A.S. Gussakovsky, H.H. Lodyzhensky, N.V. Shcherbachev temporarily joined her, who later retired from composing. The source of the figurative name was V. V. Stasov's article "A Slavic Concert of Balakirev" (about a concert conducted by Balakirev in honor of the Slavic delegations at the All-Russian Ethnographic Exhibition in 1867), which ended with the wish that the Slavic guests "forever preserve the memories of how much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small but already mighty handful of Russian musicians have. " The concept of "New Russian Music School" was put forward by the members of the "Mighty Handful" themselves, who considered themselves followers and successors of the work of the senior masters of Russian music - MI Glinka and AS Dargomyzhsky. In France, the name "Five" or "Group of Five" ("Groupe des Cinq") is adopted according to the number of the main representatives of the "Mighty Handful".

The "Mighty Handful" is one of the free communities that arose during the democratic upsurge of the 1960s. 19th century in various areas of Russian artistic culture with the aim of mutual support and struggle for progressive social and aesthetic ideals (literary circle of the Sovremennik magazine, Artel of Artists, Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions). Like the "Artel of Artists" in the visual arts, which opposed the official course of the Academy of Arts, "The Mighty Handful" resolutely opposed the inert academic routine, isolation from life and disregard for modern requirements, leading the progressive national direction in Russian music. The Mighty Handful brought together the most talented composers of the younger generation, who came to the fore in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the exception of PI Tchaikovsky, who was not a member of any group. The leading position in the "Mighty Handful" belonged to Balakirev (hence the Balakirev circle). Stasov was closely associated with it, who played an important role in the development of general ideological and aesthetic positions of the "Mighty Handful", in the formation and promotion of the creativity of its individual members. From 1864 he regularly appeared in the press of Cui, whose musical-critical activity largely reflected the views and tendencies inherent in the entire "Mighty Handful". Her position is reflected in the printed speeches of Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov. The center of musical and educational activities of the "Mighty Handful" was (created in 1862 on the initiative of Balakirev and G. Ya. Lomakin), in whose concerts the works of members of the "Mighty Handful" and Russian and foreign composers close to it were performed.

Nationality and nationality were the fundamental principles for the "Kuchkist" composers. The themes of their work are associated mainly with the images of folk life, the historical past of Russia, folk epics and fairy tales, ancient pagan beliefs and rituals. Mussorgsky, the most radical of the members of the "Mighty Handful" by his artistic convictions, with great force embodied the images of the people in music, many of his works are distinguished by an openly expressed social and critical orientation. People's liberation ideas of the 60s. were reflected in the work of other composers of this group (overture "1000 Years" by Balakirev, written under the impression of A. I. Herzen's article "The Giant Wakes Up"; "Song of the Dark Forest" by Borodin; the scene of the evening in the opera "The Pskovite Woman" by Rimsky-Korsakov) ... At the same time, they showed a tendency towards a certain romanticization of the national past. In the ancient, primordial principles of folk life and worldview, they strove to find support for the establishment of a positive moral and aesthetic ideal.

One of the most important sources of creativity was a folk song for the composers of The Mighty Handful. Their attention was mainly attracted by the old traditional peasant song, in which they saw the expression of the fundamental foundations of national musical thinking. The principles of processing folk song melodies characteristic of the "Kuchkists" were reflected in Balakirev's collection "40 Russian Folk Songs" (compiled by Balakirev on the basis of his own recordings made during a trip along the Volga with the poet N.V. Shcherbina in 1860). Rimsky-Korsakov paid much attention to the collection and processing of folk songs. The folk song received various refractions in the opera and symphonic works of the composers of The Mighty Handful. They also showed interest in the folklore of other peoples, especially the Eastern ones. Following Glinka, the "Kuchkists" widely developed intonations and rhythms of the peoples of the East in their works and thereby contributed to the emergence of these peoples' own national schools of composition.

In their search for true intonational expressiveness, the "Kuchkists" relied on the achievements of Dargomyzhsky in the field of realistic vocal declamation. They especially appreciated the opera "The Stone Guest", in which the composer's aspiration to translate the word into music was most fully and consistently realized ("I want the sound to express the word directly"). They considered this work, along with Glinka's operas, to be the basis of Russian opera classics.

The creative activity of the "Mighty Handful" is the most important historical stage in the development of Russian music. Based on the traditions of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, the "Kuchkist" composers enriched it with new achievements, especially in the operatic, symphonic and chamber vocal genres. Works such as Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, Prince Igor by Borodin, The Snow Maiden and Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov belong to the heights of Russian opera classics. Their common features are national character, realism of images, wide scope and important dramatic significance of popular scenes. The striving for pictorial brightness, concreteness of images is also inherent in the symphonic work of the composers of The Mighty Handful, hence the great role in it of programmatic, graphic and genre elements. Borodin and Balakirev were the creators of the Russian national-epic symphony. Rimsky-Korsakov was an unsurpassed master of orchestral color, his symphonic works are dominated by picturesque and picturesque elements. In the chamber vocal creativity of the "Kuchkists" subtle psychologism and poetic spirituality are combined with an acute genre character, drama and epic breadth. A less significant place in their work is occupied by chamber instrumental genres. In this area, works of outstanding artistic value were created only by Borodin, the author of two string quartets and a piano quintet. Balakirev's Islamey and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition occupy a unique place in piano literature in terms of originality of design and coloristic originality.

In its innovative aspiration "The Mighty Handful" approached the leading representatives of Western European musical romanticism - R. Schumann, G. Berlioz, F. Liszt. The "Kuchkist" composers highly appreciated the work of L. Beethoven, whom they considered the ancestor of all new music. At the same time, in their attitude to the musical heritage of the pre-Beethoven period, as well as to a number of phenomena of contemporary foreign art (Italian opera, R. Wagner, etc.), traits of one-sided negativism and bias appeared. In the heat of polemics and the struggle for the approval of their ideas, they sometimes expressed too categorical and insufficiently substantiated negative judgments.

In the Russian musical life of the 60s. The "mighty handful" was opposed by the academic direction, the centers of which were the RMO and the St. Petersburg Conservatory, headed by A. G. Rubinstein. This antagonism was to a certain extent analogous to the struggle between the Weimar school and the Leipzig school in German music of the mid-19th century. While rightly criticizing the "conservatives" for their excessive traditionalism and their sometimes lack of understanding of the nationally unique ways of development of Russian music, the leaders of the "Mighty Handful" underestimated the importance of systematic professional musical education. Over time, the acuteness of the contradictions between these two groups softened, they drew closer on a number of issues. So, Rimsky-Korsakov in 1871 became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

By the mid-70s. The "Mighty Handful" as a close-knit group ceased to exist. This was partly caused by Balakirev's severe mental crisis and his departure from active participation in musical life. But the main reason for the collapse of the "Mighty Handful" - in the internal creative differences. Balakirev and Mussorgsky disapproved of Rimsky-Korsakov's pedagogical activity at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and viewed this as a surrender of principled positions. The disagreements that had matured in The Mighty Handful were even more acute in connection with the opera Boris Godunov, staged at the Mariinsky Theater in 1874, whose assessment by the members of the circle was not unanimous. Borodin saw the disintegration of The Mighty Handful as a manifestation of the natural process of creative self-determination and the finding of their own individual path by each of its composers. “... This always happens in all branches of human activity, - he wrote in 1876 to the singer L. I. Karmalina. “As activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over school, over what a person has inherited from others.” At the same time, he emphasized that "the general musical style, the general style characteristic of the circle, remained." "Kuchkism" as a trend continued to develop further. The aesthetic principles and creativity of The Mighty Handful influenced many Russian composers of the younger generation. He is successively connected with the "Mighty Handful", which, however, did not possess the inherent combat innovative fuse and did not have a definite ideological and artistic platform.

Literature: Stasov V. V., M. P. Mussorgsky, "Bulletin of Europe". 1881, book. 5-6; him, Our Music for the Last 25 Years, ibid., 1883, Vol. 10, titled: Twenty-Five Years of Russian Art. Our music, Sobr. cit., vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1894; his, Art of the XIX century, Sobr. cit., vol. 4, St. Petersburg, 1906; see also: Fav. cit., t. 3, M., 1952; A.P. Borodin. His Life, Correspondence and Musical Articles, St. Petersburg, 1889; Rimsky-Korsakov H. A., Chronicle of my musical life, St. Petersburg, 1909, M., 1955; Igor Glebov (Asafiev B.V.), Russian music from the beginning of the XIX century, M.-L., 1930, 1968; him, Fav. works, vol. 3, M., 1954; History of Russian Music, ed. M.S. Pekelis, t. 2, M.-L., 1940; Keldysh Yu., History of Russian Music, Part 2, M.-L., 1947; his, Composers of the second half of the XIX century, M., 1945, 1960 (under the title: Russian composers ...); Cui Ts. A., Fav. articles, L., 1952; Composers of The Mighty Handful about the opera, Moscow, 1955; Composers of the "Mighty Handful" about folk music, M., 1957; Kremlev Yu., Russian Thought about Music, vol. 2, L., 1958; Gordeeva E.M., Mighty handful, M., 1960, 1966.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Mighty Bunch"(as well as Balakirev's circle, New Russian Music School or, sometimes, "Russian five") - the creative community of Russian composers that developed in St. Petersburg in the late 1850s and early 1860s. It included: Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) ... The artistic critic, writer and archivist Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov (1824-1906) was the ideological inspirer and the main non-musical consultant of the circle.

The Mighty Handful group arose against the background of revolutionary fermentation that had gripped the minds of the Russian intelligentsia by that time. Riots and uprisings of peasants became the main social events of that time, which brought artists back to the folk theme. In the implementation of the national aesthetic principles proclaimed by the ideologists of the commonwealth Stasov and Balakirev, M.P. Mussorgsky was the most consistent, and Ts. A. Cui less than others. Participants of the "Mighty Handful" systematically recorded and studied samples of Russian musical folklore and Russian church singing. They embodied the results of their research in one form or another in the compositions of the chamber and large genre, especially in operas, including The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov, and Prince Igor. Intensive searches for national originality in The Mighty Handful were not limited to arrangements of folklore and liturgical singing, but also extended to drama, genre (and form), down to certain categories of musical language (harmony, rhythm, texture, etc.).

Initially, the circle included Balakirev and Stasov, keen on reading Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. They inspired the young composer Cui with their ideas, and later they were joined by Mussorgsky, who left the rank of officer in the Preobrazhensky regiment to study music. In 1862 N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding scientist-chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.

The meetings of the Balakirevsky circle always proceeded in a very lively creative atmosphere. Members of this circle often met with writers A. V. Grigorovich, A. F. Pisemsky, I. S. Turgenev, artist I. E. Repin, sculptor M. A. Antokolsky. There were close, though not always smooth ties with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In the 70s, the "Mighty Handful" as a close-knit group ceased to exist. The activities of the "Mighty Handful" became an era in the development of Russian and world musical art.

With the cessation of regular meetings of five Russian composers, the increment, development and living history of The Mighty Handful were by no means over. The center of Kuchkist activity and ideology, mainly due to the pedagogical activity of Rimsky-Korsakov, moved to the classes of the St. then, at the beginning of the 20th century, he shared his leadership in the "triumvirate" with A. K. Lyadov, A. K. Glazunov and a little later (from May 1907) N. V. Artsybushev. Thus, with the deduction of Balakirev's radicalism, the Belyaev Circle became a natural continuation of the Mighty Handful.

Rimsky-Korsakov himself recalled this in a very specific way:

“Can Belyaev's circle be considered a continuation of Balakirev's, was there a certain amount of similarity between the two, and what was the difference, in addition to the change in its personnel over time? The similarity, which indicated that the Belyaevsky circle was a continuation of Balakirev's, except for the connecting links in the person of me and Lyadov, consisted in the general progressiveness and progressiveness of both; but Balakirev's circle corresponded to the period of storm and onslaught in the development of Russian music, while Belyaev's circle corresponded to the period of a calm march forward; Balakirevsky was revolutionary, while Belyaevsky was progressive ... "

- (N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, "Chronicle of my musical life")

Among the members of the Belyaev circle, Rimsky-Korsakov names himself as "connecting links" separately (as the new head of the circle instead of Balakirev), Borodin (in the short time that remained until his death) and Lyadov. Since the second half of the 1980s, such different talent and specialties as musicians such as Glazunov, brothers F.M.Blumenfeld and S.M.Blumenfeld, conductor O. I. Dyutsh and pianist N. S Lavrov. A little later, as the conservatory graduated, such composers as N.A.Sokolov, K.A. In addition, the "venerable Stasov" always maintained good and close relations with the Belyaev circle, although his influence was "far from being the same" that in Balakirev's circle. The new composition of the circle (and its more moderate head) also determined the new face of the "post-trickists": much more academic-oriented and open to many influences, previously considered unacceptable within the framework of the "Mighty Handful". The Belyaevites experienced a lot of "alien" influences and had wide sympathies, starting with Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and ending "even" with Ravel and Debussy. In addition, it should be specially noted that, being the successor of the "Mighty Handful" and in general continuing its direction, the Belyaev circle was not a single aesthetic whole, guided by a single ideology or program.

In turn, Balakirev did not lose activity and continued to spread his influence, graduating more and more new students during his time as head of the court Capella. The most famous of his later pupils (who later graduated from the class of Rimsky-Korsakov as well) is the composer V.A.Zolotarev.

It wasn't just limited to direct teaching and free essay classes. The increasingly frequent performance of new operas by Rimsky-Korsakov and his orchestral works on the stages of the imperial theaters, the staging of Borodino's "Prince Igor" and the second edition of "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky, many critical articles and the growing personal influence of Stasov - all this gradually multiplied the ranks of the nationally oriented Russian music school. Many disciples of Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev, in the style of their compositions, fit well with the continuation of the general line of the "Mighty Handful" and could be called, if not its belated members, then at least loyal followers. And sometimes it even happened that the followers turned out to be much more “faithful” (and more orthodox) than their teachers. Despite some anachronism and old-fashionedness, even in the times of Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, until the middle of the 20th century, the aesthetics and preferences of many of these composers remained quite "Kuchkist" and most often - not subject to fundamental style changes. However, over time, more and more often in their work, the followers and students of Rimsky-Korsakov discovered a kind of "fusion" of the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools, to one degree or another combining the influence of Tchaikovsky with the "Kuchkist" principles. Perhaps the most extreme and distant figure in this series is A.S. Arensky, who, until the end of his days, retaining underlined personal (student's) loyalty to his teacher (Rimsky-Korsakov), nevertheless, in his work was much closer to traditions Tchaikovsky. In addition, he led an extremely riotous and even "immoral" lifestyle. This is what explains, first of all, the very critical and unsympathetic attitude towards him in the Belyaev circle. The example of Alexander Grechaninov, also a loyal student of Rimsky-Korsakov, who lived most of the time in Moscow, is no less indicative. However, the teacher speaks of his work much more sympathetically and, as a praise, calls him "partly from St. Petersburg." After 1890 and Tchaikovsky's more frequent visits to St. Petersburg, an eclecticism of tastes and an ever cooler attitude towards the orthodox traditions of the "Mighty Handful" grew in the Belyaev circle. Gradually, Glazunov, Lyadov and Rimsky-Korsakov also personally come closer to Tchaikovsky, thereby putting an end to the previously irreconcilable (Balakirev's) tradition of "school enmity". By the beginning of the 20th century, most of the new Russian music increasingly reveals a synthesis of two directions and schools: mainly through academicism and the erosion of "pure traditions". Rimsky-Korsakov himself played a significant role in this process. According to L. L. Sabaneev, Rimsky-Korsakov's musical tastes, his "openness to influences" were much more flexible and wider than that of all his contemporary composers.

Many Russian composers of the late 19th - first half of the 20th centuries are regarded by music historians as direct continuers of the traditions of the Mighty Handful; among them

The fact that the famous French "Six", assembled under the leadership of Eric Satie (as if "in the role of Milia Balakirev") and Jean Cocteau (as if "in the role of Vladimir Stasov"), was a direct response to the "Russian five" deserves a separate mention. "- as the composers of the" Mighty Handful "were called in Paris. An article by the famous critic Henri Collet, announcing the birth of a new group of composers, was called: "Russian Five, French Six and Mr. Sati".

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1. Musical encyclopedic dictionary / Ch. ed. G.V. Keldysh. - M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1990. - S. 348. - 672 p. - 150,000 copies - ISBN 5-85270-033-9.
2. Rimsky-Korsakov N.A. Chronicle of my musical life. - ninth. - M .: Music, 1982 .-- S. 207-210. - 440 p.
3. Steinpress B.S., Yampolsky I.M. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Music. - M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1966. - S. 48. - 632 p. - 100,000 copies
4. Rimsky-Korsakov N.A. Chronicle of my musical life. - ninth. - M .: Music, 1982 .-- S. 293 .-- 440 p.
5. Rimsky-Korsakov N.A. Chronicle of my musical life. - ninth. - M .: Music, 1982 .-- S. 269 .-- 440 p.
6. Rimsky-Korsakov N.A. Chronicle of my musical life. - ninth. - M .: Music, 1982 .-- S. 223-224. - 440 p.
7. L. L. Sabaneev Memories of Russia. - M .: Classic-XXI, 2005 .-- S. 59 .-- 268 p. - 1500 copies. - ISBN 5 89817-145-2.

8. Panus O.Yu. "Golden lyre, golden gusli" - M. "Sputnik +", 2015. - p. 599 - ISBN 978-5-9973-3366-9

Excerpt from The Mighty Handful

- Nothing, a grenade ... - he answered.
“Well, our Matvevna,” he said to himself. Matvevna imagined in his imagination a large extreme, old-fashioned cannon. The French appeared to him as ants by their guns. The handsome man and the drunkard, the first number of the second gun in his world was an uncle; Tushin looked at him more often than others and rejoiced at his every move. The sound of a fading, then again intensifying rifle firefight under the mountain seemed to him someone's breath. He listened to the fading and heating of these sounds.
“Look, I’m breathing again, breathing,” he said to himself.
He himself imagined himself of enormous stature, a powerful man who hurls cannonballs at the French with both hands.
- Well, Matvevna, mother, don't give it out! - he said, moving away from the weapon, as an alien, unfamiliar voice rang out over his head:
- Captain Tushin! Captain!
Tushin looked around in fright. It was the headquarters officer who drove him out of Grunt. He shouted to him in a breathless voice:
- What are you, out of your mind. You have been ordered to retreat twice, and you ...
"Well, why are they me? ..." Tushin thought to himself, looking with fear at his boss.
“I… nothing…” he said, putting two fingers to the visor. - I AM…
But the colonel did not finish everything he wanted. A cannonball flying close made him, diving, bend over on his horse. He fell silent and was just about to say something else, as the core stopped him. He turned his horse and galloped away.
- Retreat! Everyone retreat! He shouted from afar. The soldiers laughed. A minute later the adjutant arrived with the same order.
It was Prince Andrew. The first thing he saw, driving out into the space occupied by Tushin's cannons, was a horse unharnessed with a broken leg, which neighing beside the harnessed horses. Blood poured from her leg as from a key. Several dead were lying between the limbs. One cannonball after another flew over him as he approached, and he felt a nervous shiver run down his spine. But one thought that he was afraid raised him again. “I cannot be afraid,” he thought, and slowly dismounted from his horse between the guns. He passed the order and did not leave the battery. He decided that he would remove the guns from position with him and withdraw them. Together with Tushin, striding over the bodies and under the terrible fire of the French, he began cleaning up the guns.
- And then the authorities came just now, they were more likely to fight, - said the fireworks to Prince Andrey, - not like your honor.
Prince Andrey did not say anything to Tushin. They were both so busy that they didn't seem to see each other. When, having put on the surviving two of the four guns on the limbs, they moved downhill (one broken cannon and the unicorn were left behind), Prince Andrey drove up to Tushin.
“Well, goodbye,” said Prince Andrey, holding out his hand to Tushin.
- Goodbye, my dear, - said Tushin, - dear soul! goodbye, darling, ”said Tushin with tears that, for some unknown reason, suddenly came into his eyes.

The wind died down, black clouds hung low over the battlefield, merging with gunpowder smoke on the horizon. It was getting dark, and the clearer was the glow of the fires in two places. The cannonade became weaker, but the clatter of guns from behind and to the right was heard even more often and closer. As soon as Tushin with his guns, bypassing and running into the wounded, got out of the fire and went down into the ravine, he was met by his superiors and adjutants, including the headquarters officer and Zherkov, who had been sent twice and never reached Tushin's battery. All of them, interrupting one another, gave and passed orders on how and where to go, and made him reproaches and remarks. Tushin did not give orders and silently, afraid to speak, because at every word he was ready, without knowing why, to cry, rode behind on his artillery nag. Although the wounded were ordered to be abandoned, many of them dragged behind the troops and asked for guns. The same brave infantry officer who jumped out of Tushin's hut before the battle was, with a bullet in his stomach, laid on Matvevna's carriage. Under the mountain, the pale hussar cadet, supporting one hand with the other, went up to Tushin and asked to sit down.
“Captain, for God's sake, I'm wounded in the arm,” he said timidly. “For God's sake, I can't walk. For God's sake!
It was evident that this cadet had repeatedly asked to sit down somewhere and was refused everywhere. He asked in an indecisive and pitiful voice.
- Order to plant, for God's sake.
- Plant, plant, - said Tushin. “Put your greatcoat on, you, uncle,” he turned to his beloved soldier. - And where is the wounded officer?
“We folded it up, it's over,” someone replied.
- Plant it. Sit down, honey, sit down. Put on your overcoat, Antonov.
Juncker was Rostov. He was holding one hand with the other, was pale, and his lower jaw was shaking with feverish tremors. They put him on Matvevna, on the very gun from which they laid down the dead officer. There was blood on the overcoat that was put on, in which Rostov's leggings and hands were stained.
- What, are you injured, my dear? - said Tushin, going up to the gun on which Rostov was sitting.
- No, shell-shocked.
- Why is there blood on the bed? Tushin asked.
- This officer, your honor, bleeding, - the soldier answered the artilleryman, wiping the blood with the sleeve of his greatcoat and as if apologizing for the uncleanness in which the weapon was located.
Forcibly, with the help of the infantry, they took the guns up the mountain, and having reached the village of Guntersdorf, they stopped. It was already so dark that at ten paces it was impossible to distinguish the uniforms of the soldiers, and the firefight began to subside. Suddenly shouts and gunfire were heard again close to the right side. The shots were already glistening in the darkness. This was the last attack of the French, which was answered by the soldiers who settled in the houses of the village. Again everything rushed from the village, but Tushin's guns could not move, and the gunners, Tushin and the cadet, exchanged glances in silence, expecting their fate. The skirmish began to subside, and soldiers sprang into action from a side street.
- Whole, Petrov? One asked.
- Asked, brother, heat. Now they won't stick their heads, - said another.
- Nothing to see. How they fried it in theirs! Not to be seen; darkness, brothers. Would you like to get drunk?
The French were repulsed for the last time. And again, in complete darkness, Tushin's guns, like a frame surrounded by humming infantry, moved forward somewhere.
In the darkness, it was as if an invisible, gloomy river flowed, all in one direction, buzzing with a whisper, talk and sounds of hooves and wheels. In the general hum of all other sounds, the moans and voices of the wounded in the darkness of the night were clearest of all. Their groans seemed to fill all this darkness that surrounded the troops. Their groans and the darkness of this night were one and the same. After some time, there was a commotion in the moving crowd. Someone rode with a retinue on a white horse and said something as they passed. What did you say? Where to now? Stand, eh? Thanks, or what? - greedy inquiries were heard from all sides, and the entire moving mass began to press on itself (apparently, the front ones stopped), and a rumor spread that they were ordered to stop. Everyone stopped as they walked in the middle of the muddy road.
The lights came on, and the chatter became more audible. Captain Tushin, giving orders for the company, sent one of the soldiers to look for a dressing station or a doctor for the cadet and sat down by the fire spread by the soldiers on the road. Rostov also dragged himself to the fire. A feverish shiver from pain, cold and damp shook his entire body. Sleep beckoned him irresistibly, but he could not fall asleep from the excruciating pain in his aching arm, which could not find position. He then closed his eyes, then looked at the fire, which seemed to him hot red, then at the stooped, weak figure of Tushin, who was sitting next to him in Turkish style. Tushin's large, kind and intelligent eyes were fixed on him with sympathy and compassion. He saw that Tushin with all his soul wanted and could not help him.
From all sides, footsteps and voices were heard of those passing by, passing by and the infantry stationed around them. The sounds of voices, footsteps and horses' hooves shifting in the mud, the near and far crackling of wood merged into one hesitating rumble.
Now the invisible river no longer flowed, as before, in the darkness, but as if after a storm the dark sea was shaking and trembling. Rostov meaninglessly looked and listened to what was happening in front of him and around him. The infantry soldier walked over to the fire, squatted down, thrust his hands into the fire and turned his face away.
- Nothing, your honor? - he said, addressing Tushin inquiringly. - Here he fought off the company, your honor; I don’t know where. Trouble!
Together with the soldier, an infantry officer with a tied cheek approached the fire and, turning to Tushin, asked to order to move a tiny weapon in order to transport the cart. After the company commander, two soldiers ran to the fire. They desperately swore and fought, pulling each other's boots.
- How, you raised! Look, smart, ”one shouted in a hoarse voice.
Then a thin, pale soldier with his neck tied with a bloody roll came up and in an angry voice demanded water from the gunners.
- Well, dying, or what, like a dog? - he said.
Tushin ordered to give him water. Then a cheerful soldier ran up, asking for a light in the infantry.
- Fire hot in the infantry! Happy to stay, fellow countrywomen, thank you for the light, we will give it back with a percentage, - he said, taking away the blushing firebrand somewhere into the darkness.
Behind this soldier, four soldiers, carrying something heavy on an overcoat, walked past the fire. One of them stumbled.
“Look, devils, they put some wood on the road,” he grumbled.
- Ended up, why wear it? One of them said.
- Well, you!
And they hid in the darkness with their burden.
- What? hurts? Tushin asked Rostov in a whisper.
- Hurts.
- Your honor, to the general. They are standing in the hut here, - said the fireworks, going up to Tushin.
- Now, my dear.
Tushin got up and, buttoning up his overcoat and recovering, walked away from the fire ...
Not far from the fire of the artillerymen, in a hut prepared for him, Prince Bagration was sitting at dinner, talking with some of the chiefs of the units who had gathered at his place. There was an old man with half-closed eyes, greedily gnawing a lamb bone, and a twenty-two-year-old flawless general, flushed from a glass of vodka and dinner, and a staff officer with a personalized ring, and Zherkov, restlessly looking around everyone, and Prince Andrei, pale and with pursed lips eyes.
In the hut there was a French banner that had been taken in the corner, and the auditor with a naive face felt the fabric of the banner and shook his head in bewilderment, perhaps because he was really interested in the appearance of the banner, and maybe because it was hard for him hungry to look at lunch, for which he did not have an appliance. In the neighboring hut there was a French colonel taken prisoner by the dragoons. Our officers crowded around him, examining him. Prince Bagration thanked individual chiefs and asked about the details of the case and about the losses. The regimental commander, who presented himself at Braunau, reported to the prince that as soon as the case began, he retreated from the forest, gathered the woodcutters and, letting them pass by him, with two battalions, stabbed and overthrew the French.
- As I saw, Your Excellency, that the first battalion was upset, I stood on the road and thought: "I will let these pass and meet with battle fire"; did so.
The regimental commander so wanted to do this, he was so sorry that he had not had time to do this, that it seemed to him that all this was for sure. Even, maybe, it really was? Was it possible to make out in this confusion what was and what was not?
“And I must note, Your Excellency,” he continued, recalling Dolokhov's conversation with Kutuzov and his last meeting with the demoted one, “that the private, demoted Dolokhov, before my eyes, took a French officer prisoner and especially distinguished himself.
- Here I saw, your Excellency, the attack of the Pavlogradites, - anxiously looking around, Zherkov intervened, who did not see the hussars that day, but only heard about them from the infantry officer. - Crumpled two squares, your Excellency.
Some smiled at Zherkov's words, as always expecting a joke from him; but, noticing that what he said also leaned towards the glory of our weapons and the present day, they took a serious expression, although many knew very well that what Zherkov was saying was a lie, not based on anything. Prince Bagration turned to the old colonel.
- Thank you all, gentlemen, all the units acted heroically: infantry, cavalry and artillery. How are the two guns left in the center? He asked, looking for someone with his eyes. (Prince Bagration did not ask about the guns of the left flank; he already knew that at the very beginning of the case all the guns had been abandoned.) “I seem to have asked you,” he turned to the officer on duty at the headquarters.
“One was hit,” the officer on duty answered, “and the other, I cannot understand; I myself was there all the time and gave orders, and had just left ... It was hot, really, ”he added modestly.
Someone said that Captain Tushin was standing here near the village itself, and that they had already sent for him.
“There you were,” said Prince Bagration, addressing Prince Andrey.
“Why, we didn't get together a bit,” the officer on duty said, smiling pleasantly at Bolkonsky.
“I did not have the pleasure of seeing you,” said Prince Andrey coldly and abruptly.
All were silent. Tushin appeared on the threshold, timidly making his way from behind the backs of the generals. Walking around the generals in a cramped hut, ashamed, as always, at the sight of his superiors, Tushin did not consider the flagpole and stumbled over it. Several voices laughed.
- How was the weapon left? - asked Bagration, frowning not so much at the captain as at the laughing ones, among whom Zherkov's voice was heard loudest.
Tushin now only, at the sight of the formidable authorities, in all horror presented himself with his guilt and shame that, while remaining alive, he had lost two weapons. He was so agitated that he had not yet had time to think about it. The laughter of the officers further confused him. He stood in front of Bagration with a trembling lower jaw and barely spoke:
“I don’t know… Your Excellency… there were no people, Your Excellency.
- You could take from the cover!
That there was no cover, Tushin did not say this, although it was the absolute truth. He was afraid to let the other boss down by this, and silently, with fixed eyes, he looked directly into Bagration's face, as a confused student looks into the eyes of an examiner.

The history of the creation of the "Mighty Handful"

General concept of the "Mighty Handful"

Accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, the expression "mighty handful" firmly entered life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833- 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). Often, the "Mighty Handful" is called the "New Russian Music School", as well as the "Balakirevsky Circle", named after its leader, MABalakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called the "Five" according to the number of main representatives. The composers of The Mighty Handful entered the creative arena during the period of great social upsurge in the 60s of the 19th century.

The history of the creation of the Balakirevsky circle is as follows: in 1855, M.A. Balakirev came to St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old boy was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Especially important for Balakirev is his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.

Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov is an interesting figure in the history of Russian art. Critic, scholarly art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, acting as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all major Russian artists, appeared in print with the propaganda of their best paintings and was also their best advisor and assistant.

The son of the outstanding architect V.P. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilyevich was born in St. Petersburg, educated at the School of Law. Stasov's service throughout his life was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka.

Stasov heard Glinka's opinion about Balakirev: "In ... Balakirev I found views that were so close to mine." And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov is undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly familiar with classical and modern art, ideologically guides Balakirev and directs him.

In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met Caesar Antonovich Cui, who was studying at the Military Engineering Academy at that time and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui was very fond of music. In his early youth, he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.

With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui, awakens in him a serious interest in art. Under the direction of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano in four hands, the opera Prisoner of the Caucasus, and in 1859 - the one-act comic opera Son of a Mandarin.

The next composer to join the Balakirev - Stasov - Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guard officer. He began to write very early and very soon realized that he had to devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, already an officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev happened in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything struck Mussorgsky in Balakirev: his appearance, and a bright, original game, and bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, "a new world, unknown to him until now, was revealed to him."

In 1862 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding scientist-chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.

In music, Borodin was self-taught. He owed his comparatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to a serious acquaintance with the literature of chamber music. Even during his student years at the Medical and Surgical Academy Borodin, playing the cello, often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he replayed the entire literature of bow quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber works. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin's bright musical talent, but his versatile erudition.

Thus, by the beginning of 1863, we can speak of a formed Balakirev circle.

"New Russian Music School" or Balakirev's circle. A community of Russian composers that emerged in the middle of the 19th century.

The name was fixed with the light hand of the famous music critic Vladimir Stasov - this is in Russia. In Europe, the commonwealth of musicians was simply called the "Group of Five".

1.

The first step towards the emergence of the "Mighty Handful" was the arrival in St. Petersburg in 1855 of the gifted 18-year-old musician Milia Balakirev.

With his brilliant performances, the pianist attracted the attention of not only the sophisticated public, but also the most famous music critic of that time - Vladimir Stasov, who became the ideological inspirer of the composers' association.

2.

A year later, Balakirev met the military engineer Caesar Cui. In 1857 - with a graduate of the military school Modest Mussorgsky.

In 1862 - with naval officer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, at the same time common musical views were revealed with the professor of chemistry Alexander Borodin. This is how the music circle was formed.

3.

Balakirev introduced novice musicians to the theory of composition, orchestration, and harmony. Together, like-minded people read Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, together they opposed the academic routine, looked for new forms - under the common idea of ​​nationality as the main direction of the development of music.

4.

The musical union dubbed the “mighty handful” by Vladimir Stasov. In one of the articles, the critic noted:

"How much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small, but already mighty handful of Russian musicians have."

The phrase became winged - and members of the musical community began to be referred to as "Kuchkists".

5.

The composers of The Mighty Handful considered themselves the heirs of the recently passed away Mikhail Glinka and dreamed of ideas for the development of Russian national music. The spirit of democracy was in the air, and the Russian intelligentsia began to think about the cultural revolution, without violence and bloodshed - exclusively by the power of art.

6.

Folk song as a basis for classics. The Kuchkists collected folklore and studied Russian church singing. We organized whole musical expeditions. So, Balakirev from a trip along the Volga with the poet Nikolai Shcherbina in 1860 brought material that became the basis for a whole collection - "40 Russian folk songs".

7.

From song genre to large forms. The folklore of the Balakirevites was included in the operas: "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "The Woman of Pskov" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Khovanshchina" and "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky. The epic and folk tales became a source of inspiration for symphonic and vocal works by the composers of The Mighty Handful.

8.

Colleagues and friends. The Balakirevites were tied by close friendship. The musicians discussed new compositions and spent evenings at the intersection of different types of art. The Kuchkists met with writers - Ivan Turgenev and Alexei Pisemsky, artist Ilya Repin, sculptor Mark Antokolsky.

9.

Not only to the people, but also to the people. Through the efforts of the Balakirevites, a free music school was opened for talented people of different classes. At the school they gave free concerts of works by Kuchkists and composers close in spirit. The school survived the Balakirev circle and worked until the revolution.

10.

The 70s of the nineteenth century divorced the Balakirevites. The Mighty Handful fell apart, but five Russian composers continued to create. As Borodin wrote, individuality prevailed over the school, but

"The general musical warehouse, the general style characteristic of the circle, remained":

in the classes of the St. Petersburg Conservatory together with Rimsky-Korsakov and in the work of followers - Russian composers of the twentieth century.

Municipal educational institution

Additional education for children

"Children's music school"
ESSAY

on the topic of:

"COMPOSERS OF A POWERFUL COUPLE"

on subject

"MUSICAL LITERATURE"
Work completed

7th grade student

choir department

Volosnikova Tatiana

Checked:

Biserova Yulia Petrovna

Peskovka 2011

1.1. History of creation …………………………………………………… ... 4

1.2. Activities of the "Mighty Handful" ............................................................. 7

2. Composers who are part of the "Mighty Handful"

2.1. Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910) ……………………… ... 12

2.2. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) ……………………… ... 14

2.3. Alexander Porfirevich Borodin (1833-1887) …………………… .15

2.4. Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) ……………………………… ..18

2.5. Nikolay Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) …………… ... 19

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… .22

List of sources used ……………………………………… ..26

Appendix 1 ……………………………………………………………… 27

Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………………… 28

Appendix 3 ……………………………………………………………… 29

Appendix 4 ……………………………………………………………… 30

Appendix 5 ……………………………………………………………… 31

Appendix 6 ……………………………………………………………… 32

INTRODUCTION

Accidentally used by Stasov in 1867, the expression "mighty handful" firmly entered life and began to serve as the generally accepted name for a group of composers, which included: Mily Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910), Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Alexander Porfirievich Borodin (1833- 1887), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918). Often, the "Mighty Handful" is called the "New Russian Music School", as well as the "Balakirev Circle", named after its leader M. A. Balakirev. Abroad, this group of musicians was called the "Five" according to the number of main representatives. The composers of The Mighty Handful entered the creative arena during the period of great social upsurge in the 60s of the 19th century.

"POWERFUL BUNCH"

The history of the creation of the Balakirev circle is as follows: in 1855, M. A. Balakirev came to St. Petersburg from Kazan. The eighteen-year-old boy was extremely gifted musically. At the beginning of 1856, he performed with great success on the concert stage as a pianist and attracted the attention of the public. Especially important for Balakirev is his acquaintance with V.V. Stasov.

Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov is an interesting figure in the history of Russian art. Critic, scholarly art critic, historian and archaeologist, Stasov, acting as a music critic, was a close friend of all Russian composers. He was connected by the closest friendship with literally all major Russian artists, appeared in print with the propaganda of their best paintings and was also their best advisor and assistant.

The son of the outstanding architect V.P. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilyevich was born in St. Petersburg, educated at the School of Law. Stasov's service throughout his life was associated with such a wonderful institution as the public library. He happened to personally know Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Repin, Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, Glinka. Stasov heard Glinka's opinion about Balakirev: "In ... Balakirev I found views that were so close to mine." And, although Stasov was almost twelve years older than the young musician, he became close friends with him for life. They constantly spend time reading books by Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, and Stasov is undoubtedly more mature, developed and educated, brilliantly familiar with classical and modern art, ideologically guides Balakirev and directs him.

In 1856, at one of the university concerts, Balakirev met Caesar Antonovich Cui, who was studying at the Military Engineering Academy at that time and specialized in the construction of military fortifications. Cui was very fond of music. In his early youth, he even studied with the Polish composer Moniuszko.

With his new and bold views on music, Balakirev captivates Cui, awakens in him a serious interest in art. Under the direction of Balakirev, Cui wrote in 1857 a scherzo for piano in four hands, the opera Prisoner of the Caucasus, and in 1859 - the one-act comic opera Son of a Mandarin.

The next composer to join the Balakirev - Stasov - Cui group was Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. By the time he joined the Balakirev circle, he was a guard officer. He began to write very early and very soon realized that he had to devote his life to music. Without thinking twice, he, already an officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment, decided to retire. Despite his youth (18 years old), Mussorgsky showed great versatility of interests: he studied music, history, literature, philosophy. His acquaintance with Balakirev happened in 1857 with A.S. Dargomyzhsky. Everything struck Mussorgsky in Balakirev: his appearance, and a bright, original game, and bold thoughts. From now on, Mussorgsky becomes a frequent visitor to Balakirev. As Mussorgsky himself said, "a new world, unknown to him until now, was revealed to him."

In 1862 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin joined the Balakirev circle. If Rimsky-Korsakov was a very young member of the circle, whose views and musical talent were just beginning to be determined, then Borodin by this time was already a mature man, an outstanding scientist-chemist, friendly with such giants of Russian science as Mendeleev, Sechenov, Kovalevsky , Botkin.

In music, Borodin was self-taught. He owed his comparatively great knowledge of music theory mainly to a serious acquaintance with the literature of chamber music. Even during his student years at the Medical and Surgical Academy Borodin, playing the cello, often participated in ensembles of music lovers. According to his testimony, he replayed the entire literature of bow quartets, quintets, as well as duets and trios. Before meeting Balakirev, Borodin himself wrote several chamber works. Balakirev quickly appreciated not only Borodin's bright musical talent, but his versatile erudition.

Thus, by the beginning of 1863, we can speak of a formed Balakirev circle.

The leading line in the subject of the works of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the life and interests of the Russian people. Most of the composers of The Mighty Handful have systematically recorded, studied and developed samples of folklore. Composers boldly used the folk song in symphonic and operatic pieces (The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov).

The national aspirations of the Mighty Handful were, however, devoid of any shade of national narrow-mindedness. The composers had great sympathy for the musical cultures of other nations, which is confirmed by the numerous examples of the use of Ukrainian, Georgian, Tatar, Spanish, Czech and other national themes and melodies in their works. An especially important place in the creativity of the "Kuchkists" is occupied by the oriental element ("Tamara", "Islam" by Balakirev; "Prince Igor" by Borodin; "Sheherazade", "Antara", "Golden Cockerel" by Rimsky-Korsakov; "Khovanshchina" by Mussorgsky).

By creating works of art for the people, speaking a language that is understandable and familiar to them, composers made their music accessible to the widest layers of listeners. This democratic aspiration explains the great gravitation of the "new Russian school" towards the program. It is customary to call “programmatic” such instrumental works in which ideas, images, plots are explained by the composer himself. The author's explanations can be given either in the explanatory text attached to the work, or in its title. Many other works by the composers of The Mighty Handful are programmatic: Antar and Tale by Rimsky-Korsakov, Islamey and King Lear by Balakirev, Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

Developing the creative principles of their great predecessors Glinka and Dragomyzhsky, the members of the Mighty Handful were at the same time daring innovators. They were not satisfied with what they had achieved, but called their contemporaries to "new shores", strove for an immediate lively response to the demands and demands of our time, inquisitively looked for new plots, new types of people, new means of musical embodiment.

The "Kuchkists" had to pave these new paths of their own in a stubborn and implacable struggle against everything reactionary and conservative, in sharp clashes with the dominance of foreign music, which had long been persistently implanted by Russian rulers and the aristocracy. The ruling classes could not have liked the truly revolutionary processes taking place in literature and art. Domestic art did not enjoy sympathy and support. Moreover, everything that was advanced and progressive was pursued. Chernyshevsky was sent into exile; his writings were stamped with a censorship ban. Herzen lived outside of Russia. Artists who demonstratively left the Academy of Arts were considered "suspicious" and were registered with the tsarist secret police. The influence of Western European theaters in Russia was ensured by all state privileges: Italian troupes monopolized the opera stage, foreign entrepreneurs enjoyed the broadest benefits that were inaccessible to domestic art.

Overcoming the obstacles posed to the promotion of "national" music, attacks from critics, the composers of the "Mighty Handful" stubbornly continued their work of developing their native art and, as Stasov later wrote, "Balakirev's partnership won both the public and the musicians. It sowed a new fertile seed, which soon gave a splendid and most fruitful harvest. "

The Balakirevsky circle usually met in several familiar and close houses: at L.I. Shestakova (sister of M.I. Glinka), at Ts.A. Cui, at F.P. Mussorgsky (brother of the composer), at V.V. .Stasova. The meetings of the Balakirevsky circle always proceeded in a very lively creative atmosphere.

Members of the Balakirevsky circle often met with writers A.V. Grigorovich, A.F. Pisemsky, I.S. Turgenev, artist I.E. Repin, sculptor M.A. Antokolsky. There were close ties with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The composers of The Mighty Handful were doing a great deal of public education. The first public manifestation of the activity of the Balakirev circle was the opening of the Free Music School in 1862. The main organizers were M.I. Balakirev and the choirmaster G.Ya. Lomakin. The free music school set itself the main task of spreading musical knowledge among the broad masses of the population.

In an effort to widely disseminate their ideological and artistic attitudes, to increase their creative influence on the surrounding public environment, members of the "Mighty Handful" not only used the concert platform, but also appeared in the press. The speeches were sharply polemical, judgments were sometimes harsh, categorical, which was due to the attacks and negative assessments to which the "Mighty Handful" was subjected by reactionary criticism.

Along with Stasov, Ts.A. Cui acted as an exponent of the views and assessments of the new Russian school. From 1864 he was a regular music reviewer for the newspaper "St. Petersburg Vedomosti". In addition to Cui, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov made critical articles in the press. Despite the fact that criticism was not their main activity, in their musical articles and reviews they provided examples of accurate and correct assessments of art and made a significant contribution to Russian classical musicology.

The influence of the ideas of the "Mighty Handful" also penetrates the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov was invited here in 1871 for the post of professor in instrumentation and composition classes. From that time on, Rimsky-Korsakov's activities were inextricably linked with the conservatory. He becomes the figure that concentrates young creative forces around him. The combination of the advanced traditions of the "Mighty Handful" with a solid and solid academic foundation formed a characteristic feature of the "Rimsky-Korsakov School", which was the dominant trend in the St. Petersburg Conservatory from the late 70s of the last century to the beginning of the 20th century.

By the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, the work of the composers of The Mighty Handful was gaining wide popularity and recognition not only in their homeland, but also abroad. An ardent admirer and friend of the "new Russian school" was Franz Liszt. Liszt energetically contributed to the dissemination of the works of Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov in Western Europe. Ardent admirers of Mussorgsky were French composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, Czech composer Janacek.

COMPOSERS INCLUDED IN THE "POWERFUL COUPLE"

- Russian composer, pianist, conductor, head and inspirer of the famous "Five" - ​​"The Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), which personifies the national movement in Russian musical culture of the 19th century.

Balakirev was born on January 2, 1837 in Nizhny Novgorod, into an impoverished noble family. Brought to Moscow at the age of ten, he took lessons from John Field for some time; later A.D. Ulybyshev took a great part in his fate. enlightened amateur musician, philanthropist, author of the first Russian monograph about Mozart. Balakirev entered the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Kazan University, but in 1855 met in St. Petersburg with M.I. Glinka, who convinced the young musician to devote himself to composition in the national spirit, relying on Russian music, folk and church, on Russian plots and texts.

The "Mighty Handful" was formed in St. Petersburg between 1857 and 1862, and Balakirev became its leader. He was self-taught and drew knowledge mainly from practice, therefore he rejected the textbooks and methods of teaching harmony and counterpoint adopted at that time, replacing them with a wide acquaintance with the masterpieces of world music and their detailed analysis. The "Mighty Handful" as a creative association existed for a relatively short time, but had a tremendous impact on Russian culture. In 1863, Balakirev founded the Free Music School - in contrast to the Petersburg Conservatory, the direction of which Balakirev assessed as cosmopolitan and conservative. He performed a lot as a conductor, regularly introducing listeners to the early works of his circle. In 1867 Balakirev became the conductor of concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society, but in 1869 he was forced to leave this post. In 1870 Balakirev experienced a severe spiritual crisis, after which he did not study music for five years. He returned to composition in 1876, but by this time he had already lost his reputation in the eyes of the musical community as the head of the national school. In 1882 Balakirev again became the director of concerts of the Free Music School, and in 1883 - the manager of the Court Singing Chapel (during this period he created a number of church compositions and transcriptions of ancient chants).

Balakirev played a huge role in the formation of the national music school, but he himself composed relatively little. In symphonic genres he created two symphonies, several overtures, music to Shakespeare's King Lear (1858-1861), symphonic poems Tamara (c. 1882), Rus (1887, 2nd edition 1907) and In the Czech Republic (1867, 2nd edition 1905). For piano, he wrote a sonata in B-flat minor (1905), Islamey's brilliant fantasy (1869) and a number of pieces in different genres. Romances and arrangements of folk songs are of high value. Balakirev's musical style is based, on the one hand, on the folk origins and traditions of church music, on the other, on the experience of new Western European art, especially Liszt, Chopin, Berlioz. Balakirev died in St. Petersburg on May 29, 1910.

was born on March 9 (21), 1839 on the estate of his parents in the village of Karevo, Toropetsky district, Pskov province.

Russian composer. He did not receive a systematic musical education, although in his childhood he learned to play the piano and tried to compose. According to family tradition, the young man was assigned to the guards school. In the late 50s, Mussorgsky met Dargomyzhsky and Balakirev, made friends with Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stasov. Meetings with them helped the talented musician define his true vocation: he decides to devote himself entirely to music. In 1858 Mussorgsky retired and became an active member of the creative group of leading composers, known in history as "The Mighty Handful".

In his work, imbued with deep nationality and realism, Mussorgsky was a consistent, bright, courageous spokesman for the revolutionary democratic ideas of the 60s. The composer's talent was revealed most fully in operas. The monumental innovative musical dramas "Boris Godunov" (after Pushkin) and "Khovanshchina" are the pinnacles of his work. In these works, as in the comic opera Sorochinskaya Yarmarka (after Gogol), the main character is the people. An ingenious master of musical characteristics, Mussorgsky created vivid, juicy images of people of different classes, showing the human personality in all the diversity and complexity of its spiritual world. Psychological depth and high drama are combined in Mussorgsky's operas with a wealth of musical and expressive means. The originality and novelty of the composer's musical language lies in the innovative use of Russian folk songs, in the transmission of intonations of live speech.

The composer strove for in his works "the characters to speak on the stage, as real people speak ...". He achieved this not only in operas, but also in solo vocal music - songs based on scenes from peasant life, dramatic ballads, satirical sketches. These are, first of all, such masterpieces as "Kalistrat", "Eremushki's Lullaby", "Forgotten", "General", "Seminarist", "Paradise", "Arrogance", "Classic", "Song of the Flea", etc. To the best Musorgsky's works also include the vocal cycle "Children's", the fantasy for the orchestra "Night on Bald Mountain", the ingenious "Pictures at an Exhibition" for the piano. "Comprehension of history, deep perception of the countless shades of the people's spirit, mood, intelligence and stupidity, strength and weakness, tragedy and humor - all this is unparalleled in Mussorgsky," wrote V.V. Stasov.

was born on November 12, 1833 and was recorded as the son of a serf of Prince L. S. Gedianov - Porfiry Borodin. In reality, the future composer was the illegitimate son of the prince himself and the Petersburg bourgeoisie Avdotya Antonova, in whose house the child was brought up.

Having shown an early interest in music, Borodin at the age of eight began to study playing the flute, and then - the piano and cello. When the boy was nine, he composed a polka for piano in four hands, and at sixteen his musical works were already praised by music critics, noting the "delicate aesthetic taste and poetic soul" of the young composer.

However, despite the obvious successes in this area, Alexander nevertheless chose the profession of a chemist for himself, enrolling in 1850 as a volunteer at the Medical-Surgical Academy, from which he graduated in 1856.

After Borodin received his doctorate in medicine in 1858, he was sent on a scientific trip to Western Europe, where he met his future wife, the pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, who discovered many romantic composers for him, in particular Schumann and Chopin.

In parallel with his scientific activities, Borodin did not abandon his musical experiments. During a trip abroad, he created string and piano quintets, a string sextet and some other chamber works.

After returning to Russia in 1862, he became an adjunct professor at the Medical-Surgical Academy, and in 1864 - an ordinary professor of the same department.

In the same 1862, a significant meeting for Borodin took place - he met M. Balakirev, and later with the rest of his circle, known as the "Mighty Handful" (C. Cui, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. Mussorgsky ). “Before meeting me,” Balakirev later recalled, “he considered himself only a dilettante and did not attach importance to his writing exercises. It seems to me that I was the first person to tell him that his real business is composing. "

Under the influence of the "Kuchkist" composers, Borodin's musical and aesthetic views finally took shape and his artistic style, inextricably linked with the Russian national school, began to be developed.

All his work is permeated with the theme of the greatness of the Russian people, love for the motherland, love of freedom. A striking example of this is the Second Symphony, which Mussorgsky proposed to call "Slavic Heroic", and the famous music critic V. Stasov - "Bogatyrskaya".

Due to the great occupation of scientific and pedagogical activities, to which Borodin devotes almost more time than music, work on each new work dragged on for months, and more often for years. So, over his main work - the opera "Prince Igor" - the composer, starting from the end of the 1860s. worked for eighteen years, but did not manage to finish it.

At the same time, it is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Borodin to the development of domestic science. The great Russian chemist D.I. Mendeleev said: "Borodin would have stood even higher in chemistry, would have brought even more benefits to science, if music had not distracted him too much from chemistry."

Borodin wrote more than 40 scientific papers in chemistry (he is the author of the discovery of a special chemical reaction named in his honor "the Borodin reaction").

Since 1874 Borodin became the head of the chemical laboratory of the Medico-Surgical Academy. In addition, he was one of the organizers of a higher educational institution for women - Women's Medical Courses (1872–1887), at which he later taught.

By the end of his life, Borodin the composer achieved a certain fame outside of Russia. On the initiative of F. Liszt, with whom Borodin was friends, his symphonies were performed several times in Germany. And in 1885 and 1886. Borodin traveled to Belgium, where his symphonic works were a great success.

During this period he wrote two string quartets, two parts of the Third Symphony in A minor, a musical picture for orchestra "In Central Asia", a number of romances and piano pieces.

Died A.P. Borodin on February 15, 1887 in St. Petersburg, without having finished either the opera "Prince Igor" or his Third Symphony (they were completed by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.K. Glazunov).

Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918) - Russian composer and critic, a member of the famous "Five" - ​​"The Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov), one of the founders of the national movement in Russian music. Born January 18, 1835 in Vilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania); his mother was Lithuanian, his father was French. He studied at the Main Engineering School, and then at the Military Engineering Academy in St. Petersburg, which he graduated in 1857. Cui made a brilliant career in the military field, rose to the rank of general and became a specialist in fortification. In 1857 he met Balakirev, and this was the impetus for the resumption of music studies (even in Vilna, Cui took lessons from the famous Polish composer S. Moniuszko). Cui became one of Balakirev's students and subsequently a member of the Five. In his publications in periodicals he actively supported the principles of the "new Russian music school". The composer's legacy includes 10 unsuccessful operas; the most interesting of these is the first, William Ratcliff (after Heinrich Heine, 1869). He also composed a number of small genre orchestral pieces, 3 string quartets, about 30 choirs, pieces for violin and piano and over 300 romances. Cui died in Petrograd on March 26, 1918.
came from an old noble family. He was born on March 18, 1844 in Tikhvin, Novgorod province. Some of Rimsky-Korsakov's personality traits - high adherence to principles, inability to compromise - were formed, probably, not without the influence of his father, who at one time was removed from the post of governor by a personal decree of Nicholas I for his humane attitude towards the Poles.

When Rimsky-Korsakov was twelve years old, he was assigned to the naval cadet corps, which he dreamed of almost from birth.

Around the same time, Rimsky-Korsakov began taking piano lessons from the cellist of the Alexandria Theater Orchestra Ulih. And in 1858 the future composer changed his teacher. The famous pianist Fyodor Andreevich Kanill became his new teacher, under whose guidance Nikolai began to try to compose music on his own. Imperceptibly, the music pushed thoughts about the career of a naval officer to the background.

In the fall of 1861, Rimsky-Korsakov met M. Balakirev and became a member of the “Balakirev circle”.

In 1862, Nikolai Andreevich, having barely survived the death of his father, went on a trip around the world (visited a number of countries in Europe, North and South America), during which he composed Andante for a symphony on the theme of the Russian folk song about the Tatar polon, proposed by Balakirev.

Upon returning to his homeland, he devoted himself almost entirely to writing. When the composer turned 27, he was invited as professor of composition and orchestral writing at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the age of 29, he became an inspector of military bands of the Naval Department, after that - the head of the Free Music School, and even later - an assistant manager of the Court Singing Chapel.

In the early 1870s, Rimsky-Korsakov married the talented pianist Nadezhda Purgold.

Aware of the imperfection of his musical education, he studies diligently, however, before writing the opera May Night (1878), creative failures followed him one after another.

After the death of his comrades in The Mighty Handful - Borodin and Mussorgsky - Rimsky-Korsakov completes the works begun by them, but not completed.

On the centenary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin (1899) Korsakov wrote the cantata "The Song of the Prophetic Oleg" and the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan, about his glorious and mighty hero Gvidon Saltanovich and the beautiful Swan Princess."

After the 1905 revolution, Rimsky-Korsakov, who supported the students' demands, was fired from the conservatory.

The audience heard his last opera "The Golden Cockerel" after the death of the composer.

CONCLUSION

The "Mighty Handful" as a single creative team existed until the mid-70s. By this time, in the letters and memoirs of its participants and close friends, one can more and more often find reasoning and statements about the reasons for its gradual disintegration. The closest to the truth is Borodin. In a letter to the singer L.I. Karmalina in 1876, he wrote: “... As the activity develops, individuality begins to take precedence over the school, over what a person has inherited from others. ... Finally, for one and the same, in different epochs of development, at different times, views and tastes in particular change. All this is utterly natural. "

Gradually, the role of the leader of the advanced musical forces passes to Rimsky-Korsakov. He brings up the young rising generation in the conservatory, since 1877 he became the conductor of the Free Music School and the inspector of the musical choirs of the naval department. Since 1883 he has been teaching at the Court Singing Chapel.

Mussorgsky was the first of the leaders of the "Mighty Handful" to die. He died in 1881. The last years of Mussorgsky's life were very difficult. Shaken health, material insecurity - all this prevented the composer from concentrating on creative work, caused a pessimistic mood and alienation.

A.P. Borodin died in 1887.

With the death of Borodin, the paths of the surviving composers of The Mighty Handful parted completely. Balakirev, withdrawn into himself, completely departed from Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui has long lagged behind his genius contemporaries. Stasov alone remained in the same relationship with each of the three.

Balakirev and Cui lived the longest (Balakirev died in 1910, Cui in 1918). Despite the fact that Balakirev returned to musical life in the late 70s (in the early 70s Balakirev stopped engaging in musical activity), he no longer had the energy and charm that characterized him during the 60s. The composer's creative powers died out before life.

Balakirev continued to run the Free Music School and the Court Singing Chapel. The educational order in the chapel, established by him and Rimsky-Korsakov, led to the fact that many of its pupils took to the real path, becoming outstanding musicians.

Cui's creativity and inner appearance also reminded little of his former connection with The Mighty Handful. He successfully advanced in his second specialty: in 1888 he became a professor at the Military Engineering Academy in the department of fortification and left many valuable scientific publications in this area.

Rimsky-Korsakov also lived for a long time (he died in 1908). Unlike Balakirev and Cui, his work went along an ascending line until its completion. He remained faithful to the principles of realism and nationality, developed during the great democratic upsurge of the 60s in the "Mighty Handful".

On the great traditions of The Mighty Handful, Rimsky-Korsakov brought up a whole generation of musicians. Among them are such outstanding artists as Glazunov, Lyadov, Arensky, Lysenko, Spendiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Steinberg, Myaskovsky and many others. They brought these traditions alive and effective to our time.

The work of the composers of The Mighty Handful belongs to the best achievements of the world musical art. Based on the legacy of the first classic of Russian music, Glinka, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov embodied the ideas of patriotism in their works, sang the great forces of the people, and created wonderful images of Russian women. Developing Glinka's achievements in the field of symphonic creativity in programmed and non-programmed compositions for orchestra, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin made a huge contribution to the world treasury of symphonic music. The composers of The Mighty Handful created their music on the basis of wonderful folk song melodies, endlessly enriching it with this. They showed great interest and respect not only to Russian musical creativity, their works presented themes of Ukrainian and Polish, English and Indian, Czech and Serbian, Tatar, Persian, Spanish and many others.

The work of the composers of The Mighty Handful is the highest example of musical art; at the same time, it is accessible, expensive and understandable to the widest circles of listeners. This is its great enduring value.

The music created by this small but powerful collective is a lofty example of serving the people with their art, an example of genuine creative friendship, an example of heroic artistic work.

LIST OF USED SOURCES

1. 
   http://www.bestreferat.ru/referat-82083.html
2. 
   http://music.edusite.ru/p29aa1.html
3. 
   http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_colier/6129/KUI
4. 
   http://music.edusite.ru/p59aa1.html
5. 
   http://referat.kulichki.net/files/page.php?id=30926

ANNEX 1

Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev (1837-1910)

APPENDIX 2

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

APPENDIX 3

Alexander Porfirevich Borodin (1833-1887)

APPENDIX 4

Caesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)
APPENDIX 5

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

APPENDIX 6

"The Mighty Bunch"