Examples of musical portraits in the works of composers. Musical portrait

Musical portraits of opera characters

Researchers agree that the literary text and music of the opera “St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor” are in agreement, surprising for the development of art of that time. The music echoes the statements of the heroes of the comedy, skillfully reproducing the intonations of live speech - the cries of merchants and buyers in the shopping arcades. In this regard, Levasheva’s remark is interesting. She believes that musical language opera "is of interest as one of the first remarkable experiments in creating recitative, declamatory vocal style» .

The opera has an incredibly large number of characters for that time - 23 1. Many of them receive independent characterization. Such an abundance of characters makes it difficult to analyze the portraits of the opera's characters. In this regard, for greater convenience of presentation, the characters will be combined into groups based on the principle of significance. First of all, we should highlight the main characters around whom the main conflict of the opera revolves. This is the merchant Skvalygin and the clerk Kryuchkodey. They are joined by Skvaligin's wife Solomonida and daughter Khavronya. Thus, the group of primary characters, to whom the second paragraph of the main part will be devoted, includes representatives of the same family (if we assume that Kryuchkodey is Khavronya’s fiancé).

The second group of characters consists of other representatives of the merchant environment. These are the merchants Pereboev, Protorguev, Razzhivin and Smekalin, who are debtors to Skvaligin. This also includes Skvaligin’s nephew, the merchant Khvalimov, as well as such minor characters as Officer Pryamikov, debtor Shchepetkova, creditor Krepyshkina, widow with children and other episodic characters.

Musical portraits of the main characters of the opera

The leading character of the opera, around whom the main intrigue revolves, is the merchant Ferapont Pafnutievich Skvalygin. Of the twenty issues depicting the life and everyday life of the merchants, Skvalygin participates in twelve 1 . At the same time, he has three solo statements that give the hero a versatile characterization.

All three arias are similar in musical means expressiveness. They are united by the moving flow of music, 2/4 time signature and G major key. Musical themes intonationally close to each other 2. In the arias, due to the two-beat meter and elastic rhythm, the strong-willed qualities of the merchant, his lively, active character, aimed at enrichment, are revealed. Tonal unity in in this case does not contain any semantic meaning. Most likely, the key of G major was convenient for the first performer of the Skvalygin part.

The merchant’s first aria, “Cut the slices,” according to Levashev, is an “aria of action.” Skvalygin gives instructions to his wife before guests arrive for the wedding, teaching her to be thrifty. The musical design of this number is typical for the comic characters of the opera buffa. The use of short speech lines, the repetition of an unpretentious melody kept at even durations, and a fast pace create a comedic effect. At the same time, there is a correspondence between the word and the music - melodic-rhythmic accents fall on keywords text:

At the moment when the debtor Shchepetkova and the creditor Krepyshkina come to the merchant’s house for the silver left as collateral, Skvalygin sings the aria “This is what the light has become now.” This solo statement by the hero has all the hallmarks of an “aria of denunciation.” The chosen leisurely pace of Moderato is suitable for an expressive, indignant monologue. A dotted rhythm appears in Skvaligin’s melody. Bassoons and first violins duplicate the melodic and rhythmic relief vocal part. The hero tries to portray sincere surprise and disappointment at the “injustice” reigning in the world:

But only the first two phrases have this sound; then, to the words “He’s messing with us with his speeches,” the buffoon patter, already familiar from the first aria, appears, and all the veneer of seriousness and indignation disappears:

Under number twenty-six, another solo statement by Skvaligin sounds - the aria “Everyone knows how to live like this.” It belongs to the popular opera XVIII literature centuries of the “characteristic aria” type. Here the hero himself talks about himself, outlining his life position. The music of this number is playful and carefree. It is based on dance rhythm Krakowiak with a characteristic shift of emphasis from a strong beat to a weak one. Throughout the entire aria, the last eighth of the bar is emphasized by the bright dynamics and trill of the first violins. Horns almost always enter on the second eighth of the bar and highlight the weak beat with bright sonority (Forte):

Thus, all three of Skvaligin’s arias are similar in musical means of expression. They are united by the moving flow of music, 2/4 time signature and G major key. Musical themes are intonationally close to each other 2. In the arias, due to the two-beat meter and elastic rhythm, the strong-willed qualities of the merchant, his lively, active character, aimed at enrichment, are revealed. Tonal unity in this case does not contain any semantic meaning. Most likely, the key of G major was convenient for the first performer of the Skvalygin part.

Ensemble scenes add apt touches to Skvaligin’s portrait. In general, ensembles predominate in opera (12), Skvalygin participates in nine of them. Most of them are “quarrel ensembles.” Such are, for example, Skvalygin’s scenes with the ladies (I d. No. 9), with poor merchants (III d. No. 19, 20) and two duets with Khvalimov (I d. No. 3, 4).

The two above-mentioned ensembles of Skvalygin and Khvalimov from the first act are meaningfully and dramatically close to the rich merchant’s aria from the third act “Everyone knows how to live like this.” We can say that they anticipate this solo statement, because in the dispute with Khvalimov they formulated for the first time life positions Skvaligina.

The duet “Be ashamed, part” is rapidly unfolding. The vocal parts of the ensemble members are intonationally close. Khvalimov’s initial phrase is repeated by Skvalygin at a different height, then the expressive recitative intonations of a furious argument penetrate into their parts. Such melodic unity suggests that the characters experience the same feeling of amazement and disagreement with each other’s opinions.

Skvalygin receives a slightly different musical description in the trio “We will just watch and have fun,” since his like-minded people - his wife Solomonida and his future son-in-law Kryuchkodey - participate in the ensemble. Heroes are inspired general idea enrichment, but even in this situation Skvalygin is somewhat contrasted with the rest of the ensemble members. This disunity is outlined in the second sentence of the initial period, where Skvalygin enters later than the others and sings the general text, but belatedly:

A clear manifestation of this technique is found in the middle section, in which Skvalygin performs a solo text that clearly characterizes him as a greedy person, carried away by the thought of profit and wealth 1:

I'll keep watch myself

I won't sleep at night.

In that fun I find fun,

Millions to save.

The above lines paint a portrait of a person for whom the meaning of life lies in wealth. But the rest of the ensemble members consider money only a means to achieve another goal, which will be discussed later, and therefore do not echo Skvalyagin’s vocal part. However, the literary opposition of Skvalygin to Solomonida and Kryuchkodey in the middle part of the number does not find a vivid embodiment in music - the parts of all ensemble members are the same

The first act of the opera ends with the trio “I announce to you ahead,” in which Skvalygin and two ladies who came for their goods participate. The stage situation prepares the listener for a conflict conversation - an “ensemble-quarrel”. Remark espressivo and movement in small fractional durations in accompaniment with fast pace Allegro is tuned to a tense tone of sound. Skvalygin zealously defends his wealth; his vocal part is based on the sounds of triads, which shows the merchant’s firmness and confidence in his words. In the second section of the ensemble, where Skvalygin addresses each of the ladies in turn, a dotted rhythm appears in the vocal part. This ensemble reveals a new facet of the image of the merchant as a selfless, even to the point of comic effect, defender of his wealth.

The second act removes the conflict, transferring the listener’s attention to the ritual and everyday sphere. But already at the very beginning of the third act emotional sphere the first act returns. The plot takes place in the shopping arcades of Gostiny Dvor, where Skvalygin comes to demand the return of debts from small merchants. The two ensemble scenes that follow one after the other, “Well, my friend” and “Give me a raise for the shop,” like the previous number, belong to the “quarrel ensemble” type. But if in the trio “I announce to you ahead” Skvalygin defended himself from the attacks of the ladies, then here, feeling himself the master of the situation, the merchant himself is the instigator of the conflict.

The ensemble “Well, my friend” is not preceded by a conversational episode; the act immediately begins with musical number. Skvalygin leaves his shop and, alternately approaching Razzhivin and Protorguev, starts a conversation about debts. Under the influence of the stage situation, which develops at the moment of ensemble singing, a very free and organic form takes shape (alternating a pair of periodicities with subsequent “closure” - ab ab c).

By means of music, the composer aggravates the conflicting nature of the dialogues, due to tonal opposition. Skvalygin’s part is set out in his “leittonality” - G major. The hero feels very comfortable because the current situation is beneficial to him. The poor merchants seem to adapt to the height taken by Skvalygin, but the joyless mood changes the modal coloring of their statements - they respond to the “oppressor” in the G minor of the same name.

The melodic pattern of Skvaligin’s part is built from short cues that are “finished” by the orchestra. The melody is based on a major key tonic triad, which gives the statements of a large merchant a confident tone:

The trio of Skvaligin, Pereboev and Smekalin “Give me an increase for the shop” is built on the same principle as the previous one, therefore the means of characterizing the rich merchant remain the same.

Skvalygin participates in three large ensemble scenes: the sextet “We beat our heads for a treat”, which ends the second act, the sextet from the third act “Honest Gentlemen” and the final octet with the choir “Reign, Holy Truth”. The named ensembles are “ensembles of agreement”, they relieve the open tension of “ensembles-quarrels”, slow down the development of action, and two of them serve as the finale. These numbers complement the characterization of the hero, revealing new facets of his image.

The sextet “We beat our heads for a treat” refers to a type of “ensemble of agreement” - “ensemble of farewell”. All characters divided into guests who thank you for the reception, and hosts who invite you to continue wedding ceremony. Trying to pretend to be a hospitable host, Skvalygin, who is accustomed to subjugating everyone to his will, communicates with the guests in an orderly tone, and the invitation from his lips sounds threatening.

The sextet “Honest Gentlemen” is interesting from the point of view of plot development. Skvalygin and Kryuchkodey address the merchants with an invitation to visit wedding feast. The merchants, confused - the politeness of the two villains frightens them - decide whether to succumb to persuasion dangerous people. As a result, the scene becomes two-dimensional: on the one hand, the invitation of Skvaligin and Kryuchkodey, on the other, heated disputes between the merchants.

Summing up the analysis of Skvalygin’s musical portrait, we can say that he receives a complete and comprehensive description. At the same time, the merchant is not presented one-sidedly in the opera; the qualities of the character are revealed during the action of the opera. Skvalygin is depicted in various living conditions, and each time he receives new musical touches to his portrait. A thrifty owner of the house, a zealous defender of his property, a ruthless usurer - all these facets of Skvaligin’s image have musical embodiment. But one feature of the depiction of this character can be highlighted - Skvalygin is lonely and opposed to all the other characters - his imaginary allies betray him at the right opportunity. Perhaps in this way the authors of the opera wanted to convey to the listener simple truth about one of the greatest riches in the world - about friends. As it says folk wisdom: “Don’t have a hundred rubles, but have a hundred friends.”

In the plot of the opera, the personality of Skvaligin is closely connected with such a character as the retired registrar Kryuchkodey, who also receives a bright, versatile characterization in the opera. He has two solo statements: the aria “Oh, what a time these days” and the aria from the third act “I deliberately made this sample in front of you.”

According to the plot, in his second aria, “I made this sample on purpose in front of you,” Kryuchkodey boasts to Skvalygin how cleverly he knows how to deceive people. In terms of content, this statement is a “characteristic aria.” It is indicative with what words Kryuchkodey characterizes himself: “I am a hook. I'm a bitch. Boorish. Amka. I'm a top. I'm nitpicking. I'm hanging on." These words are accompanied by a characteristic winding melody, as if drawing “hooks”:

Kryuchkodey’s first aria, “Oh, what a time it is now,” is close in type to the “complaint aria.” The mournful, minor coloring of the music parodies the style of lyrical expression, which creates comic effect. The melody repeats the same turn, acquiring an obsessive character. The solo statement of Kryuchkodey is accompanied by flutes, which with their coldish timbre emphasize the callousness and heartlessness of the character. The text contains a hint of another vice not alien to the scribes - drunkenness:

My dear, zucchini:

The burner is burning, burning,

That scribes have little income,

It’s too small and she’s running out of money.

Confirmation of this idea can be found in the trio “We will just watch and have fun.” Kryukdey in the central section of the ensemble, together with Solomonida, glorifies wealth as a symbol of idleness and continuous drunkenness.

In the sextets “We hit with our heads for a treat” and “Honest Gentlemen”, Kryuchkodey’s part approaches in style the statements of Skvaligin, which shows the flexibility and duplicity of Kryuchkodey’s character, capable of adapting, when it is advantageous, to a stronger and more powerful person.

Kryuchkodey’s solo and ensemble statements are very expressive and at the same time are not similar to each other in terms of means musical expressiveness. The only thing that is constantly present in the clerk's parts is the deliberately exaggerated mechanicalness of the movement of the music at a fast tempo and three-beat meter. A melody with an emphatically poignant musical intonation visibly paints a portrait of a picky, harmful official.

The musical portrait of Skvaligin's wife Solomonida is expressive. Almost all of the vocal numbers in which she participates depict her vicious addiction to alcohol. One can recall the remark of the everyday life writer Pylyaev about merchants’ wives: “The wives of merchants did not drink beer or play checkers, but the mistress of the house quietly took her guest to the bedroom, as if for a conversation, and secretly brought her a glass there until she got drunk.” .

Solomonida has one solo statement. The opera opens with a conversational dialogue with Skvalygin about the upcoming wedding, which develops into Solomonida’s aria “My Dear Hubby.”

Aria gives an ambiguous portrait of a merchant's wife. On the one hand, in communication with her husband she manifests herself as an obedient wife. Soft, affectionately pleading, seemingly apologetic intonations of the melody combined with at a moderate pace and in muted sonority they characterize a person who knows his “sins”:

Allegro moderato

But unexpectedly last words Each stanza ends with a sharp dynamic increase, sounding affirmative, assertive and persistent.

In the second part of the aria, due to the fragmentation of durations (eighths and quarters are replaced by sixteenths and eighths), the effect of accelerating movement occurs, and a dynamization of development is outlined towards the end of number 1. The orchestra, slowly following the melody throughout the entire number and intertwining it with echoes, sounds brightly in forte at the end.

The comments to the score indicate that the melody of the aria is based on the theme of the folk girl’s song “I Walk in the Svetlitsa” and was borrowed by the authors either from Trutovsky’s collection, where it is placed under No. 27, or from the Lvov-Pracha collection (No. 54). ABOUT folk origin This theme is indicated by its non-square structure (6 bars), while the melody itself, harmonized within the framework of classical harmony, loses its folk flavor.

Thus, we can conclude that, despite the canons of classicist drama about the one-dimensionality of character characteristics, the main characters of the opera are presented in many ways. For the most part they are characterized through solo vocal statements. The totality of all musical characteristics characters in a number of solo and ensemble statements contributes to the creation of a bright, convex portrait.

Description of the presentation by individual slides:

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Dream. In the magic canopy, show me my dear, my light, my good genius, The object of my love... A.S. Pushkin Love painting, poets! Only she, the only one, is given the Soul of a changeable sign to transfer to the canvas. N. Zabolotsky. What genre of fine art do you think we’ll be talking about today? What other art can paint a portrait?

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The colors make it noisy and bright. I would introduce music here, the paintings would surround the air so that they would speak... S. Tyurin

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The paintings of Russian painters at the turn of the 17th – 19th centuries are consonant with poetry and music. The atmosphere of the portraits takes us into the world of Russia in the Pushkin era. It is believed that the portrait is the most indisputable achievement of our national school; it is thanks to it that Russian painting has reached the level of European art. The 18th century in Russia is called the century of portraiture. The best Russian artists painted in the portrait genre: F. Rokotov, D. Levitsky, O. Kiprensky, K. Bryullov, I. Repin, M. Vrubel and others. female portraits as pure and transparent as the music and poetry of romances. The intelligent and noble faces of those to whom they dedicated their poetic and musical dedications, the artists captured.

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Thanks to the “portrait harmonies” of the Russian artist Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov, a special emotional dictionary to express the viewer’s impressions: “half-flickering, half-burning colors”, “unsteadiness, airiness”, “mystery and mystery”, “vibration of light and color”, “poetic fragility of feelings”, “secrecy spiritual manifestations"etc. In addition to technical pictorial innovations, the artist opens up new possibilities for chamber, intimate portraits in expression peace of mind of a person as the main criterion of his dignity. It is often believed that Rokotov endowed the models with his own spirituality. F.S. Rokotov (1735-1808)

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F.S. Rokotov Portrait of Struyskaya Transparent, as if woven from air and light, the portrait of Struyskaya is the most famous work brushes by Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov.

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A special place in the work of the artist F.S. Rokotov is occupied by a portrait of A. Struyskaya (1772). Exactly beautiful eyes the heroines of the portrait served as a source of inspiration for the creation famous poem Nikolai Zabolotsky: Do you remember how, from the darkness of the past, barely wrapped in satin, Struyskaya again looked at us from the portrait of Rokotov? Her eyes are like two fogs, Half smile, half cry, Her eyes are like two deceptions, Covered in the mist of failure. A combination of two riddles, Half-delight, half-fear, A fit of insane tenderness. Anticipation of mortal pain. When darkness comes and a thunderstorm approaches, Her beautiful eyes flicker from the bottom of my soul.

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This verse is a shining example poeticization of the image through painting. The airy, transparent brushwork creates a feeling of lightness of the fabrics and bottomlessness of the background. With the help of light, Rokotov masterfully highlights the face and at the same time unites the entire composition of the portrait into a single whole. It is no coincidence that this portrait is often called the “Russian Gioconda”. Many researchers of Rokotov’s work note that Struyskaya’s gaze in the portrait seems to be directed inward, the young woman was thinking about something important to her, very significant. It is this look that spiritualizes Alexandra Petrovna’s entire face, makes it especially beautiful, reflects the rich spiritual world this woman, her deep mind.

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Consider female portraits of Russian artists, contemporaries of A.S. Pushkin and M.I. Glinka. - What features of their heroines did the artists strive to emphasize? - Which of the female images captured in the portraits of Russian artists, in your opinion, is most in tune with M. I. Glinka’s romance? What about the waltz?

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This portrait depicts Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, from the Tolstoy count family. This beautiful young woman died of consumption a year after her wedding. The artist used the principle of still life - the environment helps to reveal the image. Borovikovsky shows no social status Lopukhina, and her personal character traits: lively intelligence, irony, tenderness, awareness of her feminine attractiveness. The harmonious fusion of man with nature is characteristic of painting late XVIII V. Lopukhina is depicted against the background of a landscape, it echoes the appearance of a young woman: her slightly bent figure repeats the shape of bent ears of corn, birch trees are reflected in the dress, blue cornflowers echo the silk belt, and a soft lilac shawl echoes the drooping buds of roses. A hundred years later, the Russian poet Ya. Polonsky wrote about this portrait: She has long passed, and those eyes are no longer there And that smile is gone that silently expressed Suffering - the shadow of love, and thoughts - the shadow of sadness, But Borovikovsky saved her beauty. So part of her soul did not fly away from us, And this look and this beauty of her body will attract indifferent offspring to her, Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, and be silent.

Musical portrait

It is interesting to compare the features of recreating the appearance of a person in literature, fine arts, music. In music there cannot be a resemblance to a specific person, but at the same time it is no coincidence that it is said that “a person is hidden in intonation.” Since the music

art is temporary (it unfolds, develops in time), it, like lyric poetry, is subject to embodiment emotional states, a person's experiences with everyone

their changes.

The word "portrait" in relation to musical art, especially for instrumental non-program music, is a metaphor. At the same time, sound recording, as well as the synthesis of music with

in words, stage action and extra-musical associations expand its capabilities. Expressing feelings, moods of a person, embodying his various states, the nature of movement, music can evoke visual analogies that allow

imagine what kind of person is in front of us. Character, lyrical hero, storyteller, narrator - these concepts are important not only in literary work, but also musically. They are necessary to understand the content program music, music for

theater - opera, ballet, as well as instrumental and symphonic.

Character intonation more brightly reproduces external signs, manifestations of a person in life: age, gender, temperament, character, unique manner of speaking, moving,

national characteristics. All this is embodied in music, and we seem to see a person.

Music can help you meet people from a different era. Instrumental works create images of various characters. F. Haydn admitted that he always composed music with characteristic types person. “Mozart’s themes are like an expressive face... You could write a whole book about female images V instrumental music Mozart" (V. Medushevsky).

Listen to excerpts from works by various composers: V.-A. Mozart and S. Prokofiev, A. Borodin and B. Tishchenko, J. Bizet and R. Shchedrin, A. Schnittke and V. Kikty. What portraits of people did you “see” in music? What means of expression give you the opportunity to present the characteristics of the characters and characters?

Introduction

Modern musicology places high demands on the researcher. Among them, the most important is not only a deep theoretical understanding of the object under consideration, a comprehensive and versatile understanding of it, but also its practical development. To do this, it is not enough to have a good understanding of general issues history of music and master the “traditional” methodology theoretical analysis- you need your own creative experience in this field of musical art.

The idea of ​​music, however, is developed not only through the efforts of musicologists. The works of practicing musicians occupy a prominent place in musicology. Living connection with practice, direct sensation creative process composing or performing music is what particularly attracts researchers.

In this work, attention is paid to the creative heritage Soviet composer and teacher M.V. Antseva. With the revival of choral singing in Russia, Antsev's women's choirs are becoming increasingly popular, as they are distinguished by simple harmony, light texture and melody. Many of his choral works were written to poems by Russian classical poets, including the choral composition “Bells” to poems by Count A.K. Tolstoy.

A comprehensive analysis of this composition, presented in course work, will make it possible to more accurately organize practical activities on learning a piece with the educational choir of students of the department choral conducting OGGIC. This explains the relevance of the ongoing research.

Creative portraits of authors of musical and literary texts

choral vocal antsev text

Mikhail Vasilyevich Antsev was born in Smolensk on September 30, 1895. He came from a simple family: his father was a cantonist who served as a soldier for over 25 years, his mother was a Smolensk bourgeois. In very early childhood, M. Antsev lost his father, and he was raised by his stepfather. After graduating from high school, Mikhail Vasilyevich studied violin with L. Auer at the Warsaw Conservatory. Then he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1895 in composition class with Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1896, the composer began his musical and pedagogical activities. He gave a lot of strength and energy pedagogical work as a teacher of choral singing and other musical disciplines in general education and special education educational institutions. Obviously, it was at this time that he wrote a series of teaching aids related to choral art, among them: “ Brief information for singers-choristers”, “Note terminology” (reference dictionary for teachers, singers and musicians), “Elementary theory of music in connection with the teaching of school choral singing”, “Methodological anthology of class choral singing” and others.

At the same time, M. Antsev worked fruitfully as a composer. He composed for symphony orchestra, for violin, wrote romances and children's songs. He wrote “Cantata for the 100th anniversary of A. Pushkin”, “Hymn in memory of the 100th anniversary Patriotic War 1812." Both large works are intended to be performed by a choir and orchestra.

Among the choral works of a lyrical nature created during this period, we can name: “Lotus”, “Willow”, “In Spring”, “The Air Breathes Fragrance”.

The revolutionary events taking place in Russia could not remain out of sight of the sensitive, impressionable artist. They resonated with him choral works. Full of revolutionary pathos, the chorus “Don’t cry over the corpses of fallen soldiers” was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1905.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution M.V. Antsev conducted extensive musical and social activities. In 1918, in Vitebsk, he organized the People's Conservatory, where he taught theoretical disciplines. There, for two years, he led the State Choir he created. On the initiative of Mikhail Vasilyevich, a circle of Belarusian folk songs arose. The circle served mainly factory areas and Red Army units.

Their recent years M. Antsev lived in Moscow. Here in 1934 he was elected an honorary member of the Expert Commission at the Moscow City Committee of Circle Leaders and fulfilled these duties for more than three years. public principles, in 1936-1938. he was a member of the Attestation and Expert Commission at the Administration for the Arts.

In the post-October period, M. Antsev actively switched to revolutionary themes. He wrote music to the words of Demyan Bedny, Yakub Kolas, Yanka Kupala and others Soviet poets. In addition, the composer showed interest in folk songs, predominantly Belarusian, arranged them for the choir and solo singing with piano (Oh, share, etc.).

The range of his creativity is quite wide. He is the author of several textbooks concerning choral art and the performance of children's songs, romances, and plays for the violin. However choral creativity most of all attracted the composer's attention. He has written over 30 a cappella and accompanied choirs, many choral arrangements folk songs.

Mikhail Vasilievich Antsev - composer-lyricist. This is already evidenced by the names of his choirs: “ Spring waters", "Sunrise", "Silence of the sea", "Brightly twinkling stars." Possessing a subtle artistic taste, the composer paid deep attention to the selection of texts. He turned to the poems of A. Pushkin, F. Tyutchev, A. Tolstoy, M. Lermontov, I. Nikitin, A. Fet and other poets. M. Antsev's choruses are imbued with free contemplation; they lack strong, dramatically intense development.

Although M. Antsev was a student of N. Rimsky-Korsakov, his work is rather close to P. Tchaikovsky. The melody in his choirs is expressive, calm, and easy to remember. It is simple, unpretentious, based on the existing intonations of a city song, hence the accessibility of its perception. Most often, the composer uses sequential development of the most expressive turns of the melody with the precise construction of the initial link.

Continuous harmonic development conceals the dismemberment inherent in sequential movement and gives the melody greater solidity.

M. Antsev worked a lot with choirs, knew the specifics of their sound and took it into account in his compositions, so the choral parts are presented in convenient tessitura.

Unfortunately, creative heritage Mikhail Vasilyevich Antsev has not yet been studied, but it is undoubtedly of great interest.

After October Revolution was one of the first composers to turn to revolutionary themes(choirs “In Memory of Heroes”, “Song of Struggle”, 1922). Author of works for violin and piano, choirs, romances, arrangements of folk songs, textbooks, including the books “Brief information for choir singers...” (1897), “Preparatory course in elementary music theory in connection with the teaching of choral singing” (1897), “Note terminology. Reference dictionary..." (Vitebsk 1904).

Of his choral works, cantatas, women's and children's choirs a cappella and with piano accompaniment (“The Waves Slumbered,” “Bells”), and arrangements of folk songs are popular in choirmaster pedagogical practice. He is especially famous for his mixed choirs, like “Sea and Cliff”, “Willow”, “Tears”, “Collapse”, “Song of Struggle”. The Requiem “Do not cry over the corpses of fallen soldiers” (1901) to the words of L. Palmin stands out for its expressiveness and civic pathos. The composer also has spiritual compositions - a cycle of chants of the Divine Liturgy and individual chants.

Author literary text choral composition "Bells" - famous poet and playwright Count Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy. Born on August 24, 1817 in St. Petersburg. Early childhood spent in Ukraine, on the estate of his uncle A. Perovsky, a writer famous in the 20s. under the pseudonym Pogorelsky. Received home education, was close to court life. He traveled widely throughout Russia and abroad, from 1836 he served in the Russian mission in Frankfurt, and in 1855 he participated in the Sevastopol campaign. He died on his Chernigov estate.

As Tolstoy himself believed, his penchant for poetry was unusually facilitated by the nature among which he grew up: “The air and the sight of our large forests, which I passionately loved, made a deep impression on me. Which left its mark on my character and my life...” Admiration for splendor native land can be clearly heard in Tolstoy’s poems, especially in his landscape lyrics. The colors of his poetic sketches are bright and rich. In his lyrics, Tolstoy likes to turn to folk poetry for images and verbal formulas. Hence the frequent comparison of natural phenomena with human life, hence the special melodiousness, a special language close to folk song.

Love for folk art, interest in folklore was reflected not only in Tolstoy’s lyrical poems. The poet's appeal to the epic, to the ballad genre, beloved by the romantics, is also largely explained by his attention to Russian folk poetry, to its ancient roots. In the epic “Ilya Muromets” (1871), Tolstoy resurrects the image famous hero, “grandfather Ilya,” who yearns for freedom and independence even in old age and therefore leaves princely court Vladimir Red Sun. Drawing heroes Kievan Rus, Tolstoy admires their courage, dedication and patriotism, but does not forget that these are living people, ready to love and enjoy the beauty of the world. That’s why many of his ballads and epics sound sincere, and their characters are attractive.

Tolstoy writes ballads and epics not only based on folk epic epic, he also turns to Russian history. In his ballads, Tolstoy admires old rituals and customs (“Matchmaking,” 1871) and glorifies the Russian character, which even the Mongol-Tatar yoke could not change (“Snake Tugarin,” 1867).

Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy tried his pen not only in the genre of poetry. The image of Kozma Prutkov and his famous aphorisms- this is Tolstoy cousins Alexey, Alexander and Vladimir Zhemchuzhnikov. His pen belongs famous plays historical content“The Death of Ivan the Terrible”, “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”, “Tsar Boris”. Tolstoy's satire was striking in its boldness and mischief.

Tolstoy began writing poetry very early. Tolstoy always valued the mastery of verse, although critics sometimes reproached him for “bad” (inaccurate) rhyme, or for an unsuccessful, too prosaic, in their opinion, turn of phrase. Meanwhile, it is precisely thanks to these “shortcomings” that the impression of improvisation is created; Tolstoy’s poetry acquires a special liveliness and sincerity. Tolstoy himself understood this feature of his work: “Some things should be minted, but others have the right and should not even be minted, otherwise they will seem cold.”

In the late 30s - early 40s they were written (on French) two fantastic stories- “Family of the Ghoul” and “Meeting after Three Hundred Years.” In May 1841, Tolstoy first appeared in print, publishing a separate book under the pseudonym “Krasnorogsky” (from the name of the Krasny Rog estate), fantastic story"Ghoul". He spoke very favorably about the story by V.G. Belinsky, who saw in her “all the signs of a still too young, but nevertheless remarkable talent.” Tolstoy was in no hurry to publish his poems. The first major collection of his poems appeared only in 1854 on the pages of Nekrasov’s Sovremennik, and the only collection during his lifetime was published in 1867. It included many now widely known poems, including “Bells.”