The meaning of Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky in a brief biographical encyclopedia. The meaning of Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich in a brief biographical encyclopedia Did Verstovsky receive a professional musical education

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Verstovsky Alexey Ivanovich (1799-1862) - one of the most talented and very famous Russian composers, was born on February 18, 1799 in the Tambov province, on his father’s estate. He early discovered his musical abilities both as a performer and as a composer. Considered Field's best student, Verstovsky often performed in concerts. By the age of seventeen, he composed music for the vaudevilles “Grandma’s Parrots”, “Quarantine”, “Stanislav” and, in collaboration with A. A. Alyabyev, for the vaudeville “New Prank”. The music turned out to be playful, melodic, and not lacking in freshness. Encouraged by the success, the composer took on more extensive works and wrote three vaudeville operas: “The Petitioner,” “The Shepherdess” and “The Old Sorceress.” During this youthful period, he also wrote music for Zhukovsky’s poems “Hesiod and Omir”, “Svetlana” (three songs), “The Hermit” and for Pushkin’s poems “Have You Heard” and “Black Shawl”. These small vocal works enjoyed great success in their time. In addition, during this time he wrote several pieces of sacred and ballet music. The opera "Pan Tvardovsky" (1828) opens the second period of Verstovsky's compositional activity, in which his talent reaches greater maturity and finally full flowering. This opera was staged in Moscow, on the stage of the Petrovsky Theater. The libretto was written by Zagoskin, and the plot was borrowed from an old Polish legend. The effect of the new work, which represented the first experience of folk opera, was enormous. Thanks to the lightness and relief of the melody, many excerpts from this opera have become favorites in different strata of society. They were sung everywhere, even in gypsy camps. The chorus “We live among dense fields and forests” was especially popular. This opera is imbued with that fantastic romanticism that then dominated the West and was transplanted onto Russian soil by Zhukovsky. The music shows a strong influence from Weber. The predominant form in this opera is the verse. There is almost no real dramatic musical element in the opera. Four years later, in 1832, Verstovsky’s second opera, “Vadim, or the Twelve Sleeping Virgins,” based on Shevyrev’s text, was staged in the same theater. This opera is similar in type to the previous one, although a little weaker. Alexei Nikolaevich reached the apogee of fame with his opera “Askold’s Grave,” staged in 1835. After Fomin, the composer of Catherine’s times, Verstovsky in “Askold’s Grave” is one of the first pioneers in the creation of a national Russian opera and Glinka’s predecessor. The composer's merit lies precisely in the fact that he strove for a national opera under conditions that apparently indicated a complete absence of such aspiration in society. Vaudeville with couplets, for which they took the music of famous Western composers, folk songs, operas of Italian, French and German composers - all of this fully satisfied the musical needs of Verstovsky's contemporary audience. In his operas, passionately and talentedly written, especially in Askold's Grave, he was not a compiler, but an independent talent. The chorus “Goy you Dnepr”, the aria “In the old days there lived grandfathers”, Toropka’s songs “How the breeze blows”, “Close to the city of Slavyansk”, “Charms were falling on the table”, due to their Russian character, entered the folk repertoire. The delight with which “Askold’s Grave” was greeted can only be compared with that which “Life for the Tsar” aroused shortly after. There is no continuous local color in Askold's Grave. Along with Russian or common Slavic music, there are scenes in the half-German, half-Italian opera genre; the orchestration is very weak and lacks symphonic development. Despite this, the above advantages give “Askold’s Grave” undoubted significance in the history of the development of Russian opera. Verstovsky's next operas reveal a gradual decline in his talent. “Longing for the Motherland” with a text by Zagoskin, staged in 1839, was also a success thanks to the name of the author; but “Churova Dolina or a Waking Dream” with the text of Prince Shakhovsky failed. The composer's last opera, Thunderbolt, with a text by Lensky, remained in the repertoire for several years; In terms of musical merits, it is slightly higher than the previous one. Between the last two operas, Verstovsky translated from French the play “Le mariage extravagant,” which he called “The Madhouse.” Respected as a composer and theater expert, he was appointed director of Moscow theaters in 1860; in this position he remained until his death (November 17, 1862). In 1827-1828 Verstovsky published the "Musical Album". His operas were performed not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also on provincial opera stages.

1830s

Alexander Nikolaevich Verstovsky

Russian empire

Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky(1799-1862) - Russian composer and theater figure.

Biography

Alexey Verstovsky was born on February 18 (March 1) in the Rastov Sad estate in the Tambov province.

The composer's father was the illegitimate son of General Seliverstov and a captured Turkish woman, who received a truncated surname. From the age of nine he performed in concerts in Ufa. B moved to St. Petersburg. There he was assigned to the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, where he studied for one year. He took piano, violin, singing, and composition lessons on his own.

Creation

The author of mainly musical and stage works - operas and vaudeville operas, as well as ballads. For thirty-five years he was an employee of the Moscow Imperial Theaters - this period was called in the theater world the “Era of Verstovsky”. He created 6 operas - “Pan Tvardovsky” (1828), “Vadim, or the Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Virgins” (), “Thunderbreaker” (, production) and others. The best is considered to be “Askold’s Grave” () based on the novel by M. N. Zagoskin, which was very popular. The extraordinary success of his best opera was noted by the outstanding critic A. Serov. In 1862, after the composer’s death, he wrote that “in terms of popularity, Verstovsky overpowers Glinka.”

He wrote more than 30 vaudeville operas - “Grandma’s Parrots” (text by N. I. Khmelnitsky, 1819), “Who is Brother, Who is Sister, or Deception after Deception” (text by A. S. Griboedov and P. A. Vyazemsky, 1824) , “Two notes, or Guilty without guilt” (together with A. A. Alyabyev, text by A. I. Pisarev), and others.

He also became famous for his romances - “Did you hear the voice of the night behind the grove”, “Old husband, formidable husband” (based on poems by A. S. Pushkin; the last “gypsy romance” was repeatedly performed by P. Viardot-Garcia), cantatas, and sacred music. In Russian vocal lyrics, Verstovsky created a new genre - the ballad, or “dramatic cantatas,” as he himself called such compositions. These are narrative-dramatic works for a soloist with instrumental accompaniment, written in free form. The best ballads include “Black Shawl” (to the verses of A. S. Pushkin), “Poor Singer” and “Night View” (to the verses of V. A. Zhukovsky), “Three Songs of the Skald”, etc.

Notes

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Categories:

• Personalities in alphabetical order
• Born on March 1
• Born in 1799
• Born in Tambov province
• Deaths on November 17
• Died in 1862
• Died in Moscow
• Musicians in alphabetical order
• Composers by alphabet
• Composers of the Russian Empire
• Composers of the 19th century
• Buried at the Vagankovskoe cemetery

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See what “Verstovsky, Alexey Nikolaevich” is in other dictionaries:

Large biographical encyclopedia

Russian composer and theater figure. From the age of 9 he performed in concerts in Ufa. In 1816 he moved to St. Petersburg, studied with J. Field and D. Steibelt (piano), F. ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Russian composer. Born on February 18, 1799 in the Tambov province, into a landowner family. Completed a course at the Institute of Railway Engineers; studied music theory with Brandt and Zeiner. To the earliest period of musical creativity... ... Biographical Dictionary

- (1799 1862) Russian composer and theater figure. Representative of romanticism in Russian music. Operas, including Askold's Grave (1835); romances, ballad Black Shawl (1823), etc. One of the founders of Russian vaudeville opera (Who is brother, who is... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1799 1862), composer and theater figure. Representative of romanticism in Russian music. Operas, including Askold's Grave (1835); romances, ballad “Black Shawl” (1823), etc. One of the founders of Russian vaudeville opera (over 30, including ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky (February 18 (March 1) 1799, Seliverstovo estate, Tambov province November 5 (17), 1862, Moscow) Russian composer and theater figure. Biography From the age of nine he performed in concerts in Ufa. In 1816 he moved to St. ... ... Wikipedia

- (1799, Seliverstovo estate, now Tambov region 1862, Moscow), composer. From the nobles. He received his education in St. Petersburg. From 1823 in Moscow, in the service of the chancellery, from 1825 inspector of music of the Imperial Moscow theaters, from 1830... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

- (1 III 1799, Seliverstovo estate, now Tambov region. 17 IX 1862, Moscow) A talented Russian musician, composer and theater figure A. Verstovsky was the same age as Pushkin and an older contemporary of Glinka. In 1862, after the death of the composer... ... Musical dictionary

One of the most talented and very famous Russian composers, b. 18 Feb 1799 in Tambov province, on his father’s estate. He early discovered his musical abilities both as a performer and as a composer. Considered Field’s best student, V. often... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

A. N. Verstovsky ... Collier's Encyclopedia

Verstovsky is rightfully considered one of the outstanding composers of the first half of the 19th century. He was a prominent representative of the romantic trend in music, the creator of Russian romantic opera.

Verstovsky was born in 1799. He spent his childhood years on his parents' estate, where serf musicians often organized concerts that featured the music of Haydn, Mozart, as well as works by Russian composers and arrangements of folk songs. In such an environment, literally saturated with music, the boy’s musical abilities quickly developed.

In his younger years, Verstovsky studied for some time at the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, after which he devoted himself to art. He becomes a student of the wonderful pianist J. Field. In addition, he diligently studies music theory and tries his hand at singing and playing the violin. At the same time, the future composer met a circle of writers, actors and musicians, the recognized leader of which was A. Shakhovsky. Verstovsky's connection with a group of progressive people of that era was reflected in his own creative activity: he began to act as a translator of plays, a singer and actor in amateur performances, and most importantly, as the author of music for theatrical productions. He soon gained popularity as a vaudeville composer.

Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky

In 1823, Verstovsky, who served as an official in one of the St. Petersburg departments, was transferred to Moscow. Here he met a number of famous figures of Russian art, wrote music for Griboedov and Vyazemsky’s vaudeville “Who is Brother, Who is Sister,” and, in collaboration with Alyabyev and other composers, composed music for A. Pisarev’s vaudevilles.

In 1825, Verstovsky went to work at one of the Moscow theaters as a music inspector. The close proximity to the theater gave him the idea of ​​​​creating an opera, especially since his desire was warmly supported by a circle of friends - Moscow writers, which included such famous writers as S. Aksakov and M. Zagoskin.

Several years of hard work finally culminated in the production in 1828 of Verstovsky's first opera, Pan Twardowski, based on an ancient Polish legend, on the stage of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. And soon the premiere of another opera took place - “Vadim”, based on the fantastic plot of Zhukovsky’s famous ballad.

In 1835, “Askold’s Grave” was staged - Verstovsky’s best opera, written on the plot of the novel of the same name by M. Zagoskin and which won the sympathy of listeners for many years. The opera takes place in Ancient Rus', but real historical events, as in Zagoskin’s novel, are intertwined with fiction, and everyday scenes alternate with fantastic episodes. The summary of the opera “Askold’s Grave” is as follows: from the Unknown, young Vseslav learns that he is a descendant of Askold, who was once killed by the ancestors of the now ruling prince Svyatoslav. The unknown calls on Vseslav to revenge and to fight for the princely throne. To make him hate Svyatoslav, the Unknown helps the prince’s people kidnap Nadezhda, Vseslav’s beloved. With the help of his friend, the singer Torop, Vseslav frees Nadezhda and runs away with her. The sorceress Vakhromeevna discovers the refuge of the fugitives, after which their pursuit begins. However, soon news comes of the prince’s mercy, who allows Vseslava and Nadezhda to enter into a legal marriage. Vseslav makes peace with Svyatoslav, and the Unknown drowns in the waves of the Dnieper.

As you can see, the plot of the opera is not particularly intricate, but the entertaining intrigue, romantic mystery and drama of individual scenes made it one of the favorite repertoire works of the Russian stage. The main reason for the popularity of opera lies in the peculiarities of musical dramaturgy. The outstanding Russian critic Serov wrote: “Verstovsky has lightness, gaiety, liveliness, variety, dexterity in managing the stage.”

Excerpt from the fishermen’s choir “Go you, Dnieper” from the opera “Askold’s Grave” by A. N. Verstovsky

Reproducing a distant era, Verstovsky did not strive to give the music a touch of antiquity. On the contrary, he relied entirely on modern types of musical art. “Askold’s Grave” contains a lyrical romance, a ballad, and a drinking song.

This work marks a significant advance over the comic operas of the 18th century. Despite the fact that the principle of alternating musical numbers with spoken dialogues is still preserved here, the musical numbers themselves, under the influence of the changes that have occurred in Russian music since the appearance of the first operas, have become different. There are not only large, extended arias and ensembles, but also entire musical scenes with continuous action. The role of the orchestra has also increased. The skillful use of a variety of instrumental colors made it possible for Verstovsky to create several vivid images and enhance the expressiveness of the music.

In the first act of the opera, the fishermen’s chorus “Hey, Dnieper,” written by the composer a capella, attracts the most attention. It combines a wide chant and measured marching gait, elements of folk polyphony and harsh unison moves with a chord structure.

The second chorus of fishermen “Come on, brothers, quickly” (also from the first act) sounds energetically, in a uniform rhythm. At the same time, the melody of the upper voice resembles a drawn-out song.

The first act also contains a folk play scene, the choirs of which are distinguished by lightness, liveliness, and grace of the melodic line. They are based on three-beat dance rhythms, often found in Polish music.

Alexander Nikolaevich Serov

Neizvestny's aria “Soon, soon the clear month” from the second act is noteworthy, since it is one of the earliest examples of a large dramatic aria in Russian opera. Orchestral and choral sonority help the composer paint a vivid picture of the setting in which the action takes place. The second part of the aria - a rapid allegro, ending with an extended coda - sharply contrasts with the stern concentration of the introduction.

The girls' choir “Ah, girlfriends” (third act) is interesting because of its combination of Russian and Polish national elements. The vocal part contains the intonations of an urban romance, while the accompaniment is kept in the rhythm of a polonaise.

Of the characters in the opera, first of all it is necessary to pay attention to the singer Torop, endowed with remarkable musical characteristics. For example, his song “Close to the City of Slavyansk” from the third act is a ballad written in a through form. It begins in a calm, narrative tone, but after repeating the main verse twice, the major is replaced by a minor, and the wide, flowing melody is replaced by a recitative. The accompaniment includes the rhythm of horse stomping and other figurative elements. The composer celebrates the culmination of the stage action with “melodrama,” that is, speech against the background of instrumental accompaniment. The subsequent return of the main melody makes it clear that the musical narrative is over.

The intermission and chorus “Brew, Potion” from the fourth act are created in the tradition of romantic opera. The composer tried to give the intermission music an eerie and fantastic flavor. The tonality of B-flat minor is gloomy. A powerful increase in sonority leads to tremolo. Various registers are repeatedly compared, and bizarre-sounding harmonies appear every now and then.

The choir, personifying evil spirits, does not have an independent part, and its texture consists entirely of chords duplicating orchestral voices. Each phrase of the choir corresponds to the melody of the orchestra. At the same time, there is a continuous increase in sonority.

The music of “Askold’s Grave” is typical of the musical practice of that time. But since the musical material widespread in everyday life became the basis for operatic forms of a new type here, opera can be considered as a fundamentally new stage in the development of Russian operatic drama.

After 1835, Verstovsky created three more operas, but they cannot be compared with Askold’s Grave. Appearing after Glinka’s brilliant creations, during the heyday of Russian classical opera, they did not have much influence on the life of the Russian theater.

Verstovsky proved himself not only as a talented composer, but also as a theater figure, who actually led the musical and theatrical life of Moscow, as well as as a director and teacher. Thanks to his efforts, music classes were opened at the management of Moscow theaters, where musicians were trained for the orchestra. Verstovsky died in 1862. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of the national theater.

Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich, one of the most talented and very famous Russian composers, b. 18 Feb 1799 in Tambov province, on his father’s estate. He discovered his musical abilities early, both as a performer and as a composer. Considering

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