The message of the soul is a modern Russian romance finale. Romances - only for voice and piano
RUSSIAN ROMANCE - THE SOUL OF THE PEOPLE
Romance creativity of composers of the first half of the 19th century was born on the basis of folk song lyrics. The flourishing of the vocal creativity of the composers of this period was accompanied by a high rise in Russian poetry in the pre-Pushkin and Pushkin era. Developing during the heyday of Russian poetry, the romance sensitively reflected its themes, stylistic evolution and figurative structure. Batyushkova K.N., Baratynsky E.A., Delvig A.A. and especially Pushkin A.S..
Pushkin's poetry enriched the Russian romance and made it a major artistic phenomenon. In the composers' work, those genres of the Russian romance developed, which later received a high, perfect embodiment by classical composers. Two important lines of vocal lyrics are defined - romance and "Russian song". The term "romance" was established in Russian musical use at the very beginning of the 19th century. This name meant a lyrical vocal work with instrumental accompaniment, created on an independent poetic text. Another genre of vocal chamber music - "Russian song" - is closer to folklore samples. The “Russian song” is the most beloved, widespread genre in the music of the first half of the 19th century; it developed under the influence of a deep interest in folk art, which appeared almost simultaneously in music and poetry. Many “Russian songs” by A.A. Alyabyev, A. E. Varlamov, A.L. Gurilev “returned to the people” and became popular - the composers so subtly and poetically managed to translate the features of folk song lyrics into them. Romance lyrics largely determined the appearance of Russian musical art in the first half of the 19th century. In the simplest genre of romance, the foundations of the national musical style and language, intonation principles of Russian melody developed.
In addition to the "Russian song", the formation of the main varieties of Russian romance - elegy, ballads, drinking songs, etc. dates back to this time. The elegy, reaching great heights in the work of Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, extraordinarily enriched the romance with elements and intonations of Russian poetic speech. With an elegy, it also includes the sizes typical of Russian versification - four- and five-foot iambs, which determined a special type of melody: sad-melodious, declamatory. To the genre of elegy in the XX century. Taneyev, Rachmaninov, Medtner addressed. The ballad genre is distinguished by plot, narrative, hence the appearance of bright and expressive means. Unlike Western poetry, Russian ballads are characterized by a more realistic development of the plot (western ones are characterized by fantastic plots with elements of mysticism). Through the ballad, imagery of harmony and texture comes to Russian vocal lyrics. intonations emphasizing especially significant words of the text. The Russian ballad, developing in line with the realistic direction, absorbed historical plots, heroic themes and freedom-loving motives. Examples are Glinka's "Night review" to the words of Zhukovsky, Dargomyzhsky's "Wedding", Borodin's "Sea". “The imagery of harmony and texture comes to Russian vocal lyrics to a large extent through the ballad” (V. Vasina-Grossman). A common feature of the romance lyrics of the Pushkin era was its close connection with the poetic form. Composers very subtly feel the stanza, rhythm, and structure of the verse. In the romance genre, a harmonious classical form is gradually being developed - most often strophic, couplet.
The most common type of couplet is a simple two-part form, corresponding to a stanza of eight verses (rarely a period form). The harmonic plan of a romance is usually determined by modulation into the dominant system (in major works) or the parallel major system (in minor works) with a return to the main key. The peculiarity of the vocal melody was the initial "sing-along" with a wide jump by a sixth (sometimes by a fifth or an octave) up and a subsequent smooth descent. Soft, "feminine endings" of phrases, languid chromatisms, intra-syllable chants that emphasize the smoothness of the melody are typical. , gruppetto) are completely dependent on the style of vocal performance, they are organically included in the musical fabric. The dance rhythms of the waltz, mazurka, polonaise played an important role in the development of the Russian romance. Dancing in Russian romance sometimes becomes a means of figurativeness, portrait characteristics of heroes. Dance rhythms had a noticeable influence on poetry as well. Composers turn to stories related to the East, the Caucasus, Italy, Spain. The melody and rhythm of romances were enriched, primarily by multinational, dance elements. In the musical heritage of A.A. Alyabyev's vocal lyrics occupies a special place; even during the composer's lifetime, romances created great fame for him.
In the first period of his creative work, the composer turns mainly to the elegiac, contemplative images of Russian poetry. He is attracted by the poetry of Zhukovsky, the bright lyrics of Delvig, the youthful poetry of Pushkin. The romances “Voice from the other world”, “Remembrance” (to the words of Zhukovsky), “Singer”, “Tear” (to the words of Pushkin) are typical for the young Alyabyev. The songs-romances written by him in the 1920s “The Nightingale”, “In the Evening the Blush of the Dawn”, “The Ring of the Maiden Soul” have firmly entered the life of simple layers of Russian society. A.A. Delviga, which has become a kind of synonym for everyday song lyrics of the Pushkin era. In it, the composer managed to generalize the typical features of sensitive lyrical songs-romances of urban life, while maintaining the noble simplicity and elegance of his vocal style. folk song modal variability. The melody, covering the range of the octave, smoothly modulates in the first sentence of their minor into a parallel major, while forming the characteristic intonation of "chromatism at a distance" (C-sharp - C, v. 3-5). In the second sentence, it is colored by a colorful deviation into the major key of the 7th degree (C major, v.12), in order to return to the D minor tonic.
The cadence with a colorful juxtaposition of the minor and major dominant accentuates the smoothness of the melody. A kind of "leitingtonation" of the song is the final ascending melodic move from the dominant to the tonic along the steps of the melodic minor scale - typical of everyday Russian romance. In the fast chorus (Allegro vivace), which affirms the main key, the same characteristic stylistic feature is the Russian sext chant - a move from the fifth to the third of the fret. Alyabyev's song has spread all over Russia and has become in the true sense of the word folk. The wide popularity of the work was facilitated by its piano adaptations - Glinka's variations on the The Nightingale (1834) and Liszt's virtuoso transcription (1842). Alyabyev enriched vocal music with new content and new means of musical expression. In the composer's romances, attention was paid to harmonic expression, expressive means of timbre and color. Alyabyev's harmony always emphasizes the meaning of the vocal melody, enriches it with subtle emotional nuances. Typical for the composer are the juxtaposition of major and minor keys of the same name (in details and large parts of the form), sudden enharmonic modulations, the use of altered chords, and expressive unisons. His favorite sustained organ points and ostinato figurations in the bass are used in different ways in romances of various genres - either as a pictorial, genre or coloristic device (oriental dances from the collection "Caucasian Singer"), then as a moment of purely psychological significance ("Beggar Woman") .Alyabyev introduced a great variety into the interpretation of the form of the romance, subordinating the general structure of the romance to the development of the poetic plot, using, depending on the text, various types of composition. stanzas (“The Beggar Woman”), three-part reprise forms, sometimes complicated by variational development (“Like a small village stands behind the river”), free forms of through development, typical of ballad romances or dramatic monologues (“What is clouded, clear dawn”, “Awakening” , “The Village Watchman”). The piano part is often the carrier of the main poetic image. Short instrumental introductions in the romances “Winter Road” and “Two Crows” with a few sparing strokes convey the figurative structure of Pushkin’s poems. A.L. Gurilev consists of two main genres - vocal lyrics and piano miniature. The appearance of the composer as a master of romance cannot be correctly understood if one does not take into account the important artistic and expressive role of piano accompaniment in his best romances. The prevailing idea about the allegedly "primitive" style of Gurilev is now completely refuted by domestic musicologists who have managed to correctly establish in his vocal and piano music common features great grace and subtle penetrating lyricism. The heyday of Gurilev's work falls on the 40s, when the folk song of urban life was enriched with new themes. The composer reflected the folk song of his time, first of all, in the collection “47 Russian Folk Songs for Voice and Piano”. This material is currently one of the most valuable sources on the history of Russian urban folklore in the first half of the 19th century. It contains, along with songs-romances of urban origin, also songs of the old peasant tradition. These are, first of all, the drawn-out songs “Luchinushka”, “Not one path in the field”, “Oh, you, my steppe.” In his songs, Gurilev often uses the techniques of ornamental variation, either coloring the theme, or accompanying it with variations in accompaniment. The content of the collection is a kind of "encyclopedia" of urban songs of the 30s and 40s. Gurilev's Russian Songs, which are widespread in folk life, are closely connected with the tradition of everyday music-making. They are dominated by the composer's characteristic circle of lyrical-elegiac images, thoughtful and contemplative moods. The composer almost does not turn to the lingering melody of a wide-singing warehouse - he builds his melody on shorter, but flexible and plastic chants. Of great expressive importance in Gurilev's songs is the character of rhythmic movement, almost always associated with the waltz formula. It can be said that waltz is the main hallmark "Russian songs" by Gurilev, in which the plastic grace of dance is always felt. Only some samples of folk songs (including "Mother Dove", "Sarafanchik") were written by Gurilev in two-part meter. However, waltz does not contradict the bright national tradition of songs. With great skill, the composer melts the typical rhythms of the waltz into the intonational structure of the Russian folk song and, as it were, rethinks them in Russian melos. . This poetic meter naturally fits the composer in a three-part, waltz metrorhythm (“Don't make noise, rye, with a ripe ear”, “Girl's sadness”, “A gray-winged swallow is winding”, “Tiny house”, etc.). The smoothness of the waltz movement, combined with Russian song intonations, gives these Gurilev songs a special touch of soft sensitivity. Smooth, sliding chromatisms, rounded cadence turns are typical. One of the best examples of this elegiac song-romance style can be the popular “Russian song” “The gray-winged swallow is winding.” The song “Bell” is distinguished by penetrating, deep lyricism. With poetic sadness, the composer conveys a picture of Russian nature, the dull sounds of the coachman's song. Characteristic is the complete fusion of text and music, melody and words, which speaks of Gurilev's subtle "poetic ear", of his ability to understand the music of the verse. The composer, using a waltz movement typical of him, uses a poetic meter (often found in Nekrasov) - a three-foot anapaest: “The bell rattles monotonously, and the road is slightly dusty ...” In his songs, Gurilev touched on the theme of a girl’s share, which is characteristic of Russian folk poetry. The images of Russian girls, the sphere of femininity corresponded perfectly to Gurilev's subtle and gentle manner of writing, the intimate intimacy of his style. The genre of "female portrait" is represented in such songs as "Sarafanchik", "Fortune-telling", "Guess, my dear", "Who sheds tears", etc. The composer's romances, in comparison with "Russian songs", did not gain wide popularity, behind a few exceptions, although Gurilev's romance work in the conditions of his time was a significant phenomenon. His best romances have points of contact with Varlamov, Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, whose work he undoubtedly loved and knew well. chromatic descents, soft cadenzas with female endings, opus and surroundings of the central sound with groupetto-type figures, for example, in the romance “Don't leave your native land”. A special group in the legacy of Gurilev are romances of a lyric-dramatic plan. In the romances "Separation" (lyrics by A.V. Koltsov), "I spoke at parting" (lyrics by A.A. Fet), "You poor girl", "Who pours tears, stretch out your hands" (lyrics by I.S. Aksakov ), in works based on the texts of M.Yu. Lermontov, the composer acts as a worthy contemporary of Dargomyzhsky, as a composer who managed to touch on deep psychological processes and show the hidden life of the human soul. Gurilev can rightly be considered one of the first talented interpreters of M.Yu. Lermontov. The composer's romances "Both boring and sad", "Justification" can be attributed to the new genre of "lyrical monologue", which was highly embodied in the work of his younger contemporary A. S. Dargomyzhsky. , naturally divided into short "colloquial" phrases, a compressed range. Expressive speech accents give the romance a special intonational mood of a simple statement, a conversation with oneself. The declamatory nuances of the vocal part are especially prominent against the background of the transparent and laconic piano accompaniment. Rhythmic stops in the piano part intensify the mood of mournful, painful reflection. Regardless of the genre, the distinguishing feature of Gurilev's romances is the subtlety of the piano texture. The piano part is technically simple, accessible for amateur performance. Meanwhile, the composer's piano texture is polished, it is distinguished by the purity and smoothness of voice leading, the elegance of expressive details. Often the composer enriches the piano part with undertones, short remarks, counterpointing with the main voice. The overall impression of grace is facilitated by the exact designations of the tempo, dynamics and nature of the performance. M.I. Glinka turned to romance lyrics throughout his life. “Each of his vocal works is a page or a line from his life, a particle of his delights, joys and sorrows,” wrote V.V. Stasov. But not only spiritual experiences of a person, but also images of the outside world, pictures of nature, genre and everyday moments are vividly reflected in Glinka's vocal lyrics. In terms of objectivity and breadth of content, his romances are compared with lyric poems A.S. Pushkin, it was in the music of Glinka that Pushkin's poetry first received an equivalent expression. It is impossible not to recall the words of G.G. Neuhaus, who wrote in one of his articles: “If a musician is an artist, then he cannot but feel the music of poetry with the same force with which he feels the poetry of music ... I consider Glinka's romances to be the most perfect music for Pushkin's poems. Music here is, as it were, a modest friend, an unpretentious companion of poetry, it does not impose anything, does not interfere in anything, its dignity and charm are in its “service role”. And all this is achieved by the amazing fidelity of the transmission of the intonational beginning of Pushkin's verse. From this point of view (and not only from this point of view), the slogan: “Forward to Glinka” seems to me the most fruitful for our young composers who set Pushkin's texts to music ... "Glinka's vocal work was the pinnacle and completion of a long period of development of chamber vocal culture, originated in the 18th century. The genres of sentimental-lyrical romance, elegy, "Russian song", ballads are raised by the composer to a new artistic level. The richness of the content in the composer's romances is combined with the high perfection of the artistic form. The vocal melody is distinguished by rare plasticity and completeness. Along with the couplet structure, he makes extensive use of a symmetrical three-part or three-to-five-part form with a contrasting middle episode. An important role in the overall composition of the romance is played by piano solo episodes, introductions and conclusions, which contain a generalized image of the romance. In romances, Glinka does not strive to complicate the texture, external virtuosity, however, despite the apparent simplicity of the means, they require high skill from the performer. It is known that Glinka, himself an outstanding singer and vocal teacher, mastered the technique of vocal performance to perfection. The composer created truly vocal romances, in which the leading role always belongs to the singer and the main content is expressed in a vivid melodic image. Almost all of Glinka's romances were written to the texts of contemporary Russian poets. They were created at the time of the high flowering of Russian lyric poetry. The composer subtly felt modern literary and artistic trends. The inextricable link between Russian music and modern poetry determines the whole path of development of Russian classical romance in the future. The lyrics of meditation and contemplation in the beautiful elegies of Glinka's contemporary poets - Zhukovsky, Baratynsky, Batyushkov, were in tune with creative aspirations young composer. The famous romance "Do not tempt" to the text of E.A. Baratynsky is a classically perfect example of the elegy genre in Russian music of the early 19th century. The mood of "mute anguish", languor and hidden hope, expressed in Baratynsky's poem, is conveyed by the composer with rare perfection. The melody of the romance is distinguished by noble simplicity; it harmoniously merges with the poetic text of Baratynsky, which is very expressive in itself. Glinka avoids the "anguish" so often found in the lyrics of the "cruel romance". The music of the romance is extremely simple. An expressive introduction, with falling sequences, immediately introduces the listener into the poetic structure of Baratynsky's poem. The mournful intonation further develops in the vocal part. Most of Glinka's "Russian songs" were written to the verses of A.A. Delvig. In this genre, the composer develops mainly lyrical plots. "Russian Songs" are imbued with sincere, dreamy moods, which brings them closer to the general atmosphere of the urban everyday romance of the 20s, but Glinka's style of everyday lyrics is sustained with great artistic taste. In the songs “Oh you, darling, beautiful girl”, “Oh you, is it night, night”, the composer does not go beyond the usual methods and means of everyday romance, the piano part is reduced to a minimum (restrained chords and simple guitar-type accompaniment), but precisely the simplicity of the texture in the "Russian songs" further emphasizes their song nature. The vocal part is presented in an improvisational manner and requires great performance skills from the singer. Glinka's romance "Don't sing, beauty, in front of me" to the words of A.S. Pushkin is one of the first attempts to embody the theme of the East in Russian music. The simple theme of a folk song was processed by the composer with his usual skill - a folk motive unfolds calmly and smoothly against the background of subtle harmonization with chromatic undertones in the middle voice. . The Italian theme found its classical reflection in the romances "Venetian Night" to the words of I. Kozlov, "Desire" to the verses of F. Romani, they feel a romantic feeling of beauty - youth, beauty, happiness. The romance-barcarolle "Venetian Night" has two editions , which differ significantly from each other in melodic and harmonic language. In performing practice, the second option is more often used, in which Glinka's desire to saturate the texture with polyphony, stroke and harmonic diversity was manifested. The rhythm of the barcarolle serves as the main means for recreating the musical landscape. Measured rhythmic swaying, "bursts of waves" in the accompaniment, a light melodic line expressively set off the poetic feeling of nature. Glinka showed constant interest in the Spanish theme. The element of rhythm, temperament and sincerity of feelings, nobility and warmth of soul - the qualities of the Spanish folk song that conquered Glinka. "Winner" to the words of V.A. Zhukovsky - a heroic "knightly" romance, permeated with active, energetic rhythms, saturated with ringing coloratura, glorifying the triumph of victory and the joy of love. The romance carries a touch of brilliant concert style. Despite the Polish polonaise laid in the rhythmic basis, the romance subtly breathes with Spanish flavor, the abundance of clearly organized vocal fioritas using the second low step, gives a “southern” shade to the melody and the entire musical language of the work. Some episodes of the piano accompaniment were also written in a virtuoso style, especially the final ritornello, where two important intonations of the romance and two main rhythmic patterns interact. The romances “I am here, Inezilla”, “Night marshmallow”, “Where is our rose”, “The fire of desire burns in the blood”, “I remember a wonderful moment” and the later created “Healthy Cup”, “Mary”, “Adel” are classic examples of the unity of music and poetry. The traditional genre of the "Spanish serenade" received a peculiar interpretation. In the romance "I'm Here, Inezilla", the traditional love serenade turns into a passionate confession - a monologue, a scene of love and jealousy. The impetuous, sharply accentuated melody takes on the shade of a dramatic recitation, expressively embodying Pushkin's image of determination and courage. The composer wrote the romance in three-part form, the extreme sections frame the central episode containing a love confession and jealous reproaches of the hero. Glinka expounds the theme concisely (14 bars, not 16), this achieves swiftness, rapidity of musical speech. This is also emphasized by rhythmic means - syncopations and accents on the words "with a sword", "I'm here", and a short piano conclusion. The genre of the serenade is confirmed by the "guitar" accompaniment, and the type of melody in the extreme sections (a slight rise and a smooth return in the extreme sections. The contrasting middle, like the extreme sections, is built on the principle of constant emotional forcing. From the accompanist, as well as from the soloist, instant figurative switching, elasticity are required rhythm, sometimes lightness, and sometimes richness of sound. The whole composition of the romance "Night Zephyr" (three-five-part form) is based on the contrast of two images. The first - the initial theme of the southern night, serves as a landscape background on which the love scene takes place, the second - a light and gentle serenade. The contrast of “landscape” and “serenade” is tinted by means of coloristic expressiveness, tertian comparison of tonalities, difference in registers and textural presentation (soft f-major, deaf roar of waves in the first part of the romance and light A major, guitar accompaniment in the love serenade). Three editions of the romance are known. Where is our rose? The "inner music" of this poem by Pushkin is based on the alternation of four and five-syllable verses. Glinka conveys the musicality of Pushkin's verse with the help of a flexible five-beat meter and a uniform, smooth rhythm. In the romance "Adel", next to the designation of the tempo Allegro in brackets, the composer indicates: Tempo di Polka, although a small four-bar introduction does not at all resemble this dance, it sounds pastoral, a reed theme, which in the further dramatic development is assigned a connecting role. Immediately after the first four bars of the vocal part, which sets the tone for the dance beginning of the romance, Glinka entrusts this theme to the voice (bars 11-16) and it sounds three times, first accompanied by a lyrical interlude, and then transformed into an enthusiastic hymn apotheosis of love. An important role in the dramaturgy of the romance is played by the piano part, not only in solo episodes, but also as an accompaniment. All piano losses are built on thematic material that has grown out of the material of the introduction. In the Bacchic drinking song "Zazdravny goblet" and another drinking song - "Mary", Glinka embodied the cheerful, epicurean moods of Pushkin's verse. "Zazravny goblet". The poet chooses a rarely used meter (dactyl) for his drinking ode, thanks to which the precise, chopped verse sounds full-blooded and concise. Glinka uses the entire poem as a text, primarily recreating a festive atmosphere in music. Glinka's "Cup" is a joyful, sonorous hymn in which there is no place for despondency. Glinka pays special attention to the form and content of the poem. In Pushkin, each stanza has its own “theme” (scold glory, beauty, love, wine). Glinka separates the stanzas from each other tonally (As, Es, E, As), limiting them also to the repetition of the final lines and piano interludes. The composer combines the principle of separation with the principle of unity, ending the last verse of each stanza with one melodic refrain, which ensures the dynamics of development and the integrity of the general mood. The romance "Mary" is written in three-part form. The extreme parts are built on similar musical material, the middle part is a kind of lyrical center. Glinka uses her favorite method of variant reprise, placing new episodes in the last part of the romance, echoing in mood with the middle part. Almost everywhere where the melody is repeated, the composer changes the texture of the accompaniment, as a result of which new facets of the intonation-figurative language of the romance are highlighted. In the vocal lyrics of the late 40s and 50s, the number of romances is small. Along with the cheerful, bright Pushkin romances, Glinka's work contains dramatic romances-monologues, full of tragic and mournful moods, hidden anxiety, painful meditation: "The Song of Margarita", "Prayer", "You will soon forget me", "Do not say that my heart hurts.” The second half of the 19th century was a period of extraordinary upsurge of creative forces in Russian music. The end of the 50s and 60s brought forward a whole galaxy of composers whose names are the pride and glory of Russia: P.I. Tchaikovsky, A.P. Borodin, M.P. Mussorgsky. Russian musical culture of the 80-90s shines with the names of S.I. Taneev, A.S. Arensky, A.K. Lyadov, A.K. Glazunov. In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian song from the subject of everyday music-making becomes the subject of close interest and study. During this period, as before, folk song and songwriting remain the basis of professional art, the nature of the ties between Russian romance and poetry will become more complicated. Poetry gives way to the leading role of prose, while at the same time experiencing its influence in relation to themes, plots, the nature of poetic speech (lexicon, syntax, etc.). . Mussorgsky, as well as in the work of A. Borodin, C. Cui, P. Tchaikovsky. During these years, poets of a different direction, such as A.A. Fet, A.K. Tolstoy, A.N. Maikov, Ya.P. Polonsky, Tyutchev created a lot of value in the field of psychological lyrics, revealed the beauty of their native nature, etc. The leading role at that time was taken by opera, as a form of musical art, most perceived by the broad masses of the people , and under the influence of operatic art, the dramatic possibilities of the romance are expanding. Not only individual romances are created, but also cycles of songs and romances of various themes. New heats of Russian vocal music appear: characteristic monologues, musical portraits, romances-poems, romances-serenades, etc. The role of piano accompaniment is growing significantly. Romance in the process of formation turns into a classically completed genre of vocal-symphonic poem, while retaining the sincerity and immediacy characteristic of chamber lyrics. The top, the culmination of Russian romance lyrics - the work of P.I. Tchaikovsky. The composer's chamber vocal work is the emotional dominant of vocal lyrics, a lyrical diary, on the pages of which we meet a passionate thirst for happiness and the bitterness of unfulfilled hopes, a feeling of acute spiritual discord and dissatisfaction, an ever-increasing contrast between high impulses towards the ideal and monotonous gray reality. The main part vocal creativity of Tchaikovsky belongs to the field of lyrics. The composer singles out in this or that poetic text, first of all, the dominant psychological motif, finds the corresponding musical intonation, which becomes the basis of a holistic composition. The role of the piano in Tchaikovsky's vocal lyrics is very great. The piano acts as an equal partner of the performer of the vocal part, and between them there is a kind of dialogue, a confidential conversation. The circle of poets whose work Tchaikovsky turned to is wide and varied. Among them there are also little-known names. The composer could be attracted by some successful, vivid image, a general emotional mood, or one motive, although on the whole the poem did not have significant poetic merit. The main part of the romances was written on highly artistic texts written by A.K. Tolstoy, V.I. A.N. Maykov, F.I. Tyutchev, A.A. Fet, Ya.P. Polonsky, A.N. Pleshcheeva, L.A. Meya, N.A. Nekrasov. The first series of romances by P.I. Tchaikovsky was published in 1869. Basically, these are romances of a lyric-elegiac nature, imbued with moods of sadness, regret for the lost happiness. Romances "No, only the one who knew", "Why?" (translated by L.A. Mey from Goethe and Heine) - the most popular examples of the composer's vocal lyrics. In the romance "No, only the one who knew" the depth and brightness of expression are combined with laconism and elegance of form. The melody unhurriedly unfolds, the initial move to a minor seventh in a downward movement gives it a special expressive poignancy, followed by a smooth gradual filling, a similar turn is used by Tchaikovsky as an intonation of mournful reflection or persistent assurance. An expressive dialogue arises between the vocal and piano parts and continues throughout the romance. The romance "Why?" - an example of a beautiful expressive nuance of one short melodic turn. A simple thoughtful phrase, which arose from the intonation of a timid question, reaches an almost tragic sound at the moment of climax. A small piano conclusion, as it were, restores the disturbed balance, but a desperate cry of suffering and pain continues to sound in the ears of the listeners. The words of the title of the romance serve as a refrain in the text of the poem, completing individual stanzas. Tchaikovsky gives them different meanings, intonations in different ways. The first two stanzas end softly and thoughtfully, while the third (which is the middle of the three-part form) sounds more expressive, due to the use of an increased fourth and a mournful descending few-second intonation. The fourth (last) stanza sounds especially dramatic, thanks to the interval of a reduced seventh with a further fall to a small sixth and transfer to a high register with a change in the dynamic shades of ff and p, these words are perceived as an exclamation of despair. Despite the fact that the romance was written in a simple three-part form, short in length, the composer achieves an extraordinary power of dramatic growth, creating a vividly dynamized reprise with the major replaced by the minor of the same name. In the 70s, the composer wrote almost half of all romances. The figurative-thematic sphere of vocal creativity is expanding, the range of expressive means becomes more diverse, new forms and genres of works for Tchaikovsky appear. Among them are a song in the folk spirit “How they got it right: a fool” (Mey’s words), an oriental romance “Canary” (Mey’s words), two mazurkas to the verses of A. Mickiewicz - “Ali mother gave birth to me” and “Pampered girl” imbued with bitter humor. During this period, the romances “Take away my heart” (Fet’s words) and “I would like to be in a single word” (Heine’s words in Mey’s translation) were composed, they are imbued with a single passionate impulse, similar not only in general emotional coloring, but also in the form of presentation : easily soaring, as if soaring melodic pattern of the vocal part, evenness and continuity of rhythmic pulsation within a six-beat measure corresponding to two feet of poetic text (anapestic and amphibrachic). The highest point in the development of Tchaikovsky's vocal work was the turn of the 70s and 80s. Two series of romances (op. 38 and 47) include a number of samples of the composer's vocal lyrics that are the highest in terms of artistic perfection and subtlety of expression. Most of these romances were written to the verses of A.K. Tolstoy (eight out of twelve). Among them are vocal miniatures “It was early spring ”, “Among the noisy ball”. Remarkable in terms of the power of expressing a bright, enthusiastic feeling that overwhelms the soul is the romance “Does the Day Reign” to the words of Apukhtin (op. 47). An important expressive role is played in the romance by the piano part, with its violently uplifting and receding undulating passages. This series includes two dramatized songs in the folk spirit “If only I knew, if only I knew” (lyrics by A.K. Tolsky) and “Was I in the field but there was no grass” (lyrics by I.Z. Surikov). Vocal lyrics 80 1990s, dramatic moods intensify, they receive a particularly concentrated expression in the romance “To the Yellow Fields” (words by A.K. Tolstoy) from the series of op. 57. But if soft elegiac sadness and thoughtfulness are heard in Tolstoy's poem, then in Tchaikovsky nature itself is painted in gloomy tones. In the opening section of the romance, the recitative phrases of the voice are accompanied by heavy piano chords in a low register, reminiscent of the monotonous strokes of a funeral bell. In the middle section, vocal speech takes on an agitated character, rushing to a dynamic peak, but this impulse quickly fades. The repetition of the main structure at the end of the romance (Tolstoy does not have this repetition) without any changes in the musical material and with the same words emphasizes the hopelessness and feeling of immense loneliness. The series of romances op. 60 is quite colorful in composition. These are sad, lonely reflections in the silence of the night - “Crazy Nights” to the words of Apukhtin, “Night” to the poems of Polonsky, and unrequited suffering in “Oh, if only you knew” to the verses of A.N. Pleshcheev, and inspired, full of light poetic lyrics “I won’t tell you anything” to the words of Fet, “The meek stars shone on us” to Pleshcheev’s poems. Of the romances op.63 and op. and “The lights in the room have already gone out”, which attract with melodic expressiveness and subtlety of color. The latest work in the field of vocal miniatures was the romances op. Ratgauz. The poems of the young poet attracted the attention of the composer by their emotional consonance with the mood in which he was at that time. The new features of Tchaikovsky's lyrics were reflected mainly in the first two romances "We sat with you", "Night" and the last "Again, as before, alone", imbued with the tragic mood of loneliness, hopeless spiritual darkness and despondency. In the romance "We sat with you” the constant return of the melody to the original sound conveys a state of numbness of feelings, “fascinated” by the surrounding silence and peace, and the ostinato chromatic downward movement of the middle voices in the piano part on the tonic organ point enhances the feeling of perfect immobility. A short tremolo in the bass (“peal of thunder”) awakens a storm in the soul, peace is replaced by tragic despair. The rapid growth is interrupted by an unexpected decline. The initial melodic turn is repeated, which emphasizes the hopelessness of suffering. The contrast of the extreme sections is emphasized by the change of major to parallel minor. A special place in Tchaikovsky's chamber vocal work is occupied by a cycle of sixteen songs for children written to words from Pleshcheev's collection of poems "Snowdrop" (with the exception of "Swallow" to the verses of Surikov and "Children's Song" to the words K.S. Aksakova). The composer addresses in his songs directly to the children themselves, taking into account their level of perception and the range of everyday children's interests. This determines both the theme of the songs and the comparative simplicity of their musical language. Among the best and most frequently performed songs are the song "My Garden", "Cuckoo" and "Lullaby in a Storm".
RUSSIAN ROMANCE
Word to the reader
“There is a GRACEFUL POWER
IN ACCORDANCE WITH LIVING WORDS…”
We are talking about the verse that is sung, about the verse as a source of song, romance.
The task of collecting the textual material of romances is significant and necessary, because the printed word can always do a good job, allowing you to resort to the original source if necessary. True, this process is complex, since, according to L. Tolstoy, the language changes every quarter of a century. Both the song and the romance are modified as well.
The work laid down in the publication of the book "Russian Romance" is important. Poems often have an independent value apart from music. The musical fabric has its own laws, therefore, inevitable cuts are often resorted to, which is why the meaning of drama is not revealed, which is laid down, for example, in Nekrasov's Peddlers. Take Pushkin's "Confession". When recording this romance, I decided to use the poem in its entirety. And yet it was difficult to fit the text into the rhythm of the music of Yakovlev, a contemporary of Pushkin and his comrade in the Lyceum.
The poetic material presented here can serve a good purpose for the coming generation, especially since the stars, the sun, the moon, the rustling reeds, how the heart beats, are now almost never written about. Today, they no longer resort to such words as “I marvel at the sky and guess that thought ...”. If a person has already visited the Moon, then the material world seeks out an artistic word that has been tested for centuries. This will bring poetic balance.
Previously, a person was closer to nature, felt its beneficial effect, often resorted in a fit of happiness or unhappiness to a weeping willow or a shining poplar and carried on a dialogue with them. It is enough to remember “Oh, what the hell, dubi, you’ve been healed in the Yar ...”.
And one more consideration about the need to publish such a collection. After all, Gogol is also represented by Rimsky-Korsakov - "Christmas Night" and Tchaikovsky - "Cherevichki". Consequently, the same theme, the same verses give rise to a new poetic creation in music. Because of this, the proposed collection will certainly be useful for both historians and composers. The composition of the book, in my opinion, reflects the diversity of romance creativity, and the article that precedes the book introduces the reader to the world of Russian romance.
I. Kozlovsky,
People's Artist of the USSR,
Hero of Socialist Labor
"Beautiful Suffering"
Notes on Russian Romance
This strange neighborhood of beauty and suffering was presented to us by Sergei Yesenin, turning to a Khorossian Persian from border Persia, whom he so wanted to visit, but never visited:
Goodbye, peri, goodbye,
Let me not be able to open the door,
You gave beautiful suffering
About you in my homeland I sing ...
Yesenin wrote the poems of this cycle in Baku. In the neighborhood of Persia, and yet not in it. S. M. Kirov, referring to Yesenin’s friend, journalist Pyotr Chagin, who accompanied the poet during his Baku business trip in the spring of 1925, said: “Why haven’t you created the illusion of Persia in Baku yet for Yesenin? Look how he wrote, as if he were in Persia ... ". “In the summer of 1925,” recalls Chagin, “Yesenin came to my dacha. This, as he himself admitted, was a genuine illusion of Persia: a huge garden, fountains and all sorts of oriental inventions ... ".
This comment confirms the illusory-romantic pathos of "Persian Motifs". Deliberately illusory, when it is clear that the roses, with which the threshold of the unrealizable Persian woman is strewn, were grown in the ethereal gardens of Babylon, and the mysterious doors, which remained not unlocked, did exactly the right thing, strictly following the poetics of the genre. But what genre?
MAYBE,
"SUFFERING BEAUTY"?
So, the verses themselves are a derivative of pure imagination. After all, all this happened before the Chagi gardens and fountains. The poet imagined everything. On the border with the former. But inside the poem, “beautiful suffering” is a derivative of a different kind, designed to “decorate” pain, but in such a way that this pain is compassionate. The boundary between a genuine chant and the decorative object of this chant.
Let's change the semantic accent - instead of beautiful suffering say suffering beauty, - and the peri from Horossan will disappear. It is true, perhaps, the Persian princess Stenka Razina will emerge from the depths of the Volga. Let's remove suffering, and Pushkin's "I drink to Mary's health" will remain, also a peri, only different, powerless to bestow not only beautiful, but in general any kind of suffering. And beauty - sonorous and light - yes. Borders within the lyrics, within its genres.
Pay attention: "I sing about you in my homeland." Sing someone else's image of "beautiful suffering"; while maintaining this alien image, but at home.
Isn't it true that little by little we get used to this strange neighborhood of suffering and beauty? We almost got used to how a terrible ancient Roman legend grows from the depths of historical memory about one local music lover who invented a monstrous musical instrument - a golden box with iron partitions in it. This maestro of music drove a slave into a box, pulled up the damper and began to heat his torture organ on a slow fire. The inhuman cries of the man roasted alive, repeatedly reflected from the partitions located there in a special way, were transformed into captivating sounds that delighted the ears of aesthetically sophisticated listeners. Suffering that was incomprehensible to the mind became beauty that was comprehensible to the ear; the chaos of the cry is the harmony of sounds. The aesthetic, which is on the other side of the ethical, is evident. The boundary of the artistic has been irrevocably crossed.
But beautiful suffering“in the days of ... the troubles of the people” or in memory of these troubles should be supplanted by a different aesthetics that does not tolerate plausibility, but requires truth:
... And the soldier drank from a copper mug
Wine with sadness in half
on the ashes of the hut burned by the Nazis;
Friends do not stand in the neighborhood,
The movie goes on without them
that is, without Seryozhka and Vitka with Malaya Bronnaya and Mokhovaya.
Wine with sadness, cinema with sadness. But from the position of a poet-chronicler, who has a lyrical-epic vision.
These tragic verses are also sung, but they are sung differently, just like Simonov's "yellow rains" of expectation. Here beauty is of a different kind - the beauty of an act that hides the particularity of a beautifully passive gesture. Again, the genre boundary: between the song-epos and the romance-elegy. An essential boundary for defining the romance genre as an ethical and aesthetic reality at the same time, corresponding to Yesenin's "Russian-Persian" formula, which paradoxically combined suffering and beauty.
“... Each cultural act essentially lives on the borders: this is its seriousness and significance; distracted from the borders, it loses ground, becomes empty ... ".
So is romance, which is on the border of aesthetic and ethical, artistic and social. To understand this, it is necessary to go out of the “sounding” space into another, “listening” space.
What are they, the limits of perception of a romance lyrical word (if, of course, a modern listener can hear the root lyre in the lyrics, which can be pinched, tested for sound and put on voice)?
Natalya Odintsova
The script for the evening of romances "The good old soul will warm"
Guests are seated at tables arranged in a small hall. On the impromptu stage - piano. It has lit candles on it.
In the foreground is a small table, behind which the presenter is located.
sound romances performed by Julia Priz (record)
The words belong to the leader.
Good afternoon, dear guests of our evenings. Today our meeting is dedicated to music - the queen of all arts and his majesty - romance.
Music is a rainbow of colors of the world around us. She can tell a lot and answer any, the most unexpected questions. Music teaches us kindness and sensitivity, teaches to see the amazing and extraordinary in the simplest and most understandable.
Gone are the elegies and stanzas,
But their times will come
In the tune of a Russian romance
My soul is conquered...
So, we are going on a wonderful journey, into the world of Russian romance.
Talk about romance I would not like to start with a historical digression into the history of the emergence and development of this wonderful genre, but I would like to make an attempt figure out: what is its nature, which makes one secretly listen to lyrical melody and sometimes amazing poetic style; and what it is now, and what it will be. These are the questions I would like to hear the answer from you, dear viewers, participants evenings.
I turn to.
Please tell me, I know that you are doing great romances - sincerely, penetratingly. And do not remember when your first meeting with this musical genre took place. When romance settled in your heart?
(answer)
I think that the guests of our meeting will listen with pleasure romance in your performance.
Let's open a musical encyclopedia: read...
« Romance- chamber work for voice with instrument accompaniment, one or more. This term originated in Spain and originally meant a song in Spanish (romanesque) language, and not in Latin, accepted in church hymns. Thus, the name emphasized the non-church, secular nature of the genre.
Accompaniment in romance, which initially created only support, a background for the voice, gradually became an equal part of the ensemble.
Romance is a complex genre. Difficult because you need to have qualities that can immediately distinguish you from general amateurism to the rank of mastering this genre. And most importantly, in my opinion, quality is intonation. The performer who has found his intonation, in essence, masters the genre, although he may not have special voice data. romances, as they say, sing with the soul.
At our meeting there is just such a performer, many types of vocal art are subject to him. But in the first place, nevertheless, in my opinion, is execution. romances and lyrical ballads. I invite Dmitry Shevchenko to the instrument.
Certainly, romance is multifaceted, multi-genre. This and classic romance, and urban, household romance- for us the most understandable and beloved. But no less charming and quivering romance - gypsy.
Listening to him, in front of your mind's eye you draw picture: the steppe, the full moon illuminates the gypsy wagons, horses graze peacefully, silence and only the crackle of a fire, the sound of a guitar and a soul singing, with anguish and some kind of universal longing. About love, about betrayal, and a gypsy can tell a lot more about romance. I invite VV Vasiliev to the piano.
Now often in relation to romance pronounced epithet « old Russian romance» . But romance never been to Russia antique, was a new, trendy and much-loved genre. His power was all-consuming, from merchant choirs and taverns, to theater stages and court salons. And the diversity of the genre was so great that the boundary between romance and the song is still not very defined.
Urban romance is almost the most"young" romance song genre. But some of them have not lost their popularity for more than a century, their melody and words remain well-known.
Let's remember phrases from these popular romances. I will start and you will continue.
"I was driving home - my soul was full"
"White acacia clusters fragrant"
"Coachman, don't drive the horses"
“The chrysanthemums in the garden have faded long ago”
I see that these romances you love, their poetic lines live in your hearts.
I suggest you, dear viewers, to sing the famous urban romance together.
(performed romance)
I turn to ___
Tell me what it means to you romance? What this is material for reflection or relaxation for the soul?
(answer)
Do you think there is a future for this song genre?
(answer)
And of course we want to hear romance in your performance.
Talking about romance, one cannot help but recall the magnificent performers, thanks to whom romance firmly entered our lives, became loved and recognizable. This is Alexander Vertinsky, Varvara Panina, whom Blok called "divine Varya Panina", Keto Dzhaparidze - the owner of a beautiful low voice, soft hearty timbre, Vadim Kozin, Petr Leshchenko, Leonid Utesov. But I think that our today's performers have captivated the audience no less than celebrities. After all, they invested in their performance soul, emotions, bright feelings and gave this musical bouquet to us - the audience. Let's applaud them again.
In conclusion of our meeting, I would like to recall the words of one musical criticism: "Russian romance is a special kind of phenomenon. Russian romance- this is a living lyrical response of the soul of the people.
Really, romance has stood the test of time. It continues to develop. Perhaps it will take on a new shape. And we will witness the emergence of a new variety of the genre.
Thanks to our wonderful performers, accompanist ___ and you, dear guests, for being with us.
The folk legend of Genoveve of Brabant, which should not be confused with St. Genoveva, the patroness (patronne) of Paris, who saved ancient Lutetia from Attila, is one of the very old ones. Its content is as follows: Paladin Siegfried goes to crusade. Before leaving, he entrusts his friend, the knight Golo, with his wife Genoveva and transfers the management of his possessions to him. Golo is in love with Genoveva; taking advantage of the absence of her husband, he pursues her with his love; but, in spite of the false news of her husband's death, she spurns his obsessive search with contempt. Then persecution and oppression begin; Golo removes all her servants, and then a son will be born to the abandoned Genoveva. Meanwhile, Siegfried returns from a campaign. Golo fears his revenge and doesn't know what to do. One old woman advises him to accuse Genoveva of infidelity, confirming this accusation by the birth of a child in the absence of her husband. The gullible Siegfried orders to kill
Genovev and her son. Golo instructs his servants to drown them in the lake. But the servants feel sorry for the innocent victims: they lead them into a dense forest, leave them there, take a promise from Genoveva that she will not leave her wild refuge, and the Golos report that they have fulfilled his order. Exhausted, weak Genoveva is not able to feed the child, but then a doe appears, which replaces the child. The mother, and Genoveva herself feeds on the roots of plants and forest fruits. So six years and three months passed.
Once, on a hunt, Siegfried, chasing this doe, was carried away into the thicket of the forest, among which he saw a naked woman, covered only by her luxurious hair, and near her a lovely boy. This woman boldly stepped forward in defense of the fallow deer. Struck by this sight, Siegfried began to question her and soon recognized her as his wife, and recognized his son in the boy. The matter was cleared up. Siegfried ordered the brutal execution of Golo. They tied him by the hands and feet to four wild bulls and tore him to pieces. Genoveva, fulfilling her promise, returned to her husband's castle only with the permission of the bishop, and a chapel was erected in the forest. In the castle, Genoveva, weaned from ordinary food, continued to eat the roots of plants and forest fruits and soon died quietly, surrounded by the reverent cares of her husband and all those around her. This legend has been the subject of several folk songs, several dramas, an opera by Schumann and an operetta by Offenbach.
In the libretto of Schumann's opera, based on the dramas of Tieck and Goebel, the legend is developed and something is added to it.
Golo is not an absolute villain. There is a strong struggle between passion and a sense of duty. If he succumbs to temptation, then at the instigation of the old woman Margareta, and he decides to take revenge on Genoveva after the insult inflicted on him, when Genoveva, rejecting his search with indignation, calls him a batard. He takes revenge more difficult than in the legend. He assures Siegfried Drago's faithful servant that Genoveva is unfaithful to her husband and hides him in her bedroom to lie in wait for her lover. Then he calls the whole court and assures that Drago is Genoveva's lover. Indeed, he is found in her bedroom, killed, and Genoveva is taken to prison. Then Golo goes to Siegfried with a letter from his confessor informing him of Genoveva's betrayal, and in order to finally convince him of this, Golo resorts to the help of Margareta. Margareta is the mother, and maybe the mother of Golo; Siegfried once kicked her out of the castle, so she takes revenge on him; she treats the wounded Siegfried, who for some reason does not recognize her; she is also a sorceress and three times shows Siegfried in the mirror how Genoveva is nice to Drago. Then Siegfrsch orders Golo to kill Genoveva, but she is saved from death by the same Margareta, who was the ghost of Drago and ordered Siegfried to reveal the whole truth. Genoveva is saved, and Golo and Margareta disappear to no one knows where.
From this it can be seen that the libretto was composed clumsily, with an inexperienced hand; much in it is unclear, unsaid, confused, incomprehensible. But there are a lot of dramatic situations in it, a lot of scenes that provide an excellent canvas for music. In any case, it is a pity that Siegfried finds his wife not hunting, in rags, alone with her son, but with his murderers; and it is even more pitiful that the opera does not end with Geioveve's touching death, which would have made a stronger impression than her solemn return to the castle.
Who among those who love and are interested in music does not know R. Schumann and does not bow before him? Who does not admire his inspired works, full of thoughts, deep, strong, tender, cheerful, playful, whimsical, always expressed in impeccable forms, always individual, sincere, sincere? Schumann is especially great in symphonic and chamber music, in the broadest sense of the word. Indeed, in addition to sonatas, trios, quartets and one quintet, he created a new kind of small, picturesque, characteristic piano pieces (“Carnival”, “Phantasie-stucke”, “Waldscenen”, etc.), wrote many excellent romances (vocal chamber music). His major vocal works(“Paradise and Peri”, “The Wanderings of the Rose”, “Scenes from Faust”, etc.) are less perfect: it is difficult in such voluminous works to maintain inspiration everywhere at the same height. His only opera, Genoveva, is even less perfect, because, apart from the reason just given, Schumann did not have the qualities necessary for an opera composer with effect and success in mind. One must think that Schumann himself was aware of this (like Beethoven, like Schubert, like Chopin), because, despite his need to constantly create, despite the irresistible temptation of the stage, he wrote only one opera.
The main drawback of Genoveva as an opera is its gray coloring. It is like old tapestries with faded colors, like old paintings with faded, indefinite contours. Many reasons merged together to give rise to this gray coloring of Schumann's opera. There are almost no contrasts, oppositions in the opera; the lyrical element almost entirely prevails, and the few dramatic scenes are expressed by Schumann with insufficient relief due to the symphonic style inappropriate in this case. In Genoveva's music, except for a few bright flashes, there is no brilliance or effect. Everything sharp, rudely decorative was repugnant to Schumann's delicate, noble nature. He had a strong feeling, passion, but he concealed them in the depths of his soul and did not show outwardly uncontrollable impulses that alone act on the masses; he protected his intimate world from contact with the vulgar and indifferent outside world; therefore we always find in Schumann great restraint in expressing the strongest feelings - restraint, which, however, does not exclude either depth or warmth of feeling. In "Genoveve" there is no characterization of the characters. The only exception is Margareta, who is more vividly outlined; but in her monologue, in the 2nd scene of Act III, she passes into the generally beautiful lyricism of all the characters in the opera. The instrumentation of Genoveva, with the most minor exceptions, is monotonous. to a limited number of major composers (Dargomyzhsky, Brahms), who had a poor command of the orchestra:1 the constant duplication of string instruments with wind instruments not only deprives his orchestra of a variety of color, but even makes it difficult to convey shades.To this must be added the abuse of the symphonic style. wanted to give it up - this is understandable: he was afraid of the beaten, he was afraid of the unprincipled, therefore in "Genoveve" we see a continuous, uninterrupted series of musical thoughts that Schumann used to express symphonically. not constrained by anything, he arranges them measuredly on the music of the orchestra a, dampens them and increases the monotonous color of the opera
As for the operatic forms, although Genoveve is already about fifty years old, they are still almost irreproachable. Everywhere music follows the text, obeys its requirements. The whole opera consists of short scenes, for the most part connected with each other, occasionally musically finished where the stage situation allowed it. Worthy of special attention is the fact that Schumann in "Genoveve" attached special importance and development to melodic recitative. So Genoveva belongs to the less perfect works of Schumann; as an opera, it is not without significant shortcomings, but how much excellent music is in it!
The overture is magnificent in every sense of the word. This is the best number of "Genoveva". It combines all the high qualities of Schumann's creativity: the charm of themes and their inspired development. The introduction to the overture is distinguished by depth and tranquility; the first theme is lyrically nervous; the second is love with a chivalrous character; the middle section is broadly developed, the conclusion hot and highly entertaining. The first choir, or rather chorale, is not particularly inventive, but it is characteristic and solemn. It is interrupted by the bishop's rather ordinary recitatives and then repeated again, which gives the scene a rounded harmony. The only pity is that it is repeated in its entirety: the impression would be stronger if Schumann repeated it in a more concise form. Aria Golo and the next duet of Siegfried with Genoveva are beautiful (especially the first one) and imbued with a genuine feeling.
The chorus march to which Siegfried sets off on his march is as characteristic as the first chorale, and might have made a great impression if the voices had been better used. The arrival of the knights on stage and the departure from the stage evoke a natural, spectacular crescendo and diminuendo, but Schumann does not and cannot have it, because he entrusts the main theme only to basses, and he entrusts separate contrapuntal exclamations to tenors and women. This may be very true, but obscures the main idea, which is repeated many times and therefore somewhat annoying. It would be a completely different matter if the rest of the voices gradually joined the basses. Further, in the first act, there is a beautiful scene in which Golo kisses Genoveva, who is in oblivion; Margaret's appearance is typical, brilliant and superbly instrumented; her scene with Golo is carried out ardently and ends in a magnificent, though overly symphonic, coda.
The beginning of the second act is charming: Genoveva's monologue is sympathetic and full of content; the wild colorful chorus of the roaming servants makes an excellent contrast with it. The duet that Genoveva sings with Golo is very sweet in his naive simplicity; it is slightly reminiscent of Schubert, it has a folk old touch. It breaks off dramatically, and the whole subsequent scene of Golo with Genoveva is not without magnification; the only pity is that in it the harmonic interest prevails over the melodic interest. The small monologue of the offended Golo left alone is simply brilliant - there is so much beauty, expressiveness and deep feeling in it. It consists entirely of recitative phrases, and it should be noted that there is even more inspiration in the recitative phrases of Genoveva than in her formal themes. Genoveva's prayer, especially its conclusion, is very delicate and with a subtle poetic coloring. The beginning of the final - the appearance of the choir - is original and bright. In the further development of the final there is fire, strength, energy. It may be that it is somewhat lengthy in terms of its stage position.
In the first picture of the third act, the song of Siegfried, who dreams of returning to the castle, is spectacular; the arrival of Golo is amazingly picturesque in the orchestra; Siegfried's recitative phrases, struck by the news of his wife's infidelity, are deeply felt and sympathetic. In the second picture, Margareta's initial monologue, along with the monologue
The holo in the previous act constitute the most exalted pages of Genoveva. It is difficult to convey in words all the charming charm of this heartfelt, inspirational, ideally beautiful music. The vision scene is unfortunate: there is nothing fantastic in her music. Her choirs, especially the first two, are beautiful, but this beauty is earthly, not magical. And it must be said that the charm of the music of these three choirs should have been enhanced, but this is not the case, and the last choir does not even correspond to the mood of the text.
The last action is much weaker. And in it we find almost entirely beautiful, general Schumannian music, but much less outstanding episodes, which abound in previous actions. These should be attributed only in the fourth act: a typical, rude, maliciously mocking song of Siegfried's servants, whom Golo ordered to kill Genoveva; Genoveva's address to these servants, for some reason reminiscent of Beethoven's dervish choir with its triplets: a beautiful, soft end to the duet of Siegfried's meeting with Genoveva and the chorus merging with the chorale of the first act. On the whole, however, as has been noted, the fourth act is weaker than the previous one, and since it is also the last, the final impression is less favorable than that which the listener endures after the three preceding acts.
From what has been said, it can be seen that Genoveva is not a completely amazing and not at all spectacular opera, but a noble work of a noble and highly talented artist, in which there is a lot of excellent music. It will not please those who admire the most recent Italian musical insanites; those who need vocal, even hackneyed voice effects, high notes, fermats; those who need the brilliance of staging and orchestration; but it will be dear to those who love good music in all its manifestations, even the most intimate and delicate, and it will be all the more dear to them, the more often they listen to it, the closer they become acquainted with it.
Consequently, we should be extremely grateful to the St. Petersburg Society of Musical Meetings for staging this large, little-known work by Schumann, especially since its staging presented many difficulties, and due to the very nature of the work, its resounding success could not be counted on.2 [ .]
