Works of composers of the first half of the 20th century. Composers. The early years of Sergei Taneyev

Contemporary composers. See catalog contemporary composers at musikaneo.com Classical music has stood the test of time and we agree that if a piece is less than 100 years old, then it cannot be classical music. But what do conservatory graduates do, where are their works and how can they relate to classical music?

Classical music. In a narrow sense, the term refers to the period of classicism that dominated from 1750 to 1830. In a broad sense, classical music refers to any serious music that makes you think, requires listening attention and some emotional effort.

Musical periods. Musical eras and authors creating music in different periods are perfectly presented on musikaneo.com

Great Russian composers of the 20th century. All these personalities are the brightest representatives of their century; they can safely be called great modern composers of the 20th century. It's not just composers born at the turn of the 20th century that are listed. Their works were already known during this period of time, or their creativity flourished in the 20th century.

• Pakhmutova Alexandra Nikolaevna. Prokofiev Sergey Sergeevich. Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilievich. Sviridov Georgy Vasilievich. Skryabin Alexander Nikolaevich. Slonimsky Sergey Mikhailovich. Stravinsky Igor Fedorovich.

• Khachaturyan Aram Ilyich. Shostakovich Dmitry Dmitrievich. Schnittke Alfred Garrievich. Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich.

Foreign composers of the 20th century.

• Alban Breg. Anton Webern. Arnold Schoenberg. Bela Bartok. Villa-Lobos Heitor. Witold Lutoslawski. Gyorgy Ligeti. John Cage. George Gershwin.

• Leonard Bernstein. Luigi Nono. Mikalojus Ciurlionis. Nadia Boulanger. Olivier Messiaen

• Paul Hindemith. Charles Ives. Edward Benjamin Britten. Edgard Varèse. Yannis Xenakis.

Russian composers of the 21st century It is impossible to assign some music creators to a particular century. After all, many works of modern composers were published and deserved worthy attention both in the 20th century and in the 21st. This is especially true for living composers who managed to become famous for their highly artistic creations in the last century and continue to compose music in the current one. We are talking about Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin, Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina and others.

However, there are also little-known Russian composers of the 21st century who created wonderful compositions, but their names did not manage to become popular.

• Batagov Anton. Bakshi Alexander. Ekimovsky Victor. Karmanov Pavel. Korovitsyn Vladimir. Markelov Pavel. Martynov Vladimir. Pavlova Alla. Pekarsky Mark. Savalov Yuri. Savelyev Yuri. Sergeeva Tatyana.

Slide 8

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich

D. Shostakovich suffered from a peculiar disease - muscle death. At his son’s wedding on October 20, 1960, he went out onto the landing and suddenly fell: his legs gave out. When he fell, he broke his leg, they had to call an ambulance and take him straight from the holiday to the hospital. But even there Shostakovich did not stop working: he wrote from memory, without a piano. Shostakovich wrote the eighth quartet, dedicated to the memory of the victims of fascism, very quickly, in three days, reflecting in it all the most important events of his life. In the work he used the music of the First Symphony, the opera Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district

20-09-2006

“, the Second Trio in memory of I. Sollertinsky, as well as the music of the Tenth Symphony, written immediately after Stalin’s death in 1953, and the First Cello Concerto of 1959, dedicated to M. Rostropovich. D. Shostakovich in the quartet resorted to the melody of his musical monogram D - S - C - N, which means the notes “D - E-flat - C - B”, as a link between the fragments of the quartet, which were quotations from his early works

Since I found myself “joining” the delightful anthology THE SWAN not from the very beginning of its appearance on the Internet, but five years later, I inadvertently became interested in articles on musical topics published before my arrival. I was interested in Dmitry Gorbatov’s article about Shostakovich in issue 194 of the almanac.

What was written in the article about Shostakovich was perceived by me normally, and the non-classification of him as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, as well as the author’s explanations on this matter, did not cause rejection. But Appendix 1 to the article contains a list of the greatest composers of the 20th century, which caused my surprise and made me laugh out loud. At the same time, not only me, but also my friend, professional musician

and composer.

One glance at the list was enough to notice a title that did not correspond to the list. The fact is that we know the names of composers who are the greatest. And the definition greatest, i.e. the greatest, cannot be tied to any age. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven were and remained the greatest composers, but they lived in different centuries. Therefore, any composer of late times, in order to be called the greatest, must have merits that would allow him to stand on a par with the named composers. And various kinds of pygmy composers of the twentieth century, who found or discovered something ^new^ in Music, but did not make a revolution in it, but only left traces somewhere (sometimes dirty) the greatest calling is absolutely unauthorized and unfair.

In the above list, none of the named composers for the title greatest does not work, so each of them needs to be dealt with and assigned the appropriate status, starting from great and below.

But before you do that interesting thing, let's try to deal with the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, for some special merits the author was transferred from the 19th century to the 20th century with the assignment of the status greatest composer of the twentieth century.

Beginning in 1908, in the West, for almost a quarter of a century, leading opera houses in many countries staged performances of “Boris Godunov” by Modest Mussorgsky with the participation of the great Chaliapin in the role of Tsar Boris. The weak orchestration of the composer himself was unsuccessful and the opera was performed in the brilliant orchestration of the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The success of the opera has always been enormous everywhere. And when the opera was also performed in luxurious settings in some opera houses, there was a sensation.

In the Soviet post-Chaliapin era there were also magnificent performances of “Boris Godunov” at the Bolshoi Theater with Alexander Pirogov in leading role and Ivan Kozlovsky in the role of the Holy Fool.

But suddenly, in some musical spheres, through the efforts of intriguers and speculators, Rimsky-Korsakov’s wonderful orchestration began to be criticized, and some pygmy composers began to offer their own versions. At the same time, they began to accuse Rimsky-Korsakov that with his orchestration he had emasculated Musogsky’s wonderful music: music that supposedly there is nothing better in Russian music.

In the forefront, of course, was Shostakovich, who even made two orchestrations of “Boris Godunov.”

He leaned into “Boris” with orchestration -
Blasphemous Soviet perestroika
And he crippled the opera pretty much,
Putting shackles on in a row to the music.

Time has passed, and many things have been sorted out. And only operatic donkeys can afford to turn to Shostakovich’s editors during the next production of Boris. Even Rostropovich, with all his celebrity, would hardly have been able to push something like this through.

Now about the true greatness of Mussorgsky as a Russian composer.

I offer my own version.

Without a doubt, the great Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky is not superior to Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, or Rachmaninov. But in my opinion, he is significantly inferior to Tchaikovsky.

It should not be considered for the music in the operas “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina”. innovator. In these operas, as will become clear from further discussions, Mussorgsky showed himself to be outstanding and of good quality. compiler.

Mussorgsky knew well innovative Alexander Dargomyzhsky’s opera “The Stone Guest”, and when the composer composed it, he actively participated as a singer. He also knew Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore,” as evidenced by N. Rimsky-Korsakov in his book “Chronicle of My musical life" It should be assumed that the opera “Rigoletto” was also known to Mussorgsky.

A very long acquaintance (50 years) and frequent listening to the opera “Boris Godunov” gave me the idea that Godunov’s excellent recitatives are a creative artistic Russian-Italian fusion of the recitative styles of “The Stone Guest” and

"Rigoletto". Thus, traces of Rigoletto’s monologue Pari siamo, when carefully listening repeatedly to Boris’s recitatives, can be found throughout the entire opera, starting with Boris’s monologue “I have reached the highest power.”

Turning with a similar analysis to Mussorgsky’s next opera, Khovanshchina,” one can notice a significant departure of the composer from the musical structure of “Boris Godunov” towards greater ariosity of the vocal flesh. Moreover, some arias, monologues and even individual fragments, even more than in “Boris Godunov,” are similar to some arias from Verdi’s Troubadour.” For example, Marfa’s aria (^fortune telling^) in the first movement resembles Azucena’s aria Stride la vampa, and in the cantilena (“you are in danger of disgrace”) is close in structure to Azucena’s solo in the last act Si; la stanchezza mopprime; and the melody of Shaklovity’s aria ^...you are unfortunate in fate, dear Rus'^ is close to the melody of Manrico’s aria Ah! Si, ben mio.

But it turns out I’m not the only one so smart: in the Soviet libretto with full text“Khovanshchina,” published in 1929 (with an introductory article and notes by Sergei Bugoslavsky), there are two interesting notes. One is before the text of the cantilena from Martha's ^fortune telling: ^a broad mournful melody in the Russian-Italian style^, and the other is a footnote relating to the text of Shaklovity's aria: ^An aria of Italian-Russian style in the manner of Glinka from the period of “Ivan Susanin”^.

To everything written, one can also add that Mussorgsky became so keen on composing phrases with melodies in the Italian style that Martha’s solo in the monastery (address to Andrei Khovansky): “Did you hear in the distance, behind this forest” - a brilliant example of Italian recitative, which could well would organically fit into the role of Azucena in “Il Trovatore”.

In connection with my version of the Mussorgsky phenomenon stated above, I completely reject the author’s assertion that Musical science and aesthetics in many respects rightly attribute the work of M.P. Mussorgsky to the twentieth century. as well as all the author’s arguments on this matter set out in the article.

In my opinion, at some point in Soviet musicology there developed a pathologically unhealthy attitude towards the great Russian composer Mussorgsky, attributing to him some special musical merits and innovative talent, which he did not have. According to D. Gorbatov, some musicologists even “found” traces of Mussorgsky’s work in Verdi’s operas and in Hindemith’s music, which certainly could not have needed any borrowing.

An analysis of the music of “Khovanshchina” shows that in it the composer sharply deviated from the recitative style of constructing the monologues of “Boris Godunov,” which successfully suited Pushkin’s text. Mussorgsky probably felt the inappropriateness of repetition.

And this confirms the absence of an innovative principle of composition, once mastered, there is no need for cardinal changes when moving on to the next composition of the same profile and scale.

An interesting definition emphasizing the difference between “Khovanshchina” and “Boris Godunov” is found in the mentioned introductory article by S. Bugoslavsky to the libretto of the opera: ^ “Khovanshchina” in its musical structure is not ^ musical drama^, but an opera in the old sense: the melodic, or more precisely, song beginning dominates here...^. Such a composer's “step back” also refutes attempts to present Mussorgsky as an innovative composer who stepped from the nineteenth to the twentieth century.

I will welcome those musical figures, who will be able to agree with my version, which also contains a call to abandon fictions regarding the past of Russian music, and absurd attempts to pervert real cultural values, by analogy with attempts to present Russia as the homeland of elephants.

And in accordance with this, recognition of the enormous and brilliant work of the great Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, as the ONLY thing necessary for the operas of Modest Mussorgsky, and no longer subject to anyone's ^creative^-fraudulent interference.

Based on the above, I will allow myself to exclude Mussorgsky from the list of composers of the twentieth century. But at the same time, let me note that in the nineteenth century the composer still created, and, moreover, greatest, who, if necessary(?) would be worthy more than any other, with all his works, to be among the composers of the twentieth century. This is Richard Wagner.

Now I will allow myself to consider the list of the remaining 18 ^greatest^ composers of the twentieth century in order to establish the level of their reasonable greatness: from great and below. I’ll try to assess the level of compliance of each of these composers with one of three values: great, especially distinguished and distinguished.

In my opinion, when establishing the level of greatness of any composer, one cannot ignore his popularity among classical music lovers. At the same time, one should be sure that the composer’s popularity is not artificial, inflated, akin to Shostak’s, which will undoubtedly gradually fade over the course of the 21st century. For truly great composers, popularity should only increase over the centuries.

Great composers of the 20th century

• Bela Bartok (1881–1945) Hungary
• Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) England
• Claude Debussy (1862–1918) France
• Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) France
• Alexander Scriabin (1871–1915) Russia
• Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Russia
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) Austria
• Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Germany

(I took the liberty of adding the names of three great composers omitted by D. Gobatov, probably due to the inappropriateness of classifying them as “the greatest.”).

Particularly outstanding composers of the 20th century

• Charles Ives (1874–1954) USA
• Alban Berg (1885–1935) Austria
• Anton Webern (1883–1945) Austria
• Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) Germany

(Here I decided not to expand the list, although I would like to add the name of Hans Pfitzner to them).

These composers I named particularly outstanding, in my opinion, cannot be called great only due to lack of popularity. Is it possible to consider and call composers great when the bulk of classical music lovers do not know either their names or their compositions?

Outstanding composers of the 20th century

• Witold Lutoslawski (1913–1994) Poland
• Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) France
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) Russia

(Here I decided to limit myself to the names from D. Gorbatov’s list, although it would be quite possible to add another 2-3 dozen names).

The music of Witold Lutosławski is good, although it does not shine with any particular originality (the influence of Debussy, sometimes Bartók or Stravinsky is felt).

He wrote a concerto for baritone and orchestra especially for Fischer-Dieskau.

Olivier Messiaen, the teacher of the “creators” of anti-music (Xenakis, Stockhausen, Boulez), was a highly gifted musician and inventor of new technological systems of sound matter. His musical compositions, mainly of a religious nature, are specific and very popular in France. For inexperienced classical lovers, listening to Messiaen's music is a difficult task. In his opera-oratorio “St. Francis of Asis” was recorded by Fischer-Dieskau.

The prolific Russian-Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev, along with human symphonies, piano concertos and plays, composed a lot of, in my opinion, colorless, irritating and anti-vocal music (operas “The Fiery Angel”, “Semyon Kotko”, “The Gambler” and the Classical Symphony) , as well as the now unnecessary Soviet politicized musical rubbish.

Now about the avant-garde composers remaining on Gorbatov’s list:

Edgar Varese, who "updated" the musical language with the help of modern production techniques and musical noises;

John Cage, who created sonic anarchy;

Iannis Xenakis, who used. techniques of aleatorics, the abstract nature of sound combinations (his music was intended for unusual instrumental composition and tape recorders);

Györde Ligeti, who experimented in the field of musical and instrumental “theater of the absurd”;

Luigi Nono, who used serial technique and aleatorics;

Steve Reich, a minimalist composer who ^created^ music using two tape recorders turned on at different times - should they be classified into any groups at all? real composers of the twentieth century? (Aleatorics is the principle of chance in the process of ^creativity^ and performance).

In 1951, Cage organized concerts in New York that used 12 radios tuned to 12 different radio stations.

Stravinsky called aleatoric composers "the walking enemies of art."

This is a very correct remark, according to which they, presumably, should neither be considered nor qualified as composers of the twentieth century.

Concluding the article, I would like to draw the readers’ attention to one significant circumstance: when compiling a list of the “greatest” composers of the twentieth century, D. Gorbatov for some reason missed the name of the only real greatest composer of this century: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).

Giacomo Puccini is, of course, the greatest of all composers of the 20th century.

Puccini is an innovator. His highly artistic principle of organic fusion of the sound of the orchestra and voices had not been achieved by any composer before him.

Puccini is the greatest melodist of the twentieth century. He is the composer of the most beautiful melodies of the century.

Puccini is the creator of the most popular operas of the twentieth century, and his operas will always bring joy to people. His “Tosca” is the most popular opera among all the operas staged by the largest opera houses in the world.

Puccini is a true composer of the 20th century, and the quartet from Bohème and the terzets from Turandot are harmonic masterpieces of 20th-century music.

Puccini is the composer of the most beautiful ensembles in his operas.

Puccini, better than any of all foreign composers, managed to capture the national flavor and create bright music in the opera “Madama Butterfly” (in gratitude for its creation, a monument was erected in Japan in honor of the composer) and his own, typically Puccini, but absolutely American country music in the opera “Girl from the West”.

World classical music is unthinkable without the works of Russian composers. Russia, a great country with talented people and its cultural heritage, has always been among the leading locomotives of world progress and art, including music. The Russian school of composition, the successor of whose traditions was the Soviet and today's Russian schools, began in the 19th century with composers who united European musical art with Russian folk melodies, linking together the European form and the Russian spirit.

About each of these famous people you can tell a lot, everyone is not simple, and sometimes tragic fates, but in this review we tried to give only brief description life and work of composers.

1.Mikhail Ivanovich GLINKA (1804—1857)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is the founder of Russian classical music and the first Russian classical composer to achieve world fame. His works, based on the centuries-old traditions of Russian folk music, were a new word in the musical art of our country.
Born in the Smolensk province, he received his education in St. Petersburg. The formation of the worldview and the main idea of ​​​​Mikhail Glinka’s work was facilitated by direct communication with such personalities as A.S. Pushkin, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Griboedov, A.A. Delvig. The creative impetus for his works was added by a many-year trip to Europe in the early 1830s and meetings with the leading composers of the time - V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, F. Mendelssohn and later with G. Berlioz, J. Meyerbeer. Success came to M.I. Glinka after the production of the opera “Ivan Susanin” (“Life for the Tsar”) (1836), which was enthusiastically received by everyone; for the first time in world music, Russian choral art and European symphonic and operatic practice were organically combined, as well as a hero similar to Susanin appeared, whose image summarizes best features national character. V.F. Odoevsky characterized the opera as “a new element in Art, and begins in its history new period- the period of Russian music".
The second opera is the epic “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1842), work on which was carried out against the backdrop of Pushkin’s death and in the difficult living conditions of the composer, due to the deeply innovative nature of the work, it was received ambiguously by the audience and the authorities and brought difficult experiences to M.I. Glinka . After that, he traveled a lot, alternately living in Russia and abroad, without stopping composing. His legacy includes romances, symphonic and chamber works. In the 1990s, Mikhail Glinka's "Patriotic Song" was the official anthem of the Russian Federation.

Quote from M.I. Glinka: “To create beauty, you yourself must be pure in soul.”

Quote about M.I. Glinka: “The entire Russian symphonic school, like an entire oak tree in an acorn, is contained in the symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya”. P.I.Tchaikovsky

Interesting fact: Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was not in good health, despite this he was very easy-going and knew geography very well; perhaps, if he had not become a composer, he would have become a traveler. He knew six foreign languages, including Persian.

2. Alexander Porfirievich BORODIN (1833—1887)

Alexander Porfirievich Borodin, one of the leading Russian composers of the second half of the 19th century, in addition to his talent as a composer, was a chemist, doctor, teacher, critic and had literary talent.
Born in St. Petersburg, from childhood everyone around him noted his unusual activity, passion and abilities in various fields, primarily in music and chemistry. A.P. Borodin is a Russian composer-nugget, he did not have professional musician teachers, all his achievements in music are thanks to independent work on mastering compositing techniques. The formation of A.P. Borodin was influenced by the work of M.I. Glinka (as indeed all Russian composers of the 19th century), and the impetus for intensive study of composition in the early 1860s was given by two events - firstly, his acquaintance and marriage with the talented pianist E.S. Protopopova, and secondly, a meeting with M.A. Balakirev and joining creative community Russian composers, known as the "Mighty Handful". In the late 1870s and 1880s, A.P. Borodin traveled and toured a lot in Europe and America, met with leading composers of his time, his fame grew, he became one of the most famous and popular Russian composers in Europe at the end of the 19th century. th century.
The central place in the work of A.P. Borodin is occupied by the opera “Prince Igor” (1869-1890), which is an example of national heroic epic in music and which he himself did not have time to complete (it was completed by his friends A.A. Glazunov and N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov). In "Prince Igor", against the backdrop of majestic pictures of historical events, the main idea of ​​​​the composer's entire work is reflected - courage, calm greatness, spiritual nobility of the best Russian people and the mighty strength of the entire Russian people, manifested in the defense of their homeland. Despite the fact that A.P. Borodin left a relatively small number of works, his work is very diverse and he is considered one of the fathers of Russian symphonic music, who influenced many generations of Russian and foreign composers.

Quote about A.P. Borodin: “Borodin’s talent is equally powerful and amazing in symphony, opera and romance. His main qualities are gigantic strength and breadth, colossal scope, swiftness and impetuosity, combined with amazing passion, tenderness and beauty." V.V. Stasov

Interesting fact: the chemical reaction of silver salts is named after Borodin carboxylic acids with halogens, resulting in halogenated hydrocarbons, which he pioneered in 1861.

3. Modest Petrovich MUSORGSKY (1839—1881)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky is one of the most brilliant Russian composers of the 19th century, a member of the " Mighty bunch". Mussorgsky's innovative creativity was far ahead of its time.
Born in the Pskov province. Like many talented people, from childhood showed abilities in music, studied in St. Petersburg, was, according to family tradition, military. The decisive event that determined that Mussorgsky was not born for military service, and for music, it was his meeting with M.A. Balakirev and joining the “Mighty Handful”. Mussorgsky is great because in his grandiose works - the operas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" - he captured dramatic milestones in music Russian history with a radical novelty that Russian music had not known before him, showing in them a combination of mass folk scenes and a diverse wealth of types, the unique character of the Russian people. These operas, in numerous editions by both the author and other composers, are among the most popular Russian operas in the world. Another outstanding work of Mussorgsky is the cycle of piano pieces "Pictures at an Exhibition", colorful and inventive miniatures permeated with a Russian theme-refrain and Orthodox faith.

Mussorgsky's life had everything - both greatness and tragedy, but he was always distinguished by genuine spiritual purity and selflessness. His last years were difficult - unsettled life, lack of recognition of creativity, loneliness, addiction to alcohol, all this determined him early death at 42, he left relatively few works, some of which were completed by other composers. The specific melody and innovative harmony of Mussorgsky anticipated some features musical development 20th century and played an important role in the formation of the styles of many world composers.

Quote from M.P. Mussorgsky: “The sounds of human speech, as outward manifestations of thought and feeling, must, without exaggeration and violence, become music that is truthful, accurate, but artistic, highly artistic.”

Quote about M.P. Mussorgsky: “The original Russian sounds in everything that Mussorgsky created” N.K. Roerich

Interesting fact: at the end of his life, Mussorgsky, under pressure from his “friends” Stasov and Rimsky-Korsakov, renounced the copyright to his works and donated them to Tertius Filippov

4. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840—1893)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the greatest Russian composer of the 19th century, raised the unprecedented height Russian musical art. He is one of the most important composers of world classical music.
A native of the Vyatka province, although his paternal roots are in Ukraine, Tchaikovsky showed from childhood musical abilities, however, my first education and work was in the field of jurisprudence. Tchaikovsky was one of the first Russian “professional” composers; he studied music theory and composition at the new St. Petersburg Conservatory. Tchaikovsky was considered a “Western” composer, as opposed to the popular figures of the “Mighty Handful”, with whom he had good creative and friendly relations, but his work is no less permeated with the Russian spirit, he managed to uniquely combine the Western symphonic heritage of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann with the Russians traditions inherited from Mikhail Glinka.
The composer led active life- was a teacher, conductor, critic, public figure, worked in two capitals, toured Europe and America. Tchaikovsky was a rather emotionally unstable person; enthusiasm, despondency, apathy, hot temper, violent anger - all these moods changed in him quite often; being a very sociable person, he always strived for loneliness.
Selecting something best from Tchaikovsky's work is a difficult task; he has several equal works in almost all musical genres - opera, ballet, symphony, chamber music. The content of Tchaikovsky's music is universal: with inimitable melodicism it embraces images of life and death, love, nature, childhood, it reveals works of Russian and world literature in a new way, and reflects the deep processes of spiritual life.

Composer quote:
“I am an artist who can and should bring honor to my Motherland. I feel great artistic strength in myself, I have not yet done even a tenth of what I can do. And I want to do this with all the strength of my soul.”
“Life has beauty only when it consists of alternation of joys and sorrows, of the struggle between good and evil, of light and shadow, in a word - of diversity in unity.”
"Great talent requires great hard work."

Quote about the composer: “I am ready to stand as a guard of honor day and night at the porch of the house where Pyotr Ilyich lives - that is how much I respect him.” A.P.Chekhov

Interesting fact: Cambridge University awarded Tchaikovsky the title of Doctor of Music in absentia and without defending a dissertation, as did the Paris Academy Fine Arts elected him a corresponding member.

5. Nikolai Andreevich RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844—1908)

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov is a talented Russian composer, one of the most important figures in the creation of an invaluable Russian musical heritage. His unique world and worship of the eternal all-encompassing beauty of the universe, admiration for the miracle of existence, unity with nature have no analogues in the history of music.
Born in the Novgorod province, according to family tradition he became a naval officer, and visited many countries in Europe and the two Americas on a warship. He received his musical education first from his mother, then taking private lessons from pianist F. Canille. And again, thanks to M.A. Balakirev, the organizer of the “Mighty Handful,” who introduced Rimsky-Korsakov into the musical community and influenced his work, the world has not lost a talented composer.
The central place in Rimsky-Korsakov’s legacy is made up of operas - 15 works demonstrating the diversity of genre, stylistic, dramatic, compositional solutions composer, nevertheless having a special style - with all the richness of the orchestral component, the main ones are melodic vocal lines. Two main directions distinguish the composer’s work: the first is Russian history, the second is the world of fairy tales and epics, for which he received the nickname “storyteller.”
In addition to direct independent creative activity N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov is known as a publicist, compiler of collections of folk songs, in which he showed great interest, and also as a completer of the works of his friends - Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky and Borodin. Rimsky-Korsakov was the creator of a school of composition; as a teacher and director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he trained about two hundred composers, conductors, and musicologists, among them Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

Quote about the composer: “Rimsky-Korsakov was a very Russian man and a very Russian composer. I believe that this primordially Russian essence of his, his deep folk-Russian basis should be especially appreciated today.” Mstislav Rostropovich

The work of Russian composers of the late 19th - first half of the 20th century is a holistic continuation of the traditions of the Russian school. At the same time, the concept of an approach to the “national” affiliation of this or that music was named; there is practically no direct quotation of folk melodies, but the intonational Russian basis, the Russian soul, remains.

6. Alexander Nikolaevich SKRYABIN (1872 - 1915)

Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin - Russian composer and pianist, one of brightest personalities Russian and world musical culture. Scriabin's original and deeply poetic creativity stood out as innovative even against the backdrop of the birth of many new trends in art associated with changes in social life at the turn of the 20th century.
Born in Moscow, his mother died early, his father could not pay attention to his son, as he served as ambassador to Persia. Scriabin was raised by his aunt and grandfather, and showed musical talent from childhood. At first he studied in the cadet corps, took private piano lessons, and after graduating from the corps he entered the Moscow Conservatory, his classmate was S.V. Rachmaninov. After graduating from the conservatory, Scriabin devoted himself entirely to music - as a concert pianist-composer he toured in Europe and Russia, spending most of his time abroad.
The peak of Scriabin's compositional creativity was the years 1903-1908, when the Third Symphony (" Divine Poem"), symphonic "Poem of Ecstasy", "Tragic" and "Satanic" piano poems, 4th and 5th sonatas and other works. "Poem of Ecstasy", consisting of several theme-images, concentrated Sryabin's creative ideas and is his brilliant masterpiece. It harmoniously combines the composer’s love for the power of a large orchestra and the lyrical, airy sound of solo instruments. The colossal vital energy, fiery passion, and strong-willed power embodied in the “Poem of Ecstasy” makes an irresistible impression on the listener. today retains the power of its impact.
Another masterpiece of Scriabin is “Prometheus” (“Poem of Fire”), in which the author completely updated his harmonic language, departing from the traditional tonal system, and for the first time in history this work was supposed to be accompanied by color music, but the premiere, for technical reasons, was held without lighting effects.
The last unfinished “Mystery” was the plan of Scriabin, a dreamer, romantic, philosopher, to appeal to all of humanity and inspire it to create a new fantastic world order, the union of the Universal Spirit with Matter.

Quote from A.N. Scriabin: “I’m going to tell them (people) - so that they... do not expect anything from life except what they can create for themselves... I’m going to tell them that there is nothing to grieve about, that there is no loss So that they are not afraid of despair, which alone can give rise to real triumph. Strong and powerful is the one who has experienced despair and defeated it."

Quote about A.N. Scriabin: “Scriabin’s work was his time, expressed in sounds. But when the temporary, transient finds its expression in creativity great artist, it acquires permanent meaning and becomes enduring." G. V. Plekhanov

7. Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov (1873 - 1943)

Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov is the world's largest composer of the early 20th century, a talented pianist and conductor. The creative image of Rachmaninoff the composer is often defined by the epithet “the most Russian composer,” emphasizing in this brief formulation his merits in uniting the musical traditions of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools of composition and in creating his own unique style, which stands out in the world musical culture.
Born in the Novgorod province, at the age of four he began studying music under the guidance of his mother. He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, after 3 years of study he transferred to the Moscow Conservatory and graduated with a large gold medal. He quickly became known as a conductor and pianist, and composed music. The disastrous premiere of the innovative First Symphony (1897) in St. Petersburg caused a creative composer's crisis, from which Rachmaninov emerged in the early 1900s with a formed style that united Russian church song, outgoing European romanticism, modern impressionism and neoclassicism - and all this is full of complex symbolism. In that creative period his best works are born, including the 2nd and 3rd piano concertos, the Second Symphony and his most favorite piece- poem "Bells" for choir, soloists and orchestra.
In 1917, Rachmaninov and his family were forced to leave our country and settle in the USA. For almost ten years after leaving, he composed nothing, but toured extensively in America and Europe and was recognized as one of the greatest pianists of the era and a major conductor. For all his hectic activity, Rachmaninov remained a vulnerable and insecure person, striving for solitude and even loneliness, avoiding the annoying attention of the public. He sincerely loved and missed his homeland, wondering if he had made a mistake by leaving it. He was constantly interested in all the events taking place in Russia, read books, newspapers and magazines, and helped financially. His last works - Symphony No. 3 (1937) and "Symphonic Dances" (1940) were the result creative path, incorporating all the best of his unique style and a mournful feeling of irreparable loss and longing for his homeland.

Quote from S.V. Rachmaninov:
“I feel like a ghost wandering alone in a world that is alien to me.”
"The most high quality All art is its sincerity."
"Great composers have always and first of all paid attention to melody as the leading principle in music. Melody is music, main basis of all music... Melodic inventiveness, in the highest sense of the word, is the main life goal composer.... For this reason, the great composers of the past showed so much interest in the folk melodies of their countries."

Quote about S.V. Rachmaninov:
“Rachmaninoff was created from steel and gold: Steel is in his hands, gold is in his heart. I can’t think about him without tears. I not only admired the great artist, But I loved the person in him.” I. Hoffman
"Rachmaninov's music is the Ocean. Its waves - musical - begin so far beyond the horizon, and lift you so high and lower you so slowly... that you feel this Power and Breath." A. Konchalovsky

Interesting fact: during the Great Patriotic War Rachmaninov gave several charity concerts, the money collected from which was sent to the Red Army Fund to fight the Nazi occupiers.

8. Igor Fedorovich STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)

Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky is one of the most influential world composers of the 20th century, a leader of neoclassicism. Stravinsky became a “mirror” of the musical era; his work reflects a multiplicity of styles, constantly intersecting and difficult to classify. He freely combines genres, forms, styles, choosing them from centuries of musical history and subjecting them to his own rules.
Born near St. Petersburg, he studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, independently studied musical disciplines, took private lessons from N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, this was Stravinsky’s only composition school, thanks to which he mastered compositional technique to perfection. He began composing professionally relatively late, but his rise was rapid - a series of three ballets: “The Firebird” (1910), “Petrushka” (1911) and “The Rite of Spring” (1913) immediately brought him to the ranks of composers of the first magnitude.
In 1914 he left Russia, as it turned out, almost forever (in 1962 there were tours in the USSR). Stravinsky is a cosmopolitan, having been forced to change several countries - Russia, Switzerland, France, and eventually stayed to live in the USA. His work is divided into three periods - "Russian", "neoclassical", American " serial production", periods are divided not according to the time of life in different countries, but according to the author's "handwriting".
Stravinsky was a very highly educated, sociable person, with a wonderful sense of humor. His circle of acquaintances and correspondents included musicians, poets, artists, scientists, businessmen, and statesmen.
Stravinsky's last highest achievement - "Requiem" (Funeral Hymns) (1966) absorbed and combined the composer's previous artistic experience, becoming the true apotheosis of the master's work.
One unique feature stands out in Stavinsky’s work - “uniqueness”, it was not without reason that he was called “the composer of a thousand and one styles”, constant change of genre, style, plot direction - each of his works is unique, but he constantly returned to designs in which one can see Russian origin, Russian roots are heard.

Quote from I.F. Stravinsky: “I have been speaking Russian all my life, I have a Russian syllable. Maybe this is not immediately visible in my music, but it is inherent in it, it is in its hidden nature.”

Quote about I.F. Stravinsky: “Stravinsky is a truly Russian composer... The Russian spirit is indestructible in the heart of this truly great, multifaceted talent, born of the Russian land and closely connected with it...” D. Shostakovich

Interesting fact (fable):
Once in New York, Stravinsky took a taxi and was surprised to read his last name on the sign.
-Are you a relative of the composer? - he asked the driver.
- Is there a composer with such a surname? - the driver was surprised. - Hear it for the first time. However, Stravinsky is the name of the taxi owner. I have nothing to do with music - my last name is Rossini...

9. Sergei Sergeevich PROKOFIEV (1891—1953)

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev is one of the largest Russian composers of the 20th century, pianist, and conductor.
Born in the Donetsk region, he became involved in music from childhood. Prokofiev can be considered one of the few (if not the only) Russian musical “prodigies”, from the age of 5 he was engaged in composing, at the age of 9 he wrote two operas (of course, these works are still immature, but they show a desire to create), at the age of 13 he passed the exams at St. Petersburg Conservatory, among his teachers was N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The beginning of his professional career caused a storm of criticism and misunderstanding of his individual, fundamentally anti-romantic and extremely modernist style; the paradox is that, while destroying academic canons, the structure of his compositions remained faithful to classical principles and subsequently became a restraining force of modernist all-denying skepticism. From the very beginning of his career, Prokofiev performed and toured a lot. In 1918, he went on an international tour, including visiting the USSR, and finally returned to his homeland in 1936.
The country has changed and Prokofiev’s “free” creativity was forced to give in to the realities of new demands. Prokofiev's talent blossomed with renewed vigor - he wrote operas, ballets, music for films - sharp, strong-willed, extremely precise music with new images and ideas, laid the foundation for Soviet classical music and opera. In 1948, three tragic events occurred almost simultaneously: his first Spanish wife was arrested on suspicion of espionage and exiled to camps; a Resolution of the Poliburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was issued, in which Prokofiev, Shostakovich and others were attacked and accused of “formalism” and the harm of their music; There was a sharp deterioration in the composer's health; he retired to his dacha and practically never left it, but continued to compose.
Some of the most striking works of the Soviet period were the operas “War and Peace” and “The Tale of a Real Man”; the ballets “Romeo and Juliet” and “Cinderella”, which have become a new standard of world ballet music; oratorio "Guardian of Peace"; music for the films "Alexander Nevsky" and "Ivan the Terrible"; symphonies No. 5,6,7; piano works.
Prokofiev’s creativity amazes with its versatility and breadth of themes, its originality musical thinking, freshness and originality constituted an entire era in the world musical culture of the 20th century and had a powerful impact on many Soviet and foreign composers.

Quote from S.S. Prokofiev:
“Can an artist stand aloof from life?.. I adhere to the conviction that a composer, like a poet, sculptor, painter, is called upon to serve man and the people... He, first of all, is obliged to be a citizen in his art, to sing human life and lead a person to a bright future..."
"I am a manifestation of life, which gives me the strength to resist everything unspiritual"

Quote about S.S. Prokofiev: "... all facets of his music are beautiful. But there is one completely unusual thing. Apparently, we all have some failures, doubts, just... Bad mood. And in such moments, even if I don’t play or listen to Prokofiev, but just think about him, I receive an incredible charge of energy, I feel a great desire to live and act.” E. Kissin

Interesting fact: Prokofiev loved chess very much, and enriched the game with his ideas and achievements, including the “nine” chess he invented - a 24x24 board with nine sets of pieces placed on it.

10. Dmitry Dmitrievich SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 - 1975)

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich is one of the most significant and performed composers in the world, his influence on modern classical music immeasurable. His creations are true expressions of the inner human drama and chronicle of the difficult events of the 20th century, where the deeply personal is intertwined with the tragedy of man and humanity, with the fate of his native country.
Born in St. Petersburg, the first music lessons received from his mother, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, upon entering which its rector Alexander Glazunov compared him to Mozart - so he amazed everyone with his excellent musical memory, keen ear and gift for composition. Already in the early 20s, by the end of the conservatory, Shostakovich had a baggage of his own works and became one of the best composers in the country. World fame came to Shostakovich after winning the 1st International Chopin Competition in 1927.
Until a certain period, namely before the production of the opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", Shostakovich worked as a free artist - an "avant-garde", experimenting with styles and genres. The severe demolition of this opera, organized in 1936, and the repressions of 1937 marked the beginning of Shostakovich’s subsequent constant internal struggle to express his views through his own means in the conditions of state imposition of trends in art. In his life, politics and creativity are very closely intertwined, he was praised by the authorities and persecuted by them, held high positions and was removed from them, he and his relatives were awarded and were on the verge of arrest.
A gentle, intelligent, delicate person, he found his form of expressing creative principles in symphonies, where he could speak the truth about time as openly as possible. Of all Shostakovich’s extensive creativity in all genres, it is the symphonies (15 works) that occupy the central place; the most dramatically intense are the 5, 7, 8, 10, 15 symphonies, which became the pinnacle of Soviet symphonic music. A completely different Shostakovich reveals himself in chamber music.
Despite the fact that Shostakovich himself was a “home” composer and practically never traveled abroad, his music, humanistic in essence and truly artistic in form, quickly and widely spread throughout the world and was performed by the best conductors. The magnitude of Shostakovich’s talent is so immense that full comprehension of this unique phenomenon of world art is still ahead.

Quote from D.D. Shostakovich: " Real music capable of expressing only humane feelings, only advanced humane ideas."

The concept of “composer” first appeared in the 16th century in Italy, and since then it has been used to refer to a person who composes music.

19th century composers

In the 19th century Vienna music school represented by such an outstanding composer as Franz Peter Schubert. He continued the traditions of Romanticism and influenced an entire generation of composers. Schubert created more than 600 German romances, taking the genre to a new level.

Franz Peter Schubert

Another Austrian, Johann Strauss, became famous for his operettas and light musical dance forms. It was he who made the waltz the most popular dance in Vienna, where balls are still held. In addition, his heritage includes polkas, quadrilles, ballets and operettas.

Johann Strauss

A prominent representative of modernism in music of the late 19th century was the German Richard Wagner. His operas have not lost their relevance and popularity to this day.

Giuseppe Verdi

Wagner can be contrasted with the majestic figure of the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, who remained faithful operatic traditions and gave Italian opera a new breath.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Among the Russian composers of the 19th century, the name of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky stands out. He is characterized by a unique style that combines European symphonic traditions with Glinka's Russian heritage.

Composers of the 20th century

Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov is rightfully considered one of the most brilliant composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His musical style was based on the traditions of romanticism and existed in parallel with avant-garde movements. It was for his individuality and lack of analogues that his work was highly appreciated by critics all over the world.

Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky

Second famous composer 20th century - Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky. Russian by origin, he emigrated to France and then the USA, where he showed his talent in full force. Stravinsky is an innovator who is not afraid to experiment with rhythms and styles. His work shows the influence of Russian traditions, elements of various avant-garde movements and a unique individual style, for which he is called “Picasso in music.”