Balakirev Mikhail Alekseevich. Balakirev - short biography

Mily Alekseevich Balakirev gained fame as a man who was better at creating great composers than great music. His "" is not as famous as "", and the romances are lost in the shadow of vocal masterpieces. But if it were not for Balakirev, there would probably be no masterpieces, and there would be no Russian music in the form as we know it now.

A native of Nizhny Novgorod, the son of a titular councilor, Balakirev showed musical abilities already in childhood. His first piano teacher was his mother. When the boy was ten years old, his mother summer holidays went with him to Moscow, where Milius took several piano lessons from the composer Alexander Dubuk. Upon returning to hometown he began studying with the conductor and pianist Carl Eiserich.

Balakirev studies at the Alexander Institute. A meeting with diplomat Alexander Ulybyshev played a significant role in his fate. This man is an amateur musician, one of the first music critics, author of the biography, introduced young man With classical literature, and in the amateur orchestra created by Ulybyshev, Balakirev masters in practice the basics of conducting and instrumentation. The orchestra's repertoire was rich - it even included Beethoven's symphonies.

In 1853, Balakirev entered Kazan University, but after a year he left it to take up music. He creates romances, as well as piano works. Ulybyshev monitors progress young composer. In St. Petersburg he introduced Mily Alekseevich. Mikhail Ivanovich approved of Balakirev’s works and gave him some advice.

In the capital, Balakirev is gaining fame as a pianist, and he continues to compose music. Soon he meets Caesar Cui and, and later with and. This is how a community of young composers arose, which critic Vladimir Stasov later called the “Mighty Handful.” None of these people received music education: officer, sailor, chemist, military engineer Cui, and Balakirev himself, who became the soul of this community, did not study at the conservatory. But perhaps that is precisely why they could say a new word in art, opposing the dominance of the West that reigned in professional music, works on a national basis.

Friends-composers gathered at Balakirev’s every week, played many works on the piano four hands - and, of course, demonstrated their own. Balakirev, according to , showed himself to be an “amazing technical critic,” carefully analyzing all the works, and he played a decisive role in the self-education of his friends. But, of course, he did not limit himself to giving advice. By that time, he had already created two dozen romances, which were highly appreciated by Alexander Serov. His symphonic creations gained fame - in particular the King Lear Overture, as well as piano pieces.

Balakirev travels along the Volga and visits the Caucasus three times, during these trips he writes folk songs. The result of communication with barge haulers on the Volga was the “Collection of Russian folk songs" Mily Alekseevich created an Overture on the themes of three Russian songs, and conceived a symphony dedicated to the millennium of Rus', but this work was not completed. Caucasian impressions were reflected in the works created years later - “Islamee” and “”.

In 1862, the composer, together with Gavriil Lomakin, created the Free music school. The choir that existed in it made it possible to join musical art to everyone who wants it. An orchestra conducted by Balakirev also took part in these concerts, including the works of the Kuchkists in the programs. Mily Alekseevich conducted concerts of the Russian musical society.

1870s became difficult for Balakirev: unfair exclusion from RMO concerts, financial problems. All this leads to thoughts of suicide. The composer still did not do this, but came to the decision of “musical suicide” - he decides to abandon creativity forever. For some time he served in a railway office, then earned money by giving private lessons. Only towards the end of the 1870s. he gradually comes to his senses: he again begins to communicate with friends, again heads the Free Music School, completes "", creates piano plays and romances, and from 1883 for eleven years he heads the Court Singing Chapel. Through his efforts, an orchestra was created at the chapel.

Balakirev's music is performed not only in Russia, but also in Brussels, Berlin and Copenhagen.

Balakirev died in 1910. His last piece– The suite for orchestra remained unfinished, it was completed by Sergei Lyapunov.

Musical Seasons

Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev

Balakirev Mily Alekseevich (1836-1910) - Russian musical and public figure, composer, conductor and pianist. Head of the creative association of Russian composers “New Russian Musical School” (“Balakirevsky Circle” or “Mighty Handful”), which arose in 1856 and took shape in the early 1860s.

In 1862, together with conductor G. Ya. Lomakin, he organized a free music school in St. Petersburg and was its director (1868-1873, 1881 - 1908). In 1883-94. - chief conductor Imp. Russian Musical Society, manager of the Court Singing Chapel.

Popularized the legacy of M. I. Glinka in Russia and abroad. Author of music for W. Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear", two symphonies (1897,1908), symphonic poems "Tamara" (1882), "Rus" (1887), "In the Czech Republic" (1905), chamber instrumental works and romances .

Orlov A.S., Georgieva N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical Dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 28.

Balakirev Mily Alekseevich (12/21/1836-05/16/1910), Russian composer, conductor, musical and public figure, head of the creative association of Russian composers “New Russian Musical School” (“Balakirev Circle”, or “Mighty Handful”), which arose in 1856 and took shape in n. 1860s.

In 1853 - 55 Balakirev was a volunteer student at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University. In 1855 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he began to meet with M. I. Glinka And A. S. Dargomyzhsky, debuted as a composer and pianist. In 1862, together with conductor G. Ya. Lomakin, he organized a free music school in St. Petersburg and was its director (1868-73, 1881-1908). Chief conductor of the Russian Musical Society, director of the Court singing choir” (1883 - 94). As a conductor of the operas “A Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” Balakirev popularized the operatic heritage of M. I. Glinka in Russia and abroad. Balakirev is the author of music for Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear”, symphonic poems “Tamara”, “Rus”, “In the Czech Republic”, oriental fantasy for piano “Islamey”, chamber instrumental works and romances, and arranged a number of Russian folk songs.

V. A. Fedorov

BALAKIREV, MILIY ALEXEEVICH (1837–1910), Russian composer, pianist, conductor, head and inspirer of the famous “Five” - “ Mighty bunch"(Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), which personifies the national movement in Russian musical culture 19th century

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

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

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

Materials from the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" were used.

Literature:

M.A. Balakirev: Research. Articles. L., 1961

Balakirev M.A. Memories and letters. L., 1962

M.A. Balakirev: Chronicle of life and creativity. L., 1967

(December 21, 1836, old style) in Nizhny Novgorod. He was a hereditary nobleman, the Balakirev family has been known since the mid-14th century. He received his first piano lessons from his mother Elizaveta Yasherova, and in the summer of 1846 in Moscow he studied with the pianist and composer Alexander Dubuc, a student of the Irish composer John Field.

In 1883-1895, Balakirev was the manager of the St. Petersburg court chapel, where he improved the repertoire and performance. He raised the teaching of singing and music theory to professional level and introduced instrumental classes. The most gifted students of the chapel formed a musical circle around their leader. Balakirev was also the center of the so-called Weimar circle.

He edited early writings Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov, together with the latter, prepared for publication the scores of Glinka’s operas “A Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, works by Frederic Chopin.

In the second half of the 1860s, Balakirev staged Glinka’s operas “A Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” in Prague.

In 1894, on his initiative, a monument to Chopin was erected in Zelazowa Wola (Chopin’s birthplace), and he publicly performed works by this composer there and in Warsaw.

From the early 1880s, he was the censor of sacred and musical works. Balakirev's spiritual and musical heritage amounted to 11 completed works, mainly intended for performance during worship.

Balakirev created two symphonies (1897, 1908); three overtures, including Overture on Themes of Three Russian Songs (1858); symphonic poems "Rus" ("1000 years", 1862), "In the Czech Republic" (1867), "Tamara" (1882). He wrote the music for Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" (1861); two concertos for piano and orchestra; fantasy "Islamey" (1869); Cantata for the opening of the Glinka monument in St. Petersburg (1904); pieces for piano.

Balakirev is the author of 40 romances. The composer set to music the poems “The Cliff” and “When the Yellowing Field is Worried” by Mikhail Lermontov, “I Came to You with Greetings” and “Whisper, Timid Breath” by Afanasy Fet.

On May 29 (May 16, old style), 1910, Mily Balakirev died in St. Petersburg. He was buried in the Necropolis of Art Masters.

In Vladimir, Yekaterinburg, Lipetsk and Nizhny Novgorod there are streets and alleys named after the composer. Also named after Miliya Balakirev are music schools and art schools in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Gus-Khrustalny.

In 2017, Balakireva will appear in Moscow at the intersection of Samarkand Boulevard and Fergana Street in the Vykhino-Zhulebino area of ​​the South-Eastern Administrative District.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Russian empire

Mighty bunch

Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev

Mily Alekseevich Balakirev(December 21, 1836 [January 2], Nizhny Novgorod - May 16, St. Petersburg) - Russian composer, pianist, conductor, head of the “Mighty Handful”.

Memorial plaque on house 7 on Kolomenskaya street, St. Petersburg.

Biography

Mily Balakirev was born into the family of Alexei Konstantinovich Balakirev (1809-1869).

IN childhood took piano lessons from Alexandre Dubuc. He was a volunteer student at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University in 1853-1855. A. D. Ulybyshev, an enlightened amateur, philanthropist, and author of the first Russian monograph on Mozart, took a great part in his fate.

Music

Balakirev's compositional activity, although not extensive, is very respectable. He wrote several orchestral, piano and vocal works, of which the following stand out: orchestral music to King Lear (1860), consisting of an overture and intermission; overture on Czech themes (); two overtures on Russian themes, the first of which was composed in 1857, and the second, entitled “Rus”, was written in 1862 for the opening of the monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod; overture on a Spanish theme; symphonic poem “Tamara” (text by Lermontov), ​​performed for the first time at a concert of the Free Music School in 1882. Among Balakirev’s piano works the following are known: two mazurkas (As-dur and B-moll), a scherzo, a fantasy “Islamey” on oriental themes (1869); He also arranged for piano in two hands: “Chernomor’s March” from the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “The Lark’s Song” by Glinka, the overture (introduction) to the second part of “La Fuite en Egypte” by Berlioz, cavatina from Beethoven’s quartet (op. 130), " Aragonese jota» Glinka. Four hands: “Prince Kholmsky”, “Kamarinskaya”, “Aragonese Jota”, “Night in Madrid” by Glinka.

Of Balakirev’s vocal compositions, romances and songs are very popular (“ gold fish”, “Come to me”, “Bring me in, oh night, secretly”, “Advance”, “A clear month has risen into the sky”, “Can I hear your voice”, “Jewish melody”, “Georgian song”, etc.) - numbering 20 (according to other sources, 43. Apparently, the main part of the text is lifetime, compiled between and 1895.)

Among other unmentioned works are 2 symphonies ( ; ), Suite for orchestra ( - completed by S. Lyapunov), 2 piano concertos ( ; - completed by S. Lyapunov, a large number of piano works: sonata, mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes, etc. A very valuable contribution to the field of Russian musical ethnography is the “Collection of Russian Folk Songs”, published by Balakirev in 1866 (40 songs in all).

M. A. Balakirev’s talent was especially evident in his first works and in his subtle understanding of orchestration; Balakirev's music is original, rich in melodic terms (music for King Lear, romances) and very interesting and beautiful in harmonic terms. Balakirev never took a systematic course. Balakirev’s most significant musical impressions during all this time were Chopin’s piano concerto (e-moll), which he heard from a lover as a child, and later the trio “Don’t Weary My Darling” from Glinka’s “A Life for the Tsar.” He remained faithful to these composers all his life. I.F. Laskovsky made a great impression on him as a pianist and composer. Participation in musical ensembles and especially studying scores and conducting an orchestra in Ulybyshev’s house greatly advanced him musical development. The first attempts at composing also date back to this time: a septet for piano, bowed instruments, flute and clarinet, stopping at the first movement, written in the spirit of Hancelt’s piano concerto, which he really liked, and a fantasy on Russian themes for piano and orchestra, which also remained unfinished. A handwritten sketch of her () is stored in public library in St. Petersburg .

Balakirev spent less than two years at Kazan University, at the Faculty of Mathematics, living mainly on meager funds from music lessons. In Kazan, Balakirev wrote: a piano fantasy based on motives from “A Life for the Tsar”, the first romance: “You are full of captivating bliss” () and a concert Allegro. In 1855 he came to St. Petersburg together with Ulybyshev, who introduced him to music clubs capital Cities.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

• 1861 - apartment building- Ofitserskaya street, 17;
• 1865-1873 - courtyard wing of the mansion of D. E. Benardaki - Nevsky Prospekt, 86, apt. 64;
• 1882 - 05/16/1910 - apartment building - Kolomenskaya street, 7, apt. 7.

Memory

Notes

Links

• Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev: sheet music of works on the International Music Score Library Project

Mily Alekseevich Balakirev. BALAKIREV Mily Alekseevich (1836/37 1910), composer, pianist, conductor, musical public figure. Head of the Mighty Handful, one of the founders (1862) and leaders (1868-73 and 1881-1908) of the Free Musical... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Russian composer, pianist, conductor, musical public figure. Born into the family of an official from the nobility. Took lessons from pianist A. Dubuk and conductor K. Eisrich (Nizhny Novgorod).... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Balakirev Miliy Alekseevich- (18361910), composer, pianist, conductor, musical public figure. From 1855 he lived in St. Petersburg. In 1856 he made his debut as a pianist and composer (he performed the first part of his concert for music at the St. Petersburg University matinee for... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

- (1836/37 1910) composer, pianist, conductor, musical public figure. Head of the Mighty Handful, one of the founders (1862) and director (1868-73 and 1881-1908) of the Free Music School. Conductor of the Russian Musical Society (1867 69),... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Balakirev, Mily Alekseevich, famous Russian musician, creator of the new Russian music school. Born on December 21, 1836 in Nizhny Novgorod, died on May 16, 1910 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the Nizhny Novgorod gymnasium, Nizhny Novgorod... ... Biographical Dictionary

- (1836 1910), composer, pianist, conductor, musical public figure. From 1855 he lived in St. Petersburg. In 1856 he made his debut as a pianist and composer (he performed the first part of his concert for music at the St. Petersburg University matinee for... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

- (1836/1837 1910), composer, pianist, conductor. Head of the “Mighty Handful”, one of the founders (1862, together with G. Ya. Lomakin) and director (1868-73 and 1881-1908) of the Free Music School ( Saint Petersburg). Conductor of the Imperial Russian... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

BALAKIREV Mily Alekseevich- Mily Alekseevich (12/21/1836, N. Novgorod 05/16/1910, St. Petersburg), Russian. composer, head of the New Russian School (“The Mighty Handful”), teacher, musical public figure, conductor, pianist, editor. Hereditary nobleman(Balakirev family... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

The name of Miliya Alekseevich Balakirev is familiar to many; it immediately evokes associations with the “Mighty Handful”. However, it is unlikely that there will be a person far from musicology who can name even one or two of his compositions offhand. It so happened that Balakirev is known as public figure, a teacher, but not as a composer. Why is it creative destiny remained in the shadow of great contemporaries and what is it like true meaning his personality in Russian culture?

Brief biography of Miliya Balakirev and many interesting facts Read about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Balakirev

Mily Balakirev was born on December 21, 1836, the heir to an ancient noble family, the first mention of which dates back to the 14th century. The Balakirevs were members of the military service, but the father of the future composer, Alexey Konstantinovich, was a civilian civil servant. The house where Mily Alekseevich was born is a family mansion in Nizhny Novgorod on Telyachaya Street. So unusual name the boy received it from his mother, Elizaveta Ivanovna, in whose family it was quite common.

In the biography of Balakirev, like many other Russian composers, one can find references to the fact that the first acquaintance with music in general and the piano in particular occurred thanks to his mother. Balakirev is no exception - Elizaveta Ivanovna played beautifully herself and taught her son the basics of playing the instrument, and at the age of 10 she took him to Moscow to the famous teacher A. Dubuk. Soon after returning home, she died, but Mily began to study with conductor K. Eiserich.

At the age of 16, the young man graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Noble Institute and entered the mathematics department of Kazan University as a volunteer student. He had to earn a living by teaching music. Having not studied in Kazan for even two years, he returned home, where he began conducting the K. Eiserich orchestra, performing at the fair, in the theater and at the Assembly of the Nobility.

HELL. Ulybyshev, the first Russian musicologist, also a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, in whose house they often held symphony evenings with the participation of Balakirev, highly appreciated the talent of the young man. He was well-known in the musical circles of the capital and in 1855 he brought 19-year-old Milius to St. Petersburg. Balakirev immediately began performing as a pianist and met M.I. Glinka. This acquaintance, as well as a rapprochement with the critic V. Stasov, became fateful in his life. Thanks to Glinka, he actively took up composing music, and together with Stasov they became ideologists “ Mighty bunch", which was subsequently joined by Ts.A. Cui, M.P. Mussorgsky, ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov And A.P. Borodin.

Balakirev considered the main task of his entire life to be the formation of Russian music and the music school. He actively participated in the work of not only the “kuchkists”, but also other composers, Tchaikovsky, for example, suggesting new themes and subjects for their creativity. Thus, my own writing faded into the background. In 1862, Balakirev founded the “Free Music School”, and a few years later refused an invitation to become a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, considering himself insufficiently educated to teach within academic walls. Since 1867 he has been the conductor of concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. His removal from this position in 1869 was the result of both court intrigue and his own irreconcilable radicalism in his views on music.

By the beginning of the 1870s, the paths of the Kuchka composers diverged; Balakirev was grieving the loss of influence on his former like-minded people. He refused music lessons, entered routine service at Varshavskaya railway, fell into religion and in moments of spiritual devastation even thought about entering a monastery. Only in the next decade did the composer return to full-time musical activity, again heading his school and accepting in 1883 an offer to become the head of the court singing chapel. For 11 years in this position, he demonstrated his best organizational qualities - from the reconstruction of the chapel building to caring for the fate of singers who had lost their voices. It was from this moment that the institution had its own full-fledged orchestra, which still exists today.

After his dismissal from the chapel, Mily Alekseevich gets the opportunity and time to study own creativity. He writes new works and reworks those that were written in his youth. Becoming more and more despotic and intolerant, he supports Slavophile views and condemns the revolution of 1905, which alienates many people from his inner circle. On May 10, 1910, the composer died. Despite the fact that he has not participated in public for a long time musical life, he was buried as a great figure of Russian culture.

Interesting facts about Balakirev

• The symphonic poem “Tamara” was not ignored “Russian Seasons” by S.P. Diaghilev, who was personally acquainted with the composer. In 1912, M. Fokine staged the ballet of the same name with Tamara Karsavina in the title role.

• It was Balakirev who became interested in the young pianist N.A. Purgold. Having not met reciprocity, the girl turned her attention to Rimsky-Korsakov, whom she later married. But Miliy Alekseevich never married.
• Balakirev was an ardent opponent of conservatories, believing that talent can only be cultivated at home.
• The composer spent the summer months in Gatchina, a remote suburb of St. Petersburg.
• After the death of the emperor Alexandra III in 1894, Balakirev resigned from the post of head of the Court Chapel, including because he did not favor the heir to the throne, Nicholas II, and this was mutual. However, he still had a caring patron at court - the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. She took part in the composer’s fate and responded to his requests. So, she allocated money to send Balakirev’s nieces with tuberculosis to Europe for treatment.
• Balakirev's biography says that the composer studied a lot folk art, collecting unknown songs on trips to Volga villages and settlements of Caucasian nationalities - Georgians, Armenians, Chechens.
• Balakirev was a very poor man all his life. Correct your financial situation he was able only during the years of service in the chapel. Nevertheless, those around him noted his generosity and responsiveness; he always came to the aid of those who turned to him.

• Through the efforts of Balakirev, a memorial plaque was installed in Berlin in 1895 on the house where Glinka died. This Historical building It was demolished and a new one was built in its place, but the memory of the Russian composer is immortalized to this day. The new memorial plaque includes an image of the original one, Balakirev’s, with an inscription in Russian.

Creativity of Miliya Balakirev

Balakirev wrote his first works while still a student at Kazan University. Among them is Fantasia on Opera Themes " Ivan Susanin", which he played when he first met Glinka, making a huge impression on the latter. Dargomyzhsky I also liked the young musician, and Mily, with great enthusiasm, went to Kazan for the summer to work as a private teacher, hoping to create and compose. His plans included both a symphony and a piano concert... But, left alone with the sheet music paper, he experienced anxiety that developed into depression. He was not confident in himself, he wanted to be the best, to become on the same level as Glinka or Beethoven, but was afraid of disappointment and failure. He succeeded much better in the role of musical consultant and editor, the inspirer of his colleagues in “ Mighty bunch“, as long as you don’t write it yourself. Ideas “for himself” quickly disappointed him and, as a result, were rejected. Perhaps because he gave the most winning stories to his Kuchka students.

According to Balakirev’s biography, in 1857 he began work on the theme of the Overture on the theme of the Spanish march, which Glinka gave him. Written in the same year, the Overture was completely revised 30 years later. Symbolically, the first work that introduced the young composer to the St. Petersburg public in 1859 was the Overture on the themes of three Russian songs. In 1861 in Alexandrinsky Theater Shakespeare's King Lear was staged, and music for the play was commissioned from Balakirev. As a result, the composer produced an independent symphonic work, the plot of which in some scenes did not correspond to the plot of the tragedy. But this music was never performed at Alexandrinka - Balakirev did not have time to finish it by the day of the premiere.

In 1862, the composer wrote the symphonic poem “1000 Years,” which was later renamed “Rus.” The reason for its writing was the opening of a monument to the millennium of Rus' in Veliky Novgorod. This music became a reflection of the views of the emerging “Mighty Handful”; its ideas can be traced in more later works Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1862-63, the composer visited the Caucasus and, impressed by his trips, began to write the symphonic poem “Tamara” based on the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov, his favorite poet. The work dragged on for almost 20 years. The premiere of the work took place only in 1882. On the eastern theme in 1869, after the third visit to the Caucasus, the most technically complex piano piece composer "Islamey".

In 1867, after a trip to Prague to conduct concerts from Glinka’s works, Balakirev wrote the overture “In the Czech Republic,” in which he gave his interpretation of Moravian folk songs. The creation of the First Symphony took a long time: the first sketches date back to the 1860s, and completion in 1887. This symphony, of course, comes from the time of the “Mighty Handful”, since the construction of its main themes is reflected in both Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. The work is based on the melody of folk Russian and oriental music. The second symphony was born in the composer’s declining years, in 1908. In his symphonic works, Balakirev focuses primarily on Berlioz And Liszt However, the lack of academic education does not allow him to fully use all the achievements of the style of these composers.

In 1906, a monument to M.I. was solemnly opened in St. Petersburg. Glinka. For this ceremony, Balakirev writes a Cantata for choir and orchestra - one of his four choral works. Another work written for the opening of the monument, this time Chopin , in 1910 - Suite for orchestra, composed of 4 works by the Polish composer. Concerto Es-dur for piano and orchestra is Balakirev’s last major work, which was already completed by his colleague S.M. Lyapunov. It, like many works for piano, is distinguished by its complexity. Balakirev, being an excellent pianist, tried to emphasize the skill of the musician in his works, sometimes to the detriment of the melodic value of the piece. Balakirev’s legacy remains the most extensive in terms of quantity in the genre of romance and song - in total more than 40 works based on poems by the leading poets of the era: Pushkin, Lermontov, Fet, Koltsov. The composer created romances throughout his life, starting in the 1850s.

As sad as it may be, but beyond the narrow philharmonic circle of lovers of Russian classical music Balakirev's works are almost never published. Even world cinema specialists turned to the composer’s work only once - in the 2006 Swiss film “Vitus” about a young virtuoso pianist, where the oriental fantasy “Islamey” sounded.

Domestic cinema used the image of Balakirev in the 1950 film “Mussorgsky”, his role was played by Vladimir Balashov.

Balakirev shared with the members of the “Mighty Handful” not only time, but also what he was striving for - their original composer development on the basis that he gave them. Ultimately, he wasn't the only one a brilliant composer or an outstanding performer. He was something big - a great Russian musician. A man who felt music like no one else. A person whom the universe has endowed with the gift of discovering talents. He did not write an opera, but without him would the successful chemist Borodin have created his only, but infinitely brilliant, “Prince Igor”? He was unable to found his own school of composition, but wasn’t it under his influence? Marine officer Did Rimsky-Korsakov find the strength to quit his job and become not only a composer, but also a great teacher? Mily Alekseevich Balakirev is one of the main passionaries of Russian music. And just as great things are better seen from a distance, so today his services to national culture are becoming more and more valuable.

Video: watch a film about Balakirev