Alexander Dargomyzhsky: biography, interesting facts, work

Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky

Unrecognized geniuses consider themselves to be many of those who did not smile at creative success. But the true meaning of talent is known only by time - it covers someone with oblivion, and endows someone with immortality. The unusual talent of Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was not appreciated by his contemporaries, but it was his contribution to Russian music that turned out to be the most significant for several subsequent generations of Russian composers.

A brief biography of Alexander Dargomyzhsky and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.

Short biography Dargomyzhsky

On February 2, 1813, Alexander Dargomyzhsky was born. The place of his birth is known for certain that it was a village in the province of Tula, but historians still argue about its exact name. However, it was not she who played a significant role in the fate of the composer, but the estate Tverdunovo belonging to his mother, to which little Sasha was brought several months old. The estate was located in the Smolensk province, not far from the village of Novospasskoye, the tribal nest of the first Russian classical composer M.I. Glinka, with whom Dargomyzhsky will be very friendly. As a child, Sasha did not spend much time at the estate — in 1817 the family moved to St. Petersburg. But later he repeatedly came there for inspiration and the study of folk art.

According to the biography of Dargomyzhsky, in the capital, a seven-year-old boy began to learn to play the piano, which he mastered delicately. But writing was his real passion; at 10 he was already the author of several plays and romances. Seriously this hobby did not concern neither Sasha's teachers, nor parents. And at the age of 14 he entered the service in the newly created Control of the Ministry of the Imperial Court. In his work, he was distinguished by his zeal and quickly moved up the job ladder. Without ceasing, however, to write music. Romances, composed at that time, began to conquer Petersburg salons and were soon performed literally in every living room. Having got acquainted with MI Glinka, Dargomyzhsky independently studied the basics of composition and counterpoint on the manuscripts brought by him from Germany by Professor Z. Den.

In 1843, Alexander Sergeevich resigned and spent the next two years abroad, communicating with prominent composers and musical figures of his era. Upon his return, he began to study Russian folklore, especially on the example of songs from the Smolensk province. One result of this was the creation of the opera "Mermaid". In the late 50s, Dargomyzhsky draws closer to the circle of budding composers, who would later be called the "Mighty Handful". In 1859 he joined the consultants of the Russian Musical Society.

In 1861, after the abolition of serfdom, Alexander Sergeevich became one of the first landowners who liberated the peasants, leaving them land without charging a monetary payment. Alas, human generosity did not make his creative destiny any more successful. Against this background, his health began to deteriorate steadily, and on January 5, 1869, the composer was no more.

Interesting facts about Dargomyzhsky

• Dargomyzhsky was short, thin, with a high forehead and small features. Modern to him wits dubbed him a "sleepy kitten." From the illness he had suffered in childhood, he spoke late and his voice remained unusually high for a man for his whole life. At the same time, he sang beautifully, performing his own romances with such a feeling that one day, while listening to him, even L.N. Tolstoy. He impressed women with his charm, sense of humor and impeccable treatment.
• The composer’s father, Sergey Nikolaevich, was the illegitimate son of the landowner A.P. Ladyzhensky, and got his last name by the name of the estate of his stepfather Dargomyzh. The composer's mother, Maria Borisovna Kozlovskaya, came from a noble family, originating from Rurikovich. Her parents denied the petty official in her daughter’s hand, so they married in secret. 6 children were born in marriage, Alexander was the third. Sergey Nikolaevich happened to bury his beloved spouse, and his four children, and even two granddaughters. Of the entire large family of Alexander Sergeevich, the only sister survived was Sergey S. Stepanova. She raised two daughters of Erminia’s younger sister, who died in 1860. Her son, Sergei Nikolaevich Stepanov, and two nieces became the only descendants of Dargomyzhskys.

• Sergey Nikolayevich Dargomyzhsky highly appreciated the sense of humor in people and encouraged the development of this quality in his children, for a successful acuity or a clever phrase by awarding them 20 kopecks.
• Biography Dargomyzhsky says that Alexander Sergeevich was never married. There were rumors about his romantic relationship with Love Miller, whom he taught singing. For many years, he had a delicate friendship with his student Lyubov Belenitsyna (in marriage with Karmalina), as evidenced by the surviving extensive correspondence. The last were devoted to several of his romances.
• Throughout his life, the composer lived with his parents. After the death of his father, he lived for several years in the family of his sister Sofia Sergeyevna, and then he rented an apartment in the same house.
• In 1827 the book of children's poems and plays by MB was printed. Dargomyzhskaya "Gift of my daughter." Poetry was dedicated to the younger sister of the composer Lyudmila.

• In the family Dargomyzhskikh music sounded constantly. In addition to Maria Borisovna and Alexander, who played the piano, Brother Erast owned the violin, and sister Erminia - the harp.
• The opera Esmeralda was written on the libretto by V. Hugo, translated into Russian by Dargomyzhsky.
• The composer for several years taught singing to amateur singers at no cost to the student. One of his students was A.N. Purgold, sister of spouse N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
• Dargomyzhsky was a great empathetic accompanist, reading sheet music like a book. He learned the parts from his own operas with the singers. As a composer, he always ensured that the piano accompaniment of arias or romances was extremely simple to perform and did not eclipse the performer’s voice.
• In 1859, the Petersburg Opera House burnt down, where the claviers of operas of Russian composers were kept. "Mermaid" was among them. And only because of the occasion, the score was not irretrievably lost - two weeks before the fire it was copied before being sent to Moscow to be performed at the benefit performance of the singer Semenova.
• Miller's party was one of the most beloved by F.I. Chaliapin, he often performed arias from "Mermaids" at concerts. In 1910, at one of the performances, the conductor dragged the tempo, which is why the singer himself had to beat them with his foot so as not to choke in the Aryans. In the intermission, seeing the director approving of the conductor’s actions, he went home in anger. He was returned to the theater, and he finished the play, but a big scandal broke out in the press, to correct the situation, the director of the imperial theaters urgently left for Moscow. As a conflict resolution, Chaliapin was allowed to direct the performances in which he participated. So "Mermaid" gave the art of Chaliapin-director.
• Some Pushkin scholars believe that the poet initially conceived "Rusalka" as an operatic libretto.

• Money for the production of "The Stone Guest" was collected by all of Petersburg. The composer has appointed the price of his opera at 3000 rubles. Imperial theaters did not pay such money to Russian authors, the limit was exhausted by 1,143 rubles. C.A. Cui and V.V. Stasov appeared in print with the coverage of this fact. Readers of the St. Petersburg Gazette began to send money to buy the opera. Thus it was delivered in 1872.
• Today, the composer is rarely performed at home and barely know in the world. In the west, there is A. Dvorak's "Mermaid", which has popular arias. The Stone Guest is complex for perception, and besides, the translation largely loses the connection between music and Pushkin's verse, and therefore the very idea of ​​an unusual opera. Every year in the world of opera Dargomyzhsky performed only about 30 times.

Creativity Alexander Dargomyzhsky

The first works of Sasha Dargomyzhsky are dated to the 1820s — these are five piano pieces of diverse character. From the biography of Dargomyzhsky, we learn that by the age of 19 the composer already had several editions of chamber works and romances, and was popular in the salon circles. A case intervened in his creative fate - a rapprochement with MI. Glinka. Help in preparing for the production of "Life for the Tsar" in Dargomyzhsky inflamed the desire to write the opera itself. But his focus was not on epic or heroic themes, but on personal drama. Initially, he turned to the history of Lucrezia Borgia, drawing up a plan for the opera and writing several numbers. However, on the advice of the inner circle broke up with this plan. Another plot was given to him by the most popular novel of that time, “Notre Dame de Paris” by V. Hugo. The composer called his opera "Esmeralda", it was completed by 1839, but saw the scene only in 1847. For 8 years, the opera lay in the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters without movement, receiving neither approval nor refusal. The premiere in Moscow was very successful. In 1851 Esmeralda It was shown in the Moscow Alexandrinsky Theater, with only 3 performances, the musical circles perceived the opera favorably, but critics and the public accepted it coolly, and this was largely due to the careless performance and poor performance.

Dargomyzhsky writes romances, among them - unique works of the comic genre, and a cantata "The triumph of Bacchus"on Pushkin's verses. She was performed only once, then reworked into an opera-ballet, but in this form lay for 20 years in notes without receiving approval for staging. Depressed by such a fate of his large compositions, the composer hardly took up writing a new opera , also on Pushkin's plot. "Mermaid"created over the course of 7 years. Alexander Sergeevich received a creative impulse from a concert in 1853, in which the audience grandly accepted his works, and he himself was awarded a silver band with a wand decorated with precious stones." Mermaid "was soon set in 1856, through a year after the end, but just as quickly and left the stage - after only 11 performances, although the audience liked it in general. The staging was again very bad, with old costumes and decorations from the selection. The Mariinsky Theater turned to her again 1865, a very successful renewal was led by EF Napravnik.

The 1860s brought a new stage to the composer’s work. Several symphonic works were created, with which he went to Europe. The overtures from the Mermaids and the symphonic fantasy performed in Belgium were warmly received.Kazachok". Back in Petersburg, Dargomyzhsky again turns to the plot of his great namesake, Pushkin. V"Stone Guest"there is no own libretto, the music is written directly on the poet's text. Two additional songs by Laura are added, one of which is also Pushkin's verses. The composer did not have time to finish this work, having bequeathed to finish his last work of C. Cui, and to orchestrate N. Rimsky-Korsakov. The premiere of The Stone Guest was held three years after the death of Alexander Sergeevich. As has happened before, the opinions about this innovative work diverged, primarily because few could see the unusual form of recitatives, who changed arias and ensembles, the exact correspondence of music to the rhythm of Pushkin's verse and the drama of his characters

Music Dargomyzhskogo in cinema

Cinema appealed to the work of Alexander Sergeyevich only twice. In 1966, Vladimir Gorikker shot the film of the same name on the opera "The Stone Guest". V. Atlantov, I. Pechernikova (sings T. Milashkina), E. Lebedev (sings A. Vedernikov), L. Trembovelskaya (sings T. Sinyavskaya) were starring. In 1971, the opera-movie "Mermaid" with E. Suponev (sings I.Kozlovsky), O. Novak, A. Krivchenei, G. Koroleva appeared on the screens.

Not the first, like Glinka, not ingenious, like Mussorgsky, not prolific, like Rimsky-Korsakov ... Disappointed and disappointed with the difficulties he faced while trying to present his operas to the audience. What is the main meaning of Dargomyzhsky for Russian music? By withdrawing from the powerful influence of Italian and French composing schools, he went through art in a unique way, following his own aesthetic tastes alone, without indulging the public. That made the sound and the word inextricably linked. It will take quite a bit of time, and Mussorgsky and Richard Wagner will give their vision of this direction. He was honest and did not betray his ideals, and the value of his work was shown by time, putting the name of Dargomyzhsky among the best Russian composers.