Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on June 1, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, the estate of his parents, located one hundred miles from Smolensk and twenty miles from the small town of Yelnya. The systematic teaching of music began rather late.

(May 20 (1.6). 1804, Novospasskoye village, now the Elninsky district of the Smolensk region, - 3 (15) .2. 1857, Berlin)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on June 1, 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, the estate of his parents, located one hundred miles from Smolensk and twenty miles from the small town of Yelnya. The systematic teaching of music began rather late and in much the same spirit as the teaching of general disciplines. Glinka's first teacher was a governess Varvara Fyodorovna Klamer invited from St. Petersburg.

Glinka's first experience in composing music dates back to 1822, the end of the boarding school. These were variations for harp or piano on a theme from the Austrian composer Weigl's fashionable opera "The Swiss Family". From that moment, while continuing to improve in playing the piano, Glinka paid more and more attention to composition and soon began to compose a lot, trying his hand at various genres. For a long time he remains dissatisfied with his work. But it was during this period that well-known romances and songs were written today: "Do not tempt me without need" to the words of E.A. Baratynsky, "Do not sing, beauty, with me" to the words of A.S. Pushkin, "Autumn Night, Dear Night" to the words of A.Ya. Rimsky-Korsakov and others.

However, the main thing is not the creative victories of the young composer, no matter how highly they are valued. Glinka "with constant and deep tension" is looking for himself in music and at the same time comprehends the secrets of composer's skill in practice. He writes a number of romances and songs, honing the vocal melody, but at the same time persistently looking for ways to go beyond the forms and genres of everyday music. Already in 1823 he was working on a string septet, an adagio and a rondo for orchestra, and on two orchestral overtures.

Gradually, Glinka's circle of acquaintances goes beyond secular relations. He meets Zhukovsky, Griboyedov, Mitskevich, Delvig. In the same years, he met Odoevsky, who later became his friend. All kinds of secular entertainment, numerous artistic impressions of various kinds, and even the state of health, which was increasingly deteriorating towards the end of the 1820s (the result of an extremely unsuccessful treatment) - all this could not interfere with the composer's work, which Glinka devoted himself to with the same "constant and deep tension" . Composing music became an inner need for him.

During these years, Glinka began to think seriously about traveling abroad. He was motivated to do this by various reasons. First of all, the journey could give him such musical impressions, such new knowledge in the field of art and creative experience, which he could not have acquired in his homeland. Glinka also hoped to improve his health in other climatic conditions.

At the end of April 1830, Glinka left for Italy. Along the way, he stopped in Germany, where he spent the summer months. Arriving in Italy, Glinka settled in Milan, which at that time was a major center of musical culture. The opera season of 1830-1831 was unusually eventful. Glinka was completely at the mercy of new impressions: "After each opera, returning home, we picked up sounds to remember our favorite places we heard." As in St. Petersburg, Glinka still works hard on his compositions. There is nothing student left in them - these are masterfully executed compositions. A significant part of the works of this period are plays on the themes of popular operas. Glinka pays special attention to instrumental ensembles. He writes two original compositions: the Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass and the Pathetic Trio for piano, clarinet and bassoon - works in which the features of Glinka's composer's style are especially pronounced.

In July 1833 Glinka left Italy. On his way to Berlin, he stopped for a while in Vienna. From the impressions associated with staying in this city. Glinka notes little in the Notes. He often and with pleasure listened to the orchestras of Liner and Strauss, read Schiller a lot and rewrote his favorite plays. Glinka arrived in Berlin in October of the same year. The months spent here led him to reflect on the deep national roots of the culture of each people. This issue is now of particular relevance to him. He is ready to take a decisive step in his work. "The idea of ​​national music (not to mention operatic music) became clearer and clearer," notes Glinka in Zapiski.

The most important task facing the composer in Berlin was to put in order his musical and theoretical knowledge and, as he himself writes, ideas about art in general. In this matter, Glinka assigns a special role to Siegfried Dehn, a famous music theorist in his time, under whose guidance he studied a lot.

Glinka's studies in Berlin were interrupted by the news of his father's death. Glinka decided to immediately go to Russia. The foreign trip ended unexpectedly, but he basically managed to carry out his plans. In any case, the nature of his creative aspirations had already been determined. We find confirmation of this, in particular, in the haste with which Glinka, having returned to his homeland, begins composing an opera, without even waiting for the final choice of plot - the nature of the music of the future work is so clearly presented to him: I didn’t have it, but “Marina Grove” was spinning in my head.

This opera briefly captured the attention of Glinka. Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, he became a frequent visitor to Zhukovsky, at whom an elected society met weekly; predominantly engaged in literature and music. Regular visitors to these evenings were Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Gogol, Pletnev.

“When I expressed my desire to take on Russian opera,” writes Glinka, “Zhukovsky sincerely approved of my intention and offered me the plot of Ivan Susanin. The scene in the forest deeply cut into my imagination; I found in it a lot of originality, characteristic of Russians.”

Glinka's enthusiasm was so great that "as if by magic action ... the plan of an entire opera was suddenly created ...". Glinka writes that his imagination "warned" the librettist; "...many topics and even development details - all this flashed in my head at once."

But not only creative problems concern Glinka at this time. He is thinking about marriage. The chosen one of Mikhail Ivanovich was Marya Petrovna Ivanova, a pretty girl, his distant relative. “In addition to a kind and pure heart,” Glinka writes to her mother immediately after her marriage, “I managed to notice in her the properties that I always wanted to find in my wife: order and frugality ... despite her youth and liveliness of character, she is very reasonable and extremely moderate in desires." But the future wife knew nothing about music. However, Glinka's feeling for Marya Petrovna was so strong and sincere that the circumstances that subsequently led to the incompatibility of their destinies at that time might not seem so significant.

The young people got married at the end of April 1835. Shortly thereafter, Glinka and his wife went to Novospasskoye. Happiness in his personal life spurred his creative activity, he set to opera with even greater zeal.

The opera moved quickly, but getting it staged on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater proved to be a difficult task. Director of the Imperial Theaters A.M. Gedeonov stubbornly prevented the acceptance of the new opera for staging. Apparently, in an effort to protect himself from any surprises, he gave it to the judgment of Kapellmeister Kavos, who, as already mentioned, was the author of an opera on the same plot. However, Kavos gave Glinka's work the most flattering review and withdrew his own opera from the repertoire. Thus, "Ivan Susanin" was accepted for production, but Glinka was obliged not to demand remuneration for the opera.

The premiere of "Ivan Susanin" took place on November 27, 1836. The success was huge. Glinka wrote to his mother the next day: “Last night my desires finally came true, and my long work was crowned with the most brilliant success. The audience accepted my opera with extraordinary enthusiasm, the actors lost their temper with zeal ... the emperor ... me and talked to me for a long time... "

The acuteness of perception of the novelty of Glinka's music is remarkably expressed in Henri Merime's "Letters about Russia": Mr. Glinka's "A Life for the Tsar" is extremely original... This is such a truthful summary of everything that Russia has suffered and poured out in song; in this music one can hear such a complete expression of Russian hatred and love, grief and joy, complete darkness and a shining dawn ... This is more than an opera, this is a national epic, this is a lyrical drama raised to the noble height of its original purpose, when it was frivolous fun, but a patriotic and religious ceremony.

The idea of ​​a new opera based on the plot of the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" came to the composer during Pushkin's lifetime. Glinka recalls in "Notes": "... I hoped to draw up a plan at the direction of Pushkin, his premature death prevented the fulfillment of my intention."

The first performance of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" took place on November 27, 1842, exactly - to the day - six years after the premiere of "Ivan Susanin". With Glinka's uncompromising support, as six years ago, Odoevsky spoke, expressing his unconditional admiration for the genius of the composer in the following few, but bright, poetic lines: "... a luxurious flower has grown on Russian musical soil - it is your joy, your glory "Let the worms try to crawl onto its stem and stain it, the worms will fall to the ground, but the flower will remain. Take care of it: it is a delicate flower and blooms only once in a century."

However, Glinka's new opera, in comparison with Ivan Susanin, aroused stronger criticism. F. Bulgarin, who at that time was still a very influential journalist, was the most violent opponent of Glinka in the press.

The composer takes it hard. In the middle of 1844, he undertook a new long trip abroad - this time to France and Spain. Soon, vivid and varied impressions return Glinka's high vitality.

Glinka's works were soon crowned with new great creative success: in the autumn of 1845 he created the Jota of Aragon overture. In a letter from List to V.P. Engelhardt, we find a vivid description of this work: "... I am very pleased ... to inform you that "Hota" has just been performed with the greatest success ... Already at the rehearsal, understanding musicians ... were amazed and delighted with the lively and sharp originality this charming piece, embossed in such delicate contours, trimmed and finished with such taste and art! and to the end!What the happiest surprises, abundantly emanating from the very logic of development! "

Having finished work on "Jota of Aragon", Glinka is in no hurry to take on the next composition, but devotes herself entirely to a further in-depth study of Spanish folk music. In 1848, after returning to Russia, another overture appeared on a Spanish theme - "Night in Madrid". Remaining in a foreign land, Glinka cannot but turn his thoughts to a distant homeland. He writes "Kamarinskaya". This symphonic fantasy on the themes of two Russian songs: a wedding lyric ("Because of the mountains, high mountains") and a lively dance song, was a new word in Russian music. In "Kamarinskaya" Glinka approved a new type of symphonic music and laid the foundations for its further development. Everything here is deeply national, original. He skillfully creates an unusually bold combination of different rhythms, characters and moods.

In recent years, Glinka lived in St. Petersburg, then in Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. The composer was full of creative plans, but the atmosphere of enmity and persecution to which he was subjected hindered his creativity. He burned several of the scores he had begun.

A close, devoted friend of the last years of the composer's life was his beloved younger sister Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova. For her little daughter, Oli Glinka composed some of his piano pieces. Glinka died on February 15, 1857 in Berlin. His ashes were transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Russian Civilization

Russian composer

short biography

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka(June 1, 1804, Novospasskoye village, Smolensk province - February 15, 1857, Berlin) - Russian composer. The works of Glinka influenced the largest Russian composers - A. S. Dargomyzhsky, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. P. Borodin, P. I. Tchaikovsky and others. In the words of V. V. Stasov, "both [Pushkin and Glinka] created a new Russian language - one in poetry, the other in music."

Origin

Mikhail Glinka was born on May 20 (June 1), 1804 in the village of Novospasskoye, Smolensk province, on the estate of his father, retired captain Ivan Nikolaevich Glinka (1777-1834). His mother was his father's second cousin, Evgenia Andreevna Glinka-Zemelka (1783-1851). The composer's great-grandfather was a gentry from the Glinka family of the Trzaska coat of arms - Viktorin Vladislav Glinka (Polish Wiktoryn Władysław Glinka). After the Commonwealth lost Smolensk in 1654, V. V. Glinka accepted Russian citizenship and converted to Orthodoxy. The tsarist government retained land holdings and noble privileges, including the former coats of arms, for the Smolensk gentry.

Childhood and youth

Until the age of six, Mikhail was brought up by his paternal grandmother Fyokla Alexandrovna, who completely removed the mother from raising her son. He grew up as a nervous, suspicious and sickly child, touchy - "mimosa", according to Glinka's own characteristics. After the death of Fyokla Alexandrovna, Mikhail again passed into the full control of his mother, who made every effort to erase the traces of her previous upbringing. From the age of ten, Mikhail began to learn to play the piano and violin. Glinka's first teacher was a governess invited from St. Petersburg, Varvara Fedorovna Klammer.

In 1817, his parents brought Mikhail to St. Petersburg and placed him in the Noble Boarding School at the Main Pedagogical Institute (in 1819 it was renamed the Noble Boarding School at St. Petersburg University), where his tutor was the poet, Decembrist V. K. Kyuchelbeker, whose sister Justina (1784-1871) married G. A. Glinka (1776-1818), the cousin of the composer's father.

In St. Petersburg, Glinka took private lessons from prominent music teachers, including Karl Zeiner and John Field. In 1822 he successfully completed (as a second student) a course of study at the Noble Boarding School at the Imperial St. Petersburg University. In the boarding house Glinka met A. S. Pushkin, who came there to his younger brother Lev, Mikhail's classmate. Their meetings resumed in the summer of 1828 and continued until the death of the poet.

Periods of life and creativity

1822-1835

At the end of the boarding school, Glinka worked hard: he studied Western European musical classics, participated in home music making in noble salons, and sometimes led his uncle's orchestra. At the same time, Glinka tried himself as a composer, composing variations for harp or piano on a theme from the Austrian composer Josef Weigl's opera The Swiss Family. From that moment on, Glinka paid more and more attention to composition and soon composed a lot, trying his hand at various genres. During this period, he wrote well-known romances and songs today: “Do not tempt me without need” to the words of E. A. Baratynsky, “Do not sing, beauty, with me” to the words of A. S. Pushkin, “Autumn night, night dear" to the words of A. Ya. Rimsky-Korsakov and others. However, he remains dissatisfied with his work for a long time. Glinka is persistently looking for ways to go beyond the forms and genres of everyday music. In 1823 he worked on a string septet, an adagio and a rondo for orchestra, and on two orchestral overtures. In the same years, Glinka's circle of acquaintances expanded. He met V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Griboyedov, Adam Mitskevich, A. A. Delvig, V. F. Odoevsky, who later became his friend.

In the summer of 1823, together with his cousin's husband, Colonel AI Kipriyanov, Glinka traveled to the Caucasus, visited Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk. Acquaintance with the music of the peoples of the Caucasus left a significant mark on the composer's creative mind and was reflected in his later works on oriental themes. Thus, on the basis of the Azerbaijani folk song "Galanyn Dibinde", the composer created the "Persian Choir" for his opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila". From 1824 to 1828 he worked as assistant secretary of the Main Directorate of Railways. In 1829, M. I. Glinka and N. I. Pavlishchev published the Lyric Album, where Glinka's plays were among the works of various authors.

At the end of April 1830 he went to Italy, stopping along the way in Dresden and making a long journey through Germany, stretching for all the summer months. Arriving in Italy in early autumn, Glinka settled in Milan, which at that time was a major center of musical culture. In Italy, he met the composers V. Bellini and G. Donizetti, studied the vocal style of bel canto and himself composed a lot in the "Italian spirit". In his works, a significant part of which were plays on the themes of popular operas, there was no longer anything student-like, all compositions were masterfully executed. Glinka paid special attention to instrumental ensembles, writing two original compositions: the Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass and the Pathetic Trio for piano, clarinet and bassoon. In these works, the features of Glinka's composer's style were especially clearly manifested.

In July 1833, Glinka went to Berlin, stopping for a while in Vienna along the way. In Berlin, under the guidance of the German theorist Siegfried Den Glink, he studied polyphony and instrumentation. Having received news of his father's death in 1834, Glinka decided to immediately return to Russia.

Glinka returned with extensive plans for a Russian national opera. After a long search for a plot for the opera, Glinka, on the advice of V. A. Zhukovsky, settled on the legend of Ivan Susanin. At the end of April 1835, Glinka married Marya Petrovna Ivanova, his distant relative. Soon after, the newlyweds went to Novospasskoye, where Glinka began to write an opera.

1836-1844

In 1836, the opera A Life for the Tsar was completed, but with great difficulty Mikhail Glinka managed to get it accepted for staging on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater. This was stubbornly prevented by the director of the imperial theaters, A. M. Gedeonov, who gave it to the judgment of the “director of music,” Kapellmeister Katerino Cavos. Kavos, on the other hand, gave Glinka's work the most flattering review. The opera was accepted.

Portrait of M. Glinka by artist Ya. F. Yanenko, 1840s

The premiere of A Life for the Tsar took place on November 27 (December 9), 1836. The success was huge, the opera was enthusiastically accepted by society. The next day Glinka wrote to his mother:

Yesterday evening my desires were finally fulfilled, and my long labor was crowned with the most brilliant success. The audience received my opera with extraordinary enthusiasm, the actors lost their temper with zeal... the sovereign-emperor... thanked me and talked with me for a long time...

On December 13, A. V. Vsevolzhsky hosted a celebration of M. I. Glinka, at which Mikhail Vielgorsky, Pyotr Vyazemsky, Vasily Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin composed a welcoming “Canon in honor of M. I. Glinka”. Music belonged to Vladimir Odoevsky.

Sing in delight, Russian choir!
A new one has come out.
Have fun, Russia! Our Glinka -
Not clay, but porcelain!

Soon after the production of A Life for the Tsar, Glinka was appointed bandmaster of the Court Choir, which he led for two years. Glinka spent the spring and summer of 1838 in Ukraine, where he selected choristers for the chapel. Among the newcomers was Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky, who later became not only a famous singer, but also a composer.

In 1837, Mikhail Glinka, not yet having a libretto ready, began to work on a new opera based on the plot of A. S. Pushkin's poem Ruslan and Lyudmila. The idea of ​​the opera came to the composer during the lifetime of the poet. He hoped to draw up a plan according to his instructions, but the death of Pushkin forced Glinka to turn to minor poets and lovers from among friends and acquaintances. The first performance of Ruslan and Lyudmila took place on November 27 (December 9), 1842, exactly six years after the premiere of Ivan Susanin. In comparison with "Ivan Susanin", the new opera by M. Glinka aroused stronger criticism. The most fierce critic of the composer was F. Bulgarin.

During these same years, Glinka had a stormy relationship with Ekaterina Kern, the daughter of Pushkin's muse Anna Kern. In 1840, they met, which quickly grew into love. From the composer's letter:

«… my gaze involuntarily rested on her: her clear expressive eyes, unusually slender figure (...) and a special kind of charm and dignity, spilled in her whole person, attracted me more and more. (…) I found a way to talk to this nice girl. (...) Extremely deftly expressed my feelings at the time. (...) Soon my feelings were completely shared by dear E.K., and meetings with her became more pleasurable. Everything in life is counterpoint, that is, the opposite (...) I was disgusted at home, but how much life and pleasure on the other hand: fiery poetic feelings for E.K., which she fully understood and shared ...»

Kern was a source of inspiration for Glinka. A number of small works composed by him in 1839 were dedicated to her, in particular the romance "If I meet you", the words of which

“…E. K. chose from Koltsov's works and copied them for me. (...) For her, he wrote a Waltz-Fantasy. ”

We are talking about the original piano version of the famous fantasy waltz, known in the orchestral version, one of Glinka's works that amaze with their soulful beauty.

After Glinka left his wife MP Ivanova at the end of 1839, relations with Kern continued to develop rapidly. But soon she became seriously ill and moved to her mother. In the spring of 1840, the composer constantly visited Kern and it was then that he wrote the romance " I remember a wonderful moment"to Pushkin's poems, dedicating his daughter to the one to whom the poet addressed these poems.

In 1841, E. Kern became pregnant. Glinka's divorce proceedings, which had begun shortly before, with his wife, caught in a secret wedding with the cornet Nikolai Vasilchikov (1816-1847), the nephew of a major dignitary Illarion Vasilchikov, gave Catherine hope to become the composer's wife. Glinka was also sure that the matter would be resolved quickly and that he would soon be able to marry Kern. But the legal process dragged on. Kern constantly demanded decisive action from Glinka. He gave her a significant amount for an abortion, although he was very worried about what had happened. To keep everything a secret and avoid a scandal in society, the mother took her daughter to Lubny in Ukraine " for climate change».

In 1842, Kern returned to St. Petersburg. Glinka, who had not yet received a divorce from his former wife, often saw her, but as he admits in his notes: "... there was no longer the former poetry and the former passion." In the summer of 1844, Glinka, leaving St. Petersburg, stopped by E. Kern and said goodbye to her. After that, their relationship practically ended. Glinka received such a desired divorce only in 1846, but he was afraid to tie the knot and lived the rest of his life as a bachelor.

1844-1857

Hardly experiencing criticism of his new opera, Mikhail Ivanovich in the middle of 1844 undertook a new long trip abroad. This time he went to France and then to Spain. In Paris, Glinka met the French composer Hector Berlioz, who (later) became an admirer of his talent. In the spring of 1845, Berlioz performed Glinka's works at his concert: Lezginka from Ruslan and Lyudmila and Antonida's aria from Ivan Susanin. The success of these works led Glinka to the idea of ​​giving a charity concert in Paris from his compositions. On April 10, 1845, the great concert of the Russian composer was successfully held in the Hertz Concert Hall on Victory Street in Paris.

On May 13, 1845, Glinka went to Spain, where he studied the traditional culture, customs, language of the Spanish people, and recorded Spanish folk melodies. The creative result of this trip was two symphonic overtures written on Spanish folk themes. In the autumn of 1845, Glinka completed the Jota of Aragon overture, and in 1848, upon his return to Russia, he completed Night in Madrid.

In the summer of 1847, Glinka set off on his way back to his ancestral village of Novospasskoye, then again went to St. Petersburg, but after changing his mind, he decided to spend the winter in Smolensk. However, invitations to balls and evenings, which haunted the composer almost daily, drove him to despair and to the decision to leave Russia again. Glinka's foreign passport was denied, therefore, in 1848 he stopped in Warsaw, where he wrote a symphonic fantasy "Kamarinskaya" on the themes of two Russian songs: a wedding lyric "Because of the mountains, high mountains" and a lively dance song. In this work, Glinka approved a new type of symphonic music and laid the foundations for its further development, skillfully creating an unusually bold combination of different rhythms, characters and moods. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky commented on the work of Glinka:

The entire Russian symphonic school, like the whole oak in an acorn, is enclosed in the symphonic fantasy Kamarinskaya.

In 1851, Glinka returned to St. Petersburg, where he gave singing lessons, prepared opera parts and chamber repertoire with such singers as N. K. Ivanov, O. A. Petrov, A. Ya. Petrova-Vorobyova, A. P. Lodiy , D. M. Leonov and others. Under the direct influence of Glinka, the Russian vocal school took shape. He visited M. I. Glinka and A. N. Serov, who in 1852 wrote down his Notes on Instrumentation (published 4 years later). A. S. Dargomyzhsky often came.

In 1852, Glinka again set off on a journey. He planned to get to Spain, but tired of moving in stagecoaches and by rail, he stopped in Paris, where he lived for just over two years. In Paris, Glinka began work on the Taras Bulba symphony, which was never completed. The beginning of the Crimean War, in which France opposed Russia, was the event that finally decided the issue of Glinka's departure to his homeland. On the way to Russia, Glinka spent two weeks in Berlin.

In May 1854 Glinka arrived in Russia. He spent the summer in Tsarskoye Selo at his dacha, and in August moved back to St. Petersburg. In the same 1854 he began to write memoirs, which he called "Notes" (published in 1870).

In 1856, Glinka left for Berlin, where he studied the work of J. P. Palestrina and J. S. Bach. In the same year, Glinka wrote music for Church Slavonic liturgical texts: Litany and "May my prayer be corrected" (for 3 voices).

Death

Glinka died on February 15, 1857 in Berlin and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery. In May of the same year, at the insistence of the younger sister of M. I. Glinka, Lyudmila (who, after the death of their mother and two of her children, from the beginning of the 1850s devoted herself entirely to caring for her brother, and after his death did everything to publish his works ) the ashes of the composer were transported to St. Petersburg and reburied at the Tikhvin cemetery.

During the transportation of Glinka's ashes from Berlin to Russia, on his coffin packed in cardboard was the inscription "PORCELAIN" - symbolic, if we recall the canon composed by Glinka's friends after the premiere of "Ivan Susanin". On the grave of Glinka there is a monument created according to the sketch of I. I. Gornostaev.

In Berlin, at the Russian Orthodox cemetery, there is a monument that includes a tombstone from the original burial place of Glinka at the Lutheran Trinity Cemetery, as well as a monument in the form of a column with a bust of the composer, built in 1947 by the Military Commandant's Office of the Soviet Sector of Berlin.

Memory

Postage stamps of Russia for the 200th anniversary of the birth

Memorial plaque to the composer, the city of Smolensk

The first monument to Glinka was erected in 1885-87. in the Smolensk garden of Blonye with funds raised by subscription. A pre-revolutionary monument to Glinka has also been preserved in Kyiv. From 1884 to 1917 Glinkin Prizes were awarded in the Russian Empire. Two biographical films were shot at the Mosfilm studio - Glinka (1946) and Composer Glinka (1952). On the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, his name was given to the State Academic Chapel. At the end of May 1982, the House-Museum of M.I. Glinka was opened in the composer's homestead Novospasskoye.

The name was given to the Novosibirsk State Conservatory and the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theatre.

St. Petersburg, Ertelev lane, 7.
Profitable house of E. Tomilova, in which M. I. Glinka lived from August 25, 1854 to April 27, 1856

• February 2, 1818 - end of June 1821 - Noble boarding school at the Main Pedagogical Institute - Fontanka River Embankment, 164;
• August 1820 - July 3, 1822 - Noble boarding school at St. Petersburg University - corner of Zvenigorodskaya and Kabinetskaya (Pravda) streets;
• summer 1824 - late summer 1825 - Faleev's house - Kanonerskaya street, 2;
• May 12, 1828 - September 1829 - Barbazan's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 49;
• end of winter 1836 - spring 1837 - Merz's house - Glukhoy lane, 8, apt. one;
• spring 1837 - November 6, 1839 - Capella's house - Moika embankment, 20;
• November 6, 1839 - the end of December 1839 - officer barracks of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment - Fontanka River Embankment, 120;
• September 16, 1840 - February 1841 - Mertz's house - 8 Glukhoy Lane, apt. one;
• June 1, 1841 - February 1842 - Schuppe's house - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya street, 16;
• mid-November 1848 - May 9, 1849 - the house of the School for the Deaf-Mute - embankment of the Moika River, 54;
• October - November 1851 - Melikhova apartment building - Mokhovaya street, 26;
• December 1, 1851 - May 23, 1852 - Zhukov's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 49;
• August 25, 1854 - April 27, 1856 - tenement house of E. Tomilova - Ertelev lane, 7.

M. I. Glinka International Vocal Competition

The second most important vocal competition in Russia, the M. I. Glinka International Vocal Competition, which was organized in 1960, is named after Mikhail Glinka. From 1968 to 2009, the jury was chaired by a singer and teacher, People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin Prize and State Prizes of Russia, academician, professor Irina Konstantinovna Arkhipova.

Over the years, such artists as Vladimir Atlantov, Sergei Leiferkus, Yuri Mazurok, Evgeny Nesterenko, Elena Obraztsova, Maria Guleghina, Olga Borodina, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Vladimir Chernov, Anna Netrebko, Askar Abdrazakov, Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Trifonova became laureates of the Glinka Competition over the years. , Elena Manistina, Mikhail Kazakov, Albina Shagimuratova, Vladimir Vasiliev, Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar and other singers.

Major works

operas

• "Life for the Tsar" ("Ivan Susanin") (1836)
• "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1837-1842)

Symphonic works

• Symphony on two Russian themes (1834, completed and orchestrated by Vissarion Shebalin)
• Music for the tragedy "Prince Kholmsky" by Nestor Kukolnik (1842)
• Spanish Overture No. 1 "Brilliant Capriccio on the Jota of Aragon" (1845)
• "Kamarinskaya", fantasy on two Russian themes (1848)
• Spanish Overture No. 2 "Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid" (1851)
• "Waltz Fantasy" (1839 - for piano, 1856 - extended version for symphony orchestra)

Chamber instrumental compositions

• Sonata for viola and piano (unfinished; 1828, revised by Vadim Borisovsky in 1932)
• Brilliant divertissement on themes from "La Sonnambula" by Vincenzo Bellini for piano quintet and double bass
• Brilliant Rondo on a Theme from Vincenzo Bellini's "Capulets and Montagues" (1831)
• Grand Sextet Es-dur for piano and string quintet (1832)
• "Pathetic Trio" in d-moll for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1832)

Romances and songs

• "Venetian Night" (1832)
• Patriotic song (was the official anthem of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 2000)
• "I'm Here, Inezilla" (1834)
• "Night Review" (1836)
• "Doubt" (1838)
• "Night Zephyr" (1838)
• "The fire of desire burns in the blood" (1839)
• Wedding song "Wonderful Tower stands" (1839)
• Vocal cycle "Farewell to Petersburg" (1840)
• "A Passing Song" (from the cycle "Farewell to St. Petersburg")
• "Lark" (from the cycle "Farewell to St. Petersburg")
• "Confession" (1840)
• "Do I hear your voice" (1848)
• "Healthy Cup" (1848)
• "The Song of Margarita" from Goethe's tragedy "Faust" (1848)
• "Mary" (1849)
• "Adele" (1849)
• "Gulf of Finland" (1850)
• "Prayer" ("In a difficult moment of life") (1855)
• "Don't Say Your Heart Hurts" (1856)
• "I remember a wonderful moment" (to a poem by Pushkin)

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› Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is not just another talented Russian composer. This is the founder of classical Russian music and with creator of the first national Russian opera. The most talented person and patriot of his Motherland, who devoted his whole life to music. Glinka's works had a huge impact on the work of composers of the next generation.

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Russian music before Glinka was concentrated in the field of romance and theater, as well as around liturgical needs. It was a kind of "situational", dependent art. Glinka was the first who was able to make it an independent way of speaking, which draws the means of embodiment, logic and meaning in itself.

Brief biography of Mikhail Glinka

Biographers of Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich experience constant difficulties. He wrote a short biography of his life himself. Moreover, he did it in such a dry and clear language that there is practically nothing to add to what the composer himself has already said. Therefore, biographers can only retell what has already been written.

Glinka created in the history of Russian music new historical period. In his compositions, he used the features of the rhythm and voice leading of Russian folk music. His work, which was based and grew on the basis of folk songs and ancient Russian choral art, is deeply national. But at the same time, it is surprisingly connected with the advanced European musical culture.

Almost all musical genres are represented in the composer's work, but the main one, of course, is opera. In musical dramaturgy, Mikhail Ivanovich became an innovator - he refused to use colloquial dialogue, and the opera form received the integrity of symphonic development.

Childhood

According to legend, on the day when Mikhail Glinka was born, nightingales sang around his house all morning. It happened on May 20, 1804 in the estate of his father, Ivan Nikolayevich Glinka, located in the village of Novospasskoye. Mikhail was the second child in the family. But his older brother died before he even lived a year. This circumstance was the reason that little Misha was taken in by her grandmother, practically blaming her parents for the death of her first son.

The future composer had the opportunity to get acquainted with professional music in early childhood. On his uncle's estate, classical plays and Russian songs were often played by the serf orchestra. The boy learned to play the violin and piano from early childhood.

At the age of 6, Mikhail returns to be raised by his mother, as his grandmother dies. The boy is brought up at home for another 6.5 years. Then, at the age of 13, the parents send their son to study at the St. Petersburg Boarding School, located at the Pedagogical Institute. It was a prestigious educational institution where only noble children could study. In St. Petersburg, Mikhail meets Lev and Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Evgeny Baratynsky and Vladimir Odoevsky.

The heyday of creativity

In addition to basic studies, the future musical genius begins to take lessons from the famous pianist Karl Mayer. Glinka claimed that it was this teacher who influenced the formation of his musical taste. In 1822, the training ends. At the graduation party, Mikhail plays Hummel's concerto on the piano. The performance was highly appreciated by all who attended the celebration.

Over the next 13 years, the future composer continues to improve his musical talent. Besides the fact that he directs his uncle's serf orchestra and plays music in the home noble salons, he continues to study European musical classics. At this time, he is especially fond of composition and begins to try his hand at different genres.

In this period the following songs and romances were written:

• "Do not tempt me unnecessarily";
• "Autumn night, dear night";
• "Do not sing, beauty, with me."

Also at this time, successful orchestral overtures, string septets, works for harp, and piano appeared. All works are successful, Glinka's popularity is growing rapidly. Despite this, the composer remains dissatisfied with himself, does not recognize and does not believe in his talent.

In the spring of 1830, Mikhail finally realizes his dream and goes to Italy. On the way, he decides to make a short trip around Germany, which eventually stretched so much that the composer only got to Italy at the beginning of autumn. He settled in the center of the musical culture of that time - in Milan. In Italy, he studies the Italian style of singing - bel canto. Meets composers Vincenzi Bellini and Domenico Donizetti.

After living in Italy for about 4 years and composing several works in the Italian style, Glinka leaves for Germany. There he plans to improve his knowledge of musical theory, which he did not know well enough. To do this, he takes lessons from many famous teachers, including Siegfried Dehn. Unfortunately, father's death announcement forces him to return to Russia without completing his studies.

The birth of Russian opera

The musician returned from a trip with big plans. He decided to create his main work - the first Russian opera. After a long search, the plot was finally found. On the advice of Vasily Zhukovsky, the composer opted for a story about a Russian heroine,.

The opera was called A Life for the Tsar and, despite obstacles from the director of the imperial theaters, was staged on November 27, 1836. The performance was a resounding success, the emperor himself personally spoke with the composer and thanked him.

Just one year after the launch "Life for the Tsar", the author proceeds to create his second opera. This time, as a plot for the work, he chooses a poem by his friend Alexander Pushkin - "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Glinka was sure that he would plan the opera according to Pushkin's instructions. Unfortunately, the death of the poet did not allow these plans to come true.

The opera was born for quite a long time, almost 6 years. The premiere of the new work took place in November 1842. The famous composer F. Liszt came to the performance. Despite the fact that Glinka's new work could not repeat the resounding success of A Life for the Tsar, Liszt was delighted with the new opera and marveled at the enormous talent of its creator.

New departure from Russia and foreign success

Glinka experienced criticism of the new opera quite hard. The composer decides to change the situation and in 1844 leaves for France, where he meets the composer Hector Berlioz. At one of his concerts, Berlioz decides to include some of Glinka's works in the program. The success that fell upon Mikhail Ivanovich prompted him to give a charity concert in the capital of France, which consisted entirely of his works.

In May 1845 the composer moving on to Spain. There he collects and records Spanish folk melodies, studies the language and culture. In Spain, creative inspiration and self-confidence return to the composer. Impressed by the trip, he creates such works:

• "Aragonese hunting";
• "Memories of Castile".

In the middle of 1847, Glinka returned to Russia, to his native estate. Then he decides to spend the winter in Smolensk, but the increased attention of the world quickly tires the composer and he goes to Warsaw. Here he creates his symphonic fantasy Kamarinskaya.

In 1851, the musician briefly returned to St. Petersburg, and already in 1952 he again left on a trip, the purpose of which was Spain. Tired of moving, Glinka decides to stop and rest in France. As a result, he stays in Paris for about 2 years, where he works on Symphony "Taras Bulba". The beginning forced the composer to return to his homeland without finishing the symphony.

Glinka arrived in Russia in May 1854. He spent the summer at a dacha in Tsarskoye Selo, and then returned to St. Petersburg, where he began writing memoirs. And this time the musician could not stay in one place for a long time and after 2 years he left for Berlin.

In all my life the composer visited such countries:

1. Germany;
2. Italy;
3. Austria;
4. France;
5. Spain;
6. Poland.

Personal life

It is quite difficult to briefly retell the musician's personal life, despite the fact that there were only 2 serious novels in his life. Relations with both women were quite tense and ended, unfortunately, unhappily.

Friends and relatives did not believe that Mikhail Ivanovich was able to break away from his notes even for a minute. Therefore, they were shocked when in 1835 they learned that he was getting married. The chosen one turned out to be Maria Petrovna Ivanova, a woman without education and fortune, who hated music and did not even have a pretty appearance. The composer wrote to his mother that his chosen one has a good heart, is moderate in desires and is very reasonable.

Literally a few months later, Glinka realized that he had connected his life with a woman who was only interested in clothes and jewelry. Instead of caring, the young wife endowed her husband with constant nit-picking; as a result, he tried to be at home as little as possible.

Only 4 years after the wedding, the musician found out what all his friends had known for a long time - his wife practically openly lives with another man and even secretly married him. The composer filed for divorce. The process turned out to be far from being as fast as Glinka had expected. In the end, he managed to get a divorce only in 1846.

In 1840, the composer met Ekaterina Kern and immediately fell in love with her. The girl loves him back. For several years, she becomes Glinka's muse, who dedicates several small works to her, as well as a romance based on A. Pushkin's poems "I Remember a Wonderful Moment."

In 1841, Catherine received hope for a quick divorce between Glinka and his wife, as it became known about the secret wedding of Maria Petrovna with the cornet Vasilchikov. Mikhail Ivanovich tries to complete the case as soon as possible, as Catherine informs him of her pregnancy. The hopes of Glinka and his chosen one for a speedy outcome of the case are not justified. Ekaterina Kern begins to lose patience and accuses the composer of indecision, who eventually gives her money in order to get rid of the child.

Constant recriminations and quarrels with Catherine led to the fact that the composer did not dare to marry a second time and left the girl. For 7 years, she expected Glinka to return to her. And without waiting, she married another at the age of 36.

Composer's death

In the winter of 1857, Mikhail Ivanovich fell ill. At that time he was in Berlin. The content of the composer's conversations with the doctors who treated him is unknown. But from those notes that he managed to write during this time, we can conclude that the doctors not only did not give him any forecasts, but did not even try to treat the patient, simply waiting for his end.

The composer died on February 15. Mikhail Ivanovich was buried in Berlin, at the Lutheran cemetery. In May 1857, his ashes were brought to Russia and reburied at the Tikhvin cemetery. The tombstone, which was on the original grave, of the composer was transferred to the Berlin Russian Orthodox cemetery. Her photo can be found on Wikipedia.

The great, talented Russian composer, who laid the foundation for a new artistic language in music. It was he who gave rise to the national Russian opera, became the founder of Russian symphony (an artistic concept is revealed with the help of musical development). Created one of the most important genres in chamber vocal music? classical Russian romance.
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born in the Smolensk province, in the family estate in the village of Novospasskoye, on June 1 (May 20, old style), 1804. He was a weak and sickly boy. Until the age of 10, his grandmother, a woman of strict rules and high morals, was engaged in his upbringing. Mikhail received his very first education within the walls of his native home. Listening to the singing of the peasants, the orchestra of serf musicians, the boy early began to show interest in music. Already at the age of ten, he learned to play the piano and violin.
After the death of the grandmother, the mother registered the child for study at the Noble Boarding School in St. Petersburg, whose pupils were only children of the nobility. Here, young Glinka meets Alexander Pushkin, who was visiting his brother, Leo. While studying at the boarding school, Mikhail takes music lessons from the pianist K. Mayer, who later influenced the formation of Glinka's musical tastes. In 1822 boarding school was successfully completed. The beginning of the musical activity of the future composer belongs to the same period. He wrote the first romances, among which "Do not sing, beauty, with me."
Life and art
In 1823 Glinka left for the Caucasus for treatment. During this journey, the composer, in addition to treatment, studied local folklore, legends, and admired the stunning beauty of nature. After returning home, impressed by the trip, he began to compose orchestral music. And in 1824. gets a job at the Ministry of Railways in St. Petersburg. At this time, he meets many creative people, composes works. But after five years of service, the composer realizes that the work limits his time for music lessons. And so he decides to retire.
In 1830 due to health problems, Glinka is sent to Europe for treatment. He visits Italy, where, in parallel with the treatment, he takes composition and vocal lessons from the famous composers Bellini, Mendelssohn, attends the opera. The writing of the romance "Venetian Night" belongs to this period. In 1834 the composer leaves for Germany, where he devotes time to studying music theory with the famous scientist Z. Dehn. It was then that the idea to create a national Russian opera appeared. But the training had to be interrupted (due to the death of his father) and return home.
After returning to Russia, all the composer's thoughts are occupied with music. He lives in St. Petersburg, attends poetic evenings with V. Zhukovsky and dreams of composing his first opera. This idea haunted him even in his youth. This is how the opera Ivan Susanin was born, the successful premiere of which took place at the Bolshoi Theater in 1836. This date can be safely called the birthday of the Russian patriotic opera. And already in 1842. the composer finished work on the second opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila". But this essay was less successful and was criticized. The not very successful premiere of the opera and the crisis in his personal life spurred the composer on a new trip abroad.
In 1845 he settled in Paris, where he gave a charity concert from his works. Then he went to Spain, where he lived until 1847. Magnificent pieces for orchestra "Jota of Aragon", "Memories of a summer night in Madrid" were created here. Having calmed down emotionally, the composer in 1851. returns to Russia. But in 1852 poor health was the reason for leaving for Spain, then to Paris. In 1855 The romance "In a difficult moment of life" was composed.
Since 1856 Glinka finally began to live in Berlin, where he studied the work of J. Bach and other famous musicians. The great composer died in 1857, on February 15 in Berlin and was buried in the local cemetery. Soon, thanks to his sister, he was reburied in St. Petersburg at the Tikhvin cemetery.

If Russian science began with Mikhail Lomonosov, poetry - with Alexander Pushkin, then Russian music - with Mikhail Glinka. It was his work that became the starting point and example for all subsequent Russian composers. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is not only an outstanding, but a very significant creative person for our domestic musical culture, since, based on the traditions of folk art and relying on the achievements of European music, he completed the formation of the Russian composer school. Glinka, who became the first classical composer in Russia, left a small but impressive creative legacy. In his beautiful works imbued with patriotism, the maestro sang the triumph of goodness and justice so much that even today they never cease to admire and discover new perfections in them.

Read a brief biography of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

short biography

In the early morning of May 20, 1804, according to family tradition, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born to the trill of a nightingale. His small homeland was his parental estate in the village of Novospasskoe in the Smolensk region. There he received both his first musical impressions and his primary education - a St. Petersburg governess taught him to play the piano, violin and Italian songs. According to Glinka's biography, in 1817, young Misha entered the Noble Boarding School in the capital, where V. Küchelbecker became his mentor. It was there that he met A.S. Pushkin, who often visited his younger brother. They maintained good relations until the death of the poet. In St. Petersburg, Mikhail Ivanovich began to study music with even greater zeal. However, at the insistence of his father, after graduating from the boarding school, he entered the civil service.

Since 1828, Glinka devoted himself entirely to composing. In 1830-33, while traveling through Europe, he met his great contemporaries - Bellini, Donizetti and Mendelssohn , studies music theory in Berlin, significantly expanding his composing activities. In 1835, Glinka married the young Maria Petrovna Ivanova in the Church of the Engineer's Castle. It was a fast-paced romance, a casual acquaintance of the young people happened just six months earlier in the house of relatives. And the very next year, the premiere of his debut opera " Life for the king ”, after which he was offered a position in the Imperial Court Chapel.

In his work, success and recognition began to accompany him, but family life failed. Just a few years after his marriage, another woman appeared in his life - Ekaterina Kern. Ironically, the daughter of Pushkin's muse Anna Kern became the composer's muse. Glinka left his wife, and a few years later began divorce proceedings. Maria Glinka also did not feel affection for her husband and, while still married, secretly married another. The divorce dragged on for several years, during which the relationship with Kern also ended. Mikhail Ivanovich did not marry anymore, he also had no children.

After the failure Ruslana and Lyudmila "The musician moved away from Russian public life and began to travel a lot, living in Spain, France, Poland, Germany. During his rare trips to St. Petersburg, he taught vocals to opera singers. At the end of his life, he wrote autobiographical Notes. He died suddenly on February 15, 1857 from pneumonia a few days after the Berlin performance of excerpts from A Life for the Tsar. Three months later, through the efforts of his sister, his ashes were transported to St. Petersburg.

Interesting Facts

• M.I. Glinka is considered to be the father of Russian opera. This is partly true - it was he who became the founder of the national trend in world opera art, created the techniques of typical Russian opera singing. But to say that A Life for the Tsar is the first Russian opera would be wrong. History has preserved little evidence of the life and work of the court composer of Catherine II V.A. Pashkevich, but his comic operas are known, which were staged in the capital in the last third of the 18th century: "Misfortune from the carriage", "Miserly" and others. Two operas were written by him on the libretto of the Empress herself. Three operas for the Russian court were created by D.S. Bortnyansky (1786-1787). E.I. Fomin wrote several operas at the end of the 18th century, including those based on the libretto of Catherine II and I.A. Krylov. Operas and vaudeville operas also came out from the pen of the Moscow composer A.N. Verstovsky.
• For 20 years, K. Kavos's opera Ivan Susanin ran in theaters on a par with A Life for the Tsar. After the revolution, Glinka's masterpiece was consigned to oblivion, but in 1939, on the wave of pre-war moods, the opera again entered the repertoires of the largest theaters in the country. For ideological reasons, the libretto was radically revised, and the work itself received the name of its predecessor, which had sunk into oblivion - "Ivan Susanin". In its original version, the opera saw the stage again only in 1989.
• The role of Susanin became a turning point in the career of F.I. Chaliapin. At the age of 22, he performed Susanin's aria at an audition at the Mariinsky Theatre. The very next day, February 1, 1895, the singer was enrolled in the troupe.
• "Ruslan and Lyudmila" is an opera that broke the notion of traditional vocal voices. Thus, the part of the young knight Ruslan was written not for the heroic tenor, as the Italian operatic model would require, but for the bass or low baritone. The tenor parts are represented by the kind magician Finn and the narrator Bayan. Lyudmila is the part for the coloratura soprano, while Gorislava is for the lyric. It is striking that the role of Prince Ratmir is female, he is sung by a contralto. Witch Naina is a comic mezzo-soprano, and her protégé Farlaf is a bass buffo. The heroic bass, to whom the role of Susanin is given in A Life for the Tsar, is sung by Lyudmila's father, Prince Svetozar.

• According to one version, the only reason for the negative criticism of Ruslan and Lyudmila was the demonstrative departure of Nicholas I from the premiere - official publications had to justify this fact with some shortcomings in the creative part of the opera. It is possible that the emperor's act is explained by too obvious allusions to real events that led to the duel of A.S. Pushkin, in particular, suspicions about the relationship of his wife with Nikolai.
• The part of Ivan Susanin marked the beginning of a series of great bass roles in the Russian operatic repertoire, including such powerful figures as Boris Godunov, Dosifey and Ivan Khovansky, Prince Galitsky and Khan Konchak, Ivan the Terrible and Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. These roles were performed by truly outstanding singers. O.A. Petrov is the first Susanin and Ruslan, and thirty years later, Varlaam in Boris Godunov. The director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater accidentally heard his unique voice at a fair in Kursk. The next generation of basses was represented by F.I. Stravinsky, father of the famous composer, who served at the Mariinsky Theatre. Then - F.I. Chaliapin, who began his career in the private opera of S. Mamontov and grew into a world opera star. In Soviet times, M.O. Reizen, E.E. Nesterenko, A.F. Vedernikov, B.T. Shtokolov.
• Mikhail Ivanovich himself had a beautiful voice, a high tenor, and performed his romances to the piano.
• "Notes" by M.I. Glinka became the first composer's memoirs.

• The composer, who looks impressive on monumental monuments, was in fact small in stature, which is why he walked with his head thrown up to appear taller.
• During his life, Glinka suffered from various ailments. In part, they were due to my grandmother's upbringing in the early years, when he was pretty wrapped up and not allowed out for many months. Partly because the parents were each other's second cousins ​​and sisters, and all the boys in the family were in poor health. Descriptions of his own diseases and their treatment are given a considerable place in his Notes.
• The musician had 10 younger brothers and sisters, but only three survived him - sisters Maria, Lyudmila and Olga.

• Glinka admitted that he preferred women's society to men, because the ladies liked his musical talents. He was amorous and addicted. His mother was even afraid to let him go to Spain, because of the hot tempers of local jealous husbands.
• For a long time it was customary to represent the composer's wife as a narrow-minded woman who did not understand music and loved only secular entertainment. Did this image correspond to reality? Maria Petrovna was a practical woman, which probably did not live up to the romantic expectations of her husband. In addition, at the time of the wedding, she was only 17 years old (Glinka - 30), she had just entered the period of going out into society, balls and holidays. Should she be punished for being fascinated by the outfits and her beauty more than her husband's creative projects?
• Glinka's second love, Ekaterina Kern, was the complete opposite of his wife - ugly, pale, but sensitive, intellectual, understanding art. Probably, it was in her that the composer saw those features that he tried in vain to find in Maria Petrovna.
• Karl Bryullov drew many caricatures of Glinka, which hurt the composer's vanity.

• From the biography of Glinka, we know that the composer was so attached to his mother Evgenia Andreevna that he wrote to her every week during his life. After reading the news of her death, his hand was taken away. He was neither at her funeral nor at her grave, because he believed that without his mother, trips to Novospasskoye had lost all meaning.
• The composer who created the opera about the fight against the Polish invaders has Polish roots. His ancestors settled near Smolensk, when it belonged to the Commonwealth. After the return of the lands under the rule of the Russian state, many Poles converted to Orthodoxy and swore allegiance to the king in order to stay and live on their land.
• Mikhail Ivanovich was very fond of songbirds and kept about 20 at home, where a whole room was set aside for them.
• Glinka wrote the "Patriotic Song" in the hope that it would become the new Russian anthem. And so it happened, but not in 1833, when they chose "God save the Tsar!" A.F. Lvov, and in 1991. For 9 years, while the "Patriotic Song" was a national symbol, no words were written for it. Including for this reason, in 2000, the music of the State Anthem of the USSR A.B. became the anthem of Russia again. Alexandrova.
• The premiere of Ruslan and Lyudmila directed by D. Chernyakov opened the Bolshoi Theater after reconstruction in 2011.
• The Mariinsky Theater is the only one in the world where both operas by the composer are performed in the current repertoire.

Creation

Mikhail Glinka is equally famous for his operas and romances. It was with chamber music that his composing activity began. In 1825 he wrote the romance "Do not tempt". As rarely happens, one of his first creations turned out to be immortal. In the 1830s, instrumental compositions based on opera music by V. Bellini, Sonata for Viola and Piano, Grand Sextet for Piano and String Quintet, and Pathetique Trio were created. During the same period, Glinka wrote his only symphony, which he never finished.

Traveling around Europe, Glinka became more and more rooted in the idea that the work of a Russian composer should be based on the original folk culture. He began to look for a plot for the opera. The theme of the feat of Ivan Susanin was suggested to him by V.A. Zhukovsky, who was directly involved in the creation of the text of the work. The libretto was written by E.F. Rosen. The event structure was completely proposed by the composer, since the poems were already composed to ready-made music. Melodically, the opera is built on the opposition of two themes - Russian with its draft melodiousness and Polish with its rhythmic, loud mazurka and Krakowiak. The apotheosis was the choir "Glory" - a solemn episode that has no analogues. "Life for the King" was presented at the Bolshoi Theater of St. Petersburg on November 27, 1836. It is noteworthy that the production was directed and conducted by K. Kavos, who 20 years earlier created his own Ivan Susanin based on folk art material. The opinion of the public was divided - some were shocked by a simple "peasant" theme, others considered the music too academic and difficult to understand. Emperor Nicholas I reacted favorably to the premiere and personally thanked its author. Moreover, earlier he himself suggested the name of the opera, previously named "Death for the Tsar."

Even during the lifetime of A.S. Pushkin Glinka decided to transfer the poem to the musical stage "Ruslan and Ludmila". However, this work began only in the mournful year of the death of the great poet. The composer had to involve several librettists. The writing took five years. The semantic accents are placed in the opera in a completely different way - the plot has become more epic and philosophical, but somewhat devoid of irony and Pushkin's signature humor. In the course of action, the characters develop, experience deep feelings. The premiere of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" was held at the Bolshoi Theater in the capital on November 27, 1842 - exactly 6 years after "A Life for the Tsar". But on the date of the similarity of the two prime ministers are exhausted. The reception of the opera was ambiguous, including due to unsuccessful replacements in the artistic composition. The imperial family defiantly left the hall right during the last act. It was truly a scandal! The third performance put everything in its place, and the audience gave Glinka's new creation a warm welcome. What the critics didn't do. The composer was accused of loose dramaturgy, unstagedness and protractedness of the opera. For these reasons, almost immediately they began to reduce and remake it - often unsuccessfully.

Simultaneously with the work on "Ruslan and Lyudmila" Glinka wrote romances and a vocal cycle " Farewell to Petersburg», "Waltz Fantasy". Abroad, two Spanish overtures and "Kamarinskaya" . In Paris, the first concert of Russian music in history, consisting of his works, was triumphantly held. In recent years, the composer was full of ideas. In his fateful year, he was inspired to be in Berlin not only by the performance of A Life for the Tsar, but also by classes with the famous music theorist Z. Den. Despite his age and experience, he did not stop learning, wanting to keep up with the trends of the time - in a brilliant creative form he was G. Verdi , gained strength R. Wagner . Russian music made itself known on the European stages and it was necessary to promote it further.

Unfortunately, Glinka's plans were interrupted by fate. But thanks to his work, Russian music has received significant development, many generations of talented composers have appeared in the country, and the foundation of the Russian musical school was laid.

M.I. Glinka is little known abroad, so his music is mainly used by domestic cinema. The most famous films:

• Russian Ark (dir. A. Sokurov, 2002);
• Orphan of Kazan (dir. V. Mashkov, 1997);
• "Big Break" (dir. A. Korenev, 1972).

Based on Glinka's biography, two films were released in 1940-50. The first of them, "Glinka", was created in 1946 by director Lev Arnshtam, in the title role - Boris Chirkov. The image of the composer is lively and authentic, much attention is paid to his personality and private life. It is noteworthy that the second most important character in the picture is the serf Ulyanych (in this role, V.V. Merkuriev), whose prototype was uncle Ilya, who accompanied Mikhail Ivanovich for many years. The 1952 film The Composer Glinka, shot by G. Aleksandrov and starring Boris Smirnov, covers a narrower period of the musician's life dating back to the creation of two of his operas. The picture did not escape the influence of time when depicting the events of pre-revolutionary history. One of her last roles, the composer's sister, was played here by L. Orlova.

As is often the case with geniuses, the meaning Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka for Russian art became obvious only after his death. The composer left a musical heritage small in number, but impressive in scope, innovation and melodiousness. His operas are infrequent guests of the stage, primarily because their production requires scale and high-quality diverse voices that only the largest theaters can afford. At the same time, it is impossible to imagine a vocal evening of romances without his compositions. Streets and educational institutions are named after him, his memory is immortalized both at home and abroad. This suggests that Glinka received exactly the kind of fame that he dreamed of - popular recognition and love.

Video: watch a film about Glinka