The group is a mighty bunch of biography. "mighty bunch

In the middle of the nineteenth century, a new Russian musical school took shape. The work of its representatives is still studied all over the world and is revered as the best examples of the school of Russian romanticism. And the best of the representatives of the era were united in a creative union, which was called quite cute and at the same time succinctly: "".

The ideological inspirer of this most interesting organization was Vladimir Vladimirovich Stasov. By the way, it was in his article that the term "Mighty Handful" was first encountered:

“How much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small but already mighty bunch of Russian musicians have”

In this series of articles, we will explore, if possible, the lives of the main composers of The Mighty Handful. Here they are:

, Mily Alekseevich
, Modest Petrovich
, Alexander Porfiryevich
, Nikolai Andreevich
, Caesar Antonovich

These composers put forward an alternative name for their circle: "The New Russian Musical School". The Russian intelligentsia already felt fermented enough by revolutionary thoughts to try to make a revolution, if not political, then at least cultural. The revolution was planned to be peaceful, without bloodshed and attempts on the life of the king. Therefore, it passed not only without hindrance, but also with all sorts of approvals.

So, why did artists turn their minds towards folk art? It is worth recognizing that simply because the people began to intensively draw public attention to themselves. One rebellion after another, different uprisings, complaints, rebelliousness. It may sound cynical, but it was just curiosity. And nothing else.

Mussorgsky became the most consistent in the implementation of the aesthetic principles generally accepted among the "Mighty Handful". The most inconsistent - Cui. The essence of their activity was this: they systematically and scrupulously recorded samples of Russian musical folklore and church singing. And the results of these studies were embodied in various major musical works. This was especially evident in operas.

What were these operas? Among them are "The Tsar's Bride", "The Snow Maiden", "Khovanshchina", "Prince Igor" and "Boris Godunov". To understand roughly what spirit these composers were trying to convey, read the following brief retelling of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tsar's Bride, which is a story of unhappy love.

As mentioned above, this opera was composed by Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov. The presentation took place on October 22, 1899. In the introduction, which is called "Feast", the boyar Gryaznoy indulges in sad and heavy thoughts: he fell in love with Marfa, but she is already married to Ivan Lykov.

Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tsar's Bride

He has no choice but to try to forget himself. And he gathers guests for a feast. After the fun, he tells his friend that he fell in love with the fair girl. Bomelius secretly tells his poor friend that he knows the recipe for a secret potion, after drinking which the girl will fall in love, but Lyubasha overheard their conversation.

In the course of further intrigues and manipulations, confusion arose: Lyubasha ordered a poisonous potion, and Gryaznoy ordered a love potion. Ivan the Terrible called two hundred girls, for he decided to choose a bride for himself. The participants in the action all hoped that he would like Dunyasha more. But the king chose Marfa.

But during the feast, she had already drunk the love potion that Gryaznoy poured into her in desperation. And since confusion arose because of Lyubasha, in fact, Marfa does not drink a love potion, but a poisonous potion. And he becomes mortally ill.

As a result of the investigation, it was decided that the killer was Lykov. He himself admitted that he wanted to poison Marfa. But Gryaznoy realizes that he unwittingly poisoned the girl himself, instead of bewitching her. And he confesses everything: that he slandered Lykov, and that it was he who poured the potion for the love spell, but it turned out to be poison.

He himself asks the boyars to take him away, but first asks to be allowed to deal with Bomelius. And just then Lyubasha appears, who admits that this is not Bomelius, but she herself changed the potion, as she overheard the conversation. Gryaznoy, in a rage, kills Lyubasha and says goodbye to Martha. But she does not recognize him, recognizing him as Lykov.

As you can judge for yourself, Rimsky-Korsakov composed not just an opera, but an opera with elements of a Russian folk detective story, set it to music and spiced it all up with a magnificent historical flavor. It could be said that this is a majestic poem, an alarming call that came from antiquity.

The above description is dry and sparse, it gives only a small fraction of what can be learned about the essence of the work of this circle.

Formation of the Mighty Handful

But we continue our story about the "Mighty Handful". So how did it form?

It all started with Balakirev and Stasov. They were extremely keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov and Herzen with Chernyshevsky. Later, they were able to inspire Cui. And after a while Mussorgsky joined them. For the sake of music, he left his rank as an officer in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and therefore gave himself with all his heart to his new passion.

The year 1862 was a significant date. Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin joined the Mighty Handful. Borodin was already a mature man, a chemist. And Rimsky-Korsakov was still very young.

The "Mighty Handful" as a group united by a common ideology existed until the seventies, becoming an important milestone in the development of music.

Belyaevskaya "The Mighty Handful"

But the word “existed” does not quite correctly characterize the time of the end of the group's activities. In fact, after the 70s, its members simply stopped getting together so often. The five Russian composers who made up the stronghold of the "Mighty Handful" did not even think of stopping their creative activity. And the ideology was developed in the pedagogical activity of Rimsky-Korsakov. This is how the Petersburg school was formed. And from the mid-eighties of the nineteenth century, the Belyaev circle arose.

We can say that this circle became a logical continuation of the "Mighty Handful", since Rimsky-Korsakov himself was its leader. He also emphasized that the only difference between the Balakirev and Belyaev circles was that the first was full of a revolutionary spirit, and the second was progressive. That is, the ideas were all the same, but of a peaceful nature.

These circles also had other links. They were pointed out by Rimsky-Korsakov himself: it was himself and Borodin, as well as Lyadov. The new circle continued to be replenished with students and graduates of the Rimsky-Korsakov school. And, as one would expect, the new line-up caused such influences and currents to appear in this environment that were simply unacceptable in the classic composition of the Mighty Handful.

But they were no longer so much followers as successors, which should be taken into account. The new composition did not have a single program, like the classic "Mighty Handful", nor a clear ideology. In the end, all that united the members of this circle was the nationally oriented Russian music school.

As a result, from progressive and partly even revolutionary figures, they gradually turned into conservative, somewhat even old-fashioned and anachronistic.

The Mighty Handful is a creative community of Russian composers that formed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 19th century. It is also known under the name "New Russian Musical School", Balakirev Circle.

The Mighty Handful included M. A. Balakirev, A. P. Borodin, Ts. A. Cui, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The source of the figurative name was the article by the music critic V.V. Stasov “Slavic concert of the city of Balakirev” (about the concert conducted by Balakirev), which ended with the wish that the guests “forever keep memories of how much poetry, feelings, talent and skill there are with a small but already powerful handful of Russian musicians. The concept of the "New Russian Musical School" was put forward by the members of the "Mighty Handful", who considered themselves followers and successors of the work of the senior masters of Russian music - M. I. Glinka and A. S. Dargomyzhsky. In France, the name "Five" or "Group of Five" ("Groupe des Cinq") is adopted according to the number of the main representatives of the "Mighty Handful".

The "Mighty Handful" brought together the most talented composers of the younger generation, who came to the fore in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the exception of P. I. Tchaikovsky, who was not a member of any groups. The leading position in the "Mighty Handful" belonged to Balakirev (hence the Balakirev Circle). Closely associated with it was Stasov, who played an important role in developing the common ideological and aesthetic positions of the Mighty Handful, in shaping and promoting the creativity of its individual members.

The center of musical and educational activities of the "Mighty Handful" was Free music school(Created in 1862 on the initiative of Balakirev and G. Ya. Lomakin), in whose concerts the works of members of the Mighty Handful and Russian and foreign composers close to her in the direction were performed.

The fundamental principles for the "Kuchkist" composers were nationality and nationality. The themes of their work are mainly associated with images of folk life, the historical past of Russia, folk epic and fairy tales, ancient pagan beliefs and rituals.

One of the most important sources of creativity was the folk song for the composers of The Mighty Handful. Their attention was attracted mainly by the old traditional peasant song, in which they saw the expression of the fundamental foundations of national musical thinking. The folk song received a variety of refractions in the operatic and symphonic works of the composers of the Mighty Handful. They also showed interest in the folklore of other peoples, especially those of the East. Following Glinka, the "Kuchkists" widely developed intonations and rhythms of the peoples of the East in their works, and thereby contributed to the emergence of their own national composer schools among these peoples.

The creative activity of the "Mighty Handful" is the most important historical stage in the development of Russian music. Based on the traditions of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, the Kuchkist composers enriched it with new conquests, especially in opera, symphony and chamber vocal genres. Such works as "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" by Mussorgsky, "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "Snow Maiden" and "Sadko" by Rimsky-Korsakov belong to the heights of Russian opera classics. Their common features are national character, realism of images, wide scope and important dramaturgical significance of popular scenes. The desire for picturesque brightness, concreteness of images is also inherent in the symphonic work of the composers of The Mighty Handful.

In its innovative aspirations, the "Mighty Handful" drew close to the leading representatives of Western European musical romanticism - R. Schumann, G. Berlioz, F. Liszt. The "Kuchkist" composers highly valued the work of L. Beethoven, whom they considered the founder of all new music.

Thus, the main merit of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" is the development, enrichment of Russian composer music and their musical and educational activities.

By the mid 70s. The "Mighty Handful" as a close-knit group ceased to exist. The main reason for the collapse of the "Mighty Handful" is in internal creative differences. Borodin saw in the collapse of the "Mighty Handful" a manifestation of the natural process of creative self-determination and finding their own individual path by each of the composers that were part of it.

It so happened that accidentally dropped words began to denote a large and complex phenomenon in the history of the music of our country. The "mighty bunch" is Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Cui. But why are five composers immediately called by these words? Who came up with these words?

Once a wonderful Russian art critic Vladimir Stasov, the author of many articles about music and musicians, wrote after one concert: “...how much poetry, feelings, talent and skill a small but already mighty bunch of Russian musicians have.” So he put it immediately about five composers. Indeed, all of these are people of mighty talent, great talents, and not only in music; almost every one of them glorified himself in other ways.

They were all friends: they often met, played their compositions to each other, discussed them. There are few examples of such a beautiful and high creative friendship in the history of art.

The life of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" developed differently. But each of them fought in his work for high goals.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky lived the shortest life: he died at the age of 42, without having time to fulfill even a small part of his plans. But his romances and songs, the operas "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina" - "folk musical dramas", as he called them, will delight more than one generation of listeners.

The author of the famous opera "Prince Igor" and "" Alexander Porfirievich Borodin was at the same time an outstanding chemist. He wrote few pieces of music, but each of them is like a precious pearl among the treasures of our music.

Nikolai Andreevich's work is the most extensive: 15 operas, 3 symphonies, many romances, symphonic works, musical compositions for various instruments.

The symphonic works of Mily Alekseevich Balakirev, his piano fantasy "Islamey", the operas of Caesar Antonovich Cui are full of colors, varied and bright, although, perhaps, they are inferior to the music of the first three composers in significance.

The music that the composers of the Mighty Handful created was completely new, big and significant. In their writings they reflected the thoughts and feelings of their contemporaries. That is why, living in the interests of the people, these composers, by the power of their music, rebelled against violence and oppression. The operas Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky and The Golden Cockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov are perceived as such a "rebellion".

They boldly introduced melodies of folk songs and dances into their operas, symphonies and other works. And they searched for their heroes in folk tales and legends, in the history of their native country. The life of the people was what was dearest to these composers.

It is no coincidence that the composers of the "Mighty Handful" are compared with artists. They are united by an unbreakable bond with the people and the desire to serve the Motherland.

Municipal educational institution

Additional education for children

"Children's music school"
ABSTRACT

on the topic of:

"COMPOSITORS OF THE MIGHTY HALF"

by subject

"MUSICAL LITERATURE"
Work completed

7th grade student

choral department

Volosnikova Tatiana

Checked:

Biserova Yulia Petrovna

Peskovka 2011

1.1. History of creation……………………………………………………...4

1.2. The activities of the “Mighty Handful”……………………………………………………………………………7

2. Composers who are part of the "Mighty Handful"

2.1. Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910)………………………...12

2.2. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)………………………...14

2.3. Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833-1887)…………………….15

2.4. Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)………………………………..18

2.5. Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)……………...19

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….22

List of sources used………………………………………..26

Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………27

Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………28

Appendix 3……………………………………………………………………29

Annex 4……………………………………………………………………30

Annex 5……………………………………………………………………31

Appendix 6……………………………………………………………………32

INTRODUCTION

Accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, the expression "mighty bunch" firmly entered life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833- 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). Often the "Mighty Handful" is called the "New Russian Music School", as well as the "Balakirev Circle", after its leader M. A. Balakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called the "Five" according to the number of main representatives. The composers of the "Mighty Handful" entered the creative arena during the period of a huge public upsurge of the 60s of the 19th century.

"THE MIGHTY PICK"

The history of the creation of the Balakirev circle is as follows: in 1855, M.A. Balakirev arrived in St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old youth was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Of particular importance for Balakirev is his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.

Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov is the most interesting figure in the history of Russian art. Critic, art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, acting as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all major Russian artists, appeared in the press with the propaganda of their best paintings and was also their best adviser and assistant.

The son of the outstanding architect V.P. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilyevich, was born in St. Petersburg, he received his education at the School of Law. Stasov's service throughout his life was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka. Stasov heard Glinka's review of Balakirev: "In ... Balakirev, I found views that came so close to mine." And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov, undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly knowing classical and modern art, ideologically guides Balakirev and directs him.

In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met with Caesar Antonovich Cui, who at that time studied at the Military Engineering Academy and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui was very fond of music. In his early youth, he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.

With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui, arouses in him a serious interest in art. Under the direction of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano four hands, the opera Prisoner of the Caucasus, and in 1859 a one-act comic opera The Son of a Mandarin.

The next composer to join the Balakirev - Stasov - Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guards officer. He began to compose very early and very soon realized that he should devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, being already an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev happened in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything struck Mussorgsky in Balakirev: his appearance, his bright original game, and his bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, “a new world, unknown to him until now, opened up before him.”

In 1862, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature person, an outstanding chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.

In music, Borodin was self-taught. He owed his comparatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to his serious acquaintance with the literature of chamber music. While still a student at the Medical and Surgical Academy, Borodin, playing the cello, often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he replayed the entire literature of bow quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting with Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber compositions. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin's bright musical talent, but his versatile erudition.

Thus, by the beginning of 1863, one can speak of a formed Balakirev circle.

The leading line in the theme of the works of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the life and interests of the Russian people. Most of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" systematically recorded, studied and developed samples of folklore. Composers boldly used the folk song in both symphonic and operatic works (The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov).

The national aspirations of the "Mighty Handful" were, however, devoid of any tinge of national narrow-mindedness. Composers were very sympathetic to the musical cultures of other peoples, which is confirmed by numerous examples of the use of Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Spanish, Czech and other national plots and melodies in their works. A particularly large place in the work of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the eastern element ("Tamara", "Islamei" by Balakirev; "Prince Igor" by Borodin; "Scheherazade", "Antara", "The Golden Cockerel" by Rimsky-Korsakov; "Khovanshchina" by Mussorgsky).

By creating works of art for the people, speaking in a language understandable and close to them, composers made their music accessible to the widest strata of listeners. This democratic aspiration explains the great inclination of the "new Russian school" towards programming. It is customary to call "program" such instrumental works in which ideas, images, plots are explained by the composer himself. The author's explanation can be given either in the explanatory text attached to the work or in its title. Many other works by the composers of The Mighty Handful are also programmatic: Antar and The Tale by Rimsky-Korsakov, Islamey and King Lear by Balakirev, Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

Developing the creative principles of their great predecessors Glinka and Dragomyzhsky, the members of the Mighty Handful were at the same time bold innovators. They were not satisfied with what they had achieved, but called their contemporaries to the “new shores”, strove for a direct lively response to the demands and demands of modernity, inquisitively searched for new plots, new types of people, new means of musical embodiment.

The “Kuchkists” had to pave these new roads of their own in a stubborn and uncompromising struggle against everything reactionary and conservative, in sharp clashes with the dominance of foreign music, which had long and stubbornly been propagated by Russian rulers and aristocracy. The ruling classes could not be pleased with the truly revolutionary processes taking place in literature and art. Domestic art did not enjoy sympathy and support. Moreover, everything that was advanced, progressive was persecuted. Chernyshevsky was sent into exile, his writings bearing the stamp of a censorship ban. Herzen lived outside of Russia. Artists who defiantly left the Academy of Arts were considered "suspicious" and were taken into account by the tsarist secret police. The influence of Western European theaters in Russia was ensured by all state privileges: Italian troupes owned the opera stage monopoly, foreign entrepreneurs enjoyed the widest benefits inaccessible to domestic art.

Overcoming the obstacles posed to the promotion of "national" music, attacks from critics, the composers of the "Mighty Handful" stubbornly continued their work of developing their native art and, as Stasov later wrote, "Balakirev's partnership defeated both the public and the musicians. It sowed a new fertile seed, which soon yielded a splendid and fruitful harvest."

The Balakirev circle usually gathered in several familiar and close houses: at L.I. Shestakova (sister of M.I. Glinka), at Ts.A. Cui, at F.P. .Stasova. Meetings of the Balakirev circle always proceeded in a very lively creative atmosphere.

Members of the Balakirev circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were also close ties with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The composers of the "Mighty Handful" did a great deal of social and educational work. The first public manifestation of the activities of the Balakirev circle was the opening in 1862 of the Free Music School. The main organizer was M.I.Balakirev and the choirmaster G.Ya.Lomakin. The free music school had as its main task the dissemination of musical knowledge among the broad masses of the population.

In an effort to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic principles, to increase their creative influence on the surrounding social environment, the members of the "Mighty Handful" not only used the concert platform, but also appeared on the pages of the press. The speeches were of an acutely polemical nature, judgments sometimes had a sharp, categorical form, which was due to the attacks and negative assessments that the Mighty Handful was subjected to by reactionary criticism.

Along with Stasov, C.A. Cui acted as a spokesman for the views and assessments of the new Russian school. Since 1864, he was a permanent music reviewer for the newspaper "St. Petersburg Vedomosti". In addition to Cui, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov appeared with critical articles in the press. Despite the fact that criticism was not their main activity, in their musical articles and reviews they gave examples of accurate and correct assessments of art and made a significant contribution to Russian classical musicology.

The influence of the ideas of the "Mighty Handful" also penetrates the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Here in 1871 Rimsky-Korsakov was invited to the post of professor in the classes of instrumentation and composition. Since that time, Rimsky-Korsakov's activity has been inextricably linked with the conservatory. He becomes the figure that concentrates young creative forces around him. The combination of the advanced traditions of the "Mighty Handful" with a solid and solid academic foundation constituted a characteristic feature of the "Rimsky-Korsakov school", which was the dominant trend in the St. Petersburg Conservatory from the late 70s of the last century until the beginning of the 20th century.

By the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" was gaining wide popularity and recognition not only at home, but also abroad. An ardent admirer and friend of the "new Russian school" was Franz Liszt. Liszt energetically contributed to the dissemination of the works of Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov in Western Europe. Mussorgsky's ardent admirers were the French composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, the Czech composer Janacek.

COMPOSERS THAT WERE A MIGHTY Bunch

- Russian composer, pianist, conductor, head and inspirer of the famous "Five" - "The Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), which personifies the national movement in Russian musical culture of the 19th century.

Balakirev was born on January 2, 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod, into an impoverished noble family. Brought to Moscow at the age of ten, he briefly took lessons from John Field; later, A.D. Ulybyshev took a great part in his fate. enlightened amateur musician, philanthropist, author of the first Russian monograph on Mozart. Balakirev entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kazan University, but in 1855 he met in St. Petersburg with M.I. Glinka, who convinced the young musician to devote himself to composition in the national spirit, relying on Russian music, folk and church, on Russian plots and texts.

A "mighty handful" took shape in St. Petersburg between 1857 and 1862, and Balakirev became its leader. He was self-taught and drew knowledge mainly from practice, therefore he rejected the textbooks and methods of teaching harmony and counterpoint accepted at that time, replacing them with a wide acquaintance with the masterpieces of world music and their detailed analysis. The "Mighty Handful" as a creative association did not last long, but it had a huge impact on Russian culture. In 1863, Balakirev founded the Free Music School - as opposed to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the direction of which Balakirev assessed as cosmopolitan and conservative. He performed a lot as a conductor, regularly acquainting listeners with the early works of his circle. In 1867 Balakirev became the conductor of concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society, but in 1869 he was forced to leave this post. In 1870, Balakirev experienced a severe spiritual crisis, after which he did not study music for five years. He returned to composition in 1876, but by that time he had already lost his reputation as the head of the national school in the eyes of the musical community. In 1882, Balakirev again became the head of the concerts of the Free Music School, and in 1883 - the manager of the Court Singing Chapel (during this period he created a number of church compositions and arrangements of ancient chants).

Balakirev played a huge role in the formation of the national music school, but he composed relatively little himself. In symphonic genres, he created two symphonies, several overtures, music for Shakespeare's King Lear (1858-1861), symphonic poems Tamara (c. 1882), Rus (1887, 2nd edition 1907) and In the Czech Republic (1867, 2nd edition revision 1905). For piano, he wrote the sonata in B-flat minor (1905), the brilliant fantasy Islamey (1869) and a number of pieces in various genres. Romances and adaptations of folk songs are of high value. Balakirev's musical style relies on the one hand on folk origins and traditions of church music, on the other hand, on the experience of new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, Berlioz. Balakirev died in St. Petersburg on May 29, 1910.

was born on March 9 (21), 1839 in the estate of his parents in the village of Karevo, Toropetsk district of the Pskov province.

Russian composer. He did not receive a systematic musical education, although in his childhood he learned to play the piano and tried to compose. According to family tradition, the young man was assigned to the guards school. In the late 50s, Mussorgsky met Dargomyzhsky and Balakirev, struck up friendships with Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Stasov. Meetings with them helped the talented musician to determine his true calling: he decides to devote himself entirely to music. In 1858, Mussorgsky retired and became an active member of the creative group of advanced composers, known in history as the Mighty Handful.

In his work, imbued with a deep nationality and realism, Mussorgsky was a consistent, bright, bold exponent of the revolutionary democratic ideas of the 60s. The composer's talent was most fully revealed in operas. The monumental innovative musical dramas "Boris Godunov" (after Pushkin) and "Khovanshchina" are the pinnacles of his work. In these works, as in the comic opera "Sorochinsky Fair" (according to Gogol), the main character is the people. A brilliant master of musical characteristics, Mussorgsky created lively, juicy images of people of different classes, showing the human personality in all the diversity and complexity of its spiritual world. Psychological depth and high drama are combined in Mussorgsky's operas with a wealth of musical and expressive means. The originality and novelty of the composer's musical language lies in the innovative use of Russian folk songs, in the transfer of intonations of live speech.

The composer tried to ensure that in his works "the characters spoke on the stage, as living people speak ...". He achieved this not only in operas, but also in solo vocal music - songs based on scenes from peasant life, dramatic ballads, satirical sketches. First of all, these are such masterpieces as "Kalistrat", "Eryomushka's Lullaby", "Forgotten", "Commander", "Seminarist", "Rayok", "Haughtiness", "Classic", "Song of a Flea", etc. To the best Mussorgsky's compositions also include the vocal cycle "Children's", the fantasy for orchestra "Night on Bald Mountain", the brilliant "Pictures at an Exhibition" for piano. "Comprehension of history, a deep perception of countless shades of the national spirit, mood, intelligence and stupidity, strength and weakness, tragedy and humor - all this is unprecedented in Mussorgsky," wrote V. V. Stasov.

was born on November 12, 1833 and was recorded as the son of a serf servant of Prince L. S. Gedianov - Porfiry Borodin. In reality, the future composer was the illegitimate son of the prince himself and the St. Petersburg bourgeois Avdotya Antonova, in whose house the child was brought up.

Showing an early interest in music, Borodin began learning to play the flute at the age of eight, and then the piano and cello. When the boy was nine, he composed a polka for piano in 4 hands, and at sixteen his musical works were already praised by music critics, noting the young composer's "delicate aesthetic taste and poetic soul".

However, despite the obvious successes in this area, Alexander nevertheless chose the profession of a chemist for himself, having entered the Medico-Surgical Academy in 1850 as a volunteer, from which he graduated in 1856.

After Borodin received a doctorate in medicine in 1858, he was sent on a scientific mission to Western Europe, where he met his future wife, the pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, who discovered many romantic composers for him, in particular, Schumann and Chopin.

In parallel with his scientific activities, Borodin did not leave his musical experiments. During his trip abroad, he created string and piano quintets, a string sextet and some other chamber works.

After returning to Russia in 1862, he became an adjunct professor at the Medico-Surgical Academy, and in 1864 an ordinary professor in the same department.

In the same 1862, a significant meeting for Borodin took place - he met M. Balakirev, and later with the rest of his circle, known as the “Mighty Handful” (Ts. Cui, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. Mussorgsky ). “Before meeting me,” Balakirev later recalled, “he considered himself only an amateur and did not attach importance to his exercises in composing. It seems to me that I was the first person who told him that his real business was composing.

Under the influence of the "Kuchkist" composers, Borodin's musical and aesthetic views finally took shape and his artistic style began to develop, inextricably linked with the Russian national school.

All his work is permeated with the theme of the greatness of the Russian people, love for the motherland, love of freedom. A vivid example of this is the Second Symphony, which Mussorgsky proposed to call "Slavic Heroic", and the famous music critic V. Stasov - "Bogatyr".

Due to the great employment of scientific and pedagogical activities, to which Borodin devotes almost more time than to music, work on each new work dragged on for months, and more often for years. So, on his main work - the opera "Prince Igor" - the composer, starting from the end of the 1860s. worked for eighteen years, but did not have time to finish it.

At the same time, it is difficult to overestimate Borodin's contribution to the development of domestic science. The great Russian chemist D.I. Mendeleev said: "Borodin would have stood even higher in chemistry, would have brought even more benefits to science if music had not distracted him too much from chemistry."

Borodin wrote more than 40 scientific papers in chemistry (he is the author of the discovery of a special chemical reaction, named after him "the Borodin reaction").

Since 1874, Borodin began to direct the chemical laboratory of the Medico-Surgical Academy. In addition, he was one of the organizers of a higher educational institution for women - Women's Medical Courses (1872-1887), where he later taught.

By the end of his life, Borodin the composer achieved a certain fame outside of Russia. On the initiative of F. Liszt, with whom Borodin was friendly, his symphonies were repeatedly performed in Germany. And in 1885 and 1886. Borodin traveled to Belgium, where his symphonic works enjoyed great success.

During this period, he wrote two string quartets, two parts of the Third Symphony in A minor, a musical picture for orchestra "In Central Asia", a number of romances and piano pieces.

A.P. died. Borodin on February 15, 1887 in St. Petersburg, not having time to finish either the opera "Prince Igor" or his Third Symphony (they were completed by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.K. Glazunov).

Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) - Russian composer and critic, member of the famous "Five" - "Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), one of the founders of the national movement in Russian music. Born January 18, 1835 in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania); his mother was Lithuanian, his father was French. He studied at the Main Engineering School, and then at the Military Engineering Academy in St. Petersburg, graduating in 1857. Cui made a brilliant career in the military field, rose to the rank of general and became a specialist in fortification. In 1857 he met Balakirev, and this served as an impetus for the resumption of music studies (back in Vilna, Cui took lessons from the famous Polish composer S. Moniuszko). Cui became one of Balakirev's students and later a member of the Five. In his publications in periodicals, he actively supported the principles of the "new Russian musical school". The legacy of the composer includes 10 operas that were not successful; the most interesting of these is the first, by William Ratcliffe (after Heinrich Heine, 1869). He also composed a number of small orchestral pieces, 3 string quartets, about 30 choirs, pieces for violin and piano, and more than 300 romances. Cui died in Petrograd on March 26, 1918.
came from an old noble family. He was born on March 18, 1844 in Tikhvin, Novgorod province. Some features of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's nature - high integrity, inability to compromise - were probably formed not without the influence of his father, who at one time was removed from the post of governor by personal decree of Nicholas I for his humane attitude towards the Poles.

When Rimsky-Korsakov was twelve years old, he was appointed to the naval cadet corps, which he dreamed of almost from birth.

Around the same time, Rimsky-Korsakov began taking piano lessons from the cellist of the Alexandria Theater Orchestra, Ulich. And in 1858, the future composer changed his teacher. The famous pianist Fyodor Andreevich Kanill became his new teacher, under whose guidance Nikolai began to try to compose music on his own. Imperceptibly, the music pushed thoughts of a career as a naval officer into the background.

In the autumn of 1861, Rimsky-Korsakov met M. Balakirev and became a member of the Balakirev circle.

In 1862, Nikolai Andreevich, having hardly survived the death of his father, went on a trip around the world (he visited a number of countries in Europe, North and South America), during which he composed Andante for a symphony on the theme of a Russian folk song about the Tatar full, proposed by Balakirev.

Upon returning to his homeland, he devoted himself almost entirely to writing. When the composer was 27 years old, he was invited as a professor of composition and orchestral writing at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the age of 29, he became an inspector of the military bands of the Naval Department, after that - the head of the Free Music School, and even later - the assistant manager of the Court Choir.

In the early 1870s, Rimsky-Korsakov married the talented pianist Nadezhda Purgold.

Realizing the imperfection of his musical education, he studies diligently, but before writing the opera May Night (1878), creative failures haunt him one after another.

After the death of his comrades in the "Mighty Handful" - Borodin and Mussorgsky - Rimsky-Korsakov completes the works they started, but not finished.

To the centenary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin (1899), Korsakov wrote the cantata The Song of the Prophetic Oleg and the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his glorious and mighty son Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the beautiful Swan Princess.

After the 1905 revolution, Rimsky-Korsakov, who supported the demands of the students, was fired from the conservatory.

His last opera, The Golden Cockerel, was heard by the audience after the composer's death.

CONCLUSION

The "Mighty Handful" as a single creative team existed until the mid-70s. By this time, in the letters and memoirs of its participants and close friends, one can increasingly find arguments and statements about the reasons for its gradual disintegration. Closest to the truth is Borodin. In a letter to the singer L.I. Karmalina in 1876, he wrote: “... As activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over school, over what a person has inherited from others. ...Finally, with the same thing, in different epochs of development, at different times, views and tastes in particular change. It's all very natural."

Gradually, the role of the leader of the advanced musical forces passes to Rimsky-Korsakov. He educates the younger generation at the conservatory, since 1877 he became the conductor of the Free Music School and the inspector of the musical choirs of the maritime department. Since 1883, he has been teaching at the Court Singing Chapel.

Mussorgsky was the first of the leaders of the "Mighty Handful" to die. He died in 1881. The last years of Mussorgsky's life were very difficult. Shaky health, material insecurity - all this prevented the composer from concentrating on creative work, caused a pessimistic mood and alienation.

In 1887 A.P. Borodin died.

With the death of Borodin, the paths of the surviving composers of the Mighty Handful finally diverged. Balakirev, withdrawing into himself, completely departed from Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui had long lagged behind his brilliant contemporaries. Only Stasov remained in the same relationship with each of the three.

Balakirev and Cui lived the longest (Balakirev died in 1910, Cui died in 1918). Despite the fact that Balakirev returned to musical life at the end of the 70s (in the early 70s Balakirev stopped playing music), he no longer had the energy and charm that characterized him at the time of the 60s. The creative forces of the composer died out before life.

Balakirev continued to lead the Free Music School and the Court Choir. The training procedures established by him and Rimsky-Korsakov in the chapel led to the fact that many of its pupils entered the real road, becoming outstanding musicians.

Creativity and the inner appearance of Cui also did not remind much of the former connection with the "Mighty Handful". He successfully advanced in his second specialty: in 1888 he became a professor at the Military Engineering Academy in the department of fortification and left many valuable printed scientific works in this area.

Rimsky-Korsakov also lived a long time (he died in 1908). Unlike Balakirev and Cui, his work went on an ascending line until the very end. He remained true to the principles of realism and nationalism developed during the great democratic upsurge of the 60s in the Mighty Handful.

On the great traditions of the "Mighty Handful" Rimsky-Korsakov brought up a whole generation of musicians. Among them are such outstanding artists as Glazunov, Lyadov, Arensky, Lysenko, Spendiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Steinberg, Myaskovsky and many others. They brought these traditions alive and active to our time.

The work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" belongs to the best achievements of world musical art. Based on the heritage of the first classic of Russian music Glinka, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov embodied the ideas of patriotism in their works, sang the great forces of the people, created wonderful images of Russian women. Developing Glinka's achievements in the field of symphonic creativity in program and non-program compositions for orchestra, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin made a huge contribution to the world treasury of symphonic music. The composers of the "Mighty Handful" created their music on the basis of wonderful folk song melodies, endlessly enriching it with this. They showed great interest and respect not only for Russian musical creativity, but Ukrainian and Polish, English and Indian, Czech and Serbian, Tatar, Persian, Spanish and many other themes are presented in their works.

The work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" is the highest example of musical art; at the same time, it is accessible, expensive and understandable to the widest circles of listeners. This is its great enduring value.

The music created by this small but powerful group is a high example of serving the people with its art, an example of true creative friendship, an example of heroic artistic work.

LIST OF USED SOURCES

http://www.bestreferat.ru/referat-82083.html
http://music.edusite.ru/p29aa1.html
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_colier/6129/KUI
http://music.edusite.ru/p59aa1.html
http://referat.kulichki.net/files/page.php?id=30926

ANNEX 1

Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910)

APPENDIX 2

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

APPENDIX 3

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833-1887)

APPENDIX 4

Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)
APPENDIX 5

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

APPENDIX 6

"Mighty bunch"

The creative community of Russian composers, which arose at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. XIX century, during the period of social and democratic upsurge in Russia and the heyday of Russian culture. It is also known as the Balakirev Circle, or the New Russian Musical School. The name "Mighty Handful" was given to the mug by V.V. Stasov. The circle took shape over several years (1856-1862) around M. A. Balakirev with the active participation of Stasov.

"Mighty bunch. Balakirev circle. Painting by A. V. Mikhailov. 1950 (detail).

Earlier than others (1856), a military engineer by profession, composer and music critic Ts. A. Cui became close friends with Balakirev. In the winter of 1857, an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment M. P. Mussorgsky joined them, and in November 1861, a 17-year-old graduate of the Naval Officer Corps N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In the late autumn of 1862, in the house of Professor S.P. Botkin, Balakirev met the young adjunct professor of the Medical and Surgical Academy A.P. Borodin. Since the autumn of 1865, after the return of Rimsky-Korsakov from the round-the-world voyage, meetings of the circle began to be held in full force.

Balakirev became the generally recognized head of the "Mighty Handful". His enormous talent, creative courage, inner strength and conviction in upholding the nationally original ways of developing Russian music gave him the right to do this. He, according to Stasov, came to St. Petersburg "a whole young professor ... of Russian national music." At the meetings of the Mighty Handful, much attention was paid to the study of the best works of the classical heritage and modern music. They played works by R. Schumann, F. Liszt and G. Berlioz, but more often by F. Chopin and M. I. Glinka. The "Kuchkist" composers highly valued the work of L. Beethoven, whom they considered the founder of all new music.

The Balakirev circle was not only a school of professional skill for young musicians. Here their socio-aesthetic views took shape. At the meetings, they read works of world classical literature, discussed political and historical events, studied articles by V. G. Belinsky, N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, A. I. Herzen. The ideologist of the circle was Stasov, his influence on the worldview of the "Kuchkists" was enormous. Often he suggested to the Balakirevites the ideas of future works: he suggested that Borodin write an opera based on The Tale of Igor's Campaign, he gave Mussorgsky the idea of Khovanshchina. Stasov devoted a number of articles to the leaders of the "Mighty Handful", created monographs on Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui; in the works “Our Music for the Last 25 Years”, “The Art of the 19th Century”, he paid much attention to the activities of the “Mighty Handful”.

The "Mighty Handful" was not a closed circle; its connections with artistic life have always been distinguished by versatility. Among the like-minded people and friends of the Balakirevites are A. S. Dargomyzhsky, Glinka's sister L. I. Shestakova, sisters A. N. and N. N. Purgold. With the participation of the sisters, Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov were performed in their house.

Since the second half of the 60s. The activities of the "Mighty Handful" assumed a wide social scope. This was facilitated by the growing scale of Balakirev's activities. In 1862, together with G. Ya. Lomakin, he organized the Free Music School, conducted symphony concerts of the Russian Musical Society, in which the music of his circle comrades was performed (see Russian music of the 18th - early 20th centuries). At this time, the connections of the "Mighty Handful" with Moscow musicians - P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. G. Rubinstein and others - were growing stronger. The relations that connected the Balakirevites with figures of musical culture were sometimes very complex. For example, they underestimated the positive role of the conservatory, founded in 1862, seeing it as a hotbed of "academicism" and "German influence." Over time, the contradictions were smoothed out, but even at first they were not insurmountable, since they were generated not by personal enmity, but by the desire for the progress of national culture and the sincere conviction of the Balakirevites that this path is the only true one.

All members of the "Mighty Handful" were united by the desire to continue Glinka's work for the glory and prosperity of Russian music. Like Glinka, the life of the people became the main theme of their work, the object of constant observation and study. They recreated it through the events of history and through the images of poetic fairy tales and epics; through philosophical reflections on the fate of the Motherland and vivid pictures of everyday life, through the images of Russian people of all classes and times. According to Stasov, the Balakirevites unfolded in front of the audience "an ocean of Russian people, life, characters, relationships."

Balakirevtsy admired the beauty of Russian folk songs. 40 Russian folk songs were collected and processed by Balakirev, 100 by Rimsky-Korsakov. The love for Russian song was also reflected in the style of the works of the composers themselves, which are distinguished by a clear national color. The "Kuchkists" were keenly interested in the songs of other peoples of Russia, especially the melodies of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The democratic orientation of the work of the composers of the "Mighty Handful" was also expressed in the desire to create bright, accessible and understandable music for a wide range of listeners. This was one of the reasons for turning to vocal genres (romance, opera), creating software instrumental works that brought music closer to literature and painting.

The educational activities of the "Mighty Handful" and the work of the Free Music School ran into the hostile attitude of the reactionary aristocratic circles of the nobility. Balakirev was unable to resist them and retired from musical and social activities for a long time. During this time, his students and comrades have already become mature artists. Each of them went his own way, and the circle fell apart. However, no one betrayed the ideals of the "Mighty Handful" and did not renounce their comrades. The ideas of the Balakirevites were developed in the creative and educational activities of the composers of the new generation. Their work and advanced ideas had a great influence on the development of foreign (in particular, French) music.