The history of Russia from Rurik to Putin! To love your Motherland means to know it! 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, was awarded and was on the verge of arrest himself and others.

World classical music is unthinkable without the works of Russian composers. The Russian school of composition, the continuation of whose traditions were the Soviet and today's Russian schools, began in the 19th century with composers who combined European musical art with Russian folk melodies, linking together the European form and the Russian spirit.

Glinka: “To create beauty, you have to be yourself pure at heart»

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.

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.

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 were due to independent work on mastering the technique of composition. The formation of A.P. Borodin was influenced by the work of M.I. Glinka (as indeed on all Russian composers of the 19th century), and two events gave the impetus to intensively study composition in the early 1860s - firstly, acquaintance and marriage with the talented pianist E. S. Protopopova, secondly, a meeting with M. A. Balakirev and joining the creative community of 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 a 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.

The chemical reaction of silver salts of carboxylic acids with halogens, resulting in halogenated hydrocarbons, which he was the first to study in 1861, is named after Borodin.

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 Handful”. Mussorgsky's innovative work was far ahead of its time.

Born in the Pskov province. Like many talented people, he showed ability in music from childhood, studied in St. Petersburg, and was, according to family tradition, a military man. The decisive event that determined that Mussorgsky was born not for military service, but for music, 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. One more outstanding work Mussorgsky is a cycle piano pieces“Pictures at an Exhibition”, colorful and inventive miniatures, are 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 his early death at the age of 42, he left relatively few works, some of which were completed by other composers. Mussorgsky's specific melody and innovative harmony anticipated some features of the musical development of the 20th century and played an important role in the formation of the styles of many world composers.

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.

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the greatest Russian composer of the 19th century, raised Russian musical art to unprecedented heights. He is one of the most important composers world classical music.

A native of the Vyatka province, although his paternal roots are in Ukraine, Tchaikovsky showed musical abilities from childhood, but his 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, in contrast to the folk figures of the “Mighty Handful”, with whom he had good creative and friendly relations, however, 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 Russian traditions inherited from Mikhail Glinka.

The composer led an active life - he 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.

Tchaikovsky: “Great talent requires great hard work”

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.

The University of Cambridge 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.

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.
Was born in Novgorod province, according to family tradition, 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 did not lose 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 of the 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 his direct independent creative activity, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov is known as a publicist and compiler of collections folk songs, in which he showed great interest, and also as a completionist 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.

Alexander Nikolaevich SKRYABIN (1872 - 1915)

Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin is a Russian composer and pianist, one of the brightest personalities of 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 public 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"), the symphonic "Poem of Ecstasy", "Tragic" and "Satanic" piano poems, 4th and 5th sonatas and other works were released. “The 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 and retains the power of its impact to this day.

Scriabin: “I’m going to tell them not to expect anything from life except what they can create for themselves.”

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.

Sergei Vasilievich RACHMANINOV (1873 - 1943)

Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov is the world's largest composer of the early 20th century, a talented pianist and conductor. Creative image Rachmaninov 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, leaving 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.

Rachmaninov: “I feel like a ghost who wanders alone in a world that is alien to him.”

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 vulnerable and an insecure person those seeking 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 of his creative path, incorporating all the best of his unique style and a mournful feeling of irreparable loss and longing for his homeland.

During the Great Patriotic War, Rachmaninov gave several charity concerts, the proceeds from which he sent to the Red Army Fund to fight the Nazi occupiers.

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 composer 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 “mass production”, the periods are divided not by the time of his life in different countries, but according to the author’s “handwriting”.

Stravinsky: “My style is Russian. Maybe this is not immediately visible in my music, but it is inherent in it.”

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 previous artistic experience composer, becoming the true apotheosis of the master’s creativity.

One unique feature stands out in Stavinsky’s work - “unrepeatability”, it was not for nothing 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 Russian origin is visible, heard Russian roots.

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. Start 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 (b) 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.

Prokofiev: “A composer, like a poet, sculptor, painter, is called upon to serve man and the people.”

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”, “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 work 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.

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.

Dmitry Dmitrievich SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 - 1975)

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich is one of the most important and performed composers in the world, his influence on modern classical music is 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 countries. 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 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.

People's Artist of the USSR,
laureate of Lenin
and State Prizes

When asked what he dreams of, Rodion Konstantinovich replied: “So that the Lord gives me another life - so many interesting and wonderful things in this world.”

Born on December 16, 1932 in Moscow. Father - Konstantin Mikhailovich Shchedrin, musician-theorist, teacher, musical figure. Mother - Shchedrina Concordia Ivanovna (nee Ivanova). Wife: Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, People's Artist of the USSR, Lenin Prize laureate.

Shchedrin is one of the largest and most famous composers of the second half of the 20th century. Possessing a sharp modern musical language, he was able to create works that are accessible wide circles listeners. A deliberate anti-avant-garde attitude towards the listener permeates Shchedrin’s work throughout his life: “great music must have large audience"At the same time, he developed Russian themes in his work more widely than any of the composers of his generation: his operas and ballets were written almost exclusively based on the plots of major Russian writers - N. Gogol, A. Chekhov, L. Tolstoy, V. Nabokov, N. Leskova, he is the author of the choral Russian liturgy “The Sealed Angel”, concerts for orchestra “Mischievous Ditties”, “Rings”, “Round Dances”, “Four Russian Songs”, etc.

Rodion Shchedrin, as a future musician and Russian composer, was decisively influenced by his family. His grandfather was an Orthodox priest in the city of Aleksin, Tula province, and the path to the church where he held services was dubbed “Shchedrinka” by parishioners. The composer's father, K. M. Shchedrin, was born in the village of Vorotsy, Tula province, and spent his childhood in Aleksin. He was gifted with rare musical abilities - “tape-recorder” memory (memorized music at once), absolute pitch. His abilities were noticed by actress V.N. Pashennaya, who came to the city, and at her own expense sent the boy to Moscow, where he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory.

R. Shchedrin was surrounded by music from childhood: he heard his father play the violin, an instrumental trio consisting of his father and his brothers. In 1941 he was sent to the Central ten-year music school at the Moscow Conservatory. In fact, he began to study piano privately with M. L. Gekhtman. But the Great Patriotic War began, and many schools in Moscow were closed. In October 1941, the Shchedrin family was evacuated to Kuibyshev, a city that had strictly classified administrative significance. D. Shostakovich was also there, completing his famous Seventh Symphony; young Rodion had a chance to hear it at a dress rehearsal under the direction of S. Samosud. The Bolshoi Theater was also evacuated there. D. Shostakovich and K. Shchedrin worked in the Union of Composers, the first as chairman, the second as executive secretary. Shostakovich carefully helped the Shchedrin family in difficult domestic and other circumstances.

When the opportunity arose to return to Moscow, Rodion was again sent to the Central Music School (1943). But the boy had already formed his own ideas about life: he was not interested in scales in music school, but real, serious matters. He ran away to the front twice, and the second time he got from Moscow to Kronstadt. After this, the parents did not find anything better than to enroll their son in the Nakhimov Naval School in Leningrad - and sent his documents there.

Meanwhile, an event occurred that ultimately led to the appearance of the composer Rodion Shchedrin. At the end of 1944 - beginning of 1945, a new educational institution opened in the USSR - the Moscow Choir School (boys). Its creator and first director, the famous choirmaster A. Sveshnikov, invited Father R. Shchedrin there to teach music history and musical theoretical subjects, and he, in turn, asked to accept his son to study. Rodion had absolute pitch, a fairly acceptable voice, and he was finally assigned a music major (December 1944).

At the Choir School, for the boy, who had already seen something, a sphere opened up that he did not suspect. Later R. Shchedrin recalled: “Singing in the choir captured me, touched some deep inner strings... And my first experiences as a composer (like the experiences of my comrades) were connected with the choir.” (Rodion Shchedrin. Conversation with L. Grigoriev and J. Platek // Musical Life, 1975, No. 2, p. 6). In the choir class the whole history of this art was sung: from the masters " strict style"16th century Josquin des Pres, Palestrina, Orlando Lasso to Russian sacred music - Chesnokov, Grechaninov, Kastalsky, Rachmaninoff.

Music composition was not specifically taught at the school, but high overall musical training allowed students to experiment in musical composition. To encourage their creativity, Sveshnikov gave them the opportunity to immediately perform their compositions. In 1947, a composition competition was held at the Choir School. The jury, headed by A. Khachaturyan, awarded the first prize to R. Shchedrin, and this became his first notable success in this field.

At the Choir School. Sitting (from right to left): I. Kozlovsky, director of the school, A. V. Sveshnikov with the teachers of the school. Far right (standing) is the composer’s father, K. M. Shchedrin. At the piano is the future composer. 1947

Students of the Choir School were given the opportunity to meet with major musicians: D. Shostakovich, A. Khachaturian, I. Kozlovsky, G. Ginzburg, S. Richter, E. Gilels, J. Flier. “In our school there was an intoxicating passion for music, including piano music,” Shchedrin recalled. His piano teacher was the famous teacher G. Dinor, who assigned his students pieces of deliberately high complexity. As a result, upon graduating from college, Rodion had a program worthy of a concert pianist (Bach fugues, virtuoso pieces by Chopin and Liszt, Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”), but not done properly. The teacher, thinking about his student’s admission to the Moscow Conservatory, decided to show him to Professor J. Flier. He was not delighted with the performance of the program, but approved of Shchedrin’s compositions and agreed to take him on as his student.

In 1950, Shchedrin entered the Moscow Conservatory simultaneously into two faculties - piano, in the class of Y. Flier, and theoretical composition, in the class of Professor Yu. Shaporin in composition.

Classes with Yakov Vladimirovich Flier, where a “feast of music” reigned, fascinated Shchedrin so much that he was thinking of parting with his specialty as a composer, but the pianist teacher did not advise this. In piano class, the growing musician not only acquired first-class skill as a pianist, but also made significant progress in his general musical tastes and knowledge. Shchedrin trusted his teacher so much that he was the first to show him his new opuses both during his student and college years. later years. According to the composer, Flier's piano withstood the "blows" of all his major works. Professional pianist Shchedrin remained throughout his life, successfully performing on the concert stage performing his technically difficult works.

In the composition class of Yuri Aleksandrovich Shaporin, what was attractive, first of all, was his human personality - an erudite in Russian literature and poetry, a storyteller and wit, a man who communicated with A. Blok, A. N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, K. Fedin, A. Benois , K. Petrov-Vodkin. He did not impose any one single path on his students, believing that in music there could and should be any kind of opposites.

Such a fundamental area of ​​Shchedrin’s interests as Russian folklore also developed intensively at the Moscow Conservatory. Fundamentally alien to the ethnographic approach, Shchedrin managed to use highly original methods throughout his entire career. folklore elements, organically fusing them with the latest composer discoveries in the musical world. And in such synthesis he has no equal in his generation. The compulsory subject for student composers, “Folk Art,” required participation in folklore expeditions, with independent recordings of folk songs on a tape recorder. R. Shchedrin made a trip to areas of the Vologda region, which turned out to be extremely rich in ditties (the leader of the expedition recorded over a thousand of them). After all, the ditty not only entertained and developed the ability to instantly improvise, but was a biting feuilleton, a people's newspaper - everything that lived among the people, not fitting into the official ways of expressing opinions. Shchedrin carried his love for ditties throughout his life: he called his First Concert for Orchestra in 1963 “Mischievous Ditties”, and in 1999 he presented a version of it - “Ditties”, a concert for solo piano.

The entire sound environment of folklore turned out to be deeply close to Shchedrin, which he perceived through trips to Aleksin, a city above the Oka River, and through various trips “to the outback,” hearing peasant singing and playing pipes. “For me, folk art is a shepherd’s cry, the monophonic strumming of an accordion player, inspired improvisations of village mourners, tart men’s songs...” (Rodion Shchedrin. Conversation with L. Grigoriev and J. Platek // Musical Life, 1975, No. 2 p. 54).

The first piano concerto, created by Shchedrin during his student days (1954), was, in turn, the work that created Shchedrin. It highlighted everything that was the personality of the author in his youth and that later grew into him. further creativity, including motor skills of rhythm and tartly pointed “Russianisms”. At the conservatory he seemed too “formalistic”. But one of the professors recommended that the Union of Composers include the concert in the program of the next plenum. The author performed it brilliantly and soon received a letter that he, a 4th year student, had been accepted into the Union of Composers (even without an application).

Shchedrin graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1955, with honors, in two specialties - composition and piano. Then, until 1959, he completed postgraduate studies in composition with Yu. Shaporin.

The year 1958 in Shchedrin’s life was described as the most romantic and truly fateful: he married the ballerina Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya, who had already gained fame. The story of their acquaintance was as follows. The composer visited the house of Lily Brik, Mayakovsky's former muse, and her husband, writer and literary critic V. Katanyan, for whose play “They Knew Mayakovsky” he wrote music. One day, as a curiosity, the owners of the house gave him a chance to listen to a tape recording of Plisetskaya singing (!) the music of Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella. The composer was amazed: the most difficult melodies were reproduced absolutely accurately and in the appropriate keys.

Rodion and Maya first met in person when J. Philip was received in the same house. Shchedrin played a lot of his music, which captivated the audience. He, a rare owner of his own car at that time (purchased with a fee for the film “Height”), had the gallant duty of taking the guests of honor home. Plisetskaya, saying goodbye, asked him to write down the theme from the film “Lights of Footlights” with notes from the record for a ballet number (the number later did not work). They were finally brought together by the ballet “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” which the Bolshoi Theater decided to stage in 1958. Here, 25-year-old Shchedrin first saw Plisetskaya at a rehearsal, where she, for her part, unleashed a “hurricane of Freudian motives” on him. Although Plisetskaya had already gained significant artistic fame, she was under great suspicion in the KGB, and a surveillance vehicle constantly followed Shchedrin's new acquaintance. But no force had the power to separate them. After a heavenly summer in Sortavala (House of Composers' Creativity) on Lake Ladoga, their honeymoon was a trip by Rodion's car from Moscow to Sochi via Tula, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don and other cities. Due to their unregistered marriage, they were denied access to all hotels, and only a car served as shelter. The marriage of Plisetskaya and Shchedrin was registered in Moscow on October 2, 1958. There were no children in this marriage - such was the great sacrifice of the great ballerina. But the unique “marriage of art” remained for life. All Shchedrin’s ballets are connected with Plisetskaya’s dance - and this is a whole ballet culture.

Upon graduating from graduate school in 1959, Shchedrin had to his creative credits the ballet “The Little Humpbacked Horse” (1955), piano works, choirs, and the First Symphony (1958). And these are not only milestones in his biography. “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” in which Plisetskaya danced the Tsar Maiden, became a regular performance for children and is still performed at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater. In 1999, for production at the Bolshoi Theater, the author made a new version of the ballet, turning it into a dazzling Russian extravaganza (artist - B. Messerer). "Humoresque", infecting with a purely Shchedrin "cunning", almost half a century later became a favorite concert "encore" (also in transcriptions for various instruments). Thanks to such plays, at one time the image of Shchedrin even began to take shape as the embodiment of ebullient vital energy, humor, and jokes in music. It sounded in such a tone and became widely famous song Shchedrin from the music for the film “Height” (1957) - “Merry March of High-Rise Installers”, which has firmly taken root in mass hearing. These ideas about the composer were unexpectedly destroyed by the First Symphony, with its breakthrough into a harsh war tragedy, which caused great displeasure among critics (“we’ve had enough of one Shostakovich”).

The turbulent 60s of the domestic “sixties” have arrived. During this decade, Shchedrin created his most performed work - the ballet "Carmen Suite", turned to opera for the first time ("Not Only Love"), and began a series of works in the genre to which he gave new meaning, - concerts for orchestra ("Mischievous ditties" and "Rings"), composed two large oratorios ("Poetory" and "Lenin in the People's Heart") and his most ambitious work for solo piano - 24 preludes and fugues, carried out a bold stylistic synthesis in the Second Piano Concerto. At the same time, he worked especially carefully on polyphony, series technique, combinations of multiple musical themes. At the same time, he performed as a pianist and taught at the Moscow Conservatory.

The opera “Not Only Love” (1961, 2nd ed. - 1971) was written based on the stories of S. Antonov, with the inclusion of ditty texts in the libretto; dedicated to M. Plisetskaya. “I’m writing the collective farm’s Eugene Onegin,” the author said and compared main character even with Carmen. In destining the opera for the Bolshoi Theater, he sought to move away from the monumental extras with banners that were then accepted on this stage into a chamber sphere, with the experiences of ordinary people. But although the premiere performance was designed by the artist A. Tyshler and conducted by E. Svetlanov, it was still not possible to change the customs of the theater. However, synchronous productions of “Not Only Love” took place in Perm and Novosibirsk. The adequacy of the concept and implementation of Shchedrin’s first opera was achieved much later - in chamber, studio, and student implementations. An important milestone was its appearance on the new theater stage- Moscow Chamber Musical Theater directed by B. Pokrovsky, as the first performance of this theater (1972).

In Shchedrin’s work, a bright streak of humor and satire, characteristic of him by nature, began: in 1963, the aforementioned “Mischievous Ditties” (First Concert for Orchestra) and “Bureaucratiada” (Resort Cantata) came from his pen. In “Mischievous Ditties,” the author used symphonic means to reproduce the ditty style of the alternate entry of a new participant against the backdrop of continuous harmonica playing. And this was a new musical form with a complex combination of not two or three themes, but about seventy. Although not to the taste of academic orchestral musicians, "Ditties" aroused great delight among the general public, especially in the periphery. From foreign musicians they were played by the American conductor and composer L. Bernstein. The cantata "Bureaucracy", written on the text of "Memo to a Vacationer", full of fresh wit, was a satire on something more than the restrictive order in the boarding house. At the same time, it was an encyclopedia of modern composition - it absorbed techniques that remain new to this day.

The center of the composer's polyphonic work was a huge cycle for piano - 24 preludes and fugues (1963-64 - volume 1, 1964-70 - volume 2). Shchedrin imbued the purely academic genre, established in his time by J. S. Bach and continued by D. Shostakovich, with modern virtuosity and sophisticated writing techniques. He himself became its first performer.

And just as before, the composer crossed out his humorous line with the purely tragic Second Symphony (1965), with echoes of the war (the roar of airplanes, the grinding of tank tracks, the groans of the wounded), with an epigraph from A. Tvardovsky “On the day the war ended” . At the same time, he again introduced a new symphonic form: 25 preludes (author's subtitle).

In 1966, Shchedrin embarked on an experiment that surpassed everything in Soviet music in its boldness. Having mastered modern dodecaphonic technique, he decided in the Second Piano Concerto (1966) to combine it with its diametric opposite - the music of jazz improvisation. The Union of Composers supported neither one nor the other, and combining them together gave such a glaring contrast that even the most left-wing colleagues began arguing about it. Life has proven the author right: the Second Concerto has become a classic studied in the history of music. The very technique of polystylism (and collage) used there then became the spirit of the times for many domestic authors. Shchedrin also resorted to it later.

Great Hall of the Conservatory. Premiere of the Second Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Soloist - author. 1966

In 1964-69, Shchedrin taught composition at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students were O. Galakhov (eventually the chairman of the Moscow Investigative Committee), B. Getselev, and the Bulgarian G. Minchev. The teacher knew how to accurately “diagnose” the students’ works, and taught, among other things, how to skillfully build the dramaturgy of the whole. It is noteworthy that he considered the speed of composition to be an important ability. Shchedrin stopped working at the conservatory, coming into conflict with party leaders in the theoretical and composition department.

Maya Plisetskaya - Carmen Suite (1978)

The ballet "Carmen Suite" (1967) appeared outwardly as a result of the composer's emergency assistance to his wife, when she was fired with an irresistible desire to embody the image of Carmen in the choreography of the Cuban choreographer A. Alonso. In 20 days, Shchedrin created his famous transcription of numbers from J. Bizet's opera "Carmen", using not a symphony orchestra, but strings and 47 percussion instruments, achieving a fresh, modern sound coloring. Plisetskaya danced the ballet about 350 times. “Carmen Suite” still reigns all over the world, being performed on stage, in concert or on the radio almost every day.

Shchedrin's long-standing friendship with the poet A. Voznesensky, who was the idol of Soviet youth in the 1960s, and the kinship of their artistic worldview led to the appearance of "Poetory" - a Concerto for a poet, a mixed choir and symphony orchestra on his texts (1968). The poet himself acted here as a reader. Voznesensky’s innovative, richly alliterated poems (“I am Goya, I am Grief. I am the voice...”) were answered by Shchedrin’s innovatively interpreted orchestra and choir, whose techniques were close to the most left-wing Polish finds. But Shchedrin deepened the style and concept of the work with his own personal musical techniques, especially the introduction of a kind of folk cry based on the famous singer L. Zykina. The discussion in the UK revealed the most conflicting opinions about the work.

He was also in a difficult situation as a public figure. In 1968, he (like K. Simonov and A. Tvardovsky) refused to sign a letter in support of the entry of troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia. The Voice of America radio station began regularly broadcasting about this, naming their names. Shchedrin was forced to compromise - in the form of the oratorio “Lenin in the People’s Heart” (1969), just as Shostakovich wrote “Song of the Forests” in his time. But unlike Shostakovich, Shchedrin never joined the CPSU. Avoiding a pompous tone, Shchedrin used everyday prose in his oratorio - the story of a Latvian rifleman, a factory worker, and, in addition, the words of the modern storyteller M. Kryukova. And in musical language he continued “Poetry”. The talented oratorio for the 100th anniversary of V.I. Lenin so improved the official position of the non-party author that for it and the opera “Not Only Love” he was awarded the USSR State Prize (1972). Abroad she had big success in Paris, London, Berlin.

Shchedrin's work in the 1970s and 80s was marked by his inherent constant artistic inventiveness, but did not contain those sharp stylistic turns depending on the changing fashion that became the lot of many composers in the West and in the USSR (leaps from the avant-garde to the “new simplicity” and to attempts to synthesize extremes). Elements of both avant-garde sophistication and folk simplicity have always coexisted in his music, and he constantly synthesized them. Back in the 60s, he formulated a thesis about his path: “In art you must follow your own path. It can be short and long, wide and narrow, but it must be your own” (Soviet Music, 1963, No. 6 , p. 12). In accordance with his own composer's individuality, Shchedrin stood firmly in the center, still invisibly towering above the seething streams of opposing currents.

In 1973, Shchedrin was elected to an important leadership post - chairman of the Union of Composers of the Russian Federation, to which he was blessed by D. Shostakovich, its founder and first chairman. He worked in this capacity until 1990, voluntarily leaving it, after which he was left in the role of honorary chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia. The fact that for so many years a serious composer of innovative orientation stood at the head of a huge Russian composers' organization played an extremely progressive role. His personal assistance to composers, musicologists, and conductors was also great. " For a long time Shchedrin headed the Union of Composers of Russia, and few people know how many young talents, rejected, persecuted by the authorities, this man helped,” says Vladimir Spivakov about him (Rodion Shchedrin. Self-portrait. Booklet of the music festival for the composer’s 70th anniversary. M., 2002 ).

The composer writes dozens of literary works, revealing a strong sense of words. He creates librettos for his stage works: operas " Dead Souls" (later "Lolita"), ballets "The Seagull" (together with V. Leventhal), "Lady with a Dog". Published dozens of articles - about Y. Flier, Y. Shaporin, O. Messiaen, L. Bernstein, A. Sveshnikov, K. Eliasberg, A. Borodin, A. Webern, I. Stravinsky, preface to V. Orlov’s novel “Violist Danilov”.

His collaboration with M. Plisetskaya continues: the ballets “Anna Karenina”, “The Seagull” and “The Lady with the Dog” are dedicated to her. In "Anna Karenina" after L. Tolstoy (1971), only the love affair was selected and the subtitle "Lyrical Scenes" was given - like P. Tchaikovsky in his opera "Eugene Onegin". The thought of Tchaikovsky was also reflected in the musical style of the ballet, right down to the appliqués of his works, written at the same time that Tolstoy was working on this novel. In the ballet “The Seagull” based on A. Chekhov (1979), Shchedrin appeared both as a composer and as a librettist (co-author), and Plisetskaya danced the main character, Nina Zarechnaya, and embodied the symbolic Seagull, and for the first time became the sole choreographer of the performance. The composer, using the orchestra, created a highly expressive “cry of a seagull”, which carried through the entire ballet, giving it increased tragedy. In it, the “shot” fates of the heroes were well guessed, and the stage drama projected the “cry” in time. The musical form of the ballet became innovative - a cycle of 24 preludes with the addition of three interludes and one postlude. When one English film group was preparing a television program about the development of musical art, it filmed “The Seagull” for the part “Music of the Future.”

Anna Karenina - Rodion Shchedrin (film-ballet)

A significant milestone in Shchedrin’s musical and theatrical work was the opera “Dead Souls” based on N. Gogol (1976, staged in 1977), with a libretto by the composer. The author introduced such an innovation into the opera as replacing the violins of the orchestra with a chamber (second) choir, and most importantly, dividing the stage into two parallel scenes, stratifying the opera as if into two autonomous operas - “folk” and “professional”. This parallel dramaturgy of the performance, first performed at the Bolshoi Theater, formed the core of the semantic concept of the work: the opposition of folk Rus' and the “dead souls” of the landowners. In the “folk opera,” the composer used Russian folk texts and folk voice timbres, but did not quote original melodies. He gave symbolic meaning to the men’s phrases, especially to the question “will he get there or won’t he get there?” At the same time, he saturated the folk elements with the most acute modern dissonances and clusters. Shchedrin developed “Professional Opera”—the grotesque world of Gogol’s landowners—in a style similar to the vocal work in Rossini’s operas. If the folk music of Rus' was performed in smooth, drawn-out legato singing, then in the parts of the parodied landowners, bouncing staccato was quite noticeably used. Their arias are sophisticated and extremely difficult to sing: Chichikov’s virtuosic passages, Korobochka’s patter, Sobakevich’s sweeping leaps of melody, etc. The vocal ensembles are impressive - seven, eight, ten and twelve voices. In the guise of two antithetical operas, essences of a higher order appeared: the contrast of the eternal, unchanging and the vain, mortal.

"Dead Souls" staged by the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on June 7, 1977 was a masterpiece of theatricality. The director was B. Pokrovsky, the stage designer was V. Leventhal, the choirmaster was V. Minin, the singers participating were: A. Voroshilo (Chichikov), L. Avdeeva (Korobochka), V. Piavko (Nozdrev), A. Maslennikov (Selifan) and other. Conductor Yu. Temirkanov conducted 42 rehearsals, after which he transferred the opera to the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater in Leningrad. The domestic performance conducted by Temirkanov, recorded by Melodiya, was released abroad by BMG and received a critics' award. “He extraordinarily accurately embodied the unique Gogolian intonation in the music and at the same time managed to write a sharply modern work. It was the music of the country in which we lived then: sharp, angular and incredibly hopeless,” writes A. Voroshilo (Rodion Shchedrin. Self-portrait Booklet of the music festival. M., 2002).

Menuhin and Schedrin

1981 was marked by Shchedrin with the creation of masterfully honed choral and piano works: “Stanzas of Eugene Onegin” - six choruses to the verses of A. S. Pushkin from his novel in verse, “The Execution of Pugachev” - a poem for choir a ca-ppella to words from "Stories of Pugachev" by A. S. Pushkin, "Notebook for Youth", 15 pieces for piano. The choral opuses also include "Concertino" of 1982 (without words). The composer is still immersed in Russian literature and the Russian theme. In particular , the idea of ​​Russian bells runs through all the works: at the end of the “Strophes of Onegin”, in the episodes of “The Execution of Pugachev”, in No. 11 “Russian Bells” from “Notebook for Youth” and in the finale of “Concertino” - “Russian Bells”.

Shchedrin's plans in 1983-84 were particularly large-scale and serious, which was also associated with dedications to his holy name - J. S. Bach on the 300th anniversary of his birth (1985). In 1983, in his honor, he erected a musical monument in the form of an extra-long work - 2 hours 12 minutes - "Musical Offering" for organ, three flutes, three bassoons and three trombones. This was an innovative concept of musical meditation, where people were not only supposed to listen to music, but also carry out an act of collective worship to the one to whom it was dedicated. In the first version, due to its extreme length, the work went far beyond the usual norms of concert perception. The author himself was convinced of this, speaking as an organist at the premiere in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (1983): the audience gradually began to leave the hall. In other conditions it was perceived adequately (for example, at the Bach Marathon in Germany). The author made a compact version of “Offering” - an hour and a half long, with a recording of the sound of the work on a disc in the Riga Dome Cathedral (1987). By its title, Shchedrin’s work was deliberately associated with Bach’s “Musical Offering,” which he made to the Prussian king and composer Frederick II in 1747. Shchedrin’s respect for Bach was expressed in many analogies with the great composer and his era: direct quotation of the master’s two organ preludes, a texture like Bach’s preludes, various polyphonic techniques, a clever “shaking form”, Bach’s monogram motif - B-A-C- N. In the spirit of Bach's times, "Offering" is permeated with symbols - like no other work by Shchedrin: the names Bach, Berg and Shchedrin are encrypted in the form of letter notes, even the date of birth and height of the composer, the melody of R. Ale's chorale, used by both Bach and Berg, is quoted, at a certain point in the score it is indicated to “kiss the instrument” (for bassoons and trombones). The organ solos running through the entire work create a reminiscent and prayerful mood, and three wind trios (3x3 are also sacred numbers) paint some pictures of a religious plot. Shchedrin's gigantic musical fresco has no equal among famous musical dedications.

Another composition by Shchedrin for the 300th anniversary of Bach was “Echo Sonata” for solo violin (1984). The real echo here was expressed in the form of a technique of playing the violin, with the separation of his quiet sound “shadow” from the musical “speech” of the violinist, and short appliqués from the famous works of Bach appeared as a symbolic echo - crystals of harmonious classics, peeled off from the sharply dissonant modern musical sonority. The sonata became a repertoire for violinists from different countries - it was performed by U. Hölscher, M. Vengerov, D. Sitkovetsky, S. Stadler and others.

In 1984, Shchedrin wrote "Self-Portrait" for a symphony orchestra. Psychologically, he is diametrically opposed to the established image of Shchedrin as a bearer of exciting energy, a master of humor and jokes. This is the author’s most darkly tragic work, so its premiere at the opening ceremony of the II Moscow International Music Festival (1984) ran counter to the atmosphere of the composer’s holiday. In the title of the play, Shchedrin proceeded from the experience of painting: “I was inspired by the example of painters. Almost all of them painted their portraits: perhaps this reflected the need they realized to know themselves. Sometimes this is how an artist comes to understand a person, life, time” (Yakovlev M. Instead frames for a portrait // Music in the USSR, 1985, April - June, p. 15). In the author’s annotation, he talks about “the imitation of the melancholy sounds of a lonely balalaika, the drunken muttering of a bassoon (as if humming an ancient chant of passers-by), ... the endless, flat and sad landscape of my country.” Shchedrin reacted to what was happening around him with all the strings of his soul. 1984 was the extreme point of Soviet stagnation, which seemed insurmountable. A year later, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M. Gorbachev came up with the idea of ​​perestroika under the threat of economic and general collapse of the country.

Created in 1985, the ballet “Lady with a Dog” based on the story of the same name by A. Chekhov was inspired by the 60th anniversary of M. Plisetskaya. The libretto was written by R. Shchedrin and V. Leventhal, M. Plisetskaya was both the choreographer and the performer of the main role - Anna Sergeevna, for whose role the costumes were created by the famous Parisian couturier P. Cardin. Pure lyrics The plot was realized as a one-act ballet for 45-50 minutes, consisting of five extensive dance duets - pas de deux. The musical structure of the ballet is permeated with a captivating melody, embodying the overflow of the lyrical feelings of the characters, the orchestra is transparent - only a string group with the addition of two oboes, two horns and a celesta, the musical form of the whole is harmonious. This is Shchedrin's most poetic and lyrical ballet work.

Gorbachev's perestroika that came in 1985, which radically changed the life of the entire Soviet intelligentsia, in particular, opened up unprecedented opportunities for contacts with foreign countries. In 1988, a new type of event took place - the Soviet-American festival “Making Music Together”. At first, the Americans wanted to hold a festival of Shchedrin alone, but the USSR Ministry of Culture did not give consent to this. Then an international forum was organized with maximum representation from the USSR. About 300 people arrived in Massachusetts, including A. Schnittke, S. Gubaidulina, A. Petrov, G. Kancheli, B. Tishchenko, V. Laurusas. Black singers participated in the production of Shchedrin's Dead Souls. The worldwide resonance of the festival, both artistic and political, was enormous.

The wave of perestroika led people as active as Shchedrin to come to power. The composer also became an effective politician. In 1989, from the Union of Composers, he was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In addition, having your own political program, he joined the well-known Interregional Group of People's Deputies for Perestroika in the USSR, whose members included academician A. Sakharov, the future first President of Russia B. Yeltsin, the future mayor of Moscow G. Popov, and the philosopher Yu. Afanasyev. In particular, they demanded a multi-party system and alternative elections, which did not suit the party authorities at all. On television one could watch the fight between Shchedrin heading to the podium and Gorbachev not giving him the floor. Shchedrin participated in the rehabilitation in the homeland of M. Rostropovich and G. Vishnevskaya, who were expelled from the country.

With the advent of another significant date - the 1000th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in Rus' - Shchedrin wrote essays that showed the deep meaning of this topic for him, the grandson of a priest and himself, who was baptized in childhood: “Stichera for the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus'” (1987) and "Sealed Angel" (1988).

The orchestral “Stichera for the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus'” was written on the basis of an ancient source, written in hooks - a stichera for the feast of the Vladimir Icon by Tsar Ivan the Terrible, which the composer presented in his own interpretation. Shchedrin recreated the world of ancient Russian singing - its quietness, unhurriedness and tranquility, the reflection in it of the Russian flat landscape, which affected the smoothness of the melody, flowing without pauses, and the variability of the sing-alongs. The score indicates the moments when the musicians' voices sing along with their parts. The composer sent the work for the first performance in the USA to Rostropovich, to whom he dedicated it. He regarded such an act as a civic feat and was able to premiere it at the Washington Kennedy Center (1988). The first Russian CD was released at home - with a recording of Shchedrin's "Stichera" and the stichera of Ivan the Terrible.

The Russian liturgy “The Sealed Angel”, or choral music according to N. Leskov on canonical Church Slavonic texts for a mixed choir a cappella with pipe (flute) in 9 parts, was first performed in Moscow, by two choirs - the Moscow Chamber Choir and the Academic Russian Choir under directed by V. Minin. The 60-minute work is a choral masterpiece, having an impact not only musically, but also spiritually and ethically, like a service for parishioners. It was also officially noted: in 1992 it was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation, one of the first in the new Russia.

Leskov’s story “The Sealed Angel” did not serve as a program for Shchedrin’s music; individual elements were taken from it: the title, the text for No. 1 (“Angel of the Lord”), the image of a flute player, the plot’s “circle of purification” - a clean icon, burned with a seal and clean again. At the conductor's request, text from Leskov could be inserted (this is the recording on the CD in the USA). And in relation to the liturgy, the composer did not set out to reproduce its entire sequence, but selected only a number of texts (from the Obikhod, Menaion, Triodion) with rearrangements and abbreviations. Stylistically, the music uses the principles of Russian Znamenny chant—smooth singing, “flatness” of the melody, and absence of pauses. In terms of choral techniques, this is an encyclopedia of Russian choral writing, which, in addition to znamenny type melodics, also included folk subvocality, sonorous chord structure, the color of octavist basses, a treble boy solo, the effect of a “temple echo” and imitation of bell ringing. "The Sealed Angel" became an outstanding choral work of the 20th century and Russian sacred music.

Since the late 1980s, Shchedrin began to receive more and more creative proposals from abroad, responding to them by creating works on his favorite Russian theme, thereby widely distributing it in different parts of the world: his musical “Nina and the 12 Months” was staged in Japan. (1988) and performed "Round Dances" (Fourth Concerto for Orchestra, 1989), written for the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra " Early music Russian provincial circuses" (Third concert for orchestra, 1989), chamber pieces were composed for Finland and Paris. Regarding "Circus Music" Shchedrin pointed out (in the annotation): "In this work I deliberately strive for colorfulness, musical painting, humor, to spectacular, external, entertaining.... “Circus” was written during the years of perestroika, during the years of hope and faith in the emancipation and restructuring of Russian society. Maybe it was the feeling of hope for good changes that charged me with energy and optimism?..” (As a Russian element, he introduced the song “Black Eyes,” which the orchestra members sing along with the game.) “Professionals call him the king of the modern orchestra, meaning "maximum sound expressiveness with maximum concentration and cost savings" - this is how M. Rostropovich speaks of Shchedrin (Rodion Shchedrin. Self-portrait. Music festival booklet, 2002).

The beginning of the 1990s, along with the disruption in the entire social structure of the country - the collapse of the USSR, the formation of a new state - the Russian Federation - brought significant changes in Shchedrin’s life. The weakened economy and serious material problems created such a clear threat to creativity that the composer was forced to go to live in Germany, in Munich (1991-92). He was followed by his wife, M. Plisetskaya. Both retained Russian citizenship. Ties with Western publishers and performers began to strengthen. At the same time, the composer retained and strengthened the most important properties of his style - the democratic breadth and Russian orientation of the theme. But the choice of musical genres became different: no new ballets appeared (only group music), one opera appeared - “Lolita”, but concerts for soloists with orchestra - for piano, violin, viola, cello, trumpet - flourished unusually as a result of contacts with major musicians peace. The overwhelming majority of the works turned out to be related to the Russian theme, and the importance of lyrical beginning. In connection with Shchedrin's anniversaries, large festivals were held in his honor - in his homeland and in many countries around the world. He became a recognized classic of Russian and world music.

Opera "Lolita" novel of the same name V. Nabokov's libretto by the composer himself (1994) could not be staged in major world languages ​​due to copyright problems, and then the idea arose of staging it at the Royal Swedish Opera - in Swedish. The premiere took place in Stockholm on December 14, 1994: conductor - M. Rostropovich, Lolita - L. Gustafson, Humbert Humbert - P.-A. Walgren, Quilty - B. Haugan. The atmosphere of scandal that always accompanied this plot by Nabokov was expressed here in public demonstrations for the cancellation of the performance and calls for artists to refuse to participate in it. But the production was a great success, with reviews in the press all over the world.

Although opera has the ability to remove the naturalism of any plot, Shchedrin tried to deepen the moral side of the novel both in the libretto and in the music. In the Prologue, Humbert is already sitting in prison cell, and throughout the opera there is a choir of Judges accusing him, and in contrast the choir of Boys in the church sings a prayer of enlightenment. To defuse the tragic tension of the drama, by contrast, there are inserts of animated duets from Advertising. The high spirit of opera reigns in long, slow love scenes two main characters, in the sublime musical sound of the scene "Humbert's Sin". Shchedrin created bright vocal parts - the young Lolita, with her singing in a high silver register, the aging seducer Quilty with his falsetto or animal cry. The opera ends with a cathartic Epilogue, deepening Nabokov's finale. According to the writer’s son, D. Nabokov, “if my father had seen this, he would have been happy.”

Anxiety and pain for the hardships of Russia brought string music to life." Russian photographs", dedicated to the orchestra "Moscow Virtuosi" conducted by V. Spivakov (1994). These are pictures of Russian life at different times. 1 hour - "The Ancient Town of Aleksin", in memory of my grandfather and childhood, 2 hours - "Cockroaches Moscow”, when the attack really took place, although the music is not graphic, 3 hours - “Stalin-cocktail”, depicting the trills of drums, the groans of victims, the echo of executions, with quotes from the cantata about Stalin by A. Alexandrov and “March of Enthusiasts” by I. Dunaevsky , 4 hours - “Evening Bells”, with a mood of desolation, turmoil in the heart and singing along with the words “Eternal Memory”.

At the center of the period of the 90s are three significant concerts - for cello, violin and viola, dedicated to outstanding contemporary musicians.

The cello concerto "Sotto voce concerto" (dedicated to M. Rostropovich, 1994) according to its concept belongs to works with an eternal theme - life and death. The subtitle refers to Shchedrin's favorite idea - drama heard through the wall, as well as the special pianissimo performed by Rostropovich. The music depicts vivid tragic episodes, but provides an innovative way to overcome earthly tragedy - as an exit to the extra-human world through the use of recorders with their reed sound, like a Russian pipe.

Concerto for violin and string orchestra“Concerto cantabile” (dedicated to M. Vengerov, 1997) is a neo-romantic work, stylistically not similar to the “early” and “middle” Shchedrin. It is comparable only to the lyrics of his “Lady with a Dog.” “By the word “cantabile” I mean, first of all, the tone of the state of mind, partly the manner of sound. And also interweaving, crossing, merging, agreement, argument, countermovement of the singing lines of the soloist and orchestra” (from the author's annotation). The composer described his concert in the Swiss film about him as “my diary of feelings” by J. Gachot.
"Concerto dolce", a concert for viola accompanied by string orchestra and harp (1997), was prepared both by his father's playing on this instrument, and by Shchedrin's preface to V. Orlov's "Violist Danilov", and, of course, by the unique skill of Yu. Bashmet, to whom the dedication is made. Although the concert is called "Dolce", it does not begin or end with this character. The large dolce episode is located in the center of the form and is especially significant reserved for the reprise. Purely Russian elements are inlaid into the music, designated as “balalaika” and “bells” - both were included in a work for viola for the first time. It is characteristic that Shchedrin ends the concerts “Dolce” and “Cantabile” with an energetic, strong-willed coda.

Chamber works of the mid-90s are marked by Shchedrin's inventions in the nature of musical sound: "Music from Afar" for two recorders and the Second Piano Sonata (1996), "Balalaika" for solo violin without a bow (1997), continuing the idea of ​​"Russian Tunes" for cello solo (1990).

In 1997, on the occasion of the composer’s 65th birthday, festivals of his music were held in Finland, France, Germany, and in Russia the celebrations took place over 19 days in four cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara.

At the Edge of the Millennium (1999), Germany received Shchedrin an honorable offer: to write an orchestral Prelude to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a landmark work for the entire German culture. For its anniversary, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra commissioned a composition, which became the “Symphonie con-certante” (Third Symphony) “Faces of Russian Fairy Tales” (2000), reflecting the images of “The Samogudka”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”, “Princess- frogs" and others. In 1999, Shchedrin created one of his most impressive concerts - the Fifth Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (dedicated to the Finnish pianist O. Mustonen), which, after the premiere in Los Angeles (1999), began a confident path across the world's stages. Thanks to a commission from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, "Lolita Serenade" from the music of the opera (2001) arose.

The composer's 70th birthday in 2002 was celebrated with a magnificent festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which demonstrated the vitality of his work over all the years and the inexhaustible potential in creating new works (among the Russian premieres are "Parabola concertante", "Concert Parable" for cello, string orchestra and timpani, 2001). The premiere of the symphonic etudes for orchestra “Dialogues with Shostakovich” (2002) took place at Carnegie Hall. The world premiere of Shchedrin's opera for the concert stage "The Enchanted Wanderer" based on the story by N. Leskov took place at Lincoln Center in New York (December 19, 2002): New York Philharmonic orchestra, chorus, singers - A. Anger, L. Paasikivi, E Akimov, conductor L. Maazel.

“I am a Russian person, all my roots are here. Even if I were somewhere on Tierra del Fuego, I would remain so,” Shchedrin says about himself (R. Shchedrin. Someone planned to re-educate the Russians... Conversation with S. Biryukov. // Labor, 12/22/95). With great ingenuity, he knew how and knows how to introduce Russian elements into his musical language, reproducing stichera, prayers, ditties, shepherd's tunes, bell ringing, mourners' voices, circus music, the strumming of a balalaika, gussel picking, gypsy song, applications from Tchaikovsky, etc. At the same time, the whole aura of his works is typically modern: the sharpness of dissonant sound pairings, the play of spaces musical stage, collage technique, extremely varied articulation and innovative ways of performing on all instruments.

Shchedrin's music is charged with that sunny vitality that the art of the 20th century largely lacked in people. That is why the human response throughout the world to his “musical offering” is so great. Having followed his own path all his life, he took a stable position at the very center of musical culture, and, in the words of R. W. Emerson, “he is the hero who stands motionless in the center.”

COMPOSERS: Rodion Shchedrin (Video)

The creative merits of R. K. Shchedrin were awarded numerous honorary titles and prizes: People's Artist of the USSR (1981), Lenin Prize (1984), State Prize of the USSR (1972), State Prize of Russia (1992), Order of Merit for the Fatherland III degrees (2002). Winner of the D. D. Shostakovich Prize (Russia, 1992), Crystal Award of the World Economic Forum (Davos, 1995), honorary professor of the Moscow Conservatory (1997), “Composer of the Year” of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2002).

Corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (1976), honorary member of the F. Liszt Society (USA, 1979), honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts of the GDR (1982), honorary member of the International Music Council (1985), member of the Berlin Academy of Arts (1989).

Books are dedicated to him: I. Likhachev. Musical Theater of Rodion Shchedrin (M., 1977); V. Komissinsky. On the dramatic principles of R. Shchedrin (Moscow, 1978); M. Tarakanov. The Work of Rodion Shchedrin (M., 1980); H. Gerlach. Zum Schaffen von Rodion Schtschedrin (Berlin, 1982); Yu. Paisov. Chorus in the works of Rodion Shchedrin (M., 1992); V. Kholopova. Path through the center. Composer Rodion Shchedrin (M., 2000); she is also in the German version - V. Cholopova. Der Weg im Zentrum (Mainz, Schott, 2002) and others. In 2002, a book by the composer himself was published: R. Shchedrin. Monologues different years(M., 2002).

Many of us managed to get from the 20th century to the 21st without a time machine. As they say, we live at the junction of two centuries. Therefore, when talking about who modern composers are and what century they belong to, we must take this into account. More recently, modernity was considered the 20th century. But when the 21st century arrived, the previous century automatically became the past.

Terminology

Before you start talking about the stated topic, you should decide on the necessary terminology. Firstly, what is classical music as such? Secondly, who are modern composers? An interesting opinion from Stephen Fry will help you understand these issues. His books on the history of classical music are so delightful that sometimes it is impossible to tear yourself away from them. He defines the issues posed very clearly and very clearly.

Classical music. If we consider this term in the narrow sense of the word, it becomes clear that it refers to a fairly short period of classicism that dominated from 1750 to 1830. In a broad sense, classical music refers to any serious music that requires listening attention and some emotional effort.

Modern composers. It is generally accepted that classical music has stood the test of time. Accordingly, how can it be modern? A certain metamorphosis occurred precisely when we moved into the 21st century, leaving the 20th in the past. So it turns out that modern classical composers belong to the 20th century. What then to do with classical music in the 21st century? What is meant here is that it is used in the broad sense of the word - as serious music that makes you think and requires some kind of emotional effort.

Great Russian composers of the 20th century. List

The list below is not chronological, but alphabetical. Of course, it is possible to single out or point out particularly outstanding ones. But since all these individuals are the brightest representatives of their century, they can safely be called so - the 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.

Foreign composers of the 20th century. List

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. It's about 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.

This list can be significantly expanded.

About contemporary composers

Pekarsky Mark (b. 1940). He became famous for his ensemble of percussion instruments. The atmosphere at his concerts is conducive to laughter, since the composer can make good jokes while performing music (and during breaks).

Martynov Vladimir (b. 1946) - minimalist composer. It combines religiosity and “advancement.” The modern master of serious music is able to convey a lot with minimal means.

Ekimovsky Victor (b. 1947). His programmatic works with bright titles attract attention. These are “B” (music written for flutes and phonogram), “Siamese Concerto” (intended for two pianos), “Sublimations” (for symphony orchestra), “27 Destructions” (for percussion instruments) and many others.

(b. 1951). In her works one can feel the influence of A. Scriabin's music. Lots of flight, vibrations, fire. The second piano concerto attracts the attention of listeners with its dynamic development and sudden finale, which takes the listener to the Middle Ages and then brings him back.

Alla Pavlova (b. 1952) - emigrant composer. Currently lives in America. Her music is melodic and sad and mournful at the same time. She wrote six symphonies in minor keys, which are complete tragedies.

As we can see, the music of modern composers is diverse, amazing and attractive. Many of the creators love experiments and are looking for new forms. These include Bakshi Alexander (b. 1952). Among his works, “Unanswered Call”, written for violin, especially stands out, 6-7 mobile phones and string orchestra.

Markelov Pavel (b. 1967). One of his favorite areas is sacred music. He wrote symphonies for orchestra, free verse sonatas for piano, and 20 bell symphonies.

Children's contemporary composers

Prominent representatives are Yuri Savalov, Vladimir Korovitsyn, Yuri Savelyev.

Yuri Savalov was a talented composer, an excellent teacher and a wonderful arranger. He enthusiastically led the orchestra at the Children's Music School. He was also a good performer. He played keyboards and wind instruments. Each of his nine piano pieces has a subtitle: “Mother”, “Confession”, “Wind of Wandering”, “Inspiration”, “Ball in the Prince’s Castle”, “Prelude”, “March”, “Waltz”, “Lullaby”. They are all very interesting, diverse and beautiful.

Vladimir Korovitsyn was born in 1955. His work consists of music written in various romances, spiritual works written for choir, chamber and symphony orchestra. For children, he wrote a collection of children's songs called "Rejoice in the Sun" and "Children's Album" for piano. The plays are an excellent addition to the students' repertoire. The names of the plays accurately reflect their character and mood: “Thumbelina”, “Wooden Shoes”, “Variations of a Peasant with an Accordion”, “Emelya Rides on the Stove”, “Sad Princess”, “Girls’ Round Dance”.

Songs for children

Children's songs by modern composers are filled with optimism and cheerfulness. Despite the fact that some of them were created half a century ago, they remain not only relevant, but also quite modern. The most considered are V. Shainsky, I. Dunaevsky, D. Kabalevsky, G. Gladkov. We listen to their cheerful and playful songs with great pleasure, sing them ourselves and together with the children.

Not everyone knows that it was G. Gladkov who created the melodies from such popular films and cartoons as “Little Red Riding Hood”, “About Fedot the Archer”, “Children of Captain Grant”, “At the Order of the Pike”, “Plasticine Crow” and others.

Another legendary creator of modern songs for children is V. Shainsky. He has over three hundred of them. It is enough to listen to “The Blue Carriage”, “Piggy”, “Chunga-Changa”, “Antoshka” and many others to understand how talented a composer he is.

So, modern composers It is customary to consider not only living or recently deceased composers of the 21st century, but also masters of the 20th century. Both of them created music of different genres and different characteristics, worthy of attention from listeners and musicologists.

20-09-2006

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, a professional musician and composer.

From an article by D. Gorbatov

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 we get down to this interesting matter, let's try to figure out 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 post-Chaliapin Soviet era, there were also magnificent performances of “Boris Godunov” at the Bolshoi Theater with Alexander Pirogov in the title role and Ivan Kozlovsky as 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 towards “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 the full text of “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 aforementioned introductory article by S. Bugoslavsky to the libretto of the opera: ^ “Khovanshchina” in its musical structure is not a “musical drama”, but an opera in the old sense: here the melodic, more precisely, dominates , song beginning…^. 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 are 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).

Witold Lutosławski's music is good, although it does not shine with much originality (the influence of Debussy, Bartók or Stravinsky is sometimes 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 operas staged by major opera houses peace.

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 “The Girl” from the West."

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

You can tell a lot about each of these famous people; they all have difficult, and sometimes even 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. Griboyedov, A.A. Delvig. The creative impetus for his work 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 like Susanin appeared, whose image summarizes the best features of the national character. V.F. Odoevsky described the opera as “a new element in Art, and a new period begins in its history - 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 were due to independent work on mastering the technique of composition. 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 the creative community of 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 a 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 of carboxylic acids with halogens, resulting in halogenated hydrocarbons, which he was the first to study in 1861, is named after Borodin.

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 Handful”. Mussorgsky's innovative work was far ahead of its time.
Born in the Pskov province. Like many talented people, he showed ability in music from childhood, studied in St. Petersburg, and was, according to family tradition, a military man. The decisive event that determined that Mussorgsky was born not for military service, but for music, 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 in music the dramatic milestones of Russian history with a radical novelty that Russian music had not known before, 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 his early death at the age of 42, he left relatively few works, some of which were completed by other composers. Mussorgsky's specific melody and innovative harmony anticipated some features of the musical development of the 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 Russian musical art to unprecedented heights. 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 musical abilities from childhood, but his 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 an active life - he was a teacher, conductor, critic, public figure, worked in two capitals, toured in 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, and the Paris Academy of 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 traveled around 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 of the 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 his 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 completionist 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 intonation Russian basis, the Russian soul, remains.

6. Alexander Nikolaevich SKRYABIN (1872 - 1915)

Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin is a Russian composer and pianist, one of the brightest personalities of 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 public 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"), the symphonic "Poem of Ecstasy", "Tragic" and "Satanic" piano poems, 4th and 5th sonatas and other works were released. "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 and retains the power of its impact to this day.
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 the work of a 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 mature style that united Russian church song, outgoing European romanticism, modern impressionism and neoclassicism, all full of complex symbolism. During this creative period, his best works were born, including the 2nd and 3rd piano concertos, the Second Symphony and his most favorite work - the 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 of his 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 highest quality of 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, the 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:
“Rachmaninov 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 proceeds from which he 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 composer 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 “mass production”, the periods are divided not by the time of life in different countries, but by 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 - “unrepeatability”, it was not without reason that he was called “the composer of a thousand and one styles”, a constant change of genre, style, plot direction - each of his works is unique, but he constantly returned to designs in which Russian origin is visible, audible Russian roots.

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 connected by blood 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 work is striking in its versatility and breadth of themes; the originality of his musical thinking, freshness and originality constituted an entire era in the world musical culture of the 20th century and had a powerful influence on many Soviet and foreign composers.

Quote from S.S. Prokofiev:
“Can an artist stand aside 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 a 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 arranged on it.

10. Dmitry Dmitrievich SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 - 1975)

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich is one of the most important and performed composers in the world, his influence on modern classical music is 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, he received his first music lessons from his mother, 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: “True music is capable of expressing only humane feelings, only advanced humane ideas.”