Virtual museum of the great Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Ballet creativity of A.I.

"GAYANE"

The history of this score goes back to the ballet “Happiness” composed back in 1939…
“When I started composing my first ballet score, I knew absolutely nothing about the specifics of ballet as a musical genre. Already in the process of work, I quickly began to grasp and realize its characteristic features. To a certain extent, probably, the circumstance helped me that, as Myaskovsky said, the element of dance lives in Khachaturian's music ... ”This is the confession of the author himself.
In a friendly conversation with the composer, Anastas Mikoyan, the most prominent politician of that time, expressed a desire to create a ballet performance for the upcoming Decade of Armenian Art (it became one of the first in the Armenian musical theater and the first of the national ballets shown in the pre-war decades). This idea fully corresponded to the composer's own creative aspirations. The theme of the ballet was born at the same time in a conversation with Mikoyan, who advised Aram Khachaturian to meet with the famous Armenian director Gevork Hovhannisyan, who recently wrote the ballet libretto “Happiness” about the life and work of Soviet border guards and collective farmers.
The deadlines were extremely tight. Khachaturian spent the spring and summer of 1939 in Armenia, collecting folklore material - it was here that the deepest study of the melodies of his native land began. This was advised to him by the writer Maxim Gorky. With the purely danceable nature of the music, Khachaturian set himself the task of "symphonizing" the ballet. He wanted the songs, dance melodies created by the people to organically enter the ballet, so that they would be inseparable from all the music of the ballet. Thus, Khachaturian quite quickly realized and formulated the main provisions of his musical and choreographic aesthetics.
Work on the score of "Happiness" lasted only six months. The famous conductor Konstantin Saradzhev, a student of Artur Nikish, took up the rehearsals.
Everything was done to ensure that the tour of the Armenian Opera and Ballet Theater named after Spendiarov, the youngest in the country (he was still 6 years old at the time), would be as successful as possible within the framework of the Armenian decade. K.Sarajev assembled a magnificent orchestra. On October 24, 1939, the ballet "Happiness" was staged in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater and literally captivated the audience. Many participants received government awards, and enthusiastic reviews did not cease to fill the pages of newspapers.
However, this did not prevent the composer from being soberly aware of some of the weaknesses of his work. The libretto also suffered from flaws. And, nevertheless, "Happiness" turned out to be a good springboard for the true flowering of Khachaturian's ballet skills. Soon the leadership of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. Kirov offered to stage the play "Happiness" with a new libretto on his stage ...
As a result, the entire score of "Happiness", in the figurative expression of the author himself, was "dispossessed" by him ...
It all ended with the creation of the ballet "Gayane", but it was already during the Second World War. Here is how the composer recalls this period:
“I lived in Perm on the 5th floor of the Tsentralnaya Hotel. When I remember this time, I think again and again how difficult it was for people then. The front needed weapons, bread, shag ... And in art - spiritual food, everyone needed - both the front and the rear. And we, artists and musicians, understood this and gave all our strength. About 700 pages of the Gayane score I wrote in half a year in a cold hotel room, where there was a piano, a stool, a table and a bed. It is all the more dear to me because Gayane is the only ballet on a Soviet theme that has not left the stage for a quarter of a century ... "
"Saber Dance", according to the author himself, was born by accident. After the score of "Gayane" was completed, rehearsals began. The director of the theater called Khachaturian and said that a dance should be added to the last act. The composer undertook this reluctantly - he considered the ballet finished. But he began to think about this thought. “The dance should be fast, militant. Khachaturian recalls. - Hands as if in impatience took a chord and I began to break it down like an ostinato, repeating figure. A sharp shift was needed - I took the opening tone at the top. Something "hooked" me - yeah, let's repeat in a different key! A start! Now we need a contrast... In the third scene of the ballet, I have a melodious theme, a lyrical dance. I combined the militant beginning with this theme - it is played by a saxophone - and then returned to the beginning, but in a new capacity. I sat down to work at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and by 2 o'clock in the morning everything was ready. At 11 o'clock in the morning the dance was performed at a rehearsal. By the evening it was staged, and the next day there was already a general ... "
The ballet "Gayane" to the libretto by K. Derzhavin was staged by N. Anisimova in December 1942 - when the grandiose epic near Stalingrad was unfolding. The production took place in Molotov, where the Leningrad Kirov Theater was evacuated. P. Feldt, who conducted the ballet at the premiere, surpassed himself, as the reviewers wrote. “Feldt especially pleased with that inspired ardor,” noted the composer Dmitry Kabalevsky, “which he, as a talented ballet conductor, sometimes lacked” ...
Whether you watch "Gayane" in the theater, listen to this music in a concert or recording, the impression from it is born somehow immediately and remains in your memory for a long time. The generosity of Aram Khachaturian, which has few analogues in the history of music, is melodic and orchestral, modal and harmonic generosity, generosity associated with the widest range of thoughts and feelings that are embodied in the score.
Three symphonic suites composed by Khachaturian from the score of the ballet contributed to the world fame of Gayane's music.
“The evening of the first performance of the First Suite from “Gayane” firmly stuck in my memories,” says singer N. Shpiller, “Golovanov conducted the orchestra of the All-Union Radio. Neither before nor after that day - it was October 3, 1943 - I have not heard such a flurry of applause, such an unconditional universal success of a new work, as then in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions.
After 6 years, the equally unanimous success of the Gayane music on the other side of the earth was glad to note the great composer of the 20th century, Dmitry Shostakovich, in New York, at the All-American Congress of Scientists and Cultural Figures in Defense of Peace, where the Gayane score was performed under the baton of the outstanding conductor Stokowski.
For the music for the ballet "Gayane" Aram Khachaturian was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree.

Libretto by K. Derzhavin. Choreographer N. Anisimova.

Characters

Hovhannes, chairman of the collective farm. Gayane, his daughter. Armen, shepherd. Nune. Karen. Kazakov, head of the geological expedition. Unknown. Giko. Aisha. Ishmael. Agronomist. Geologists. Head of the Border Guard.

Dark night. A figure of the unknown appears in the thick net of rain. Listening carefully and looking around, he frees himself from the parachute lines. By checking the map, he is convinced that he is at the target.

The rain subsides. Far away in the mountains, the lights of the village flicker. The stranger throws off his overalls and remains in his tunic with stripes for wounds. Limping heavily, he walks away towards the village.

Sunny morning. Spring work is in full swing in the collective farm gardens. Slowly, lazily stretching, Giko goes to work. The girls of the best brigade of the collective farm are in a hurry. With them, the foreman is a young cheerful Gayane. Giko stops the Girl. He tells her about his love, wants to hug her. A young shepherd Armen appears on the Road. Gayane joyfully runs towards him. High in the mountains, near the camp of shepherds, Armen found shiny pieces of ore. He shows them to the Girl. Giko looks jealously at Armen and Gayane.

During the rest hours, the collective farmers start dancing. Suitable about. He wants Gayane to dance with him, tries to hug her again. Armen protects the girl from importunate courtship. Giko is furious. He is looking for a reason to fight. Grabbing the basket of seedlings, Giko throws it furiously. He doesn't want to work. The collective farmers reproach Giko, but he does not listen to them and attacks Armen with raised fists. Between them is Gayane. She demands that Giko leave immediately.

Collective farmers are outraged by Giko's behavior. The young collective farmer Karen comes running. He says that guests have arrived. A group of geologists led by the head of the expedition, Kazakov, enters the garden. They are followed by an unknown. He hired himself to carry the geologists' luggage and stayed with them.

Collective farmers warmly welcome visitors. Restless Nune and Karen start dancing in honor of the guests. Dancing and Gayane. The guests also watch with admiration the dance of the shepherd Armen. A signal is given to start work. Hovhannes shows visitors the collective farm gardens. Gayane is left alone. Everything pleases her eyes. The girl admires the distant mountains, the fragrant gardens of her native collective farm.

The geologists are back. Gayane advises Armen to show them the ore he brought. Armen's find interested geologists. They are ready to go exploring right now. Armen shows the route on the map, undertakes to accompany the geologists. At this moment, an unknown person appears. He keeps a close eye on Armen and the geologists.

Road trips are over. Gayane tenderly says goodbye to Armen. Giko, who approaches, sees this. Seized with jealousy, he threatens after the shepherd. An unknown person's hand rests on Giko's shoulder. He pretends to sympathize with Giko, and inciting his hatred, slyly offers friendship and help. They leave together.

After work, Gayane's friends gathered. Karen plays the tar. The girls perform an old Armenian dance. Kazakov enters. He stayed at the house of Hovhannes.

Gayane and her friends show Kazakov the flowery carpet they have woven, and start a game of hide and seek. Drunk Giko arrives. The game gets frustrated. Collective farmers try to persuade Giko, who is again chasing Gayane, and advise him to leave. After seeing off the guests, the collective farm chairman tries to talk to Giko. But he does not listen to Hovhannes and persistently sticks to Gayane. The angry girl sends Giko away.

Geologists are returning from the campaign together with Armen. Armen's find is not an accident. A rare metal deposit has been discovered in the mountains. Kazakov decides to examine him in detail. Giko, who lingered in the room, becomes a witness to this conversation.

Scouts bowels are going to go. Armen tenderly gives his girlfriend a flower brought from the mountainside. This is seen by Giko, passing by the windows with the unknown. Armen and Hovhannes are sent along with the expedition. Kazakov asks Gayane to save the bag with ore samples. Gayane hides him.

Night has come. An unknown person enters Gayane's house. He pretends to be sick and collapses in exhaustion. Gayane helps him up and hurries for water. Left alone, he jumps up and starts looking for materials from the geological expedition.

Returning Gayane understands that the enemy is in front of her. Threatening, the unknown person demands that she tell where the materials of geologists are located. During the fight, the carpet that covered the niche falls. There is a bag with pieces of ore. An unknown person ties Gayane, takes a bag and, trying to hide the traces of the crime, sets fire to the house.

Fire and smoke fill the room. Giko jumps out the window. Horror and confusion on his face. Seeing a stick forgotten by an unknown person, Giko realizes that the criminal is his recent acquaintance. He carries the girl out of the house on fire.

Starlight Night. High in the mountains there is a camp of collective farm shepherds. Passes a squad of border guards. Shepherd Izmail entertains his beloved girl Aisha by playing the flute. Aisha starts a smooth dance. Attracted by the music, the shepherds gather. And here is Armen. He brought geologists. Here, at the foot of the cliff, he found precious ore. Shepherds perform folk dance "Khochari". They are replaced by Armen. Burning torches in his hands cut through the darkness of the night.

A group of highlanders and border guards arrive. Highlanders carry the parachute they found. The enemy has penetrated Soviet soil! A glow broke out over the valley. The village is on fire! Everyone rushes there.

The flame is raging. In the reflections of the fire flashed the figure of an unknown person. He tries to hide, but collective farmers run from all sides to the burning house. The unknown person hides the bag and gets lost in the crowd.

The crowd subsided. At this moment, an unknown person overtakes Giko. He asks him to be silent and for this he gives a wad of money. Giko throws money in his face and wants to apprehend the criminal. Giko is injured but continues to fight. Gayane runs to help. Giko falls. The enemy aims a weapon at Gayane. Armen came to the rescue and grabs a revolver from the enemy, who is surrounded by border guards.

Autumn. The collective farm had a bountiful harvest. Everyone converges on a holiday. Armen hurries to Gayane. On this wonderful day, he wants to be with his beloved. Armena stops the kids and starts a dance around him.

Collective farmers are baskets of fruit, jugs of wine. Arriving invited to the festival guests from the fraternal republics - Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians.

Finally, Armen sees Gayane. Their meeting is full of joy and happiness. People flock to the square. Here are the old friends of the collective farmers - geologists and border guards. The best brigade is awarded a banner. Kazakov asks Hovhannes to let Armen go to study. Hovhannes agrees.

One dance follows another. Hitting the sonorous tambourines, Nune and her friends dance. Guests perform their national dances - Russian, dashing Ukrainian hopak, lezginka, warlike mountain dance with sabers and others.

There are tables on the square. With raised glasses, everyone praises free labor, the indestructible friendship of the Soviet peoples, and the beautiful Motherland.

Page 1

The ballet "Gayane" was written by Khachaturian in 1942. In the harsh days of the Second World War, the music of "Gayane" sounded like a bright and life-affirming story. Shortly before "Gayane" Khachaturian wrote the ballet "Happiness". In a different storyline revealing the same images, the ballet was like a sketch for "Gayane" in terms of theme and music: the composer introduced the best numbers from "Happiness" into "Gayane".

The creation of Gayane, one of Aram Khachaturian's finest works, was prepared not only by the first ballet. The theme of human happiness - his living creative energy, the fullness of his worldview was revealed by Khachaturian in works of other genres. On the other hand, the symphony of the composer's musical thinking, the bright colors and imagery of his music.

The libretto “Gayane”, written by K. Derzhavin, tells how the young collective farmer Gayane gets out of the power of her husband, a deserter who undermines work on the collective farm; how she exposes his treacherous actions, his connection with saboteurs, almost becoming a victim of a target, almost becoming a victim of revenge, and finally, about how Gayane learns a new, happy life.

1 action.

A new crop is being harvested in the cotton fields of an Armenian collective farm. Collective farmer Gayane is among the best, most active workers. Her husband, Giko, quits his job on the collective farm and demands the same from Gayane, who refuses to fulfill his demand. The collective farmers expel Giko from their midst. The witness of this scene is the head of the border detachment, Kazakov, who arrived at the collective farm.

2 action.

Relatives and friends try to entertain Gayane. Giko's appearance in the house causes the guests to disperse. 3 strangers come to Giko. Gayane learns about her husband's connection with the saboteurs and about his intention to set fire to the collective farm. Gayane's attempts to prevent the criminal plan are in vain.

3 action.

The proud camp of the Kurds. A young girl Aisha is waiting for her lover Armen (Gayane's brother). Armen and Aisha's date is interrupted by the appearance of three strangers looking for a way to the border. Armen, volunteering to be their guide, sends for Kazakov's detachment. The saboteurs have been arrested.

In the distance, a fire flares up - this is a burning collective farm. Cossacks with a detachment and the Kurds rush to the aid of the collective farmers.

4 action.

The collective farm, revived from the ashes, is preparing to start its working life again. On this occasion, there is a holiday in the collective farm. Gayane's new life begins with the new life of the collective farm. In the struggle with her deserter husband, she asserted her right to an independent working life. Now Gayane also recognized a new, bright feeling of love. The holiday ends with the announcement of the upcoming wedding of Gayane and Kazakov.

The action of the ballet develops in two main directions: the drama of Gayane, pictures of folk life. As in all the best works of Khachaturian, the music of "Gayane" is deeply and organically connected with the musical culture of the Transcaucasian peoples and, most of all, with the Armenian people native to him.

Khachaturian introduces several genuine folk melodies into the ballet. They are used by the composer not only as a bright and expressive melodic material, but in accordance with the meaning they have in folk life.

The compositional and musical-dramatic techniques used by Khachaturian in "Gayane" are extremely diverse. In ballet, integral, generalized musical characteristics acquire predominant importance: portrait sketches, folk-everyday, genre pictures, pictures of nature. They correspond to complete, closed musical numbers, in the sequential presentation of which bright suite-symphonic cycles are often formed. The logic of development, which unites independent musical images into a single whole, is different in different cases. So, in the final picture, a large cycle of dances is united by the ongoing holiday. In some cases, the alternation of numbers is based on figurative, emotional contrasts between lyrical and cheerful, impetuous or energetic, courageous, genre and dramatic.

The musical and dramatic means are also clearly differentiated in the characteristics of the characters: integral portrait sketches of episodic characters are contrasted with a through dramatic musical development in the part of Gayane; various dance rhythms underlying the musical portraits of Gayane's friends and relatives are opposed by Gayane's improvisationally free, lyrically rich melody.

Khachaturian consistently pursues the principle of leitmotifs in relation to each of the characters, which gives the images and the whole work a musical value and stage specificity. Due to the variety and development of Gayane's melodies, Gayane's musical image acquires much greater flexibility in comparison with other ballet characters. The image of Gayane is revealed by the composer in a consistent development, as her feelings evolve: from hidden grief (“Dance of Gayane”, No. 6) and the first glimpses of a new feeling (“Dance of Gayane”, No. 8), through a struggle full of drama (act 2) - to a new bright feeling, a new life (introduction to act 4, No. 26).

On July 24, on the historical stage of the Bolshoi, the only performance dedicated to the anniversary of the great composer A.I. Khachaturian and the 100th anniversary of the First Armenian Republic! The President of Armenia and many Russian officials will attend Gayane's ballet.

When

Where

Bolshoi Theatre, Teatralnaya metro station.

What is the price

The cost of tickets is from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles.

Description of the event

2018 is full of significant events related to Armenian statehood and culture! This year marks the 115th anniversary of the greatest composer Aram Ilyich Khachaturian. Armenia is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the First Armenian Republic, while the ancient capital Yerevan is celebrating its 2800th anniversary!

Naturally, all these events were an excellent occasion for a series of events designed to present Armenian culture in Russia in all its splendor. Thanks to the active work of the RA Embassy in the Russian Federation, which, with the advent of the new ambassador, Vartan Toganyan, in 2017, began to pay special attention to the development of cultural and humanitarian ties between the two countries, after a break of almost 60 years, Moscow will see Khachaturian's Gayane ballet at the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia!

Stunningly colorful sets and costumes, restored according to the sketches of the great artist Minas Avetisyan, will arrive from Yerevan together with a ballet and a magnificent orchestra conducted by the Honored Artist of Russia, two-time Grammy nominee Konstantin Orbelyan! The last time the ballet Gayane was staged at the Bolshoi Theater was 57 years ago, in February 1961.

Who is suitable for

For adults, ballet fans.

Why you should go

• The only performance in Moscow
• The famous ballet returns to the Bolshoi Theater
• Significant event attended by officials

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