He was the youngest, fourth son in the family. The two eldest died one after another in infancy. All the tenderness of the mother, Yulia Ivanovna, a kind and gentle woman, was given to the remaining two, and especially to him, the youngest, Modinka. It was she who first began to teach him to play the old piano that stood in the hall of their wooden manor house.

But Mussorgsky's future was predetermined. At the age of ten, he and his older brother came to St. Petersburg, where he was supposed to enter a privileged military school - the School of Guards Ensigns.

After graduating from the School, Mussorgsky was assigned to the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. Modest was seventeen years old. His duties were not onerous. Yes, the future smiled at him. But unexpectedly for everyone, Mussorgsky resigns and turns away from the path he had so successfully begun. True, this was unexpected only for those who knew only the external side of the life of this extraordinary person.

Not long before, one of the fellow Preobrazhenskys, who knew Dargomyzhsky, brought Mussorgsky to him. The young man immediately captivated the venerable musician not only with his piano playing, but also with his free improvisations. Dargomyzhsky highly appreciated his extraordinary musical abilities and introduced him to Balakirev and Cui. Thus began a new life for the young musician, in which Balakirev and the “Mighty Handful” circle took the main place.

Back then, in teenage years, the future composer amazed everyone around him with the versatility of his interests, among which music and literature, philosophy and history took first place.

Mussorgsky was also distinguished by his democratic views and actions. This became especially evident after the peasant reform of 1861. In order to relieve his serfs from redemption payments, Modest Petrovich renounced his share of the inheritance in favor of his brother.

Soon the period of knowledge accumulation gave way to a period of active creative activity. The composer decided to write an opera in which his passion for large folk scenes and for depicting a strong-willed personality would be embodied.

In search of a plot, Mussorgsky turned to Flaubert’s novel “Salammbô” from the history of ancient Carthage. One after another, beautiful, expressive musical themes, especially for mass episodes. However, when the composer realized that the images he created were very far from the authentic, historical Carthage, he completely lost interest in his work.

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The composer's passion for humor and ridicule could not have been more consistent with the nature of his other plans. On the advice of Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky began to write the opera “Marriage”. His task was new and previously unheard of, to write an opera based on the prose text of Gogol’s comedy.

All comrades regarded “Marriage” as a new, striking manifestation of Mussorgsky’s comedic talent and his ability to create interesting musical characteristics. But despite all this, it was clear that “Marriage” was nothing more than a fascinating experiment, and that this was not the path the development of a real opera should take. We must pay tribute to Mussorgsky; he himself was the first to realize this and did not continue the composition.

While visiting Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova, Glinka’s sister, Mussorgsky met Vladimir Vasilyevich Nikolsky. He was a philologist, literary critic, and specialist in the history of Russian literature. He drew Mussorgsky's attention to the tragedy "Boris Godunov". Nikolsky expressed the idea that this tragedy could become wonderful material for an opera libretto. These words made Mussorgsky think deeply. He immersed himself in reading Boris Godunov. The composer felt that an opera based on “Boris Godunov” could become a surprisingly multifaceted work.

By the end of 1869 the opera was completed. At the beginning of 1870, Mussorgsky received an envelope in the mail with a stamp from the director of the imperial theaters, Gedeonov. The composer was informed that the seven-member committee had rejected his opera. The new, second edition was created within a year. Now, instead of the previous seven scenes, the opera consisted of a prologue and four acts.

“Boris Godunov” turned out to be the first work in the history of world opera in which the fate of the people was shown with such depth, insight and truthfulness.

Mussorgsky dedicated his brainchild to his circle comrades. In the dedication, he unusually clearly expressed the main idea of ​​the opera: “I understand the people as a great personality, animated by a single idea. This is my task. I tried to resolve it in the opera."

Since the end of the opera in the new edition, a new phase of the struggle for its stage production has begun. The score was again presented to the theater committee and... again rejected. The actress Platonova helped, using her position as a prima donna at the Mariinsky Theater.

It is not difficult to imagine Mussorgsky's excitement, which intensified as the premiere approached. And now the long-awaited day has come. It turned into a genuine triumph, a triumph for the composer. The news of the new opera spread throughout the city with lightning speed, and all subsequent performances were held in full houses. It would seem that Mussorgsky could be quite happy.

However, an unexpectedly heavy blow fell on Mussorgsky from the side from which he least expected it. When in February 1874 a devastating review appeared in the St. Petersburg Gazette with the familiar signature “” (as Cui always signed), it was like a knife in the back.

Everything passes, and the excitement associated with the premiere of Boris, Cui's review and the noise raised around the opera by the press gradually subsided. Weekdays have come again. Again, day after day, going to the Forestry Department (he now worked in the investigative department), preparing “cases” of several thousand sheets each. And for myself - new creative plans, new works. Life seemed to return to its previous rut. Alas, instead the last and darkest period of ere life began.

There were many reasons for this - internal and external. And, above all, the collapse " Mighty bunch", which Mussorgsky perceived as a betrayal of old ideals.

The vicious attacks of the reactionary press also seriously wounded Mussorgsky and darkened the last years of his life. In addition, performances of “Boris Godunov” were performed less and less often, although public interest in them did not decline. And finally, the death of close friends. In the early 1870s, one of them, the artist Hartmann, died. A woman dearly loved by Mussorgsky, whose name he always hid, has died. Only his numerous works dedicated to her, and the “Funeral Letter” addressed to her, found after the composer’s death, give an idea of ​​the depth of his feelings and help to understand the immensity of the suffering caused by the death of a dear person. New friends also appeared. He met the young poet Count Arseny Arkadyevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov and became very attached to him. And how amazing, enthusiastic and restless this friendship was! As if Mussorgsky wanted to use it to reward himself for the losses and disappointments he had suffered. The best of Mussorgsky's vocal works of the 1870s were written to the words of Golenishchev-Kutuzov. But relations with Kutuzov also brought bitter disappointments. A year and a half after the start of their friendship, Arseny announced that he was going to get married. For Mussorgsky this was a blow.

Under the influence of difficult experiences, Mussorgsky’s craving for wine, which had manifested itself during his years at the cadet school, resumed. He had changed in appearance and was bloated; he was no longer as impeccably dressed as he once was. There were troubles at work; more than once he was left without a place, was in constant need of money, and was once even expelled from the apartment he occupied for non-payment. His health was deteriorating.

However, it was during this period that recognition came to him abroad. " Great Elder» Franz Liszt, having received from his publisher the sheet music of works by Russian composers, was amazed by the novelty and talent of these works. Particularly enthusiastic was Mussorgsky's "Children's Room" - a cycle of songs in which the composer reproduced the world of a child's soul. This music shocked the great maestro.

Despite the appalling conditions, Mussorgsky experienced a genuine creative rise during these years. Much of what was conceived by the composer remained unfinished or not entirely realized. But what was created during these years proves that Mussorgsky reached a new peak of creativity.

The first work that appeared after “Boris Godunov,” in the year of its first production, was the suite “Pictures at an Exhibition.” When, after Hartmann's death, Stasov organized an exhibition of his works in St. Petersburg, Mussorgsky, inspired by it, wrote a suite and dedicated it to the memory of his deceased friend.

This is the largest and most significant of all the works for piano composed by Mussorgsky. The composer transferred his amazing art of drawing real life scenes in sounds, recreating the appearance of living people, this time into the field of piano music, discovering completely new colorful and expressive capabilities tool.

Mussorgsky thought about the further development of the principles of Pushkin’s multifaceted dramaturgy. In his imagination, an opera was pictured, the content of which would cover the life of an entire state, with many pictures and episodes depicting what was happening at the same time.

There was no literary work that could serve as the basis for the libretto of such a broadly conceived opera, and Mussorgsky decided to compose the plot himself.

“Khovanshchina” became a new, highest stage in the development of Mussorgsky’s musical language. He still considered speech the main means of expressing human feelings and characters. But he now put into the concept of musical speech a broader and deeper meaning than it once included both recitative and song melody, through which alone the deepest, most significant feelings can be expressed.

In parallel with Khovanshchina, Mussorgsky composed another opera. It was the “Sorochinskaya Fair” according to Gogol. This opera testifies to Mussorgsky's inexhaustible love for life, despite any suffering, and his attraction to simple human joy.

While working on “Khovanshchina”, “Sorochinskaya Fair” and songs, Mussorgsky was simultaneously dreaming about the future. He was planning a third folk musical drama - about the Pugachev uprising, which, together with Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, would form a kind of trilogy on themes from Russian history.

But this dream was not allowed to come true, just as Mussorgsky did not have to finish Khovanshchina and Sorochinsky Fair.

The last years of his life were uneventful. Mussorgsky no longer served. A group of people, having formed, paid him something like a small pension. The composer had to receive it until the end of the operas. He performed a lot during this period as a pianist-accompanist. In 1879 he went to concert tour in Ukraine and Crimea. This trip was the last shake-up, the last bright event in Mussorgsky's life.

In the winter of 1881, the first blow overtook him. Others followed. On March 28, 1881, Mussorgsky passed away. He was barely 42 years old.

World fame came to him posthumously. Soon after his death, Rimsky-Korsakov took upon himself the great task of completing Khovanshchina and putting in order all the remaining manuscripts of the deceased. “Khovanshchina” was staged for the first time in Rimsky-Korsakov’s edition. In the same edition, other works of Mussorgsky went around the world.

Outstanding Russian composer, member of the “Mighty Handful”.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was born on March 9 (21), 1839 in the village of Toropetsk district of the Pskov province (now in) in the family of a retired collegiate secretary P. A. Mussorgsky, a representative of an old noble family.

The future composer spent his childhood on his parents' estate, the village. In 1845 he began to study music under the guidance of his mother.

In 1849-1852, M. P. Mussorgsky studied at the German Peter and Paul School in, in 1852-1856 - at the School of Guards Ensigns. At the same time, he took music lessons from pianist A. A. Gerke. In 1852, the composer's first work was published - the polka for piano "Ensign".

Upon completion of his studies in 1856, M. P. Mussorgsky was enlisted in the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. In 1856-1857, he met composers A. S. Dargomyzhsky, M. A. Balakirev and critic V. V. Stasov, who had a profound influence on his general and musical development. M.P. Mussorgsky began to seriously study composition under the guidance of M.A. Balakirev, entered the “Mighty Handful” circle. Having decided to devote himself to music, he left military service in 1858.

The ruin of the family caused by the abolition of serfdom in 1861 forced M. P. Mussorgsky to enter the civil service. In 1863-1867 he was an official of the Main Engineering Directorate, from 1869 to 1880 he served in the Forestry Department of the Ministry of State Property and in the State Audit Office.

In the late 1850s and early 1860s, M. P. Mussorgsky wrote a number of romances and instrumental works, in which the peculiar features of his creative individuality were revealed. In 1863-1866 he worked on the opera “Salammbô” (based on G. Flaubert), which remained unfinished. In the mid-1860s, the composer turned to current, socially sensitive themes: he created songs and romances based on words by T. G. Shevchenko, and on his own texts (“Kalistrat”, “Eremushki’s Lullaby”, “Sleep, Sleep, Peasant son”, “Orphan”, “Seminarist”, etc.), in which his ability to create brightly characteristic human images. It is distinguished by the richness and richness of sound colors symphonic picture"Night on Bald Mountain" (1867), based on folk tales and legends. A bold experiment was the unfinished opera by M. P. Mussorgsky “Marriage” (after, 1868), the vocal parts of which are based on the direct implementation of the intonations of live conversational speech.

The works of the 1850-1860s prepared M. P. Mussorgsky for the creation of one of his main works - the opera “Boris Godunov” (after). The first edition of the opera (1869) was not accepted for production by the directorate of the imperial theaters. After reworking, Boris Godunov was staged at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater (1874), but with large cuts.

In the 1870s, M. P. Mussorgsky worked on the grandiose “folk musical drama” from the era of the Streltsy riots of the late 17th century, “Khovanshchina” (libretto by M. P. Mussorgsky, begun in 1872) and the comic opera “Sorochinskaya Fair” ( by , 1874-1880). At the same time, the composer created the vocal cycles “Without the Sun” (1874), “Songs and Dances of Death” (1875-1877), and the piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition” (1874).

In the last years of his life, M. P. Mussorgsky experienced severe depression caused by lack of recognition of his work, loneliness, and everyday and financial difficulties. He died on March 16 (28), 1881 in the Nikolaev Soldiers' Hospital and was buried in the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The opera “Khovanshchina”, unfinished by M. P. Mussorgsky, was completed after his death; A. K. Lyadov, T. A. Cui and others worked on “Sorochinskaya Fair”. In 1896, a new edition of “Boris Godunov” was made. In 1959, D. D. Shostakovich prepared a new edition and orchestration of “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina”. An independent version of the completion of the “Sorochinskaya Fair” belongs to the Soviet composer V. Ya. Shebalin (1930).

M. P. Mussorgsky managed to create a deeply original, expressive musical language, distinguished by its acute realistic character, subtlety and variety of psychological shades. His work has had big influence on many domestic and foreign composers: S. S. Prokofiev, D. D. Shostakovich, L. Janacek, C. Debussy and others.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was born on March 9, 1839 in the village of Karevo, Toropetsk district, Pskov province, into an old Russian family. Even in early childhood, the nanny constantly told Modest Russian fairy tales. This acquaintance with the spirit of folk life became the main impetus for musical improvisations before learning the most basic rules of playing the piano. Modest was taught the basics of playing this instrument by his mother. Things went so well that at the age of 7 the boy was playing short works by Liszt. When he was 9 years old, in front of a large crowd of people at his parents’ house, Modest played Field’s Great Concert in its entirety. Since Modest’s father also loved music, it was decided to further develop his son’s musical abilities. Music lessons were continued in St. Petersburg with teacher Gerke.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

In 1856, Modest's parents enrolled him in the School of Guards Ensigns. All the cadets had with them a footman made of serfs, whom the authorities flogged if they could not please their master.

Not only did the cornets consider preparing for lessons to be something that degraded their dignity, but also the school director, General Sutgof, constantly supported them in this. When the pupils were not busy with drills, they organized drinking parties with dancing and flirting. The school director, in his extravagance, went so far as to severely punish those cadets who, after drinking, walked back to school and drank plain vodka. He was proud of those who arrived in a cab and were drunk on champagne.

This is the kind of establishment Modest Mussorgsky ended up in. He was practically the only student who enthusiastically studied German philosophy, translations of foreign books and history. General Sutgof quite often reprimanded Mussorgsky: “What kind of an officer, mon cher, will you make if you read so much!”

Outwardly, Modest fully adopted all the habits of the Preobrazhensky officer, that is, he had elegant manners, walked on tiptoe like a cockerel, dressed in the latest fashion, had excellent command of French, danced wonderfully, sang excellently, accompanying himself on the piano.

But, although he had the appearance of a high-society veil, there was much in him that set him apart from the vulgar environment in which he moved. Many people who were closely acquainted with him at that time were surprised at his phenomenal musical memory. Once, at a musical evening in some salon, Mussorgsky sang several numbers from Wagner's opera Siegfried. After he was asked to sing and play Wotan's scene a second time, he did it from memory from beginning to end.

A young man named Vonlyarsky served in the regiment together with Modest, who introduced the future composer to Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky. While visiting Dargomyzhsky's house, Mussorgsky met and became friends with Ts. Cui and M. Balakirev, very famous figures of musical art throughout Russia at that time. The latter became a mentor for the 19-year-old boy in studying the history of the development of musical art, which Balakirev explained to Mussorgsky using examples of the works of European musicians in their historical sequence, and carried out a strict analysis of musical works. These lessons took place while performing works together on two pianos.

Balakirev introduced Modest to Stasov, who was a well-known art connoisseur and critic in Russia, as well as to the sister of the brilliant Russian composer M. I. Glinka, L. I. Shestakova. A little later, the future composer met and became close friends with the talented composer, professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1856, Mussorgsky met A.P. Borodin, who at that time had just graduated from the Medical-Surgical Academy. According to Borodin, Modest at that time was “just a boy, a very elegant, accurately drawn officer; a brand new, tight uniform; the legs are turned out, the hair is smoothed, pomaded; nails precisely chiseled... Graceful, aristocratic manners; the conversation is the same, a little through clenched teeth, interspersed with French phrases..."

In 1859, Borodin and Mussorgsky met for the second time. If at the first meeting Modest did not make a positive impression on Alexander Porfiryevich, then the second time it completely changed. Mussorgsky has changed a lot, lost his officer's air and foppishness, although he still retained his grace in clothes and manners. Modest told Borodin that he retired because combining military service and art was an unthinkable thing. Before this, Stasov very diligently tried to dissuade Mussorgsky from his decision to resign. He gave him the example of Lermontov, who served and was engaged in literature, and was a great poet. Modest said that he was far from Lermontov and therefore would not study music and serve at the same time.

During the second meeting, Borodin listened to Mussorgsky play the piano, who played excerpts from Schumann's symphonies. Since Alexander Porfiryevich knew that Modest wrote music himself, he asked him to play something of his own. Mussorgsky began to play a scherzo. According to Borodin, he was amazed and surprised by completely unprecedented, new elements of music for him.

Their third meeting took place in 1862. At a musical evening, Borodin witnessed Mussorgsky and Balakirev playing the piano together. He later recalled: “Mussorgsky had already grown a lot musically. I was amazed by the brilliance, meaningfulness, energy of execution and beauty of the thing.”

Mussorgsky spent the summer of 1863 in the village. In the fall, returning to St. Petersburg, he settled with several young people in one large apartment. Each of them had his own room, the threshold of which no one had the right to cross without obtaining permission from the owner of the room. In the evenings they gathered in the common room, where they listened to music (Mussorgsky played the piano and sang excerpts from arias and operas), read, argued, and talked.

There were many such small communes throughout St. Petersburg at that time. As a rule, smart and educated people gathered in them, each of whom was engaged in some favorite scientific or artistic activity, despite the fact that many served in the Senate or ministry.

Mussorgsky's commune comrades had until then stayed with their families, but now they decided to radically change their lives. For all of them, family life, semi-patriarchal, with the old hospitality, remained in the past, but an intellectual, active life began, with real interests, with the desire to work and use oneself for business.

Thus Mussorgsky lived for three years. He believed that these were the best years of his life. During this period, thanks to the exchange of thoughts, knowledge, impressions with his friends in the commune, he accumulated the material from which he lived for the rest of the years, and also understood the difference between fair and unfair, good and bad, black and white. He did not change these principles for the rest of his life.

During these years, Modest read Flaubert's novel "Salammbô", which made such a huge impression on him that he decided to write an opera. But, despite the large amount of time and effort spent on this work, the opera remained unfinished, with the last passage written by Mussorgsky in December 1864.

Concern about the fate of the oppressed Russian people was always present in the thoughts and conversations of the composer. That is why one can see so clearly in his works the desire to show in music the life and struggle of the masses, his desire to depict tragic fate defenders of people from oppressors.

One day one of his friends turned to Mussorgsky with a question about why he did not finish the opera “Salambo”. The composer first thought, and then laughed and replied: “It would be fruitless, Carthage would be interesting.”

In the fall of 1865, Modest Petrovich became seriously ill. His brother forced the composer to move into his house so that his wife could take care of him. At first Mussorgsky did not want to do this, because he hated becoming a burden, but then he changed his mind.

The end of 1865, all of 1866, 1867 and part of 1868 are considered the period of the creation of a number of romances, which are among Mussorgsky’s most accomplished works. His romances were mainly monologues, which the composer himself emphasized. For example, the romance “The leaves rustled sadly” also has the subtitle “A Musical Story.”

Mussorgsky's favorite genre was the lullaby. He used it almost everywhere: from the “Lullaby to the Doll” of the “Children’s” cycle to the tragic lullaby in “Songs and Dances of Death.” These songs contained affection and tenderness, humor and tragedy, sorrowful forebodings and hopelessness.

In May 1864, the composer created a vocal piece from folk life - “Kalistrat” to the words of Nekrasov. According to Modest Petrovich, this was the first attempt to introduce comedy into his work. In the tone of the entire narrative of “Kalistrat” one can trace a grin, tart folk humor, but to a greater extent the meaning of the work is tragic, because this is a song-parable about the sad and hopeless lot of the poor man, which he talks about with humor that causes a bitter smile.

In 1866 - 1868, Modest Petrovich created several vocal folk pictures: “Gopak”, “Orphan”, “Seminarist”, “Picking mushrooms” and “Mischief”. They are a mirror image of Nekrasov’s poems and the paintings of the Itinerant artists.

At the same time, the composer tried his hand at the satirical genre. He created two songs - “Goat” and “Classic”, which go beyond the usual themes of musical works. Mussorgsky described the first song as a “secular fairy tale”, which touches on the theme of unequal marriage. In "Classics" the satire is directed against the music critic Famintsyn, who was an ardent opponent of the new Russian school.

In his famous romance “Raek,” Mussorgsky tried to develop the same principles as in the “Classics,” only sharpening them even more. This romance is an imitation of a folk puppet theater with a barker. This piece of music shows a whole group of opponents of the “Mighty Handful” association.

In the vocal sketch “Seminarist,” a healthy, simple guy is presented who is cramming boring Latin words that are completely unnecessary to him, while memories of the adventure he just experienced creep into his head. During the church service, he started looking at the priest, for which he was soundly beaten by her father, the priest. The comedy of the vocal composition lies in the alternation of inexpressive mumbling on one note, a patter of meaningless Latin words, with a broad, rude, but not devoid of daring and power, song of a seminarian about the beauty of priest Stesha and his offender - the priest. The most expressive part was the end of the song, in which the seminarian, realizing that he cannot learn Latin words, blurts them all out in one breath.

In The Seminarian, Mussorgsky created a parody of church singing in accordance with social status your hero. The drawn-out, mournful singing combined with completely inappropriate lyrics produces a comical impression.

The manuscript of “The Seminarist” was printed abroad, but Russian censorship prohibited its sale, citing the fact that this sketch depicts sacred objects and sacred relationships in a funny way. This ban terribly outraged Mussorgsky. In a letter to Stasov, he wrote: “Until now, censorship has allowed musicians through; The ban on “The Seminarist” serves as an argument that from the nightingales of the “tabernacles of the forest and moon lovers” musicians become members of human societies, and if I were completely banned, I would not stop chiseling the stone until I was exhausted.”

From a completely different perspective, Modest Petrovich’s talent is revealed in the “Children’s” series. The songs from this collection are not so much songs for children, but songs about children. In them, the composer showed himself to be a psychologist who is able to reveal all the features of a child’s perception of the world, the so-called rosy naive. Musicologist Asafiev defined the content and meaning of this cycle as “the formation of a reflective personality in a child.”

Mussorgsky, in his “Children’s” cycle, raised such layers and chose forms that no one had touched before. Here is a child talking to his nanny about a beech tree from a fairy tale, and a child who was put in a corner, and he is trying to blame the kitten, and a boy talking about his twig hut in the garden, about a beetle that flew at him, and a girl, putting a doll to bed.

Franz Liszt was so delighted with these songs that he immediately wanted to put them on the piano. Mussorgsky wrote to his friend Stasov about this event: “I never thought that Liszt, who chose colossal subjects, could seriously understand and appreciate the “Children’s Room”, and most importantly, admire it: after all, the children in it are Russians with a strong local flavor.” . I. E. Repin developed and drew a charming title page for Mussorgsky’s “Children’s” cycle, on which the text was composed of toys and notes, and five small genre scenes were located around it.

After writing a number of romances, it became clear that Mussorgsky is opera composer. Dargomyzhsky and Cui strongly recommended that he start writing operas, and he himself wanted this most of all, without any advice.

In 1868, Modest Petrovich decided to write an opera on the theme of Gogol’s “Marriage”. Both Nikolai Vasilyevich himself and his brilliant work were very close in spirit to the composer, which is why he chose “Marriage”. But the difficulty was that Mussorgsky decided to set the entire work to music, in its entirety, without a single omission, just as Dargomyzhsky set Pushkin’s “The Stone Guest” to music. And yet Mussorgsky’s attempt was even bolder, because he translated not poetry, but prose, and no one had done this before him.

In July 1868, the composer completed Act I of the opera and began composing Act II. But he did not do this work for long, and for this reason. The first act of "The Marriage" was performed several times in concerts by different musicians. After listening to the music he wrote, Modest Petrovich postponed writing the opera, although he already had a wealth of material prepared. He became interested in the theme of Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov,” which one of his friends suggested to him during a musical evening at L. I. Shestakova’s. Having read Pushkin's work, Mussorgsky was so captivated by the plot that he simply could not think of anything else.

He began work on the opera “Boris Godunov” in September 1868, and on November 14, Act I was already completely written. At the end of November 1869, the entire opera was ready. The speed is incredible, considering that the composer composed not only music, but also text. Only in a few places did he come close to the text of Pushkin’s drama, but the musician composed most of the text himself.

In the summer of 1870, Mussorgsky handed over the completed opera to the directorate of the imperial theaters. The committee reviewed this work at its meeting and rejected it. The fact is that the novelty and unusualness of Modest Petrovich’s music baffled the venerable representatives of the music and art committee. In addition, they reproached the author for the absence of a female role in the opera.

Upon learning of the committee's decision, Mussorgsky was shocked. Only persistent persuasion from friends and a passionate desire to see opera on stage forced him to take up the opera score. He expanded the overall composition quite significantly by adding individual scenes. For example, he composed the scene “Under Kromi”, i.e. the entire Polish act. Some previously written scenes have received minor changes.

In February 1873, Kondratiev’s benefit performance took place at the Mariinsky Theater. At the concert, three excerpts from the opera were given, the success of which was simply stunning. Petrov, who sang Varlaam, performed his part best of all.

After long ordeals, on January 24, 1874, the entire opera “Boris Godunov” was given. This performance became a true triumph for Mussorgsky. The old representatives of musical culture, fans of routine and vulgar opera music, pouted and became angry; pedants from the conservatory and critics began to protest with foam at the mouth. And this was also a kind of celebration, which means that no one remained indifferent to the opera.

But the younger generation rejoiced and received the opera with a bang. The youth did not care at all that critics began to persecute the composer, calling his music rude and tasteless, hasty and immature, speaking of a violation of the traditions of classical music. Many understood that great things had been created folk piece and handed over to the people.

Mussorgsky was prepared for such sharp attacks from his ill-wishers. However, he never expected a blow from his closest comrade in the “Mighty Handful”, from the one whom they in the circle were accustomed to consider as a faithful fighter for common ideals - from Cui. The composer was offended, shocked, one might even say enraged by Cui's article. In a letter to Stasov, he wrote: “The brainless are not satisfied with the modesty and lack of swagger that have never left me and will not leave while the brains in my head are not completely burned out. Behind this insane attack, behind this deliberate lie, I see nothing, as if soapy water has spilled into the air and is covering objects. Complacency!!! Hasty writing! Immaturity!... whose?... whose?... I would like to know.”

The opera began to be staged less and less often, and corrections and cuts from it were made more and more often. In 1874, “Boris Godunov” was shown for the tenth time (at full box office). Two years later, the entire brilliant scene “Under Kromami” was cut from the opera. During Mussorgsky's lifetime, the last performance of the utterly truncated and mutilated opera was given on February 9, 1879.

The seventies became the period of the highest development of Mussorgsky's creativity. But they were also the darkest period of his life. This is a time of great creative achievements and irreversible losses, a time of courageous impulses and devastating emotional storms.

During these years, Modest Petrovich wrote the operas “Khovanshchina” and “Sorochinskaya Fair”, vocal cycles “Without the Sun”, “Songs and Dances of Death”, “Pictures from an Exhibition” and so on. In Mussorgsky's personal life, circumstances were not going well - the discord with his friends gradually deepened.

In June 1874, Modest Petrovich suffered a severe attack of nervous illness - the first result of strain on mental and physical strength. In the same year he died suddenly talented artist and the architect W. Hartmann, who was a close friend of the composer. This death took away almost all his spiritual strength.

On Hartmann’s death, Mussorgsky wrote the piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition,” which became a typical work for the development of all Russian musical art. The prototype for the suite was not only Hartmann’s diverse watercolors, but also architectural projects: “The Heroic Gate”, costume sketches for theatrical productions (“Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks”, “Trilby”), sketches of toys, individual genre sketches (“Limoges Market”, “ Tuileries Garden"), portrait characteristics ("Two Jews - rich and poor").

According to musicologists, Hartmann's drawings became only a pretext for Mussorgsky's creative imagination. On their basis a chain of independent, unusually bright in their own way was born. artistic power musical creations. Therefore, “Pictures at an Exhibition” is not an illustration for an exhibition of Hartmann’s works. This is a suite whose genre is unique and unique, just as its design and creation history are unique.

Among all the losses and hardships, another terrible grief fell on Modest Petrovich - on June 29, 1874, N. Opochinina died. She was for him a bright ray in the gloomy sky of life, a very congenial person and simply a beloved woman. This loss was the hardest for him. The composer hid his grief from everyone and never mentioned it anywhere. Only the sketch of the unfinished “Tombstone Letter” speaks about the torment experienced.

In 1874, Mussorgsky composed the ballad “Forgotten” to the words of Golenishchev-Kutuzov. The impetus for the creation of this work was the painting by V.V. Vereshchagin “The Forgotten,” depicting a Russian soldier remaining on the battlefield. The social meaning of the picture was that it was necessary to protest against the unjust wars of the tsarist government, against the senseless death of Russian people. Modest Petrovich, together with Golenishchev-Kutuzov, further deepened the social meaning through the language of music, telling the biography of the soldier depicted in the picture. He showed that he was a peasant whose wife and children were waiting at home. The essence of the musical solution lies in the contrast of two images - a gloomy march depicting the battlefield, and a sad lullaby that the wife hums while waiting for her husband to return.

But the theme of death is shown most fully and comprehensively in the piano cycle “Songs and Dances of Death.” This plot was suggested to Mussorgsky by Stasov.

In “Songs and Dances of Death,” the composer recreates Russian reality, which turns out to be disastrous for many people. In social and accusatory terms, the theme of death is far from in last place in Russian art of that time: in the paintings of Perov, Vereshchagin, Kramskoy, in Nekrasov’s poems “Frost, Red Nose”, “Orina, Mother of a Soldier”, etc. Mussorgsky’s piano cycle should stand precisely in this row of works of realistic art.

In this composition, Modest Petrovich used the genres of march, dance, lullaby and serenade. By and large, this is a paradox. But it is caused by the desire to emphasize the surprise and absurdity of the invasion of hated death. After all, in fact, is there anything further from the idea of ​​death than images of childhood, youth, merry dances, triumphal processions? But Mussorgsky, by bringing these infinitely distant concepts closer together, achieved such a poignancy in revealing the theme that he could not achieve in the most mournful and tragic funeral march or requiem.

The cycle consists of four songs, which are arranged according to the principle of increasing dynamics of the plot: “Lullaby”, “Serenade”, “Trepak”, “Commander”. The action is constantly expanding, that is, from the cozy and secluded room setting in “Lullaby” the listener is transported to the night street of “Serenade”, then to the deserted fields of “Trepak” and, finally, to the battlefield in “Commander”. The opposition between life and death, their eternal struggle among themselves is the dramatic basis of the entire cycle.

“Lullaby” depicts a scene of deep grief and despair of a mother sitting at the cradle of her dying child. Everyone musical means the composer tries to emphasize the living anxiety of the mother and the dead calm of death. The phrases of death sound insinuatingly, ominously, affectionately, and the music emphasizes rigidity and deadness. At the end of the song, the mother’s phrases begin to sound more and more desperate, and death simply repeats its monotonous “Bayushki, bay, bay.”

This song was most often performed by A. Ya. Petrova. She sang with such inimitable perfection, with such passion and drama, that one day one listener, a young mother, could not stand it and fainted.

In the second song, “Serenade,” love is contrasted with death. The introduction not only shows the landscape, but also conveys the emotionally charged atmosphere of youth and love. Mussorgsky interpreted the image of death in this song in the same way as in “Lullaby,” that is, the same plot motif of the caresses of death and the same ominously affectionate intonations. At that time, there was an assumption that the composer showed in the song the death of a revolutionary girl in prison. But, most likely, Mussorgsky captured not only the fate of female revolutionaries, but also many Russian women and girls who died fruitlessly and uselessly, not finding application for their strength in the everyday life of that time, which stifled many young lives.

In “Trepak”, it is no longer a song written, but a dance of death, performed together with a drunk man. The theme of the dance gradually unfolds into a large musical and quite diverse picture. The dance theme throughout the song sounds differently: sometimes simple-minded, sometimes ominously and gloomily. The contrast is based on the opposition between a dance monologue and a lullaby.

The song “Commander” was written by the composer much later than the others, around 1877. The main theme of this song is the tragedy of a people who are forced to send their sons to the battlefields. This is almost the same theme as in "The Forgotten", but shown more fully. While composing the song, tragic military events were unfolding in the Balkans, which attracted everyone's attention.

The intro to the song is written as independent part. First, the mournful melody “Rest with the Saints” sounds, and then the music leads the listener to the culmination of the song and the entire piano cycle - the victorious march of death. Mussorgsky took the solemn and tragic melody for this part from the Polish revolutionary anthem “With the Smoke of Fires,” which was performed during the 1863 uprising.

In the last 5–6 years of his life, Mussorgsky was passionate about composing two operas simultaneously: “Khovanshchina” and “Sorochinskaya Fair”. The plot of the first of them was suggested to him by Stasov at a time when the opera “Boris Godunov” was not staged in the theater. The idea for the second opera came to Modest Petrovich in 1875. He wanted to write a role specifically for O. A. Petrov, whose extraordinary talent he simply adored.

The action of the opera “Khovanshchina” takes place in the era of intense struggle of social forces in Rus' at the end of the 17th century, which was an era of popular unrest, streltsy riots, palace strife and religious strife just before the beginning of the activities of Peter I. At that time, the centuries-old foundations of the feudal-boyar antiquity were collapsing , the paths of a new Russian state. The historical material was so extensive that it did not fit into the framework of the operatic composition. Rethinking and selecting the main thing, the composer reworked the script plan and music of the opera several times. Modest Petrovich had to give up a lot of things he had previously planned.

"Khovanshchina" was conceived as an opera based on Russian song classics. While working on this work, Mussorgsky read a lot of books that provided detailed information about the course of events and the uniqueness of life at that time. He carefully studied all the materials that helped create an idea of ​​the character of historical characters.

Since Mussorgsky always had a special craving for character, he very often transferred entire pieces of genuine historical documents into the text of the opera in the form of quotations: from an anonymous letter with a denunciation of the Khovanskys, from an inscription on a pillar erected by the archers in honor of their victory, from a royal charter , granting mercy to repentant archers. All this as a whole determines the figurative and slightly archaic nature of the musical work.

In “Khovanshchina,” the composer anticipated the themes of two outstanding paintings by the Russian painter V. I. Surikov. This refers to “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution” and “Boyaryna Morozova”. Mussorgsky and Surikov worked independently of each other, which makes it all the more surprising that the interpretation of the theme coincides.

The most fully depicted in the opera are the Streltsy, whose originality clearly emerges if we compare the two types of marching (the second type in “Khovanshchina” is the Petrovsky). The Sagittarius are all about songfulness, prowess, the Petrovtsy are about the purely instrumental sonority of a brass band.

For all the breadth of display of folk life and folk psychology, the Petrine people are outlined in the opera only from the outside. The listener sees them through the eyes of the people, for whom the Petrine people are representatives of everything cruel, faceless, mercilessly invading their lives.

Another popular opera group is the Moscow newcomers. The appearance of this collective image is explained by the composer’s desire to show the events taking place not only from the position of those who played the main role in them, but also through the eyes of that part of the people who judge this struggle from the outside, although they experience its impact.

Back in the summer of 1873, Modest Petrovich played excerpts from Act V of the opera to his friends. But he was in no hurry to write them down on music paper. He believed that it was too early, that the idea was not ripe. Nevertheless, everything that he had conceived and found then was kept in his memory for 5 whole years. And only in 1878 Mussorgsky composed the scene “Martha with Andrei Khovansky before self-immolation.” He began to finally formulate the opera in 1880.

On August 22, 1880, in a letter to Stasov, Mussorgsky wrote: “Our “Khovanshchina” is over, except for a small piece in the final scene of self-immolation: we will have to scrimp about it together, because this “rogue” is completely dependent on stage technology.” But this small piece remained unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich completed Mussorgsky's plan in the score in their own way.

The last years of Modest Petrovich's life were not very eventful. He no longer served, and a group of friends, having formed, paid him an allowance, something like a pension. But he performed a lot as a pianist-accompanist. Most often he worked with D. M. Leonova, once an outstanding artist of the imperial stage, a student of Glinka. In 1879, Mussorgsky and Leonova went on a concert tour around Ukraine and Crimea. The composer accompanied the singer and also performed as a soloist, performing excerpts from his operas. They were a resounding success, but it was the last live event in Mussorgsky's life.

After returning from Ukraine, Modest Petrovich was forced to look for work. He had neither money nor an apartment. Leonova invited him to open private courses for vocal training, that is, something like a private music school. She needed an accompanist who would help her students study musical literature. The composer took this position.

In February 1881, Mussorgsky was in Leonova’s apartment, where he was struck by the first blow. Others followed him, but there was no one to care for the sick man. Modest Petrovich's closest friends - V.V. Stasov, Ts.A. Cui, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.P. Borodin - turned to the doctor L. Bertenson with a request to place Mussorgsky in some hospital. The chief physician of the Nikolaev Hospital for Officers and Lower Military Ranks initially refused Bertenson’s request, but then came up with an original solution. Mussorgsky was admitted to the hospital as a civilian orderly for resident Bertenson.

At this time, a close friend of Modest Petrovich, the artist I. E. Repin, came from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Stasov asked him to paint a portrait of Mussorgsky, which Repin did. He painted the portrait of Mussorgsky, which later became so famous, in a gray robe with crimson lapels, in which the composer is depicted from the front with his head slightly bowed. Traces of a serious illness are visible on his face, his feverishly shining eyes convey all his internal tension and all his experiences and suffering, reflect his creative power and talent.

Modest Petrovich spent very little time in the hospital. On March 16, 1881 he died. Only in 1885, through the efforts of friends, a monument was erected on his grave.

After Mussorgsky's death, Rimsky-Korsakov put the manuscript of Khovanshchina in order, orchestrated it, and prepared it for publication and stage performance.