Who was one of the first romantic composers. Abstract "Piano works of composers - romantics
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Romanticism in music
Main article: Music of the period of romanticism
In music, the direction of romanticism developed in 1820 years, its development took the whole XIX century. Romantic composers tried to express the depth and richness of a person's inner world with the help of musical means. The music becomes more vivid, individual. Song genres are developing, including ballad.
Representatives of romanticism in music are: Austria - Franz Schubert; v Germany - Ernest Theodor Hoffmann, Karl Maria Weber,Richard Wagner, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Ludwig Spohr; v Of Italy - Niccolo Paganini, Vincenzo Bellini, early Giuseppe Verdi; in France - G. Berlioz, D.F. Aubert, J. Meyerbeer; v Poland - Frederic Chopin; v Hungary - Franz Liszt.
In Russia, in the mainstream of romanticism, they worked A. A. Alyabyev, M. I. Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Balakirev, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky,Borodin, Cui, P. I. Tchaikovsky.
The idea of a synthesis of arts found expression in the ideology and practice of romanticism. Romanticism in music developed in the 20s of the 19th century under the influence of the literature of romanticism and developed in close connection with it, with literature in general (an appeal to synthetic genres, primarily to opera, song, instrumental miniature and musical programmatic). The appeal to the inner world of a person, characteristic of romanticism, was expressed in the cult of the subjective, emotionally intense craving, which determined the primacy of music and lyrics in romanticism.
Music of the 1st half of the 19th century evolved rapidly. A new musical language has appeared; in instrumental and chamber-vocal music, miniatures have a special place; the orchestra sounded with a varied spectrum of colors; the possibilities of the piano and violin were revealed in a new way; the music of the romantics was very virtuoso.
Musical romanticism manifested itself in many different branches associated with different national cultures and with different social movements. So, for example, the intimate, lyrical style of German romantics and the "oratorical" civic pathos characteristic of the work of French composers differ significantly. In turn, representatives of new national schools that emerged on the basis of a wide national liberation movement (Chopin, Moniuszko, Dvorak, Smetana, Grieg), as well as representatives of the Italian opera school, closely associated with the Risorgimento movement (Verdi, Bellini), in many ways differ from contemporaries in Germany, Austria or France, in particular, the tendency to preserve classical traditions.
And nevertheless, they are all marked by some common artistic principles that allow us to speak of a single romantic structure of thought.
Due to the special ability of music to deeply and penetratingly reveal the rich world of human experience, it was put in the first place among other arts by romantic aesthetics. Many romantics emphasized an intuitive beginning to music, ascribed to it the ability to express the “unknowable”. The works of the outstanding romantic composers had a solid realistic foundation. Interest in the life of ordinary people, the fullness of life and the truth of feelings, reliance on the music of everyday life determined the realism of the creativity of the best representatives of musical romanticism. Reactionary tendencies (mysticism, escape from reality) are inherent in only a relatively small number of works of romantics. They were manifested in part in Weber's opera "Euryant" (1823), in some of Wagner's musical dramas, Liszt's oratorio "Christ" (1862), and others.
By the beginning of the 19th century, fundamental studies of folklore, history, ancient literature appeared, medieval legends, Gothic art, and the culture of the Renaissance were being revived. It was at this time that many national schools of a special type were formed in the composing work of Europe, which were destined to significantly expand the boundaries of common European culture. Russian, which soon took, if not the first, then one of the first places in world cultural creativity (Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, "Kuchkists", Tchaikovsky), Polish (Chopin, Moniuszko), Czech (Smetana, Dvorak), Hungarian (Liszt), then Norwegian (Grieg), Spanish (Pedrell), Finnish (Sibelius), English (Elgar) - all of them, merging into the general channel of European composer's creativity, in no way opposed themselves to the established ancient traditions. A new circle of images emerged, expressing the unique national features of the national culture to which the composer belonged. The intonation structure of the work allows you to instantly recognize by ear the belonging to a particular national school.
Composers involve the intonation turns of the old, predominantly peasant folklore of their countries into the common European musical language. They, as it were, cleared the Russian folk song of varnished opera, they introduced song turns of folk genres into the cosmopolitan intonation system of the 18th century. The most striking phenomenon in the music of romanticism, which is especially clearly perceived when compared with the figurative sphere of classicism, is the dominance of the lyric and psychological principle. Of course, a distinctive feature of musical art in general is the refraction of any phenomenon through the sphere of feelings. Music of all eras is subject to this pattern. But the romantics surpassed all their predecessors in the value of the lyrical principle in their music, in strength and perfection in conveying the depths of the inner world of a person, the subtlest shades of mood.
The theme of love occupies a dominant place in it, for it is this state of mind that most comprehensively and fully reflects all the depths and nuances of the human psyche. But it is highly characteristic that this topic is not limited to the motives of love in the literal sense of the word, but is identified with the widest range of phenomena. The purely lyrical experiences of the heroes are revealed against the background of a wide historical panorama. A person's love for his home, for his fatherland, for his people - a continuous thread runs through the work of all composers - romantics.
A huge place in musical works of small and large forms is given to the image of nature, closely and inextricably intertwined with the theme of lyrical confession. Like the images of love, the image of nature personifies the state of mind of the hero, so often colored by a feeling of disharmony with reality.
The theme of fantasy often competes with images of nature, which is probably generated by the desire to escape from the captivity of real life. The search for a wonderful world, sparkling with the richness of colors, which opposes the gray everyday life, has become typical for romantics. It was during these years that literature was enriched with fairy tales, ballads of Russian writers. For the composers of the Romantic school, fabulous, fantastic images acquire a unique national color. The ballads are inspired by Russian writers, and thanks to this, works of a fantastic grotesque plan are created, symbolizing, as it were, the seamy side of faith, seeking to break the ideas of fear of the forces of evil.
Many romantic composers also acted as music writers and critics (Weber, Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt, etc.). The theoretical work of the representatives of progressive romanticism made a very significant contribution to the development of the most important issues of musical art. Romanticism found expression in the performing arts (violinist Paganini, singer A. Nurri, etc.).
The progressive meaning of Romanticism during this period lies mainly in the activities Franz Liszt... Liszt's creativity, despite the contradictory worldview, was fundamentally progressive, realistic. One of the founders and classic of Hungarian music, an outstanding national artist.
In many of Liszt's works, Hungarian national themes are widely reflected. Liszt's romantic, virtuoso compositions expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of piano playing (concerts, sonatas). Liszt's connections with representatives of Russian music were significant, the works of which he actively promoted.
At the same time Liszt played an important role in the development of world musical art. After Liszt “everything became possible for the piano”. The characteristic features of his music are improvisation, romantic uplifting of feelings, expressive melody. Liszt is appreciated as a composer, performer, musical figure. Major works of the composer: opera “ Don Sancho or the castle of love"(1825), 13 symphonic poems" Tasso”, ” Prometheus”, “Hamlet”And others, works for orchestra, 2 concertos for piano and orchestra, 75 romances, choirs and other no less famous works.
One of the first manifestations of romanticism in music was creativity Franz Schubert(1797-1828). Schubert went down in the history of music as the greatest of the founders of musical romanticism and the creator of a number of new genres: romantic symphony, piano miniature, lyric-romantic song (romance). Of greatest importance in his work is song, in which he showed especially many innovative tendencies. In the songs of Schubert, the inner world of a person is revealed deepest of all, the connection with folk music of everyday life is most noticeable for him, one of the most significant features of his talent is most clearly manifested - the amazing variety, beauty, charm of melodies. The best songs of the early period include “ Margarita at the spinning wheel”(1814) , “Forest king”. Both songs are written with words by Goethe. In the first of them, the abandoned girl remembers her beloved. She is lonely and deeply suffering, her song is sad. The simple and soulful melody is echoed only by the monotonous hum of the breeze. “The Forest King” is a complex piece. This is not a song, but rather a dramatic scene where three characters appear in front of us: a father galloping on a horse through the forest, a sick child he is carrying with him, and a formidable forest king who appears to a boy in feverish delirium. Each of them is endowed with its own melodic language. Schubert's songs "Trout", "Barcarolla", "Morning Serenade" are no less famous and loved. Written in later years, these songs are distinguished by a surprisingly simple and expressive melody, fresh colors.
Schubert also wrote two cycles of songs - “ Lovely miller"(1823), and" Winter path”(1872) - to the words of the German poet Wilhelm Müller. In each of them, the songs are united by one plot. The songs of the cycle "The Beautiful Miller" tell about a young boy. Following the flow of the stream, he sets out on a journey to seek his happiness. Most of the songs in this cycle have a light character. The mood of the cycle "Winter Path" is completely different. The poor young man is rejected by the rich bride. In despair, he leaves his hometown and leaves to wander the world. His companions are the wind, blizzard, ominously croaking crow.
The few examples given here allow us to speak about the peculiarities of Schubert's songwriting.
Schubert was very fond of writing music for piano... For this instrument he wrote a huge number of works. Like songs, his piano works were close to everyday music and just as simple and understandable. His favorite genres were dances, marches, and in the last years of his life - impromptu.
Waltzes and other dances usually appeared with Schubert at balls, in country walks. There he improvised them, and recorded them at home.
If you compare Schubert's piano pieces with his songs, you can find many similarities. First of all, it is a great melodic expressiveness, grace, colorful juxtaposition of major and minor.
One of the largest French composers of the second half of the 19th century was Georges Bizet, creator of an immortal creation for musical theater - opera “Carmen"And wonderful music for the drama by Alphonse Daudet" Arlesian”.
Bizet's work is characterized by precision and clarity of thought, novelty and freshness of expressive means, completeness and grace of form. Bizet is characterized by the sharpness of psychological analysis in comprehending human feelings and actions, characteristic of the work of the composer's great compatriots - the writers Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant. The central place in the work of Bizet, diverse in genres, belongs to the opera. The composer's operatic art arose on national soil and was nourished by the traditions of the French opera house. Bizet believed that the first task in his work was overcoming the genre limitations existing in French opera, which hinder its development. “Bolshoi” opera seems to him a dead genre, lyric - irritates with its tearfulness and philistine narrow-mindedness, comic deserves attention more than others. For the first time in Bizet's opera, juicy and lively everyday life and crowd scenes appear in the opera, anticipating life and vivid scenes.
Music by Bizet to the drama by Alphonse Daudet “Arlesian”Is known mainly for two concert suites, composed of her best numbers. Bizet used some authentic Provencal melodies : "March of the Three Kings" and "Dance of Frisky Horses".
Opera Bizet " Carmen”Is a musical drama that unfolds before the viewer with convincing truthfulness and with breathtaking artistic force the story of the love and death of its heroes: the soldier Jose and the gypsy Carmen. Opera Carmen was created on the basis of the traditions of French musical theater, but at the same time, she also brought a lot of new things. Relying on the best achievements of the national opera and reforming its most important elements, Bizet created a new genre - realistic musical drama.
In the history of the opera house of the 19th century, the opera "Carmen" occupies one of the first places. Since 1876, her triumphal procession begins on the stages of the opera houses in Vienna, Brussels, London.
The manifestation of a personal attitude towards the environment was expressed in poets and musicians, first of all, in the spontaneity, emotional “openness” and passion of the statement, in the desire to convince the listener with the help of the incessant tension of the tone of confession or confession.
These new trends in art had a decisive influence on the appearance lyric opera... It arose as the antithesis of “big” and comic opera, but it could not ignore their conquests and achievements in the field of operatic drama and means of musical expression.
A distinctive feature of the new opera genre is the lyrical interpretation of any literary plot - on a historical, philosophical or contemporary theme. The heroes of the lyric opera are endowed with the features of ordinary people, devoid of the exclusivity and some exaggeration characteristic of a romantic opera. The most significant artist in the field of lyric opera was Charles Gounod.
Among the rather numerous opera heritage of Gounod, the opera “ Faust " occupies a special and, one might say, exceptional place. Her worldwide fame and popularity is unmatched by any of Gounod's other operas. The historical significance of the opera Faust is especially great because it was not only the best, but essentially the first among the operas of the new direction, about which Tchaikovsky wrote: “It is impossible to deny that Faust was written, if not brilliantly, then with extraordinary skill and without significant identity. " The image of Faust smoothes out the acute contradiction and “duality” of his consciousness, the eternal dissatisfaction caused by the desire to cognize the world. Gounod was unable to convey all the versatility and complexity of the image of Goethe's Mephistopheles, who embodied the spirit of militant criticism of that era.
One of the main reasons for the popularity of "Faust" was that it concentrated the best and fundamentally new features of the young genre of lyric opera: an emotionally direct and vividly individual transmission of the inner world of the heroes of the opera. The deep philosophical meaning of "Faust" by Goethe, who sought to reveal the historical and social destinies of all mankind on the example of the conflict of the main characters, was embodied by Gounod in the form of a humane lyrical drama of Marguerite and Faust.
French composer, conductor, music critic Hector Berlioz went down in the history of music as a major romantic composer, creator of a program symphony, an innovator in the field of musical form, harmony and especially instrumentation. In his work, they found a vivid embodiment of the features of revolutionary pathos and heroism. Berlioz knew M. Glinka, whose music he highly valued. He was on friendly terms with the leaders of the "Mighty Handful", who enthusiastically accepted his works and creative principles.
He created 5 musical stage works, including the opera “ Benvenuto Chillini”(1838), “ Trojans”,”Beatrice and Benedict”(Based on Shakespeare's comedy“ Much Ado About Nothing ”, 1862); 23 vocal and symphonic works, 31 romances, choruses, he penned the books “The Great Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration” (1844), “Evenings in the Orchestra” (1853), “Through Songs” (1862), “Musical Curiosities” ( 1859), “Memoirs” (1870), articles, reviews.
German composer, conductor, playwright, publicist Richard Wagner went down in the history of world musical culture as one of the greatest musical creators and major reformers of operatic art. The goal of his reforms was to create a monumental programmatic vocal and symphonic work in a dramatic form, designed to replace all types of opera and symphonic music. Such a work was a musical drama, in which music flows in a continuous stream, merging together all the dramatic links. Having abandoned the finished singing, Wagner replaced them with a kind of emotionally rich recitative. An important place in Wagner's operas is occupied by independent orchestral episodes, which are a valuable contribution to world symphonic music.
Wagner's hand owns 13 operas: “ The Flying Dutchman "(1843)," Tannhäuser "(1845)," Tristan and Isolde "(1865)," Gold of the Rhine "(1869) and etc.; choirs, piano pieces, romances.
Another outstanding German composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, musical figure was Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy... At the age of 9 he began performing as a pianist, at the age of 17 he created one of the masterpieces - the overture to the comedy “ A Midsummer Night's Dream " Shakespeare. In 1843 he founded the first conservatory in Germany in Leipzig. In the work of Mendelssohn, "a classic among romantics", romantic features are combined with the classical system of thinking. His music is characterized by bright melodiousness, democracy of expression, moderation of feelings, calmness of thought, predominance of bright emotions, lyrical moods, not without a slight touch of sentimentality, impeccability of forms, and brilliant skill. R. Schumann called it “Mozart of the 19th century”, G. Heine - “a musical miracle”.
Author of landscape romantic symphonies ("Scottish", "Italian"), program concert overtures, the popular violin concerto, cycles of pieces for piano "Song without Words"; opera "Camacho's Wedding." He wrote music for the dramatic performance "Antigone" (1841), "Oedipus at Colon" (1845) by Sophocles, "Atalia" by Racine (1845), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare (1843) and others; oratorios "Paul" (1836), "Elijah" (1846); 2 concertos for piano and 2 for violin.
Vitalian musical culture a special place belongs to GiuseppeVerdi- an outstanding composer, conductor, organist. The main area of Verdi's work is opera. Acted mainly as an exponent of heroic-patriotic feelings and national liberation ideas of the Italian people. In subsequent years, he paid attention to the dramatic conflicts generated by social inequality, violence, oppression, denounced evil in his operas. Characteristic features of Verdi's work: nationality of music, dramatic temperament, melodic brightness, understanding of the laws of the stage.
He wrote 26 operas: “ Nabucco ”,“ Macbeth ”,“ Troubadour ”,“ La Traviata ”,“ Othello ”,“ Aida" and etc . , 20 romances, vocal ensembles .
Young Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) strove to develop national music. This was expressed not only in his work, but also in the promotion of Norwegian music.
During his years in Copenhagen, Grieg wrote a lot of music: “ Poetic Pictures " and "Humoresques", sonata for piano and the first violin sonata, songs. With each new work, the image of Grieg as a Norwegian composer becomes clearer. In the delicate lyrical "Poetic Pictures" (1863), national features are still timidly breaking through. The rhythmic figure is often found in Norwegian folk music; it became characteristic of many of Grieg's melodies.
Grieg's work is vast and multifaceted. Grieg wrote works of various genres. Piano Concerto and Ballads, three sonatas for violin and piano and a sonata for cello and piano, the quartet testifies to Grieg's constant craving for the large form. At the same time, the composer's interest in instrumental miniatures remained unchanged. To the same extent as the piano, the composer was attracted by the chamber vocal miniature - a romance, a song. Do not be the main one for Grieg, the area of symphonic creativity is marked by such masterpieces as suites “ Per Gounod”, “From Holberg's time”. One of the characteristic types of Grieg's work is the processing of folk songs and dances: in the form of simple piano pieces, a suite cycle for piano four hands.
Grieg's musical language is distinctive. The individuality of the composer's style is most of all determined by his deep connection with Norwegian folk music. Grieg makes extensive use of genre features, intonation structure, and rhythmic formulas of folk song and dance melodies.
Grieg's remarkable mastery of the variation and variant development of the melody is rooted in the folk traditions of the repeated repetition of the melody with its changes. "I have recorded my country's folk music." Behind these words lies Grieg's reverent attitude to folk art and the recognition of its decisive role for his own creativity.
romanticism, and finally the powerful realistic ... followed. II. Romanticism in Russian painting Romanticism in Russia was different ...I Music (from the Greek musike, literally the art of the muses) is an art form that reflects reality and affects a person through meaningful and specially organized sound sequences, consisting mainly of tones ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- (Greek moysikn, from mousa muse) a kind of art that reflects reality and affects a person through meaningful and specially organized in pitch and time sound sequences, consisting mainly of tones ... ... Musical encyclopedia
Contents 1 Historical aspects 2 Literature 2.1 Origins 2.2 Realism ... Wikipedia
This term is based on the Greek. ή μουσική (meaning τέχνη art), that is, the art of the muses (primarily the goddesses of singing and dancing). Later, it received a broader meaning from the Greeks, in the sense of the harmonious development of the spirit in general, but here again ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
SPIRITUAL MUSIC- muses. works of christ. content not intended to be performed during worship. Dialectical music is often contrasted with secular music, and in this understanding, an extremely wide range of phenomena from liturgical music is sometimes referred to this area ... ... Orthodox encyclopedia
The roots of N. m. Go back to antiquity. Archaeological data. studies indicate the existence of other germ. tribes of different kinds of spirit. instruments (lurs), the manufacture of rykh belongs to the Bronze Age. Lit. and historical ... ... Musical encyclopedia
Features of the formation of muses. culture of the United States, which began in the late. 17th century, were largely determined by the colonial type of development of the country. Transferred to Amer. soil of muses. traditions of Europe, Africa, later Asia were assimilated and, interacting, ... ... Musical encyclopedia
The origins of R. m. Go back to the creativity of the East. glory. tribes inhabiting the territory of Dr. Rus before the emergence in the 9th century. first Russian state va. About the most ancient types of east. glory. music can be judged hypothetically by dep. historical. evidence, ... ... Musical encyclopedia
The origins of F. m. Date back to the folklore of the Celtic, Gaulish, and Frankish tribes that lived in ancient times on the territory of present-day France. Nar. song claim in, as well as Gallo-Roman culture, became the foundation of the development of F. m. Ancient literature. and… … Musical encyclopedia
The shortest history of music. The most complete and shortest reference by Henley Daren
Late romantics
Late romantics
Many of the composers of this period continued to write music into the 20th century. However, we talk about them here, and not in the next chapter, for the reason that it was the spirit of romanticism that was strong in their music.
It should be noted that some of them maintained close ties and even friendship with the composers mentioned in the subsections "Early Romantics" and "Nationalists".
In addition, it should be borne in mind that during this period in different European countries there were so many excellent composers that any division of them according to any principle whatsoever would be entirely conditional. If in different literature, devoted to the classical period and the Baroque period, approximately the same time frames are mentioned, then the romantic period is defined differently everywhere. It seems that the line between the end of the romantic period and the beginning of the 20th century is very blurred in music.
The leading composer of Italy in the 19th century was undoubtedly Giuseppe Verdi. This man looking at us with shining eyes with a thick mustache and eyebrows stood a whole head above all other opera composers.
All of Verdi's compositions are literally overwhelmed with bright, catchy melodies. In total, he wrote twenty-six operas, most of which are regularly performed today. Among them are the most famous and most outstanding works of opera art of all time.
Verdi's music was highly valued during the composer's lifetime. At the premiere Hades the audience gave such a long standing ovation that the artists had to go out to bow thirty-two times.
Verdi was a wealthy man, but money could not save both the composer's wives and two children from early death, so there were tragic moments in his life. He bequeathed his fortune to the orphanage of old musicians, built under his leadership in Milan. Verdi himself considered the creation of a shelter, and not music, to be his greatest achievement.
Despite the fact that Verdi's name is primarily associated with operas, speaking of him, it is impossible not to mention Requiem, which is considered one of the finest examples of choral music. It is full of drama, and some features of the opera slip through it.
Our next composer is by no means the most charming person. Actually, this is the most scandalous and controversial figure of all who are mentioned in our book. If we were to make a list based only on personal characteristics, then Richard Wagner would never have hit it. However, we are guided exclusively by musical criteria, and the history of classical music is unthinkable without this man.
Wagner's talent is undeniable. From under his pen came some of the most significant and impressive musical compositions for the entire period of romanticism - especially opera. At the same time, they speak of him as an anti-Semite, racist, red tape, the last deceiver and even a thief who does not hesitate to take everything he needs, and is rude without remorse. Wagner had a hypertrophied self-esteem, and he believed that his genius elevated him above all other people.
Wagner is remembered for his operas. This composer took German opera to a whole new level, and although he was born at the same time as Verdi, his music was very different from the Italian compositions of that period.
One of Wagner's innovations was that each main character had its own musical theme, which was repeated every time, as soon as he began to play a significant role on stage.
Today it seems self-evident, but at that time this idea made a real revolution.
Wagner's greatest achievement was the cycle Ring of the Nibelung, consisting of four operas: Rhine Gold, Valkyrie, Siegfried and Death of the gods. They are usually played four nights in a row, and in total they last about fifteen hours. These operas alone would have been enough to glorify their composer. Despite all the ambiguity of Wagner as a person, it must be admitted that he was an outstanding composer.
A distinctive feature of Wagner's operas can be called their duration. His last opera Parsifal lasts more than four hours.
Conductor David Randolph once said of her:
"This is an opera from the category of those that start at six, and when you look at your wristwatch three hours later, it turns out that it shows 6:20."
Life Anton Bruckner as a composer is a lesson in how to not give up and insist on your own. He practiced twelve hours a day, devoted all his time to work (he was an organist) and learned a lot in music on his own, having finished mastering the writing skills by correspondence at a fairly mature age - at thirty-seven years.
Today, Bruckner's symphonies are most often remembered, of which he wrote a total of nine pieces. At times he was seized by doubts about his solvency as a musician, but he nevertheless achieved recognition, albeit at the end of his life. After executing it Symphonies No. 1 critics finally praised the composer, who by that time was already forty-four years old.
Johannes Brahms not one of those composers who were born, so to speak, with a silver stick in hand. By the time of his birth, the family had lost their former wealth and could barely make ends meet. As a teenager, he made a living by playing in brothels in his hometown of Hamburg. By the time Brahms became an adult, he, no doubt, got acquainted with far from the most attractive aspects of life.
Brahms' music was promoted by his friend, Robert Schumann. After Schumann's death, Brahms became close to Clara Schumann and eventually even fell in love with her. It is not known exactly what kind of relationship they connected, although the feeling for her probably played some role in his relations with other women - he did not give his heart to any of them.
As a person, Brahms was quite unrestrained and irritable, but his friends claimed that there was gentleness in him, although he did not always demonstrate it to others. One day, returning home from a party, he said:
"If I have not offended someone there, then I ask their forgiveness."
Brahms would not have won the competition for the most fashionable and elegantly dressed composer. He was terribly disliked to buy new clothes and often wore the same baggy trousers with patches, which were almost always too short for him. During one performance, his trousers almost fell off. On another occasion, he had to take off his tie and gird himself with it instead of a belt.
The musical style of Brahms was greatly influenced by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and some music historians even claim that he wrote in the spirit of classicism, by that time already out of fashion. At the same time, he also owns several new ideas. In particular, he was able to develop small pieces of music and repeat them throughout the work - what composers call "a repetitive motive."
Brahms did not write operas, but he tried himself in almost all other genres of classical music. Therefore, he can be called one of the greatest composers mentioned in our book, a true giant of classical music. He himself spoke this way about his work:
"It's not hard to compose, but it's surprisingly difficult to throw extra notes under the table."
Max Bruch was born just five years after Brahms, and the latter would certainly have overshadowed him, if not for one work, Violin Concerto No. 1.
Bruch himself admitted this fact, arguing with modesty unusual for many composers:
"Fifty years from now, Brahms will be called one of the greatest composers of all time, and I will be remembered for writing the Violin Concerto in G minor."
And he was right. True, Brujah himself has something to remember! He composed many other works — about two hundred in total — especially for choir and for operas, which are rarely staged these days. His music is melodic, but he did not bring anything particularly new to its development. Against his background, many other composers of that time seem to be real innovators.
In 1880, Bruch was appointed conductor of the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Society, but after three years he returned to Berlin. The musicians of the orchestra were not delighted with him.
On the pages of our book, we have already met many musical prodigies, and Camille Saint - Saens occupies not the last place among them. At the age of two, Saint - Saens was already selecting melodies on the piano, and he learned to read and write music at the same time. At the age of three he played plays of his own composition. At the age of ten he sang beautifully Mozart and Beethoven. At the same time, he became seriously interested in entomology (butterflies and insects), and then in other sciences, including geology, astronomy and philosophy. It seemed that such a talented child simply cannot be limited to one thing.
After completing his studies at the Paris Conservatory, Saint - Saens worked for many years as an organist. With age, he began to influence the musical life of France, and it was thanks to him that the music of such composers as J.S.Bach, Mozart, Handel and Gluck began to be performed more often.
The most famous composition of Saint - Saens - Carnival of animals, which the composer forbade to perform during his lifetime. He was worried that the music critics, upon hearing this piece, would find it too frivolous. After all, it's funny when the orchestra on stage depicts a lion, hens with a rooster, turtles, an elephant, a kangaroo, an aquarium with fish, birds, a donkey and a swan.
Some of his other compositions Saint - Saens wrote for not so common combinations of instruments, including the famous "Organ" symphony No. 3, sounded in the movie "Babe".
Saint Saens's music influenced the work of other French composers, including Gabriel Fore. This young man inherited the position of organist in the Parisian church of Saint Magdalene, which was formerly occupied by Saint - Saens.
And although Foret's talent cannot be compared with the talent of his teacher, he was an excellent pianist.
Faure was a poor man and therefore worked hard, playing the organ, leading the choir and giving lessons. He was engaged in writing in his free time, of which there was very little left, but, despite this, he managed to publish more than two hundred and fifty of his works. Some of them were composed for a very long time: for example, work on Requiem lasted over twenty years.
In 1905 Fauré became the director of the Paris Conservatory, that is, the man on whom the development of French music of that time largely depended. Fauré retired fifteen years later. At the end of his life he suffered from hearing loss.
Today Foret is respected outside of France, although there he is most appreciated.
For fans of English music, the appearance of such a figure as Edward Elgar, must have seemed like a real miracle. Many music historians call him the first significant English composer after Henry Purcell, who wrote during the Baroque period, although we also mentioned Arthur Sullivan a little earlier.
Elgar was very fond of England, especially his native Worcestershire, where he spent most of his life finding inspiration in the fields of Molvern Hills.
As a child, he was surrounded by music everywhere: his father owned a local music store and taught little Elgar to play various musical instruments. At the age of twelve, the boy was already replacing the organist at church services.
After working in the office of a lawyer, Elgar decided to devote himself to a much less reliable occupation from a financial point of view. For some time he worked part-time, giving violin and piano lessons, playing in local orchestras and even conducting a little.
Gradually, Elgar's fame as a composer grew, although he had to struggle to make his way outside of his native county. They brought him fame Variations on an original theme, which are now better known as Enigma Variations.
Now Elgar's music is perceived as very English and sounds during the largest national events. At the first sounds of it Concerto for cello the English countryside is immediately presented. Nimrod from Variations are often played at official ceremonies, and Solemn and ceremonial march No. 1, known as A land of hope and glory performed at prom nights across the UK.
Elgar was a family man and loved a calm, orderly life. Nevertheless, he left his mark on history. This composer with a thick, bushy mustache can be immediately noticed on the twenty-pound note. Obviously, the banknote designers thought that facial hair would be very difficult to counterfeit.
In Italy, Giuseppe Verdi's successor in the operatic art became Giacomo Puccini, considered one of the recognized world masters of this art form.
The Puccini family has long been associated with church music, but when Giacomo first heard opera Aida Verdi, he realized that this was his calling.
After studying in Milan, Puccini composes an opera Manon Lescaut, which brought him his first great success in 1893. After that, one successful production followed another: Bohemia in 1896, Yearning in 1900 and Madame Butterfly in 1904.
In total, Puccini composed twelve operas, the last of which was Turandot. He died without completing this work, and another composer completed the work. At the premiere of the opera, conductor Arturo Toscanini stopped the orchestra exactly where Puccini had stopped. He turned to the audience and said:
With the death of Puccini, the heyday of Italian operatic art ended. Italian opera composers will no longer be mentioned in our book. But who knows what the future holds for us?
In life Gustav Mahler was better known as a conductor than a composer. He conducted in the winter, and in the summer, as a rule, preferred to be engaged in writing.
As a child, Mahler is said to have found a piano in the attic of his grandmother's house. Four years later, at the age of ten, he had already given his first performance.
Mahler studied at the Vienna Conservatory, where he began composing music. In 1897 he became director of the Vienna State Opera and over the next ten years gained considerable fame in this field.
He himself began writing three operas, but never finished them. In our time, he is known primarily as a composer of symphonies. In this genre he owns one of the real "hits" - Symphony No. 8, during the performance of which more than a thousand musicians and singers are involved.
After Mahler's death, his music went out of fashion for fifty years, but in the second half of the 20th century it regained popularity, especially in the UK and the USA.
Richard Strauss was born in Germany and did not belong to the Viennese Strauss dynasty. Despite the fact that this composer lived almost the entire first half of the 20th century, he is still considered a representative of German musical romanticism.
Richard Strauss's worldwide popularity suffered somewhat from the fact that he decided to stay in Germany after 1939, and after World War II he was even accused of collaborating with the Nazis.
Strauss was an excellent conductor, thanks to which he perfectly understood how a particular instrument should sound in an orchestra. He often applied this knowledge in practice. He also gave various advice to other composers, like:
"Never look at trombones, you are only encouraging them."
“Don't sweat while performing; only listeners should get hot ”.
Today, Strauss is remembered primarily in connection with his composition Thus spoke Zarathustra, the introduction to which Stanley Kubrick used in his 2001 film A Space Odyssey. But he also wrote some of the finest German operas, among them - Knight of the Rose, Salome and Ariadne on Naxos. A year before his death, he also composed very beautiful Four last songs for voice and orchestra. In general, these were not the very last songs of Strauss, but they became a kind of finale of his creative activity.
Until now, among the composers mentioned in this book, there was only one representative of Scandinavia - Edvard Grieg. But now we are again transported to this harsh and cold land - this time to Finland, where we were born Jan Sibelius, great musical genius.
Sibelius's music absorbed the myths and legends of his homeland. His greatest work Finland, is considered the embodiment of the national spirit of the Finns, just as Elgar's works are recognized as a national treasure in Great Britain. Moreover, Sibelius, like Mahler, was a true master of symphonies.
As for the composer's other addictions, he was overly addicted to drinking and smoking in his daily life, so that at the age of forty he fell ill with throat cancer. He also often did not have enough money, and the state gave him a pension so that he could continue to write music without worrying about his financial well-being. But more than twenty years before his death, Sibelius stopped composing anything at all. He lived the rest of his life in relative solitude. He spoke especially harshly about those who received money for reviews of his music:
“Don't pay attention to what the critics say. Until now, not a single critic has been given a statue. "
The last on our list of composers of the Romantic period also survived until almost the middle of the 20th century, although he wrote most of his most famous works in the 1900s. And yet he is ranked among the romantics, and it seems to us that this is the most romantic composer of the whole group.
Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov was born into a noble family, which by that time had spent a lot of money. His interest in music manifested itself in early childhood, and his parents sent him to study, first to St. Petersburg, and then to Moscow.
Rachmaninoff was a surprisingly talented pianist, and he also made a wonderful composer.
Mine Piano Concerto No. 1 he wrote at nineteen. He also found time for his first opera, Aleko.
But this great musician, as a rule, was not particularly pleased with life. In many photographs, we see an angry, frowning man. Another Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky, once remarked:
“The immortal essence of Rachmaninoff was his frown. He was six and a half feet of frown ... it was a fearsome man. "
When young Rachmaninoff played for Tchaikovsky, he was so delighted that he put an A with four pluses on the sheet of his score - the highest mark in the history of the Moscow Conservatory. Soon the whole city started talking about the young talent.
Nevertheless, fate remained unfavorable to the musician for a long time.
Critics were very harsh about his Symphonies No. 1, whose premiere ended in failure. This gave Rachmaninov heavy emotional distress, he lost faith in his strength and could not compose anything at all.
In the end, only the help of an experienced psychiatrist Nikolai Dahl allowed him to get out of the crisis. By 1901, Rachmaninoff had completed a piano concerto, which he had worked hard on for many years, and which he dedicated to Dr. Dahl. This time the audience greeted the composer's work with delight. Since Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 became a favorite classical piece performed by various musical groups around the world.
Rachmaninoff began touring Europe and the United States. Returning to Russia, he conducted and composed.
After the 1917 revolution, Rachmaninov and his family went to concerts in Scandinavia. He never returned home. Instead, he moved to Switzerland, where he bought a house on the shores of Lake Lucerne. He always loved reservoirs and now, when he became a rather rich man, he could afford to relax on the shore and admire the opening landscape.
Rachmaninoff was an excellent conductor and always gave the following advice to those who wanted to excel in this field:
“A good conductor must be a good chauffeur. Both need the same qualities: concentration, continuous intense attention and presence of mind. The conductor only needs to know the music a little ... "
In 1935, Rachmaninoff decided to settle in the United States. He first lived in New York, and then moved to Los Angeles. There he began to build a new house for himself, completely identical to the one he left in Moscow.
Turchin, VS
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Zweig was right: Europe has not seen such a beautiful generation as romantics since the Renaissance. Wonderful images of the world of dreams, naked feelings and striving for sublime spirituality - these are the colors that paint the musical culture of romanticism.
The emergence of romanticism and its aesthetics
While an industrial revolution was taking place in Europe, the hopes pinned on the Great French Revolution were crumbling in the hearts of Europeans. The cult of reason, proclaimed by the era of the Enlightenment, was overthrown. The cult of feelings and the natural principle in man has ascended to the pedestal.
This is how romanticism appeared. In musical culture, it existed for a little more than a century (1800-1910), while in related fields (painting and literature), its term expired half a century earlier. Perhaps, this is the "fault" of music - it was she who was at the top among the arts among the romantics as the most spiritual and freest of the arts.
However, the romantics, unlike representatives of the eras of antiquity and classicism, did not build a hierarchy of arts with its clear division into types and. The romantic system was universal, the arts were free to pass into each other. The idea of the synthesis of arts was one of the key ones in the musical culture of romanticism.
This relationship also related to the categories of aesthetics: it was perfectly combined with the ugly, the high with the base, the tragic with the comic. Such transitions were connected by romantic irony, it also reflected a universal picture of the world.
Everything that had to do with beauty took on a new meaning among romantics. Nature became an object of worship, the artist was idolized as the highest of mortals, and feelings were exalted over reason.
Spiritual reality was contrasted with a dream, beautiful but unattainable. The romantic, with the help of his imagination, built his new world, unlike other realities.
What themes did the artists of romanticism choose?
The interests of the romantics were clearly manifested in the choice of themes they chose in art.
- Loneliness theme... An underappreciated genius or a lonely person in society - these themes were the main themes of the composers of this era ("The Love of a Poet" by Schumann, "Without the Sun" by Mussorgsky).
- The theme of "lyrical confession"... Many opuses by romantic composers have a touch of autobiography (Schumann's Carnival, Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony).
- Love theme. Basically, this is the theme of unrequited or tragic love, but not necessarily ("Love and the Life of a Woman" by Schumann, "Romeo and Juliet" by Tchaikovsky).
- Path theme. She is also called the theme of wanderings... The soul of a romantic, torn apart by contradictions, was looking for its own path ("Harold in Italy" by Berlioz, "Years of Wanderings" by Liszt).
- Death theme. Basically it was spiritual death (Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Schubert's "Winter Way").
- Nature theme. Nature in the eyes of a romantic and protective mother, and empathic friend, and punishing fate ("Hebrides" by Mendelssohn, "In Central Asia" by Borodin). The cult of the native land (polonaises and Chopin's ballads) is also connected with this theme.
- Science fiction theme. The imaginary world for romantics was much richer than the real one (The Magic Shooter by Weber, Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov).
Musical genres of the era of romanticism
The musical culture of romanticism gave impetus to the development of the genres of chamber vocal lyrics: ballad("The Forest King" by Schubert), poem("The Lady of the Lake" by Schubert) and songs often combined into cycles("Myrtles" by Schumann).
Romantic opera
was distinguished not only by the fantastic plot, but also by the strong connection between words, music and stage action. The symphonization of the opera takes place. Suffice it to recall Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs with a developed network of leitmotifs.Among the instrumental genres, romance is distinguished piano miniature. To convey one image or a momentary mood, a small piece is enough for them. Despite its scale, the play seethes with expression. She can be "song without Words" (like Mendelssohn), mazurka, waltz, nocturne or pieces with program names (Schumann's "Impulse").
Like songs, plays are sometimes combined into cycles (Schumann's Butterflies). At the same time, the parts of the cycle, brightly contrasting, have always formed a single composition due to musical connections.
Romantics loved programmatic music that combined it with literature, painting, or other arts. Therefore, the plot in their writings often ruled. One-part sonatas (Liszt's sonata in B minor), one-part concertos (Liszt's First Piano Concerto) and symphonic poems (Liszt's Preludes), a five-part symphony (Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony) appeared.
The musical language of romantic composers
The synthesis of arts, celebrated by romantics, influenced the means of musical expression. The melody has become more individual, responsive to the poetics of the word, and the accompaniment has ceased to be neutral and typical in texture.
The harmony was enriched with unprecedented colors to tell about the experiences of the romantic hero. Thus, the romantic intonations of longing perfectly conveyed altered harmonies that intensify the tension. Romantics loved the effect of chiaroscuro, when the major was replaced by the minor of the same name, and the chords of the side steps, and beautiful juxtapositions of tonalities. New effects were also found in, especially when it was required to convey folk spirit or fantastic images in music.
In general, romantics' melody strove for continuity of development, rejected any automatic repetition, avoided the regularity of accents and breathed expressiveness in each of its motives. And texture has become such an important link that its role is comparable to that of a melody.
Hear what a wonderful mazurka Chopin has!
Instead of a conclusion
The musical culture of romanticism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries experienced the first signs of a crisis. The "free" musical form began to disintegrate, harmony prevailed over melody, the lofty feelings of the romantic's soul gave way to painful fear and base passions.
These destructive tendencies brought romanticism to an end and paved the way for modernism. But, having ended as a direction, romanticism continued to live in the music of the 20th century, and in the music of the present century in its various components. Blok was right when he said that romanticism appeared "in all epochs of human life."