In music that reflected the sad pages of Russian history and tragic contradictions contemporary composer era, not so much light pages. Very often they are associated with the image of children - such is the image of the young Tsarevich Fyodor in the opera "", such is vocal cycle"Children's room."
He did not have his own children, but in 1868 he often visited Stasov and communicated with his children. One of Vladimir Vasilyevich’s daughters later recalled that Modest Petrovich, when communicating with them, never fell into a primitive and false tone, as adults often do when talking with children - and the children felt free with him, communicating as equals. It was then that the composer conceived the idea of a vocal cycle dedicated to children, but it was not about children’s songs that little performers could sing, but rather complex romances, designed to be performed and perceived by adults, but revealing the world of thoughts and feelings of a child . At the same time, the first romance was written, “With a Nanny,” which he dedicated to Dargomyzhsky. He approved the young composer’s work and recommended continuing the work. However, then in to a greater extent He was busy working on "", and he returned to the vocal cycle, entitled "Children's", only after two years, having written four more romances in 1870. The composer returned to the work again in 1872, creating the last three miniatures. True, he planned two more parts - “A Quarrel of Two Children” and “A Child’s Dream”, even composed them and performed them in front of friends, but never recorded them.
The “Children’s” cycle is seven subtle vocal scenes on own texts, main expressive means in which there is a melodic recitative. The piano part is relatively spare and occupies a subordinate position.
The first number - “With a Nanny” - could seem monotonous due to the numerous repeated sounds, but this does not happen due to the change in harmony on the repeated sounds and melodic leaps occurring on stressed syllables. And a certain monotony turns out to be a very expressive touch - after all, this is what children say when they ask adults for something (“Tell me, nanny, tell me, dear”).
The second number - “In the Corner” - begins not with a child’s speech, but with angry remarks from another character - the nanny. Her exclamations (“Oh, you prankster! You unraveled the ball!”) are heard against the backdrop of the stormy movement of the eighth notes. The kid (apparently facing injustice for the first time in his life) responds with minor descending phrases - but only until he feels insulted, and then the downward movement is replaced by an upward movement (“Misha will no longer love his nanny, that’s what!”) .
The third number - “Beetle” - reveals with utmost truthfulness the child’s worldview: the mood very easily moves from fear to surprise, and any event that seems insignificant to adults - such as the unexpected appearance of a beetle - becomes significant for the child. The sharp chord at the climax is reminiscent of the techniques used to accompany dramatic events in “adult” works.
In the fourth romance - “With a Doll” - the little heroine imitates the behavior of an adult, namely a nanny. When putting a doll named Tyapa to bed, the girl hums a monotonous lullaby. The minor key, typical for this genre, is combined with a major key, and the lullaby is interrupted from time to time by a recitative exclamation: “Tyapa, I need to sleep!”
“For the coming sleep” is the simple-minded prayer of a child. A child who prays - as adults have taught - for the health of loved ones, understands that he is busy with serious business, and tries to give his intonations sedateness. He almost succeeds in this, as long as he names his parents and other adults, but as soon as it comes to friends (“And Filka, and Vanka, and Mitka, and Petka”), seriousness gives way to a “patter”, which is interrupted by a questioning intonation: “What next?” ?
“Sailor the Cat” is an emotional story about a small domestic incident that extremely worried a child: a cat put its paw into a bird’s cage. The pulsation of eighth notes in the accompaniment emphasizes the excitement of the little heroine’s speech. The piano part is full of sound-imaging techniques that convey both the trembling of a bird and the gnashing of a cat’s claws on a cage.
“Ride on a Stick” is a real “sketching from life”: the sharp rhythm of short phrases depicts the movements of a boy jumping on a stick. The “jump” is interrupted twice - by a conversation with his friend Vasya and an unfortunate incident: the boy fell and hurt himself, his mother’s gentle intonations respond to his plaintive descending phrases. In the reprise, the previous rhythmic movement returns - the pain is forgotten, the game continues.
The date of the first performance of “Children’s” is unknown, but after the publication of the vocal cycle in 1873, it quickly gained popularity. Publisher Bessel sent notes. I didn't think I'd like his work famous composer- after all, he most often gave preference to grandiose plots. Contrary to these assumptions, “Children’s” was a delight.
Musical Seasons
There are three brilliant children's cycles in world music: “Children's Album” by Robert Schumann, “Children's Album” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and “Children’s Room” by Modest Mussorgsky. If Schumann's "Children's Album" is, first of all, the view of an eternal adult and an eternal child, and if Tchaikovsky's children's album is a set of melodic intonation masterpieces that are both for a child and an adult. That "Children's Room", like everything by Mussorgsky, is a unique work.
“Vocal skits - episodes from children's life belong to the lyrical pages of Mussorgsky's work. This is not children's music, written for pedagogical educational purposes and not to be performed by children themselves. These are songs for adults, but written from a child's point of view. There are eight songs in the cycle, their images are very different - both sad and cheerful, but they are all permeated sincere love to the children. These vocal miniatures embodied the distant memories of Mussorgsky's rural childhood, as well as sensitive observations of the life of the composer's little friends. Mussorgsky did not just love children “from the outside.” He knew how to communicate with them in their language and understand them, to think in childish images. V. Komarova, daughter of D. Stasov, who knew Mussorgsky from childhood and called him “The Garbage Man,” recalled: “He did not pretend to us, did not speak in that false language that adults usually speak with children in houses where they are friends with their parents... we They talked to him completely freely, as with an equal. The brothers, too, were not at all shy of him, they told him all the incidents of their lives ... "
One of the genius properties of great Artists is the ability to take the place of another and create a work on his behalf. In this cycle, Mussorgsky managed to become a child again and speak on his behalf. It is interesting to note that here Mussorgsky is not only the author of music, but also of words. The skit songs were written in different times, that is, not according to the principle “conceived and done” and not according to some order. They were collected into a cycle gradually and were published after the death of the author. Some of the songs remained not recorded on paper, although they were performed by the composer in a close circle of friends. For us, they remained only in the memories of contemporaries. This is “A Fantastic Dream of a Child”, “Quarrel of Two Children”. We can hear a cycle of seven skit plays.
The first of the scenes, “With a Nanny,” was created in the spring of 1868. Mussorgsky showed it to his deeply respected friend, the composer Dargomyzhsky, and he bequeathed to him to continue this magnificent undertaking. In 1870, four more sketches appeared, and under the general title “Children’s” the plays were published in St. Petersburg in the publishing house of V. Bessel. And two years later, two more plays appeared, but they were published much later under the editorship of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov under the general title “At the Dacha” in 1882.
In addition to this cycle, Mussorgsky also had other “children’s music”: “Children’s Corner Games” (scherzo for piano), “From Childhood Memories” (“Nanny and Me”, “First Punishment” for piano), the children’s song “In the Garden oh, in the little garden.”
The “Children’s Room” cycle is one of the few works by Mussorgsky that were lucky enough to see the light of day during the composer’s lifetime and meet with goodwill not only from the public, but even from critics. “There was no end to the performances of “Children’s” scenes in the best St. Petersburg musical circles,
- wrote V. Stasov. Even the most retrogrades and enemies could no longer challenge the talent and novelty of these masterpieces, small in size, but large in content and significance.”.
In the first scene "With Nanny" Mussorgsky’s childhood impressions of his nanny’s fairy tales were reflected, from which, according to his recollections, he “sometimes did not sleep at night.” Images of two fairy tales are crowded in the child’s head. One “about the terrible beech tree... how that beech tree carried children into the forest, and how it gnawed on their white bones...”. And the second - funny - about the lame king (“whenever he stumbles, a mushroom will grow”) and the sneezing queen (“when he sneezes, the glass shatters!”). The entire music of the scene is permeated with folk songs, creating the flavor of Russian fairy tales. At the same time, the author clearly shows the perception of magic by the impressionable soul of a child.
"In the corner"- the second play-sketch from Mussorgsky’s “Children’s” cycle. Its plot is simple: a nanny, angry at the pranks of her little pet, puts him in a corner. And the punished prankster in the corner offendedly blames the kitten - it was he who did everything, not Misha. But the plaintive sobbing intonations, clearly expressed in the music (“I didn’t do anything, nanny”) give Misha away: he feels bitter resentment and guilt. But his childish consciousness does not know how to reconcile this first “contradiction” in his life. Trying to get out of a difficult situation, he begins to tease the nanny. The plaintive intonations give way to capricious, mischievous ones (“And the nanny is evil, old...”), but notes of humility are also heard in them. Such a deep psychological understanding by the author of children's character makes up the uniqueness of the music of this cycle.
"Bug"- the third play-sketch from the “Children’s” cycle - mysterious story with a beetle, which captured the child’s imagination. A beetle, “huge, black, scary,” sat on a house built from splinters, hummed and moved its mustache and, swooping in, hit him on the temple. Frightened, the child hid, barely breathing... Suddenly he sees a beetle lying helplessly on its back, “only its wings are trembling.” “What happened to the beetle? He hit me and fell down!” In the music, with great wit and emotionality, one can hear the excited tone of a child's change of mood: the blow and fall of a beetle is replaced by fear and anxiety. The hanging question shows the boy’s boundless surprise at the entire incomprehensible and mysterious world.
"With a doll"- the fourth play in the "Children's" cycle - dedicated by the composer to his little nephews "Tanya and Goga Mussorgsky" It was also called "Lullaby". The girl rocks her “tyapa” doll, telling her nanny a story about beech and gray wolf and, enchanted by the rhythm of the cradling, the “tyapa” evokes a magical dream about “a wonderful island, where neither one reaps nor sows, where pears ripen, and golden birds sing day and night.” The gentle melody of a lullaby, with its crystal ringing seconds, glides like a mysterious vision from the world of childhood reverie.
"For bedtime" - the fifth scene of the “Children’s” cycle - a gift to Mussorgsky’s godson, Cui’s newborn son Sasha. The little heroine of the scene babbles a memorized prayer before going to bed, diligently mentioning in it her mother and father, her brothers, her old grandmother, all her aunties and uncles, and her many courtyard friends, “And Filka, and Vanka, and Mitka, and Petka...” . It is interesting that the music reflects the mood with which the names are pronounced: the elders - with concentration and seriousness, but when it comes to the children in the yard, the seriousness disappears and a frisky childish talk sounds. At Dunyushka the “prayer” is interrupted. What next? The nanny, of course, will tell you...
"Cat Sailor" - the sixth scene from the "Children's" series - an example of children's humor, a story about a small incident at home. The cunning cat crept up to the cage with the bullfinch, prepared to bite its victim, and at that very moment was slammed by the girl who had outwitted him. Her fingers hurt, but she is happy: the bullfinch is saved, and the prankish cat is punished.
"Ride on a stick" - the seventh play in the “Children’s” cycle. This is a humorous play scene, a sketch from life: a kid is dashingly jumping on a stick near the dacha, imagining that he “went to Yukki” (the surrounding village). The music depicts the ride of a daredevil with a comical syncopated (“limping”) rhythm, who in the most interesting place... stumbles and, bruising his leg, roars. The mother consoles her Serzhinka, which serves as an occasion for a funny lyrical intermezzo (small digression). Finally, the cheerful Serzhinka again sits on his stick and, declaring that he has already “went to Yukki,” hurries home at the same gallop: “there will be guests...”.
Mussorgsky. Vocal cycle "Children's".
Vocal skits - episodes from children's life belong to the lyrical pages of Mussorgsky's work. This is not children's music, written for pedagogical educational purposes and not to be performed by children themselves. These are songs for adults, but written from a child's point of view. There are eight songs in the cycle, their images are very different - both sad and cheerful, but they are all imbued with sincere love for children. These vocal miniatures embodied the distant memories of Mussorgsky's rural childhood, as well as sensitive observations of the life of the composer's little friends. Mussorgsky did not just love children “from the outside.” He knew how to communicate with them in their language and understand them, to think in childish images. V. Komarova, daughter of D. Stasov, who knew Mussorgsky from childhood and called him “The Garbage Man,” recalled: “He did not pretend to us, did not speak in that false language that adults usually speak with children in houses where they are friends with their parents... we They talked to him completely freely, as with an equal. The brothers, too, were not at all shy of him, they told him all the incidents of their lives ... "
One of the genius properties of great Artists is the ability to take the place of another and create a work on their behalf. In this cycle, Mussorgsky managed to become a child again and speak on his behalf. It is interesting to note that here Mussorgsky is not only the author of music, but also of words. The skit songs were written at different times, that is, not according to the “planned and done” principle and not according to any order. They were collected into a cycle gradually and were published after the death of the author. Some of the songs remained not recorded on paper, although they were performed by the composer in a close circle of friends. For us, they remained only in the memories of contemporaries. This is “A Fantastic Dream of a Child”, “Quarrel of Two Children”. We can hear a cycle of seven skit plays. Mussorgsky put into the “Children’s Room” not only observations of his brother’s children and the children of Stasov’s brother, but also own childhood impressions. In the evening, when the midday heat subsides, Modinka’s mother, Yulia Ivanovna, sits down at the piano. Little Modest listens with bated breath. The father walks around the hall, listening to his wife play. He “loves music to the point of passion,” especially the romances of Alyabyev and Varlamov. For his pleasure, Yulia Ivanovna plays variations on Varlamov’s tune “Don’t wake her up at dawn” or “Red Sarafan” and also Alyabyev’s “Nightingale”. Pyotr Alekseevich listens to these plays with particular pleasure. “The main thing is that it’s our own, Russian,” he notes. The kid quietly gets down from the chair, approaches the piano and touches the keys. A plaintive tune sounds quietly and timidly. “Clever guy, Modinka,” the mother rejoices, “do you want me to teach you to play?” Music lessons began at the age of five, first with my mother, and later with a German governess. Modest's studies went so well that at the age of nine he played at a family party big concert Filda. Later, while studying at St. Peter's School in St. Petersburg, Modest studied music with Anton Augustovich Gerke and took part in home concerts (he especially remembered his performance at a charity evening with State Lady Ryumina). General Sutgof, the school director, became aware of his talent and invited young pianist to your home. The general had a daughter who also studied with Gerke. Young Modest Mussorgsky played four hands with her. The works of the novice composer, in which childhood motifs often appear, also attracted the support and approval of others. One of the first completed works is “Childhood Memories,” for piano, which includes two pieces: “Nanny and Me” and “First Punishment.”
The first of the scenes, “With the Nanny,” was created in the spring of 1968. Mussorgsky showed it to his deeply respected friend, the composer Dargomyzhsky, and he bequeathed to him to continue this magnificent undertaking. In 1970, four more sketches appeared, and under the general title “Children’s” the plays were published in St. Petersburg by the publishing house of V. Bessel. And two years later, two more plays appeared, but they were published much later under the editorship of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov under the general title “At the Dacha” in 1882.
In addition to this cycle, Mussorgsky also had other “children’s music”: “Children’s Corner Games” (scherzo for piano), “From Childhood Memories” (“Nanny and Me”, “First Punishment” for piano), the children’s song “In the Garden oh, in the little garden.”
The “Children’s Room” cycle is one of the few works by Mussorgsky that were lucky enough to see the light of day during the composer’s lifetime and meet with goodwill not only from the public, but even from critics. “There was no end to the performances of “Children’s” scenes in the best St. Petersburg musical circles,” wrote V. Stasov. Even the most retrogrades and enemies could no longer challenge the talent and novelty of these masterpieces, small in size but large in content and significance.”
Of significant interest is musical language vocal skits "Children's". Following the discovered techniques for creating the “visibility” of a specific character, Mussorgsky boldly handles the metrical, harmonic and vocal basis, creating a “melody created by speech,” conveying the smallest nuances of emotions and body movements of his characters chamber theater.
In the first scene Mussorgsky’s childhood impressions of his nanny’s fairy tales were reflected, from which, according to his recollections, he “sometimes did not sleep at night.” Images of two fairy tales are crowded in the child’s head. One “about the terrible beech tree... how that beech tree carried children into the forest, and how it gnawed on their white bones...”. And the second - funny - about the lame king (“whenever he stumbles, a mushroom will grow”) and the sneezing queen (“when he sneezes, the glass shatters!”). The entire music of the scene is permeated with folk songs, creating the flavor of Russian fairy tales. At the same time, the author clearly shows the perception of magic by the impressionable soul of a child.
The second play-sketch from Mussorgsky’s “Children’s” cycle. Its plot is simple: a nanny, angry at the pranks of her little pet, puts him in a corner. And the punished prankster in the corner offendedly blames the kitten - it was he who did everything, not Misha. But the plaintive sobbing intonations, clearly expressed in the music (“I didn’t do anything, nanny”) give Misha away: he feels bitter resentment and guilt. But his childish consciousness does not know how to reconcile this first “contradiction” in his life. Trying to get out of a difficult situation, he begins to tease the nanny. The plaintive intonations give way to capricious, mischievous ones (“And the nanny is evil, old...”), but notes of humility are also heard in them. Such a deep psychological understanding by the author of children's character makes up the uniqueness of the music of this cycle.
The third play-sketch from the “Children’s” series is a mysterious story with a beetle that captured the imagination of a child. A beetle, “huge, black, scary,” sat on a house built from splinters, hummed and moved its mustache and, swooping in, hit him on the temple. Frightened, the child hid, barely breathing... Suddenly he sees a beetle lying helplessly on its back, “only its wings are trembling.” “What happened to the beetle? He hit me and fell down!” In the music, with great wit and emotionality, one can hear the excited tone of a child's change of mood: the blow and fall of a beetle is replaced by fear and anxiety. The hanging question shows the boy’s boundless surprise at the entire incomprehensible and mysterious world.
The fourth play in the “Children’s” cycle is dedicated by the composer to his little nephews “Tanya and Goga Mussorgsky.” It was also called “Lullaby.” The girl rocks her “tyapa” doll, telling her nanny a story about a beech tree and a gray wolf and, mesmerized by the rhythm of the cradling, gives the “tyapa” a magical dream about “a wonderful island, where neither reaps nor sows, where pears ripen, birds sing day and night gold." The gentle melody of a lullaby, with its crystal ringing seconds, glides like a mysterious vision from the world of childhood reverie.
The fifth scene of the “Children’s” cycle is a gift to Mussorgsky’s godson, Cui’s newborn son Sasha. The little heroine of the scene babbles a memorized prayer before going to bed, diligently mentioning in it her mother and father, her brothers, her old grandmother, all her aunties and uncles, and her many courtyard friends, “And Filka, and Vanka, and Mitka, and Petka...” . It is interesting that the music reflects the mood with which the names are pronounced: the elders are concentrated and serious, but when it comes to the children in the yard, the seriousness disappears and a frisky childish talk sounds. At Dunyushka the “prayer” is interrupted. What next? The nanny, of course, will tell you...
The sixth scene from the “Children’s” series is an example of children’s humor, a story about a small incident at home. The cunning cat crept up to the cage with the bullfinch, prepared to bite its victim, and at that very moment was slammed by the girl who had outwitted him. Her fingers hurt, but she is happy: the bullfinch is saved, and the prankish cat is punished.
The seventh play in the “Children’s” cycle. This is a humorous play scene, a sketch from life: a kid is dashingly jumping on a stick near the dacha, imagining that he “went to Yukki” (the surrounding village). The music depicts the ride of a daredevil with a comical syncopated (“limping”) rhythm, who in the most interesting place... stumbles and, bruising his leg, roars. The mother consoles her Serzhinka, which serves as an occasion for a funny lyrical intermezzo (small digression). Finally, the cheerful Serzhinka again sits on his stick and, declaring that he has already “went to Yukki,” hurries home at the same gallop: “there will be guests...”.
In this wonderful music we felt the warm and tender attitude of the composer towards the world of childhood. How sincerely and poetically M.P. Mussorgsky revealed the world of children's feelings, joys and sorrows. It is difficult to imagine a more sincere and poetic embodiment of these images! All this is because
Inna Astakhova
Based on the book by G. Khubov “Mussorgsky”
Moscow, publishing house "Music" 1969
Discuss at home 0VOCAL CYCLE “CHILDREN’S”
“No one has addressed the best in us with more tenderness and more depth. He [Mussorgsky] is unique and will remain unique thanks to his art without far-fetched techniques, without withering rules. Never before has such a refined perception been expressed by such simple means of expression.”
K. Debussy about the “Children’s” cycle (9).
“The vocal cycle “Children's”, created at the turn of the 60-70s, became the highest embodiment of Mussorgsky’s conscious principles of vocal chamber theater. After all, it is the first song of the future cycle - “With Nanny” - that the composer mentions among the plays that fulfill a certain artistic task(“Savishna”, “Orphan”, “Eremushka’s Lullaby” and others). Seven small songs united by the originality of vision children's world, their appearance caused genuine delight among the musicians surrounding Mussorgsky,” writes E.E. Durandina (12). In turn, V.V. Stasov in his works expresses his impressions as follows: “Everything that is poetic, naive, sweet, a little crafty, good-natured, charming, childishly hot, dreamy and deeply touching in the world of a child, appeared here in forms unprecedented, never touched by anyone” (34). V. Stasov and Ts. Cui among Russians music critics, and after them the Western European composers F. Liszt and C. Debussy gave an enthusiastic assessment of “Children’s”. What are the reasons for this huge success of modest vocal plays about children?
Let's start with the history of the creation of the "Children's" series. We turned to various sources: letters from M.P. Mussorgsky, memoirs of contemporaries, works of researchers (33). Our musical culture considered one of the largest in the world. Modest Petrovich, undoubtedly, holds one of the first places among Russian composers. His music is a great national treasure, it has Russian creature. The Pskov land became the cradle of this universal music. Tatyana Georgievna Mussorgskaya, the composer’s great-niece, said that the nanny in the house was revered as an equal member of the family, “the most faithful person.” She lived next to the nursery, ate from the master's table and, in addition, was in charge of the samovar, which made almost noisy noise. around the clock- at any time, upon request, hot tea was served, “from the key.” “The nanny is smart and good” had her own voice, she could not only give the children a beating, but even reprimand the master himself and “spoke to him on your own.” In this regard, the opinion of Academician D.S. Likhachev about the attitude of leading nobles towards their serfs is interesting. According to the scientist, masters and servants and peasants often established good relations- this gave stability to everyday life. True intellectuals never humiliated the weak, never showed their superiority... typical trait cultured person. The Mussorgsky estate was like a charity house, and the landowners were its merciful owners, compassionate and sympathetic to the grief of others. This undoubtedly had a huge influence on the formation of the future composer. To create such romances as “Savishna”, “The Orphan”, “The Mischievous”, the image of the Holy Fool in “Boris Godunov”, it was necessary not only to see the “humiliated and insulted”, but also to empathize with them. As the old-timers said, barchuks were not forbidden to make friends with peasant children. Tatyana Georgievna Mussorgskaya said: “Dad often recalled the words of my grandfather Filaret Petrovich - a child must necessarily grow up surrounded by children.” The Mussorgsky family album contained a photograph of Filaret and Modest wearing peasant pants and shirts. This once again confirms that parents tried not even outwardly to separate their children from their serf peers. The fact that Modest communicated with peasant children and their parents, and visited huts, is evidenced by the composer himself: “It was not without reason that in childhood he loved to listen to peasants and was tempted by their songs.” This region has long been considered a land of songs. But the time has come, childhood in Karev is over. In 1849, parents took Filaret and Modest to St. Petersburg to send them to study. For Modest, a new, St. Petersburg, period began, the longest in his short life. At the end of March 1868, Mussorgsky probably managed to escape from St. Petersburg for a short time in order to visit the grave of his beloved mother and formalize her commemoration in the church, as he had done before. Modest Petrovich stopped, of course, in his Karev, of which he was listed as the owner. Meetings with the old-timers of the estate brought back memories of childhood and the nanny. As you know, Mussorgsky nurtured musical plans until “the time was ripe to record.” And, returning to St. Petersburg, he composed the song “Child” (on the manuscript the author’s date is “April 26, 1868”). This is the first title, there were also such options: “Tell me, nanny”, “Child with a nanny”, “Child”. The song will be included in the “Children’s” cycle at No. 1 with the final and now well-known title “With a nanny.” Mussorgsky dedicated this work to Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky - “the great teacher of musical truth,” as Modest Petrovich will write. He played the song to him first, after which Dargomyzhsky said: “Well, this one put me in my place.” The first performer of the song was Alexandra Nikolaevna Purgold, married to Molas, singer, teacher, member of the Balakirev circle. Mussorgsky himself, apparently, attached special meaning this work. In a letter to L.I. Shestakova, he writes: “I depicted a particle of what life gave me in musical images... This is what I would like. To my characters they spoke on stage, as living people speak... my music should be an artistic reproduction of human speech in all its subtlest bends. This is the ideal to which I strive (“Savishna”, “Orphan”, “Eremushka”, “Child”).” The recognition of the song by friends prompted the composer to compose four more plays: “In the Corner”, “Bug”, “With a Doll”, “Coming to Bedtime”. These five works, at Stasov’s suggestion, received the general name “Children’s. Episodes from a child's life." The critic admired the cycle: “What strings of pearls and diamonds, what unheard-of music!” Repin heard “The Nursery,” calling it “a truly wonderful thing,” and, captivated by the “picturesqueness” of all five scenes, he drew the title page for the cycle. In 1872, music publisher V. Bessel published “Children’s” with drawings by Repin, and music fans in Russia and abroad were able to get acquainted with it. In Weimar, the great Liszt played the “Children’s Room”, and it delighted him and everyone present. Mussorgsky, who idolized Liszt, found out about this and shared his joy with Stasov: “I never thought that Liszt, with a few exceptions, choosing colossal subjects, could seriously understand and appreciate the “Children’s Room”, and most importantly, admire it; after all, the children in it are Russians, with a strong local smell.”
Who are these Russian children? Where does this knowledge of child psychology come from?
At the time of the creation of the vocal cycle Mussorgsky mostly lived in the family of his brother, whose children grew up before the eyes of the composer. Modest Petrovich was godfather nephew George. The baptism took place in the court Mariinsky Church in Pavlovsk, where the couple had two dachas. Tatyana Georgievna repeated more than once that her father was the composer’s favorite nephew. Modest Petrovich idolized him and treated him like his own son. When Georgy was studying in the Naval Corps, he spent all his free time with his uncle, since by this time his parents had left St. Petersburg for the Ryazan estate, which belonged to the wife of Filaret Petrovich. For his birthday, Modest Petrovich gave his nephew a bronze candlestick with two candles with the image of a knight. The Mussorgskys especially cherished this candlestick as a family heirloom, since the composer worked under it. The last keeper was Tatyana Georgievna. However, the candlestick disappeared during the siege, when the house was shelled. But the most expensive gift remained forever - the famous uncle dedicated the play “With a Doll” from the “Children’s” series to his nephews. On the sheet music of the play the author's date is “December 18, 1870. Tanyushka and Goga Mussorgsky." So, perhaps, the composer “copied” “Children’s Room” from his nephews. And in addition, he used observations of children when he visited friends’ houses in St. Petersburg, at dachas. The memoirs of the composer’s contemporaries also support this assumption. For example, this: “Cui’s children loved him [Mussorgsky] very much because, when playing with them, he did not make any condescension and frolicked with them like a child, from the heart...” However, the episodes described by Mussorgsky are clearly not dachas and do not in any way resemble Pavlovsk, with its luxurious palaces and parks. And the little heroes of the plays don’t look like St. Petersburg children. “Children's” depicts pictures of village life, and this is a village very far from the capital, with obvious Pskov dialect and features. And although the composer does not specifically name the location of the action, one can feel from the text that it is familiar and close to him. The first play in the series “With Nanny” is written in the first person: “Tell me, nanny, tell me, dear.” The composer mentioned that the Mussorgskys’ nanny was a master of telling fairy tales in the lines of his “Autobiography”: “Under the direct influence of the nanny, I became closely acquainted with Russian fairy tales.” The wise and kind nanny of Karev also knew many legends and sayings and applied them in all cases of life. In the play, the child asks the nanny to tell him about something good - a kind, cheerful fairy tale: “You know, nanny: don’t talk about the beech tree!” It is more interesting for a child to hear about the king who was limping: “as soon as he stumbles, a mushroom will grow,” or about the wonderful island, “where they neither reap nor sow, where pears grow and ripen.” This island is quite real - it stands on Lake Zizhitsky and is called Dolgiy. There, even now, you can pick a bucket of strawberries with blueberries or raspberries in half a day. And don’t the main characters of the “Children’s Room” - dad, mom, nanny, two brothers Mishenka and Vassenka and “old grandmother” - resemble the Mussorgsky family - father, mother, brothers Filaret and Modest, nanny Ksenia Semyonovna and grandmother Irina Egorovna . Even more noteworthy is the “similarity” with the life of the play “To Bedtime.” Here the nanny teaches a serf girl, who is introduced to the brothers as a cousin, to pray. In the “Prayer” of the cycle and in the “Confessional Paintings” there are the same names: Aunt Katya, Aunt Natasha, Aunt Masha, Aunt Parasha... Uncles Volodya, Grisha, Sasha, as well as children: Filka, Vanka, Mitka, Petka, Dasha, Pasha, Dunyasha... It seems that the play “Beetle” is also inspired by the composer’s childhood memories. Such games, such close communication with nature, are possible only on a small rural estate, and certainly not at a dacha in Pavlovsk. “I played there, on the sand, behind the gazebo, where there are birch trees; I built a house from maple splinters, the ones my mother made for me.” The cradle of this brilliant, powerful sensitivity of Mussorgsky is his homeland, the land of Pskov, it was here that the composer first heard, as he noted in one of his letters, “the sound of his native string...”
Choirs
“Joshua”, choir for soloists, choir and piano;; cit.: 1866 (1st ed.), 1877 (2nd ed.); dedicated to: Nadezhda Nikolaevna Rimskaya-Korsakova; ed.: 1883 (edited and orchestrated by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov).
“Shamil’s March”, for tenor, bass, choir and orchestra; cit.: 1859; Dedicated to: Alexander Petrovich Arsenyev.
"The Defeat of Sennacherib" for choir and orchestra to words by J. N. G. Byron from "Hebrew Melodies"; cit.: 1867 (1st ed.), 1874 (2nd ed.; postscript by Mussorgsky: “Second presentation, improved according to the comments of Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov”); dedicated to: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1st ed.); Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (2nd ed.); ed.; 1871 (1st edition for choir with piano).
“Oh, you drunken grouse” (From the adventures of Pakhomych), song based on the composer’s words; cit.: 1866; dedicated to: Vladimir Vasilyevich Nikolsky; ed.: 1926 (edited by A. N. Rimsky-Korsakov).
“Without the Sun”, vocal cycle based on words by A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1. “Within four walls”; 2. “You didn’t recognize me in the crowd”; 3. “The idle noisy day is over”; 4. “Bored” ; 5. “Elegy”; 6. “Over the River”); cit.: 1874; dedicated to: A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov; ed.: 1874.
“Merry Hour”, drinking song to the words of A. V. Koltsov; cit.: 1858; dedicated<:
Василию Васильевичу Захарьину; изд.: 1923.
“Evening Song” to the words of A. N. Pleshcheev; cit.: 1871; dedicated to: Sofya Vladimirovna Serbina (Fortunato); ed.: 1912 (freely edited by V. G. Karatygina), 1929 (edited by author).
“Vision”, romance to the words of A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov; cit.: 1877; dedicated: Elizaveta Andreevna Gulevich; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.).
“Where are you, little star”, song to the words of N. P. Grekov; cit.: 1858; dedicated: I, L. Grunberg; ed.: 1909 (only with French text), 1911 (with Russian and German text, edited by V. G. Karatygin).
“Hopak”, a song based on words from the poem “Haydamaky” by T. G. Shevchenko, translated. L. A. Meya; cit.: 1866; dedicated to: Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov; ed.: 1933.
“The soul quietly flew through the heavens”, romance to the words of A.K. Tolstoy; cit.: 1877; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.).
“Children’s” (Episodes from a child’s life), vocal cycle to the words of the composer (1. “With a nanny”; op.: 1868; dedicated to: A. S. Dargomyzhsky; 2. “In the corner”, op.: 1870; dedicated .: V. A. Hartman; 3. “Beetle”; dedicated to: V. V. Stasov; 4. “With a doll”, op.: 1870; 5. “For the coming sleep”; op.: 1870; dedicated to Sasha Cui); ed.: 1871 (No. 2, 3, 4), 1872 (entirely) and 1907 (with the addition of the songs “Sailor the Cat” and “Rided on a Stick”).
“Children's Song” to the words of L. A. Mey from “Rusnatsky Songs” (No. 2 “Nana”) op.: 1868; ed.: 1871.
“The winds are blowing, violent winds”, song to the words of A.V. Koltsov; cit.: 1864; dedicated to: Vyacheslav Alekseevich Loginov; ed.: 1909 (Paris; only with French text), 1911 (edited by V. G. Karatygin), 1931 (ed.).
“Jewish Song” to the words of L. A. May (from the “Song of Songs”); cit.: 1867;
dedicated to: Filaret Petrovich and Tatyana Pavlovna Mussorgsky; ed.: 1868
“Desire”, romance to words by G. Heine, trans. M. I. Mikhailova; cit.: 1866; dedicated to: Nadezhda Petrovna Opochinina (“in memory of her trial against me”); ed.: 1911 (edited by V. G. Karatygina), 1933 (ed.).
“Forgotten”, vocal ballad to the words of A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov “from Vereshchagin”; cit.: 1874; dedicated to: V.V. Vereshchagin; ed.: 1874 (not authorized for publication) and 1877.
“Evil Death”, funeral letter for voice with f-p. to the words of the composer; op.: 1874 (under the impression of the death of N.P. Opochinina); ed.: 1912 (edited by V. G. Karatygin, who completed the last 12 bars).
“Many have grown from my tears,” romance to the words of G. Heine (translated by M. I. Mikhailov); cit.: 1866; dedicated to: Vladimir Petrovich Opochinin; ed.: 1933.
“Kalistrat”, song with lyrics by N. A. Nekrasov (slightly modified); cit.: 1864; dedicated to: Alexander Petrovich Opochinin; ed.: 1883 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1931 (ed.).
"Classic", music. pamphlet on the composer's words; cit.: 1867; dedicated to: Nadezhda Petrovna Opochinina; ed.: 1870.
“The Goat,” a secular fairy tale with lyrics by the composer; cit.: 1867; dedicated to: Alexander Porfirievich Borodin; ed.: 1868.
“Eremushka’s Lullaby”, song to lyrics by N. A. Nekrasov; cit.: 1868; dedicated: “To the great teacher of musical truth, Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky”; ed.: 1871.
“Cat Sailor”, song based on the composer’s words for the cycle “Children’s” (see), No. 6; cit.: 1872; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, together with the song “I went on a stick” under the general title “At the Dacha”) and 1907 (as No. 6 of the “Children’s” cycle).
“The leaves rustled sadly”, music. story based on words by A. N. Pleshcheev; cit.: 1859; dedicated to: Mikhail Osipovich Mikeshin; ed.: 1909 (Paris, with one French text), 1911 (with Russian text, edited by V. G. Karatygin), 1931 (ed.).
“Baby”, romance to the words of A. N. Pleshcheev; cit.: 1866; dedicated to: L. V. Azaryeva, published: 1923.
“I have many towers and gardens,” romance with words by A. V. Koltsov; cit.: 1863; dedicated to: Platon Timofeevich Borispolets; ed.: 1923.
“Prayer”, romance to the words of M. Yu. Lermontov; cit.: 1865; dedicated to: Yulia Ivanovna Mussorgskaya; ed.: 1923.
“Incomprehensible”, romance with lyrics by the composer; cit.: 1875; dedicated to: Maria Izmailovna Kostyurina; ed.: 1911 (edited by V. G. Karatygina), 1931 (ed.).
“But if I could meet you,” romance with words by V. S. Kurochkin; cit.: 1863; dedicated to: Nadezhda Petrovna Opochinina; ed.: 1923, 1931 (ed.).
“Night”, fantasy based on words by A. S. Pushkin; op.: 1864 (1st ed.), 1871
(2nd ed. with a free presentation of Pushkin’s poem); dedicated to: Nadezhda Petrovna Opochinina; ed.: 1871 (2nd ed.), 1923 (1st ed.), 1931 (ed.). “Mischief”, song based on the composer’s words; cit.: 1867; dedicated to: Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov; ed.: 1871.
“Oh, what an honor it is for a fine fellow to spin flax,” a song based on the words of A.K. Tolstoy;
cit.: 1877; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.).
“Rejected”, an experience of recitative to the words of Ivan. G.M.; cit.: 1865; ed.: 1923.
“Why, tell me, soul-maiden,” song with lyrics by an unknown author; cit.: 1858; dedicated to: Zinaida Afanasyevna Burtseva; ed.: 1867. “Songs and Dances of Death”, vocal cycle to the words of A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1. “Lullaby”; op.: 1875; dedicated to: Anna Yakovlevna Petrova-Vorobyova; 2. “Serenade”; com.: 1875; dedicated to: Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova; 3. “Trepak”; com.: 1875; dedicated to: Osip Afanasyevich Petrov; 4. “Commander”; com.: 1877; ; ed.: 1882 (edited by I. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1928 (ed.).
“Song of the Old Man” to the words of J. V. Goethe (from “Wilhelm Meister”); cit.: 1863; dedicated to: Alexander Petrovich Opochinin; ed.: 1909 (Paris, with one French text), 1911 (with Russian text, edited by V. G. Karatygin), 1931 (ed.). “The Song of Mephistopheles” to the words of I. V. Goethe (from “Faust” translated by A. N. Strugovshikov); cit.: 1879; dedication: Daria Mikhailovna Leonova; ed.: 1883 (edited by I. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.). “Feast”, story for voice and piano. to the words of A.V. Koltsov; Op.:
1867; dedicated to: Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova; ed.: 1868. “Picking Mushrooms,” a song based on the words of L. A. Mey; cit.: 1867; dedicated to: Vladimir Vasilyevich Nikolsky; ed.: 1868. “Ride on a stick”, song based on the composer’s words for the cycle “Children’s” (see), No. 7; cit.: 1872; dedicated to: Dmitry Vasilyevich and Poliksena Stepanovna Stasov; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, together with the song “Cat Sailor” under the general title “At the Dacha”) and 1907 (as No. 7 of the “Children’s” cycle). “The garden is blooming over the Don”, song based on the words of A.V. Koltsov; cit.: 1867;
ed.: 1883 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1929 (ed.). “Rayok”, music, joke for voice with f-p. to the words of the composer; Op.:
1870; dedicated to: Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov; ed.: 1871. “Dispersing, parting,” song based on the words of A.K. Tolstoy; cit.: 1877; dedicated to: Olga Andreevna Golenishcheva-Kutuzova; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.). “Svetik Savishna”, song with lyrics by the composer; cit.: 1866; dedication:
Caesar Antonovich Cui; ed.: 1867. “Seminarist”, song based on the composer’s words; cit.: 1866; dedicated to: Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova; ed.: 1870.
“Orphan”, song based on the composer’s words; cit.: 1868; dedicated to: Ekaterina Sergeevna Protopopova; ed.: 1871,
“Arrogance”, song to the words of A.K. Tolstoy; cit.: 1877; dedicated to: Anatoly Evgrafovich Palchikov; ed.: 1882 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov).
“Sleep, sleep, peasant son”, lullaby to the words of A. N. Ostrovsky (from the comedy “The Voevoda”); cit.: 1865; dedicated: In memory of Yulia Ivanovna Mussorgskaya; ed.: 1871 (2nd ed.), 1922 (1st ed.).
“The Wanderer”, romance to the words of A. N. Pleshcheev; cit.: 1878; ed.: 1883 (edited by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), 1934 (ed.).
“White-sided Chirping”, a joke for a voice with a f-p. to the words of A. S. Pushkin (from the poems “The Chirping White-sided One” and “The Bells Are Ringing” - with minor changes); cit.: 1867; dedicated to: Alexander Petrovich and Nadezhda Petrovna Opochinin; ed.: 1871.
"King Saul", a Hebrew melody to the words of J. N. G. Byron, trans.
P. A. Kozlova; cit.: 1863 (1st and 2nd ed.); dedicated to: Alexander Petrovich Opochinin (1st ed.); ed.: 1871 (2nd ed.), 1923 (1st ed.).
“What do you need words of love”, romance to the words of A. N. Ammosov; cit.: 1860; dedicated to: Maria Vasilievna Shilovskaya; ed.: 1923.
“Meines Herzens Sehnsuchb (“The Desire of the Heart”), a romance based on a German text by an unknown author; cit.: 1858; dedicated to: Malvina Bamberg; ed.: 1907.
