A. Arkhangelsky - an outstanding Russian spiritual composer and choir conductor

A well-known TV presenter, he believes that television cannot talk about God directly, because in essence it is entertainment; that the modern world is too disconnected, which is why the Internet appeared - to keep connections; he writes literature textbooks for high school because I am sure that our nation is united by nothing but the Russian language. Alexander ARKHANGELSKY — representative modern intellectuals who are not associated only with "kitchen riots" in individual apartments, but should be able to think and defend their point of view in any, even the most severe conditions.

So that life is not de-energized

— You wrote the book “1962. Epistle to Timothy ”, where, in the form of an address to your son, talk about the roots and interweaving of personal and world history. Everything today more people they try to recreate their ancestry, hang yellowed photographs of their ancestors on the wall ... Where does this desire to find the roots come from?

- When young children do not have enough vitamins, they instinctively begin to eat chalk, ashes, leaves. Today at the same time huge amount people have a sense of broken ties. For some, these are the connections of the closest circle, and in order to restore them, people go to Odnoklassniki, and for others, they have connections in when their own discontinuity in time is acutely felt. And our social organism urgently needs vitamins.

— And why didn't, say, our parents feel the "discontinuity in time"?

- They lived denser, participated together in everything: from everyday life to some political actions. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but that's how it was. We live apart. In addition, historical time has accelerated. Everything around is changing rapidly: technology, language norms, social experience. From the rapid changes of reality, we are blown apart, torn to pieces. Between different generations now not, but the absence of ligaments.

Conflict is a normal thing when people collide within the same space - shoulders, foreheads, and then either reconcile or declare war on each other. It's scary to slip next to each other without being able to catch on. We have entered a world where the most difficult thing is to prove the reality of the existence of the simplest things: such as memory, continuity, they have turned into an abstraction. And, apparently, this is why a huge number of people have an almost physiological feeling that without restoring at least an imaginary root system, we will be blown apart and completely torn apart.

Everything you are talking about is due to technical progress?

— Technical discoveries follow our internal problems. Today we live in a world that is losing its sense of boundaries, geographical and political, and with it historical ones. If our parents were more like farmers, then our children and we are more like nomads.

Having become nomads, we have not lost the instinct of farmers and want us to have an ancestral memory. We want to return to our homeland all the time, and not just move from one point to another. We want to change habitats, but always keep in touch. From my point of view, the Internet appeared because the world began to change.

In our too torn world, everything that connects is in demand. And this applies equally to technical discoveries, and to literary works. Everyone suddenly began to write about the historical code, because they feel: the wires have been torn out of the wall and the ends have not been brought together, and they need to be closed again, otherwise life is de-energized.

- Rather, he did not lead, but let him down. He posed questions to them, the answers to which are not in his works. And people came to the Church for answers. But he tried to lead. And in those works where he led, he lost. Won - in novels in which he opened the world to readers with access to eternal spheres.

The writer generally raises questions better than gives answers. Although the answers also have the right to be. But not on the forehead: this is not a recipe, not a road map. When a writer gives answers, he should be a little bit ironic towards himself. As soon as he loses this irony, he becomes an impostor, putting himself at best in the place of a priest, at worst in the place of the Lord God.

Weaving words

- You once said that your profession is a writer. Does this kind of activity exist today?

- A writer is a person who makes a living by weaving words, who knows how to build words into sentences that make sense. It is generally accepted that a writer is a writer who writes fictional books, thinking high, not exchanging for trifles. Although in the history of Russian literature I hardly know such personalities. Each of our writers had to deal with the same magazine chores. A writer is a profession, and a writer is a vocation. The main thing is to clearly understand what you are doing in this moment, and not to be confused: journalism, that is, you convince people of something, you impose your opinion on them, or journalism - you talk about the opinions of others. Or you write about other people from inside their minds, like a writer.

- And the further path - from literary criticism to journalism - how logical was it for you?

— For starters, I presented myself in the academic world. Very early he published his first philological book about " The Bronze Horseman she was even well received. But I knew I was hitting my own ceiling here. Therefore, it was interesting to try myself in a new capacity. I started doing literary criticism. In parallel, in the nineties, I went to Geneva every two years to give lecture courses. In 1998, it was again necessary to look for work. And I went to the Izvestia newspaper. In two years, he went from correspondent to deputy editor-in-chief, without missing a single step.

Then the opportunity arose to try himself again on television. (Before that, I already had little experience: in 1992-1993 I hosted a program about contemporary writers - Against the Current). And then came the proposal from the channel "Culture" - to save someone else's project, the TV magazine "Meanwhile". If I had known then what it was like to remake other people's projects, I would not have gone. For a year and a half I had a feeling of indelible shame. Well, here already zealous leapt up, it became interesting to replay the situation. Now the question is: what's next? A person cannot work all his life on television, shine in the frame, this is wrong. But I don't know the answer to this question yet.

- Your video blog on the RIA Novosti website is also called Against the Current ...

- In RIA Novosti, I can talk about political topics that are inappropriate on the Kultura channel. In addition, it is interesting for me to try not so much myself, but right in front of my eyes the emerging genre of multimedia column. And here it is clear that you will not be the best, but you will be the first, and this is very interesting.

- Why do the guests argue in the program "Meanwhile", discussing issues of concern to everyone, because in their disputes the truth is still not born?

“Our task is not to present the truth, but to show the complexity of the world in which we live and act, so that there are no illusions that there is simple solutions. And we must also teach people to make meaningful choices responsibly. The guests I invite are the people who made it. We see that each position has its own logic, but you still have to choose. Moreover, I believe that there are problems in our society that are unsolvable today. But then it is necessary to show their unsolvability. Sometimes it is useful to show the potential danger of some kind of social ideological clash. Let it be better within the framework of the program, as on a small experimental site, that we see how opinions disagree, than we will later experience it in real life.

- It is difficult for an Orthodox person to work on television, does publicity interfere?

- That is, were you tempted by fame? I hope no. And you can “work out” your fame - meet people, give lectures. Yes, television is a rather difficult environment. And who told us that, say, the army is light? Is it easy to be Orthodox and an officer? As for responsibility, it is the same everywhere.

- Have you ever had to defend your Orthodox views on television?

- On television, my views are third-rate. I am a presenter, not a publicist. Another thing is that a certain part of the audience does not like the fact that I invite priests to the program all the time. But I want to show the world that there are smart, thinking priests involved in the process modern life. I am like Orthodox person, I think that this is important, and I will do it, no matter what anyone tells me. As for my position as a publicist, I am afraid of substitution of theses. It scares me when secular people begin to read religious sermons in secular public places. I can't read sermons, no one blessed me for that. And I can’t hide the fact that I am Orthodox and my hierarchy of values is just like that. But, I repeat, I hope that I do not read sermons.

- You once said that television cannot talk about God ...

— It can speak not about God, but about the people in whom God lives. Most religious broadcasts tend to be no good. And not only on Russian television. After all, it is everywhere more- entertainment. I do not really understand how to talk about God through entertainment. Although everything in this life is possible, but as an exception, not as a rule. In principle, sermons from the screen are possible, but as a rule, this is frighteningly boring. And that's why I'm afraid of religious television.
— Previously, much was said about the fact that at least television unites the nation. Today, TV has become multi-channel, so we don’t have anything at all that unites us?

- It looks like it does. This is very clearly seen in false holidays. Under Soviet rule, there were holidays deeply alien to me, but internally motivated. Why is November 7 a holiday of the Soviet state? Because it is real or mythological, but on this day a state of workers and peasants was formed, with the Bolsheviks at the head. And then you can write whatever you like about November 7, hire strong directors who, like Romm, will shoot high-quality propaganda films. The myth works when the layman has an answer to the question: how this myth is connected with his own destiny. And today such myths are impossible.

November 4 is a holiday for the Church, but not for society as a whole, although what could be wrong with the Day of Civil Unity, which refers us to Minin and Pozharsky? But this holiday does not answer our question: how is it connected with our life today, with the fate of our children, with the state within which we live. Khotinenko can make at least 25 films "1612", they will not turn into the myth that Romm's films about November 7 have become, although Khotinenko is a good director. The task is not solvable. Nothing unites us mythologically, informationally, politically or culturally. Except for the Russian language, which is still our single language.

— Can the situation be changed?

- From my point of view, it is still possible. And there is an institution that is more important than television - a school. Almost everyone goes through it. There it is possible to form a general civic consciousness, an all-Russian, in broad sense words. But all attempts to solve this problem through the education of patriotism are dangerous. Modern world in general, he does not use the word "patriotism", but the word "citizenship".

Patriotism is a state feeling, not a national one. In relation to the state, I am a citizen, this is my state, I live in it and manifest myself as a citizen, therefore, I am a patriot too. The national feeling is connected not with the state, but with my cultural self-determination in today's world. And today it is largely a choice of a person, not genes.

There is no single understanding of the national principle for all time. For example, blood kinship before the Horde yoke is possible, but not after. If the Church had not said when the mixing with the occupiers began that now the main thing is language and faith, then perhaps the Russian ethnos would not have existed, it would have dissolved and disappeared into history. Today - kinship by cultural affiliation, by language, by the one whose history is more important to you. For example: I am not ashamed of Nazi Germany, because I have nothing to do with it. And I am ashamed of the Stalinist Soviet Union, because this is the history of my Motherland.

So "Russian" for me in this case adjective, not a noun. And in this sense, it does not matter: you are a Chinese, a Jew, a Tatar or an Uzbek, the only thing that matters is that you speak Russian and consider the history of Russia to be your own. And either we somehow, like Munchausen, pull ourselves out of the swamp by the hair, realize that we have little historical time left, and set ourselves (and the school) the task of historical, civil unification of the Russian lands. Or - no one guaranteed us eternal existence in history.

REFERENCE

Alexander Nikolaevich ARKHANGELSKY - writer, literary critic, TV presenter, publicist. Born in 1962 in Moscow. In 1982 he graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Lenin, Faculty of Russian Language and Literature. Candidate of Philology. Since 2002, he has been the author, presenter and head of the information and analytical program of the Kultura TV channel Meantime. Author and presenter of the series of documentaries "Memory Factories: Libraries of the World". Finalist of the TEFI television award (2005, 2006, 2009), laureate of the Moscow Union of Journalists award (2006). Author of many books, including: “1962. Epistle to Timothy”, “The price of cutting off”, etc.

Oksana GOLOVKO

Arkhangelsky Alexander Nikolaevich - Russian writer and poet, literary critic, publicist, representative modern intelligentsia, Candidate of Philology, famous TV presenter, familiar to viewers from the information and analytical program "Meanwhile", dedicated to economic and political topics, as well as the main cultural events of the week.

Alexander Arkhangelsky: biography

A native Muscovite was born on April 27, 1962, grew up and was brought up in an ordinary family with his mother and great-grandmother. They lived on the outskirts of the capital, not rich; Mom worked as a radio typist. At school he studied brilliantly in all subjects related to literature. Quit math very quickly, not because of lack of ability, but because he didn't like wasting time on things that didn't arouse interest.

At some point in his life, he was fabulously lucky: the boy went to the Palace of Pioneers to enroll in a drawing circle and accidentally, in company with some guys, became a member literary circle. It was there that a young psychologist and teacher Zinaida Nikolaevna Novlyanskaya had a great influence on him. For this young woman, who worked for a meager salary, the profession was something more - a vocation; she made literary savvy people out of her wards, giving Soviet schoolchildren many bright and good examples. And today Alexander Arkhangelsky closely communicates with the already grown up guys - members of the circle of the distant 1976.

Life goal set

After school, Alexander, who clearly understood what he wanted from life, decided immediately and entered the Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Russian Language and Literature. The student years coincided with work at the Palace of Pioneers, where Alexander got a job as the head of a literary circle. Because teaching activities Alexander was not interested, and he had absolutely no intention of realizing himself in this direction, then forged a medical certificate that he could not teach due to asthma.

A further step in the fate of the young writer was work on the radio, where colleagues were women of retirement age. Alexander could not endure such a neighborhood for a long time: after 9 months he fled from there. Then he got a job as a senior editor of the magazine "Friendship of Peoples"; moreover, at that time it seemed to Arkhangelsky that this was the ceiling of his career - there was nowhere to grow further. He liked the work in the magazine: interesting, with many business trips. During that period, Alexander visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where for the first time he witnessed the performance of youth with national slogans and felt like a participant historical process aimed at changing the situation in the country.

Author's achievements

In the 90s, the writer worked in Switzerland and fell in love with this country very much. There he lectured at the University of Geneva, and the money he earned in three months was enough for him to live a year in Moscow without poverty. In the capital, Arkhangelsk taught at humanitarian department Moscow Conservatory.

In the newspaper Izvestia, Alexander Arkhangelsky went through all the stages: first he worked as a columnist, then as deputy editor-in-chief and columnist. From 1992 to 1993 he led the program "Against the Current" on the RTR, in 2002 - "Chronograph", is a member of the Union Russian writers, Member of the jury for 1995. Founding Academician and President of the Academy of Russian Modern Literature.

IN family life Alexander was married twice and has four children from two marriages. The current wife Maria works as a journalist.

Television experience of Arkhangelsk

A large number of different opinions evokes "Heat" - a film-reflection that tells about a unique period in the history of the country and the Church, a tragic, meaningful and deep period.

Watching the film, authored by Arkhangelsky, causes very conflicting feelings. On the one hand, the author introduces the audience to the religious searches of the 70-80s of the 20th century, on the other hand, the film shows only a small part of what happened in those years around the Orthodox Church, and tries to convince the viewer that in the USSR the real church existed in secret, and the real Christians were the scientists and intellectuals. The rest of the inhabitants of the country of the Soviets simply survived in the created conditions.

Literature in the life of Alexander Arkhangelsky

Arkhangelsky as a writer grew up on the works of many authors, but Pasternak had a great influence on him, in whose work the future writer plunged headlong. The writer strongly remembered the meeting with Dmitry Nikolaevich Zhuravlev, who had the manuscripts of this great writer, donated by the author personally. Further, at the institute, Pushkin opened for Arkhangelsky, and after that, the whole world literature. Alexander Arkhangelsky has a chic library of over 3,000 books. This is all world classic, moreover, the books are arranged according to the principle of chronology (from ancient Eastern and ancient to modern) and according to the principle of having a desire to re-read each one again.

Alexander Arkhangelsky: books by the author

What is literature for Alexander Arkhangelsky? This is the only subject that allows you to rise from the cognitive and practical level to the emotional one.

After all, literature is about the heart, about the mind, the mystery of life and death, trials, about the past and what surrounds people. It is in it that everything comes to life: from household items to animals. Literature is an important school subject, so Arkhangelsky wrote a textbook on this subject for the tenth grade. The purpose of teaching this school subject- to teach children to look for and find the human in a person. Arkhangelsky is also the author and presenter of the series of documentary films "Memory Factories: Libraries of the World". On his account, such published works as "The Epistle to Timothy", "The Price of Cutoff" and others.

“Arkhangelsky listened to those mysterious verbs
which resound in the human soul, overwhelmed by the waves of the sea of life.
In their the best works he leads us into the recesses of the suffering soul
and seeking humility in God."

Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky - an outstanding Russian spiritual composer and choral conductor. Although he lived for more than 20 years in the 20th century, he still remains prominent representative Petersburg Composer School late XIX V.

In the works of Arkhangelsky, knowledge of the possibilities of combining individual voices and choral groups is manifested, polyphonic episodes are often found. Alexander Andreevich was one of the first Russian composers to interpret the chants of the Liturgy and all-night vigil as a single cycle, having harmonic and intonation connections. The melody of his compositions is close to everyday chants and folk song. Arrangements of ancient chants are made in a strict diatonic style of harmony with limited dissonances. Some cycles were recommended by Arkhangelsk for parochial schools and religious educational institutions.

According to researchers, it will probably never be possible to draw up a complete “picture” of Alexander Andreevich’s life: unfortunately, part of the Arkhangelsky archive was lost during the looting of his St. Petersburg apartment in 1924.

“I rarely had to meet people who so joyfully accepted life until the end of their days. Anyone who, like me, saw the tender light in the eyes of Alexander Andreevich in the sad time of illness, will understand why he never ended a musical thought on the sad verse of the psalm, but always led it to a soothing resolution. Therefore, it does not seem to be an accident that Alexander Andreevich began many of his works with a simple and touching prayer: “Lord, I cry to Thee, hear me” ”(from the memoirs of contemporaries).

Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky was born on October 11 (23), 1846 in the village of Staroe Tezikovo, Narovchatsky district, Penza province, in the family of priest Andrei Ivanovich Arkhangelsky. Mother, Elizaveta Fedorovna, arranged home concerts at home in moments of rest. In addition to the younger Alexander, the family had two more children.

Peasant life and the sudden loss of a father with early childhood accustomed the future regent and composer to constant hard work. In childhood, Alexander's main interest began to appear - to music.

Alexander's mother and uncle Vasily Ivanovich took care of Alexander's preparation for entering the theological school. At the age of ten, the boy entered the Krasnoslobodsk Theological School. By the end of the first year of study, Bishop Varlaam (Uspensky) of Penza and Saransk arrived at the school. The singing abilities of young Alexander attracted the attention of Vladyka - in the fall of 1859, the talented young man was immediately transferred to the second grade of the Penza Provincial Theological School and enrolled as a singer-soloist in the bishop's choir. And after the successful completion of the school in 1862, Arkhangelsky was transferred to the Penza Theological Seminary.

Arkhangelsky quickly acquired the necessary professional skills and at the age of sixteen he successfully replaced the ill regent, but, despite this, he acutely felt a lack of knowledge. In order to fill in the gaps, he actively educated himself and spent his modest earnings on lessons in music theory, composition and harmony; studied violin with an accompanist for seven years opera house Rubinovich. At the same time, he met Nikolai Mikhailovich Potulov, a well-known Penza musical figure and composer of sacred music.

Upon completion of the course, Alexander worked as a director of the bishops' choir and a teacher of singing in the seminary, organized concerts choral music in the Penza Music Club, tried his hand at composition and still dreamed of continuing his education. Later, in a letter to his friend Eduard Frantsevich Napravnik 3, he wrote: “Ever since the time of studying at the seminary, I made it necessary for myself to receive a higher education, no matter what. I don't know why but this desire and the belief that every young person should graduate from higher educational institution just haunted me..."

In the summer of 1870, at the age of 24, the young regent went to St. Petersburg and in the autumn of the same year became a volunteer in the surgical department of the Military Medical Academy. But he did not forget about music, while simultaneously accumulating and deepening his musical and professional knowledge. He took private lessons in piano and solo singing. Arkhangelsky believed that the regent-conductor should sing professionally himself, know the rules for staging the voice, so as not to "spoil" the voices of the singers. Not having studied even a year at the Medical Academy, Alexander Arkhangelsky moved to the Technological Institute. But even here he realized that such a life did not correspond to his spiritual interests and physical capabilities. And then the 26-year-old student filed a petition with the director of the Singing Chapel, Nikolai Ivanovich Bakhmetev, to take an external exam for the title of choir director. After receiving a high-level certificate, Arkhangelsky got a job as regent of the Sapper Battalion, then the Horse Guards Regiment, and finally the Court Stable Church. Due to the difficult material conditions regency had to be combined with public service accountant at the Control Chamber of the Ministry of Railways.

Since the mid 1870s. Arkhangelsky thought about organizing his own choir. Thanks to the help of his fellow countryman, the Minister of Railways F. Neronov, in 1880 Arkhangelsky created his own choir of 16 people 4, and three years later his first public performance took place, which immediately attracted attention. -mania of the public and musical figures.

In 1885, Alexander Andreevich embodied a long-conceived decision - he made changes in the choir, replacing the boys with a female staff, which was an innovation in the practice of performing choral works. This made it possible to have a permanent composition of the choir and reach the heights of performing skills.

Arkhangelsky's successes as a composer are connected with the beginning of the choir's concert activity. Spiritual compositions occupied a significant place in his work. Its researchers life path note that he, along with such authors as Dmitry Bortnyansky, Alexei Lvov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, made a "major step forward" towards creating his own Russian original church music. The spiritual works of Arkhangelsky (and this is the main thing in his work - about a hundred) were distinguished by a high professional level. The first works of the composer were published in 1887. These were prayer chants: “Diligent to the Mother of God” and “Quench the disease” (arrangements of the tunes of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra), as well as two “Graces of the World”. The composer treated the texts of church hymns with the greatest respect, not allowing himself to rearrange words or repeat them. Appears almost at the same time whole line other compositions: "The Liturgy of John Chrysostom", "The Mercy of the World" (No. 3, 4, 5), "The All-Night Vigil" (this was an arrangement of everyday tunes for eight voices), Triodion Services, memorial services, etc. By 1904 Arkhangelsky was already the author of many spiritual works (in addition to those named): eight Cherubic, eight "Grace of the World", 16 hymns (instead of sacramental verses). The composer often addressed his spiritual compositions to parochial schools, where the opportunities for performance were more modest. Also noteworthy is his "Requiem Liturgy 5", which at the time of printing was the only Liturgy of a requiem character.

The choir, under the direction of Alexander Andreevich, became more and more famous in the church and secular circles of St. Petersburg. He was invited to lead the united choirs of several hundred people, to concerts arranged on solemn occasions. The repertoire of the Arkhangelsk Choir included works by Russian and foreign classics. But it was spiritual music that found its listeners more often than any other. The reviews noted: "Master church singing and a great connoisseur of church music, A.A. Arkhangelsk and concert stage gave church chants a special splendor and that inner solemnity that is characteristic of Russian church singing ... We special interest followed the performance of the first half of the program, which included church hymns.

The concert activity of the Arkhangelsk Choir has become a bright page in the history of the world musical art. The best samples of chants Orthodox Church were open to the general public. Thanks to his talent and organizational skills, Arkhangelsky led the choir for 43 years - a unique phenomenon in the history of Russian art. Alexander Andreevich paid much attention to the regents church choirs helping them expand and enrich their repertoire.

The Arkhangelsky Choir made trips both in Russia and abroad, its popularity was extraordinary. Alexander Andreevich was called the best choral conductor peace. From the reviews of that time, one can read: “Mr. Arkhangelsky is not only a serious musician, but also a wonderful expert in the work he serves with love and rare energy... All of Russia loves to pray to the music of A.A. Arkhangelsk".

Through his efforts, the first Church Singing Charitable Society was created in St. Petersburg, whose task was to provide assistance (medical and financial) to choir singers (not only their own choir) during illness, disability and old-age pensions. This work to unite the singing forces in Russia was then the impetus for the convening of the First All-Russian Congress of Regents in 1908. And the St. Penza, Chernigov, Rostov, Saratov. For the organization of charitable societies, Emperor Nicholas II bestowed the Order of St. Vladimir IV degree on Arkhangelsk. And as an outstanding choral conductor in 1908, he was awarded a gift with a monogram image of "The Highest Name of His Imperial Majesty."

Revolutionary events Alexander Andreevich accepted as Orthodox Christian- with humility, sharing the sorrowful fate of his people. In 1918, the composer's small estate in the Kostroma village of Kalikino was plundered. The "people's" government announced that the musician was deprived of the rights to his property. The repertoire of the choir was now approved by the People's Commissariat of Education, expelling all Orthodox music, and the choir itself was renamed the State Choir. In spite of everything, Arkhangelsky continued to work in the winter of 1921, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Arkhangelsky's choral activity, he - the first of the choir conductors - was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic.

But the title did not help Alexander Andreevich to survive. His letter dated 1922 to a friend Alexei Vasilyevich Kastorsky 6 in Penza has been preserved: “Under difficult circumstances, I am writing to you, my dear Alexei Vasilyevich; in addition to all the troubles that have befallen the intelligentsia, I and we have a famine in the future. I can’t go to my estate, because everything there has already been plundered by the “comrades”, and I don’t know where to lay my head for the coming summer. And so I decided to go to my homeland ... Can I somehow get a job in Penza or in some village? ..

I can't say anything special about my life in Petrograd; my choir (in a reduced composition) is functioning, but everything around me is so burdensome ... But what should I do? The devastation is complete and general ... "

In connection with the renaming of the St. Petersburg Court Singing Chapel into the State Academic Chapel, the existence of two state choirs, Arkhangelsky was offered to organize the State Chapel in Moscow. However, Arkhangelsky refused this offer, citing illness and advanced age.

In 1923, through Alexander Grechaninov, the composer received an invitation to work in Prague. Together with his wife Pelageya Andreevna, he moved to Czechoslovakia. Here Alexander Andreevich successfully worked with the All-Student Russian Choir 7 . The rehearsals of the newly created team were interrupted due to the illness of the leader. In the summer of 1924, Arkhangelsky was invited to Italy for treatment. Feeling better, he returned to Prague. At the same time, the consequences of the October Revolution in his homeland left a heavy mark on the soul of the composer. On November 16, 1924, he scheduled another rehearsal of the choir, but an hour before it began, the heart of the great composer stopped forever...

In October 1925, the ashes of Alexander Andreevich, in accordance with his expressed will, were transported by his wife to Leningrad, and there, after the conciliarly performed funeral Liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral, while singing the "former" choir of the beloved regent of Russia, he was buried at Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The words are inscribed on the tombstone: "Give me, O God, my prayer."

Every year, on the day of the death of Arkhangelsky, the All-Student Choir (which later became named after A.A. Arkhangelsky Choir) participated in services in the Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God at the Olshansky cemetery, where a memorial service was held for the great choir conductor and leader of the All-Student Russian Choir and all the deceased members of the choir. After Arkhangelsky's death, the board of the choir found it possible to invite Alexander Grigoryevich Chesnokov, professor of the Petrograd Conservatory, brother of the famous composer and choir director Pavel Chesnokov, to the post of conductor. Being fired from the conservatory "for unknown reasons", Alexander Chesnokov accepted the choir's offer.

and gave his word "to use all his efforts and abilities so that this choir is the best among organizations of its kind." Chesnokov noted that “ musical work among foreign Russian students ... the task is not only respectful, but also has deep meaning for the future of our country." But, in the end, the choir began to gradually decline and in 1935 was finally disbanded.

The creation of a Russian music publishing house in Prague, which began under Alexander Arkhangelsky and continued under Chesnokov, was a special event, since the need for Russian music was great. Arkhangelsky has long been moving towards the idea of the need to look for a way out of the situation of "musical hunger". The few publishing houses abroad published practically nothing in the field of choral music. The little that existed on the foreign music market was completely inaccessible to most Russian choirs abroad because of the high cost.

First of all, the music publishing house organized by the choir sought to produce sheet music at the lowest price, without pursuing any commercial goals. The music publishing house decided to issue notes by the so-called "mechanical light painting", which, with the clarity and clarity of the musical and verbal text, significantly reduced the cost of printing.

First of all, Arkhangelsky's spiritual works were published, as well as arrangements of Russian folk songs. Over the next few years, more than forty scores and more than a thousand individual voice parts were published. The music library contained about two thousand titles of sacred music.

In addition to a music publishing house, the choir organized a music copy bureau, whose task was to supply Russian choirs with notes of secular and church music, transcribed by hand from printed scores. As an official institution of the choir, the music correspondence office contributed to the fight against the increasing irresponsible and often anonymous correspondence of music at that time, which often led to incredible distortions of the original melodies. The catalogs of ecclesiastical and secular music available at the disposal of the music correspondence bureau, with a price approved by the choir, were sent immediately upon request.

Arkhangelsky and his choir played one of the key roles in the development of modern Russian choral culture. His activities greatly contributed not only to the creation of a wide network of choirs throughout the country and the promotion of the best examples of choral literature, but also to the emergence of new works by Russian composers, calculated on the “choral standard” created by the Arkhangelsk. It is largely thanks to the many years of efforts of the “first regent of Russia” that today we can hear the “Liturgy” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the “Vespers” by Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov, the choirs of Viktor Sergeyevich Kalinnikov, Ivan Sergeyevich Taneyev and, of course, Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky himself.

Natalia Kuzina, leader of the Tallinn choir “Rainbow”, described the work of Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky in the following words: “The musical language of Arkhangelsky is natural, just as human speech is natural and expressive. His compositions are distinguished by unusual softness, clarity, warmth in music, and prayerfulness.

According to the observation of one of Alexander Arkhangelsky's contemporaries, “the worshiper is fascinated not only by the beauty of voice leading, but, most importantly, under the influence of Arkhangelsky's music, he lights up with an even stronger religious feeling. The reason for this influence lies in the deep religious feeling of the author himself...” 8 .

The basis of the legacy of Alexander the Arkhangelsk is the transcriptions of Church use. He wrote two original Liturgies, up to 50 small compositions, including 8 "Cherubic" songs, 8 hymns "Grace of the World", 16 hymns used during worship instead of communion verses. He also wrote two Vespers, in which common musical roots can be traced. The first one is transcriptions of Greek, Kievan and Znamenny chants. The second (better known to many church choirs) is a free author's composition. Diverse musical means transmission of content: the rich variation and expressive melody of melodies, their transition from voice to voice create continuity of the melodic phrase and the diversity of the choral texture. One gets the impression that the hymns of the Vespers were written in one breath, at the behest of the heart - the word and music are so merged into one.

The composer's bright individuality and impeccable mastery of the composer's choral writing were also manifested in his compositions. large form, in many-private spiritual concerts. In them, Alexander Andreevich used rich techniques of expressiveness to convey the content of the text. In the roles of soloists, he sought to express all the subtlest shades of experience: deep spiritual reflections (“Inspire, O God, my prayer”), reconciliation with God, the inner renewal of a believer (“I think a terrible day”), the depth and fullness of spiritual joy -sti (“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel” - from the last part of the concert “Blessed is he who understands the poor and the poor”).

What is happening in / in Ukraine is a real civil war. We will never agree on who started first and who is more to blame. Although I stand by my own - we are obliged to maintain rationality, our duty is to analyze sources, compare pictures, check facts and not be led to propaganda from any side.

But it is quite obvious that whoever started, and whoever fanned the fire, and whoever provoked the crowd, those who behaved in an atrocious manner will be guilty both before the human and before God's court. It doesn't matter under what slogans. Maidan or anti-Maidan. Pro-Russian or Russophobic. And those who rejoiced at the sight of burning people in Odessa. And those who, from behind the backs of the protesters, shot at football fans. And those who took hostages in Slavyansk.

IN civil war, even if you take someone's side, you need to remain human to the last. And for me, the heroes of future novels about the Ukrainian tragedy will not be politicians who played on death, not stone-built fighters, not fiery ideologists, accusers, angry empty talk, but those who hid and saved enemies. Who, being on one side of the barricades, pulled out of the fire and from under the bullets of those who were on the other.

There are times when lack of ideas, she is following the commandment - contrary to the state, people, commune, becomes the highest idea. The account goes on one person, instead of on human masses.

"White Guard", not "Rout".

In connection with what is happening, it became finally clear that instead of the meaningless subject of life safety, it is necessary to introduce media literacy lessons at school. How to distinguish propaganda/counter-propaganda from information, how to compare sources, how to superimpose sincere but emotionally colored versions of events from both sides in order to get a three-dimensional picture, how not to fall for mutual fakes, how not to fall into hysteria and depression.

Actually, this is modern life safety.

It entered the life of our generation in a halo of anecdotes - it cannot be otherwise in a country devoid of a sense of history and immersed in a sleepy myth; an anecdote is a miserable echo of mythology, its last outburst, drunkenness. "Dear Margaret Thatcher ... Leonid Ilyich, this is Fidel Castro!!! ... Yes, but it is written - Thatcher."

Then it was as if they had rubbed the glass, and Margaret Thatcher was very close: during the visit of Gorbachev (not yet the Secretary General, still a young secretary for a hopeless agriculture) to the UK, it suddenly became clear that they sympathize with him, that something human flashes in him, that he and Raisa like it outside the USSR, and Thatcher takes care of the young 55-year-old politician. The people later said that she gave him a checkered mohair scarf, a universal dream of that time; however, Gorbachev did have a scarf, he proudly wore it.

And after the scarf, Margaret herself appeared - already after the election of M.S. General Secretary; her interview with Soviet political observers, the first live television interview by a non-Soviet foreign politician, blew up television audiences. What is now long accustomed to - that the Western leader responds sharply, independently and cheerfully, seemed something lunar or Martian; she didn't get mad at Silly questions, did not twist her legs, did not complex - but respectfully put the propagandists on both shoulder blades. And this meant that a real revolution had begun in the information space.

The revolution, as it should be, died down, the tides were replaced by ebb, two decades flew by - and now I find myself in London, at a reception with her participation. A little inflexible old woman walks along the rows and throws a word - with everyone. "What are you doing?" she asks Volodya Ryzhkov. He triumphantly replies: "I'm a politician." "What else can you do?" she suddenly asks sarcastically. “And I'm also a history teacher, I can teach at school,” Ryzhkov objects without being taken aback. "Then hello."

I didn’t hear that she asked Khodorkovsky, Robert Skidelsky, and what she talked about with Lena Nemirovskaya. But she faked me wonderfully.

I was the deputy chief in the then Izvestia. "Who are you?" she asked her crowning question. Newspaper editor. “So, do you publish editorials?” "It happens." “I was always surprised - nothing happens, and the next morning there is an editorial in every newspaper.”

And now she is no more.

Boris Berezovsky has died. Whatever we thought about him (and on the day of his death, either good or not), he was key figure bygone era. Epochs of historical, adventurous, bold, vile, large-scale, petty and reckless. They speak irritably about such people during their lifetime, and after death they write books and make films.

Grandiose picaresque romance finished.

To talk about Stalin and objectivity, in particular, to the latest articles and statements of M. Yu. Sokolov, respected by me. (Precisely “to” and not “against.”) Is it possible to single out villainy in Stalin’s activity in intent and execution, half-violence only in execution, non-violence in the spirit of that strange time, and not villainy at all? Of course you can. It is only necessary to determine in advance why we are doing this. For getting three-dimensional picture era, full historical knowledge? Then yes, definitely. For overall assessment personality and activities of the leader?

If we are talking about academic assessment, we should also agree and even welcome this approach. And if it's about moral, religious and (at a lower level) political, then the assessment should be total and final - it's evil in the end, or not evil. In the end - evil, and quite a satanic scale. When the Antichrist comes, he will also do a lot of good things, and honest historical analysis will oblige us to admit it, but the result will be the same - “Kids, Antichrist!”.

Alexei German Sr. has died.

Stubborn, painfully great, who did not take into account the layout of the party and the rules of cinematic aesthetics, went ahead, trusted instinct more than intelligence and calculation, created his own cinema, equally far from Hollywood celluloid and from petty arthouse ...

How lucky we were to have him.
Kingdom of heaven to him.

According to Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine, Grigory Pomerants died - how to determine his profession? philosopher? not quite? theologian? Not good? religious writer? and not a writer ... a deeply religious reasoner about the meaning of life. He was born in 1918, went through the war, it was there, next to death, he experienced a meeting with eternity, and he didn’t want to think about anything, talk about anything, write about anything, and he couldn’t. Only about the main thing... The Kingdom of Heaven to a person who calmly, quietly and lightly walked the path that he considered the only right one.
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You yourself already know about it. It is important that this is not just a personal decision of an old and sickly person (I am leaving because I cannot stay), but a responsible act of a real pontiff (I am leaving because it will be difficult for the Church with me - the way I am becoming due to physical weakness). But perhaps more importantly, it is an act of contemporary view about life, responsibility and will; antiquity saw no spiritual strength in the renunciation of lifelong power. In order for such an act to become possible, it was necessary to firmly decide for oneself - something from the experience of confused, disheveled, hysterical modernity has passed the test of eternity. And above all, the attitude to power as a tool that is better to transfer until the tool falls out of hand.

Catholics may feel undignified pride in such a pope, but we have deep respect.

Ilya Kolmanovsky, an excellent teacher and head of the "Pocket Scientist", was fired by the school principal because Ilya publicly sparred near the State Duma with supporters of the law on homosexuality. The law is completely stupid and harmful - among other things, because sooner or later, because of such laws, the pendulum will swing in the opposite direction; forms of protest against him in the form of same-sex couples kissing are deeply alien to me.

But what happened to Ilya is more important than both the law and the reaction to the law. One of the best teachers in Moscow was fired not for what he did at school (he could not do anything but good there), but for what he did outside the school - and without violating order. This is a disastrous precedent; it would be right to immediately dismiss the director, distraught with fear - for actions incompatible with the profession, and return Ilya with an apology.

“Arkhangelsky listened to those mysterious verbs
which resound in the human soul, overwhelmed by the waves of the sea of life.
In his best works, he introduces us into the recesses of the soul of the suffering
and seeking humility in God."

Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky is an outstanding Russian spiritual composer and choir conductor. Although he lived for more than 20 years in the 20th century, he still remains a prominent representative of the St. Petersburg composer school of the late 19th century.

In the works of Arkhangelsky, knowledge of the possibilities of combining individual voices and choral groups is manifested, polyphonic episodes are often found. Alexander Andreevich was one of the first Russian composers to interpret the hymns of the Liturgy and the All-Night Vigil as a single cycle with harmonic and intonational connections. The melody of his compositions is close to everyday chants and folk songs. Arrangements of ancient chants are made in a strict diatonic style of harmony with limited dissonances.

Alexander Andreevich Arkhangelsky was born on October 11 (23), 1846 in the village of Staroe Tezikovo, Narovchatsky district, Penza province, in the family of a priest Andrei Ivanovich of Arkhangelsk. Mother, Elizaveta Fedorovna, arranged home concerts at home in moments of rest. In addition to the younger Alexander, the family had two more children.

Peasant life and the sudden loss of his father from early childhood taught the future regent and composer to constant hard work. In childhood, Alexander's main interest began to appear - to music.

At the age of ten, the boy entered the Krasnoslobodsk Theological School. By the end of the first year of study, Bishop Varlaam (Uspensky) of Penza and Saransk arrived at the school. The singing abilities of young Alexander attracted the attention of Vladyka - in the fall of 1859, the talented young man was immediately transferred to the second grade of the Penza Provincial Theological School and enrolled as a singer-soloist in the bishop's choir. And after the successful completion of the school in 1862, Arkhangelsky was transferred to the Penza Theological Seminary.Arkhangelsky quickly acquired the necessary professional skills and at the age of sixteen he successfully replaced the ill regent, but, despite this, he acutely felt a lack of knowledge. In order to fill in the gaps, he actively educated himself and spent his modest earnings on lessons in music theory, composition and harmony; for seven years he learned to play the violin with the accompanist of the opera theater Rubinovich. At the same time, he met the famous Penza musical figure and composer of sacred music, Nikolai Mikhailovich Potulov. In the summer of 1870, at the age of 24, the young regent went to St. Petersburg and in the autumn of the same year became a volunteer in the surgical department of the Military Medical Academy. But he did not forget about music, while simultaneously accumulating and deepening his musical and professional knowledge. He took private lessons in piano and solo singing. Arkhangelsky believed that the regent-conductor should sing professionally himself, know the rules for staging the voice, so as not to "spoil" the voices of the singers. Not having studied even a year at the Medical Academy, Alexander Arkhangelsky moved to the Technological Institute. But even here he realized that such a life did not correspond to his spiritual interests and physical capabilities. And then the 26-year-old student filed a petition with the director of the Singing Chapel, Nikolai Ivanovich Bakhmetev, to take an external exam for the title of choir director. After receiving a high-level certificate, Arkhangelsky got a job as regent of the Sapper Battalion, then the Horse Guards Regiment, and finally the Court Stable Church. Due to difficult financial conditions, the regency had to be combined with the public service of an accountant at the Control Chamber of the Ministry of Railways.

Arkhangelsky's successes as a composer are connected with the beginning of the choir's concert activity. Spiritual compositions occupied a significant place in his work. Researchers of his life path note that he, along with such authors as Dmitry Bortnyansky, Alexei Lvov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, made a "major step forward" towards creating his own original Russian church music. The spiritual works of Arkhangelsky (and this is the main thing in his work - about a hundred) were distinguished by a high professional level.

The concert activity of the Arkhangelsk Choir has become a bright page in the history of world musical art. The best samples of the chants of the Orthodox Church were opened to the general public. Thanks to his talent and organizational skills, Arkhangelsky led the choir for 43 years - a unique phenomenon in the history of Russian art. Alexander Andreevich paid much attention to the regents of church choirs, helping them to expand and enrich their repertoire.

The Arkhangelsky Choir made trips both in Russia and abroad, its popularity was extraordinary. Alexander Andreevich was called the best choral conductor in the world. From the reviews of that time, one can read: “Mr. Arkhangelsky is not only a serious musician, but also a wonderful expert in the work he serves with love and rare energy... All of Russia loves to pray to the music of A.A. Arkhangelsk".

Alexander Andreevich accepted the revolutionary events as an Orthodox Christian - with humility, sharing the mournful lot of his people. In 1918, the composer's small estate in the Kostroma village of Kalikino was plundered. The "people's" government announced that the musician was deprived of the rights to his property. The repertoire of the choir was now approved by the People's Commissariat of Education, expelling all Orthodox music, and the choir itself was renamed the State Choir. In spite of everything, Arkhangelsky continued to work in the winter of 1921, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Arkhangelsky's choral activity, he - the first of the choir conductors - was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic.

In connection with the renaming of the St. Petersburg Court Singing Chapel into the State Academic Chapel, the existence of two state choirs in the same city was considered “incompatible”, Arkhangelsky was offered to organize the State Chapel in Moscow. However, Arkhangelsky refused this offer, citing illness and advanced age.

In 1923, through Alexander Grechaninov, the composer received an invitation to work in Prague. Together with his wife Pelageya Andreevna, he moved to Czechoslovakia. Here Alexander Andreevich successfully worked with the All-Student Russian Choir7. The rehearsals of the newly created team were interrupted due to the illness of the leader. In the summer of 1924, Arkhangelsky was invited to Italy for treatment. Feeling better, he returned to Prague. At the same time, the consequences of the October Revolution in his homeland left a heavy mark on the soul of the composer. On November 16, 1924, he scheduled another rehearsal of the choir, but an hour before it began, the heart of the great composer stopped forever...

According to the observation of one of Alexander Arkhangelsky's contemporaries, “the worshiper is fascinated not only by the beauty of voice leading, but, most importantly, under the influence of Arkhangelsky's music, he lights up with an even stronger religious feeling. The reason for this influence is in the deep religious feeling of the author himself ... "