the intensive process of formation of the pre-classical and classical symphony, but did not make any actual creative contribution to it. In general, at that time the branch national creativity in the genres of opera and symphony, relevant on the continent, was undeveloped, in other genres (for example, in the oratorio), the channel sometimes became shallow. It was this era that gave England the now unconvincing name of the "country without music."

It is paradoxical that the "era of silence" fell on the so-called Victorian era - the period of the reign of Queen Victoria (from 1837 to 1901). The state was at the zenith of its power and glory. A powerful colonial power, the “workshop of the world”, gave its nation a confident sense of self and the conviction that “it was destined to occupy the first place in the world until the end of its days” (J. Aldridge). The Victorian era is the heyday of all areas of English culture: its prose and poetry, drama and theater, painting and architecture, and finally aesthetics - and the time of a noticeable decline in the field of composer creativity.

At the same time, it was precisely from the middle of the 19th century, when the crisis of the national composer school was already obvious, that impulses of upsurge began to accumulate, which became apparent in the middle of the 19th century and clearly manifested itself at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The choral movement, amateur and professional, expanded and grew. The choral tradition was perceived as a truly national one. English masters swore allegiance to her: Hubert Parry (1848-1918), Edward Elgar (1857-1934), Frederic Dilius (1862-1934), Gustav Holst (1874-1934), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

In parallel, a folklore movement developed, led by Cecil J. Sharp (1859-1924). It included scientific direction(field collection, theoretical understanding) and practical (introduction into school and everyday life). This was accompanied by a critical reassessment of entertainment-parlor assimilation folklore genres and penetration folk material in composer creativity. All these aspects of the folklore movement interacted - complementing each other, and sometimes conflictingly opposing one another.

Until the middle of the 19th century, strange as it may seem at first glance, English songs themselves rarely found their way into collections - much less often than songs from Scotland, Wales and, especially, Ireland. Not without irony, Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote in the introductory essay to the book by the country's leading folklorist Cecil Sharp, The English folk song": "We still knew from authoritative sources that folk music was 'either bad or Irish'"

The movement for the revival of early music - Purcell, Bach, English madrigalists and virginalists - contributed to the awakening of the deep interest of performers, manufacturers of musical instruments and scientists (such is A. Dolmetch with his family), as well as composers to

"Golden Age" of English vocational school. The legacy of the 15th-17th centuries, enlivened by performing practice, exalted by critical thought, appeared to be the inspiring force of national original skill.

These tendencies, at first hardly noticeable, gradually gained strength and, rushing towards each other, by the end of the 19th century, they blew up the ground. Their union marked the beginning of a new musical revival England. After a long break, this country is not separate creative people, but entered the European musical culture as a national school. By this time English composers were being talked about on the Continent; Brahms predicted an interesting future for English music, R. Strauss supported it in the person of E. Elgar. The intensity of its evolution at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was great.

The tradition of Austro-German romanticism has long found fertile ground in England. This is a historically determined influence, backed by a system music education and the practice of improving young composers in the cities of Germany, affected the style (first of all, with Parry, Stanford, Elgar). English musicians understood that the assertion of national identity meant liberation from such an overbearing influence. However, unlike declarations, this process in creativity was slow and difficult, since the leading genres themselves - including such conceptual ones as a symphony or a symphonic poem - assumed reliance on the fruitful experience of the Austro-German school. Accordingly, the measure of German influence and the degree to which it was overcome served as a criterion national identity and the significance of the composer's work. For example, such assessments of one of the English critics are indicative: "While the music of Parry and Stanford spoke German with an English and Irish accent ... Elgar's music spoke English with a German accent."

At the turn of the century in Great Britain, as well as throughout Europe, there was a desire to create musical language, which would correspond to modern aesthetics. The "new word" came from France. The interest in the East that arose among English musicians prompted them to pay attention to the achievements french impressionism. This was especially evident in the work of Cyril Scott (1879-1970), Grenville Bantock (1868-1946) and Gustav Holst. True, in Scott and Bantock, the world of oriental images and moods does not affect the foundations of composer's thinking. Their image of the East is conditional, and it is not difficult to find many traditional features in its embodiment.

The implementation of this theme in the work of Holst, who gravitated towards Indian culture, reached a different level. He sought to find a deeper, spiritual contact between Western and Eastern cultures, which is generally characteristic of the art of the 20th century. And he carried out this desire in his own way, not in accordance with what his older contemporary Debussy did. At the same time, the discoveries of impressionism, associated with a new idea of ​​​​musical space, timbre, dynamics, with a new attitude to sound, entered the palette of means of expression used by the composers of England - the birthplace of "landscape and marina" (Ch. Nodier).

With all the individual stylistic differences, the English composers of that period were bound by the desire to strengthen the folk-national foundations of their music. The discovery of peasant folklore and the work of the masters of the Old English school as two interrelated sources belongs to G. Holst and R. Vaughan-Williams. Appeal to the heritage of the "golden age" of English art was the only possible way revival of the national tradition. Folklore and old masters, establishing links with modern European musical culture - the interaction of these trends in the art of Holst and Vaughan Williams brought a long-awaited renewal to English music of the 20th century. The themes, plots and images of English prose, poetry, dramaturgy served as an important support in the establishment of national ideals. For musicians, the rural ballads of Robert Burns and the atheistic poems of John Milton, the pastoral elegies of Robert Herrick and the poems of John Donne saturated with passionate intensity acquire a modern sound; was rediscovered William Blake. Deeper insight national culture became the most important factor the formation and flourishing of the English composer school of the 20th century, the formation aesthetic ideal composers.

The first major representatives of the new English musical revival were Hubert Parry (1848-1918) and Charles Stanford (1852-1924). Composers, scholars, performers, jammers and teachers, they, like the founders of many national schools, were outstanding figures whose many-sided work was selflessly directed to the creation of a new national school of composition capable of reviving the tradition of the glorious past of English music. Their own social and creative activity served as a high example for their contemporaries and for English composers of the following, younger generations.

The formation of a new English school of composition unfolded during the long reign (1837-1901) of Queen Victoria. During this era, various areas of English culture were fully developed. Especially rich and "fruitful was a large national literary tradition. If Parry and Stanford by their activities are closely connected with, relatively speaking, the proto-Renaissance period of the era under consideration, then the name of Elgar opens the actual creative period of the new revival.

Like their contemporaries, the English composer school faced, first of all, with the problems of the European musical romanticism in all their scope. And naturally, the art of Wagner became their focus. The imperious influence of Wagnerian music in England can only be compared with its influence then in France, or with the influence of Handel in eighteenth-century England.

Already at the turn of the century, English composers made persistent attempts to get out of the influence of the German classical-romantic traditions, which had taken such deep roots on English soil. Recall that Parry wanted to create - in contrast to Mendelssohn's - a national version of the philosophical oratorio. A major achievement was Elgar's trilogy of small cantatas The Spirit of England (1917).

The first true composer that England has produced since Purcell is Edward Elgar (1857-1934). He was very closely associated with the English provincial musical culture. On early stages his creative life he served as a composer and arranger for the orchestra of his native Worcester, he also wrote for the musicians of Birmingham, and worked for local choral societies. His early choral songs and cantatas are in line with the great English choral tradition that came up in the 80s and 90s. 19th century - that is, exactly when Elgar created the early choral compositions - to the climactic phase. Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius (1900), which brought fame to English music on the Continent, was such a significant achievement for the composer that it supplanted Mendelssohn's Elijah and became the second favorite oratorio of the English public after Handel's Messiahs.

The significance of Elgar for the history of English music is determined primarily by two works: the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius (1900, on the st. J. Newman) and the symphonic Variations on a mysterious theme (Enigma - variations (Enigma (lat.) - a riddle. ), 1899), which became the heights of English musical romanticism. The oratorio "The Dream of Gerontius" sums up not only the long development of cantata-oratorio genres in the work of Elgar himself (4 oratorios, 4 cantatas, 2 odes), but in many respects the entire path of the English language that preceded it. choral music. Another important feature of the national Renaissance was also reflected in the oratorio - an interest in folklore. It is no coincidence that, after listening to "The Dream of Gerontius", R. Strauss proclaimed a toast "to the prosperity and success of the first English progressive Edward Elgar, the master of the young progressive school of English composers." Unlike the Enigma oratorio, variations laid the foundation stone for national symphonism, which before Elgar was the most vulnerable area of ​​English musical culture. "" Enigma "-variations testify that in the person of Elgar the country has found an orchestral composer of the first magnitude," wrote one of the English researchers. The "mystery" of the variations is that the names of the composer's friends are encrypted in them, hidden from view and musical theme cycle. (All this is reminiscent of the "Sphinxes" from "Carnival" by R. Schumann.) Elgar also owns the first English symphony (1908).

Elgar's work is one of the outstanding phenomena of musical romanticism. Synthesizing national and Western European, mainly Austro-German influences, it bears the features of lyrical-psychological and epic directions. The composer makes extensive use of the system of leitmotifs, in which the influence of R. Wagner and R. Strauss is clearly felt.

The establishment of new positions in English music came at a time of turning point in the spiritual life of Great Britain. Those were years of great trials and changes. First World War forced many artists of this country, which considered itself a stronghold of inviolability in Europe, to react sensitively to unprecedented contradictions surrounding reality. Post-war English music is dominated by a centrifugal need to look at the world from a broad perspective. The younger generation resolutely came into contact with the innovative searches of European masters - Stravinsky, Schoenberg. William Walton's Façade (1902-1983) originates from compositional ideas drawn from Schoenberg's Lunar Pierrot, but the composition's style is based on the anti-romanticism proclaimed by Stravinsky and the French Six. Constant Lambert (1905-1951) surprised his compatriots by starting to work in the genre of ballet from the very first steps on his creative path, the traditions of which were interrupted in England in the second half of the 18th century; in fact, it is quite natural that the composer was attracted to this genre, which in Europe by the 1920s became a symbol of modern artistic quest. Lambert's ballet Romeo and Juliet (1925) was a kind of response to Stravinsky's Pulcinella. At the same time, with his other composition - Elegiac Blues for small orchestra (1927) - Lambert responded to the jazz that struck Europeans. Alan Bush (1900-1995) connected his activities with Eisler's creative position and the labor movement, he not only perceived the corresponding socio-political and philosophical ideas, but also developed his own composing technique, based on the fruitfully refracted experience of the Novovensk school by Eisler.

In the first half of the 1930s, the change of composer generations that had been outlined in the previous decade finally took shape. In 1934, England lost three major masters - Elgar, Dilius, Holst. Of these, only Holst actively worked before last days. Elgar, after a decade of silence, only in the early 30s came to life for creativity. At the same time, Dilius, stricken with a serious illness and blindness, who lived in France, was inspired unexpected success his music in his homeland, in London, where in 1929 his author's festival was held, and in a surge of strength he dictated his last works.

By the end of the 1930s, the young generation was reaching its creative maturity. The time for experimentation is over, the main interests are determined, creativity rushes into the mainstream of established traditions, mastery and exactingness in relation to one's ideas appear. Thus, William Walton writes a monumental biblical oratorio (“The Feast of Belshazzar”, 1931) and after it - major orchestral works (First Symphony, 1934; Violin Concerto, 1939). Michael Tippett (b. 1905) rejects his early opuses; new work in chamber genre(First piano sonata, 1937) and concert orchestral compositions(Concerto for double string orchestra, 1939; Fantasy on a Theme of Handel for piano and orchestra, 1941) he announces the beginning of his creative way, the first culmination of which was the oratorio "A Child of Our Time" (1941). Large-scale compositions were being worked on in those years by Lambert (masque "The Last Will and Testament of Summer" for soloist, choir and orchestra, 1936), Berkeley (First Symphony, 1940), Bush (First Symphony, 1940).

Benjamin Britten stands out among the many bright and original artistic personalities with which the English school of composition of the 20th century is rich. It was he who was destined to find in his work a harmonious interaction of multidirectional (and for the previous generation of English composers almost mutually exclusive) trends - the embodiment of the ideas of modernity and the implementation of the originality of national art.

britten music making ensemble vocal

As ironic as it may sound, we must recognize the validity of the statement that England is a country where the audience is very musical, but there are no musicians!

This problem is all the more interesting because we know very well how high musical culture England in the era of Queen Elizabeth. Where did the musicians and composers disappear to in England of the 18th-19th centuries?

It is not difficult to give a superficial answer. Great Britain was engaged in trade, acquired colonies, carried out gigantic financial operations, created industry, fought for the constitution, played a chess game on a huge board the globe- and she didn't have time to mess around with the music.

The answer is tempting, but not true. After all, this same England gave mankind great poets: Byron, Shelley, Burns, Coleridge, Browning, Crabbe, Keats, Tennyson, but can you name all those on this list of fame; Merchant England produced excellent artists: Hogarth, Constable and Turner. The size of the chapter does not allow us to give here the names of all the masters of prose in England of the 18th-19th centuries. We will only mention Defoe, Fielding, Stern, Goldsmith, Walter Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Stevenson, Meredith, Hardy, Lamb, Ruskin, Carlyle.

So the above argument is invalid. It turns out that merchant England was at its best in all forms of art, with the exception of music.

Perhaps we will come closer to the truth if we follow the train of thought of the musicologist Goddard. In The Music of Britain in Our Time, he writes: “English music lives first in admiration from Handel, then from Haydn, in Victorian era this admiration was replaced by the adoration of Mendelssohn, and this adoration made Mendelssohn's compositions not only the criterion, but the only nutrient medium of music. There simply was no organization, association or class that would be inclined to support English music.

Although this explanation sounds somewhat crude and improbable, nevertheless, if you think about it carefully, it is quite acceptable. The English aristocracy, as is well known, exclusively out of snobbery demanded Italian conductors and singers, French dancers, German composers, because it did not consider listening to their musicians to be a secular business, just as they traveled not to Scotland or Ireland, but to Italy or Spain. , to the African jungle or to the icy world of fiords. Thus, national English music could be heard only when the rising and victorious bourgeoisie felt strong enough not to imitate in the field of theater, music, opera. high society”, and go where her mind, heart and taste lead her. But why was the English bourgeoisie able to find literature and poetry to its liking, and why did this not happen with music?

Yes, because the rising bourgeois brought with him the ideals of the Puritans, and with pious horror denied the brilliance of the opera stage, as if it were a phenomenon born at the instigation of the devil. The 19th century had to come with its rationalism, freer thinking, more distant from religion, more secular and, one might say, high-society outlook on life, so that the English bourgeois would turn to music, so that an era would come that ensures the right to a life full of perky dances. , sparkling with cheerful laughter of the opera-buffa Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), to awaken the understanding of the cantatas of Hubert Parry (1848-1924), opened Edward Elgar oratorios: "Apostles", "Light of Christ", "King Olaf", "Dreams of Gerontius". Elgar is already smiling popularity and recognition. He is the court musician of the king. He alone receives as many awards as all the famous English musicians in the history of music from the Renaissance to the present day have not received.

But the influence of the music of the continent is still strong. So, following in the footsteps of Elgar Frederick Delius(1863-1934) studies in Leipzig and is freed from the influence of Mendelssohn by Paris, where he meets Strindberg and Gauguin and, perhaps, meant even more for him than meeting these great people, this is a meeting with the city itself on the banks of the Seine , With French people, with Gallic wit.

Delius wrote the following operas: Coanga (1904), Rural Romeo and Juliet (1907), Fennimore and Gerda (1909).

Delius lived in a French milieu and, despite a respectable desire for creative freedom, could not completely free himself from the influence of the music of the continent.

The first real English 19th composer century was Ralph Vaughan Williams(1872), singer of English nature, English people, connoisseur of English song folklore. He addresses the old poet Banayan and composer XVI Tellis century. He writes a symphony about the sea and about London. draws musical portrait Tudors, but most willingly makes English folk songs sound.

In the camp of English composers of the 19th century, he has a special place, not only because of his excellent technique, amazing taste and fruitfulness, but also because he has such qualities that were given only to Dickens or Mark Twain: he knows how to smile condescendingly, somewhat ironically, squinting his eyes, but humanly, as the above-mentioned great writers did.

For the stage, he wrote the following works:

The Pretty Shepherds, The Mountains (1922), Hugh the Driver (1924), Sir John in Love (1929), The Service (1930), The Poisoned Kiss (1936), The Sea Robbers (1937), Pilgrim's Success (1951).

Contemporaries of Vaughan Williams, English musicians-innovators, are trying to develop the style of a new English opera. There is no shortage of traditions: composers of this era revive the traditions of old ballad operas, resurrect the spirit of Gay and Pepush: they mix lofty feelings with burlesque, pathos with irony; but most of all I am inspired by English poetry - a treasury of poetic beauties, the world of thoughts.

From among the English composers late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, we will only mention those who contributed to the formation of modern stage music.

Arnold Bax (1883-1953) became famous as a composer of ballets.
William Walton (1902) conquers big success opera "Troilus and Cressida" (1954).
Arthur Bliss (1891) attracted attention with an opera based on a libretto by Priestley, The Olympians (1949).
Eugene Goossens (1893-1963) performed on the English opera stage with Judith (1929) and Don Juan de Manara (1937).

But worldwide success was brought to the English opera by the works of Benjamin Britten.