Presentation on the topic of ancient dances. Presentation on music "old dances"

It is necessary to introduce children to classical music at any age. Let it play during their games and other activities. The child will develop emotionally and become involved in art, which is important for the development of personality - many pediatricians and teachers are convinced of this.

Some classical composers wrote specifically for children, taking into account children's perceptions and the range of interests of children of a certain age. Other works were written for young performers; they correspond not only to children’s perception of the content itself piece of music, but also the technical capabilities of the child.

In our article we will talk about some composers and their works written specifically for children.

P.I. Tchaikovsky "Children's Album"

The collection includes 24 pieces for performance by a small pianist. It is dedicated to the composer's nephew V.L. Davydov. This is the composer's first approach to a children's theme. Later P.I. Tchaikovsky will write the cycle “Children's Songs” and the ballet “The Nutcracker” for children.

All the names of the plays indicate that we are dealing with works for children:

1. “Morning prayer”
2. “Winter Morning”
3. "Mom"
4. "Game of Horses"
5. “March of the Wooden Soldiers”
6. "Doll Disease"
7. "Doll Funeral"
8. "Waltz"
9. "New Doll"
10. "Mazurka"
11. “Russian song”
12. “A man plays a harmonica”
13. "Kamarinskaya"
14. "Polka"
15. “Italian song”
16. “Old French Song”
17. “German Song”
18. “Neapolitan Song”
19. "Nanny's Tale"
20. "Baba Yaga"
21. "Sweet Dream"
22. "The Lark's Song"
23. “The Organ Grinder Sings”
24. "In the Church"

The history of the album

P.I. Tchaikovsky loved children very much; he often communicated with the children of his sister A.I. Davydova, when he visited them in Kamenka. His nephew Volodya Davydov was very musical child. In one of his letters, Tchaikovsky wrote: “I dedicated this album to my nephew Volodya, who passionately loves music and promises to be a musician.”

When publishing the album, the composer himself took care of both the format of the collection and the pictures that should accompany the notes.

Some plays in the cycle were created on folklore material. For example, in the “Neapolitan Song” and in the “Italian Song” Tchaikovsky used Italian folk melodies. By the way, the theme of the “Neapolitan Song” is also heard in the third act of the ballet “ Swan Lake" The play “The Organ Grinder Sings” also features a folk (Venetian) motif. In “Russian Song,” the composer turned to the Russian folk dance song “Are you a head, my head?” The play “Kamarinskaya” is based on the melody of a famous Russian dance song.

An authentic French melody sounds in “An Old French Song” (later the composer used this melody, slightly modifying it, in the minstrel chorus from Act II of the opera "Maid of Orleans"). The Tyrolean motif is used in the "German Song". In the play “A Man Plays the Harmonica,” you can hear the intonations of Russian single-row harmonicas.

Storylines of the “Children's Album” series

They are clearly visible and seem to make up the child’s whole day from the moment he wakes up to sleep.

Morning. Plays “Morning Prayer”, “Winter Morning”, “Mother”.

Day. Games and children's activities. Plays “The Game of Horses”, “March of the Wooden Soldiers”.

Trilogy dedicated to the doll. Plays “The Doll’s Illness”, “The Doll’s Funeral”, “The New Doll”.

Fascinating musical travels through Italy, France, Germany. Plays “Italian Song”, “Neapolitan Song”, “Old French Song”, “German Song”. But let’s not forget our native tunes (“Russian Song”, “Kamarinskaya”).

Children's day ends. The play "Nanny's Tale", in which it is impossible without "Baba Yaga". And then the play “Sweet Dream”.

The album contains landscape sketches (the play “The Lark’s Song”), and everyday sketches (“The Organ Grinder Sings”), as well as dances “Waltz”, “Polka”, “Mazurka”. The cycle ends with the play “In the Church,” as if echoing “Morning Prayer.”

Although the musical cycle “Children's Album” is addressed to children, its performers were often adults: Y. Flier, M. Pletnev, etc.

P.I. Tchaikovsky "Children's Songs"

History of creation

The success of the "Children's Album" inspired P.I. Tchaikovsky to create another album for children. This was also facilitated by the collection of poems by the poet A. Pleshcheev “Snowdrop”, which he presented to Tchaikovsky with the inscription: “To Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a sign of respect and gratitude for his wonderful music on my bad poems.” Tchaikovsky was already by that time the author of several romances based on Pleshcheev’s poems. In this book there were many poems about children's life or dedicated to children, edifying stories. These poems prompted the composer to create songs. Pleshcheev's poems are supplemented by texts by I. Surikov and S. Aksakov. Unlike the "Children's Album", "Children's Songs" are not intended to be performed, but to be listened to by children.

It is based on the relationship between an adult and a child, as an adult sees it. Motives stand out Spring, Birds and Garden (song “My Garden”), but as an adult’s view of childhood, which brings hope. Motives of Compassion and God related to those moral values that a loving adult would like to pass on to his children. In the Legend, the motif is interpreted symbolically and serves to reveal the theme of the suffering of Christ. The song “Legend” (“The Child Christ Had a Garden”) was later rearranged by Tchaikovsky and Taneyev for the choir.

Sometimes P.I. Tchaikovsky himself reworked some of the poems in the collection or added to them. The song “Cuckoo” is a translation of H. Gellert’s fable. Tchaikovsky's funny dialogue between the cuckoo and the starling turns into a funny and instructive song-sketch. The song “Flower” is a free translation from a collection of French children's writer L. Ratisbonne echoes in content with famous fairy tale H.K. Andersen "Five from One Pod".

R. Schumann "Children's Scenes"

The collection was first published in 1839. The composer himself spoke about its purpose and content in his letter to Clara Schumann, a pianist and his wife: “I learned that nothing inspires imagination more than tension and longing for something; this is exactly what happened to me in the last days, when I was waiting for your letter and composed whole volumes - strange, crazy, very funny - you will open your eyes wide when you play this; in general, I am now capable of sometimes being torn to pieces by the music sounding [in me]. - And I would not forget everything that I composed. It was like an echo of the words that you once wrote to me: “Sometimes I can seem like a child to you,” in short, I was truly inspired and wrote thirty little funny things, of which I selected about twelve and called “Children’s Scenes.” You will be delighted with them, but, of course, you will have to forget about yourself as a virtuoso. There are such titles as “Frightening”, “By the Fireplace”, “A Game of Blind Man’s Bluff”, “The Begging Child”, “Riding on a Stick”, “About Foreign Countries”, “ Funny story", etc., whatever is there! In general, everything is obvious there, and besides, all the pieces are easy to hum.”

Despite its apparent simplicity, only a very mature pianist capable of penetrating the essence of the author’s intention can perform the cycle with dignity.

Schumann's musical miniatures are a kind of “musical novellas”, stories with a simple plot. Schumann focuses not so much on narration as on mood, on emotions. “Children's Scenes” is not a cycle “for children”, like Tchaikovsky’s famous “Children’s Album”. Rather, it is music to be performed by adults who do not want to forget their childhood. According to the author himself, this cycle is “a reflection of the past through the eyes of the elder and for the elders.”

Contents of R. Schumann’s cycle “Children’s Scenes”

1. “About foreign countries and people”

2. "A Curious Story"

3. "Game of Tag"

4. “The Asking Child”

5. “Total Happiness”

6. "Important Event"

7. "Dreams"

8. "By the Fireplace"

9. "Game of Horses"

10. "Not too serious"

11. "The Horror Story"

12. “Child falling asleep”

13. “The poet speaks”

S. Prokofiev. Symphonic fairy tale for children “Peter and the Wolf”

The work was written in 1936 for production at the Children's Musical Theater by Natalia Sats. The tale is performed by a reader, the text for which was written by the composer himself, and by an orchestra.

The plot of the work is simple, but the point is that each character is represented by a specific instrument and a separate motif, thus children become familiar with the musical instruments that make up the symphony orchestra.

The plot of the tale

Early in the morning, pioneer Petya goes out onto a large green lawn. The familiar Bird, noticing Petya, flies down. The Duck enters the slightly open gate and goes to the pond. Along the way, she begins to argue with the Bird about which of them should be considered the real bird. The Cat is watching them, she is ready to catch one of them, but Petya warns them. The bird flies up the tree, and the Duck dives into the pond, and the Cat is left with nothing.

Petya's grandfather comes out. He warns Petya that a big gray Wolf is walking in the forest, and takes his grandson away. Soon the Wolf appears. The Cat quickly climbs the tree, and the Duck jumps out of the pond, but the Wolf overtakes her and swallows her.

Petya climbs over the fence with the help of a rope and finds himself on a tall tree. He asks the Bird to distract the Wolf and puts a noose around his tail. Hunters who have been watching the Wolf for a long time come out of the forest. Petya helps them tie up the Wolf and take him to the zoo. The work ends with a general procession in which all its characters participate: Petya walks in front, the Hunters lead the Wolf behind him, the Bird flies above them, and Grandfather and the Cat are behind. A quiet quack is heard: this is the voice of the Duck, sitting in the belly of the Wolf, who was in such a hurry that he swallowed her alive.

• Peter- stringed instruments (mainly violins).
• Birdie- flute in a high register.
• Duck- oboe, “quacking” melody in the lower register.
• Cat- clarinet.
• Grandfather- bassoon imitating grumbling.
• Wolf- three horns.
• Hunters- timpani and bass drum (image of shots), wind instruments (final march).

E. Grieg "Peer Gynt"

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg did not create special children's cycles, but his music is so simple and accessible to children that even children 5-6 years old can understand it. They take especially close to their hearts the plays from the music to Ibsen’s drama “Peer Gynt” - “Solveig’s Song”, “In the Cave of the Mountain King”, “Anitra’s Dance”, etc.

P.I. Tchaikovsky wrote: “In Grieg’s music, imbued with enchanting melancholy, reflecting the beauty of Norwegian nature, sometimes majestically wide and grandiose, sometimes drab, modest, wretched, but for the soul of a northerner always unspeakably enchanting, there is something close, dear, immediately which finds a warm, sympathetic response in our hearts.”

Other composers also wrote for children: piano cycle C. Debussy « Children's Corner"; M. Ravel“Mother Goose”, pieces for piano based on fairy tales by Perrault; collection B. Bartok“First steps at the piano”, as well as many Russian authors, from A. Grechaninova, S. Prokofiev and V. Rebikov before S. Maikapara, A. Gedike, E. Gnesina, Dm. Kabalevsky etc. Children's cycles are known S. Gavrilova“Heroes of fairy tales”, “For kids about animals”, “For the little ones”, D. Shostakovich"Album of piano pieces for children."

Irina Chichina
Analysis of the play “March of the Wooden Soldiers” from “Children’s Album” by P. I. Tchaikovsky

Musical language is very good at conveying feelings and moods. In order to "draw" anything with music or "tell" about something, composers resort to ordinary, verbal language. It can be just one word in the title plays.

The first outstanding collection of music for children in Russian piano literature was « Children's album» P.I. Tchaikovsky. It fit a whole children's country, Big world child, told in sounds.

« Children's album» It is not only distinguished by its enormous artistic value, but is also extremely useful for developing children's musicality.

« Children's album» , op. 39 was written by P.I. Tchaikovsky in May 1878. and dedicated to his beloved nephew Volodya Davydov. While visiting his sister in Kamenka, near Kyiv, "family nest" the large noble family of the Davydovs and often, listening to the play of his favorite Volodya, who was then 6 years old, Pyotr Ilyich was amazed at the poverty of the repertoire for beginners. He loved to hang out with his nephews, organize fireworks displays, musical performances, dance parties, take part in games, and enjoy the spontaneity of children. It was then that he decided to create album of plays for children.

Full title on the title page of the first edition cycle: « Children's album. Collection of lungs plays for children(imitation of Schumann). Essay by P. Tchaikovsky" Indeed, one can trace the connection « Children's album» P.I. Tchaikovsky with a similar work by R. Schumann « Album for youth» . Both composers speak to children surprisingly clearly and simply and at the same time seriously, without any "tweaking". The collections captivate with their lyricism. « Children's album» Tchaikovsky is perceived as Russian music, as a series of pictures dedicated to the everyday life of Russian children. Pyotr Ilyich strove to ensure that his music was lively and exciting, so he even showed interest in the external design of the publication plays - to pictures, to the collection format.

IN « Children's album» P.I. Tchaikovsky 24 pieces, not related to a single theme. In each play contains a specific plot, living poetic content, but several relatively independent plot lines can be noted. The collection captures a wide range of images.

« March of the Wooden Soldiers» (No. 5, along with "Game of Horses"(No. 3, refers to "game" children's plays, This "boys' games". Perhaps these are the most cloudless, children's naive plays« Album» .

« March of the Wooden Soldiers» is funny march, to the sounds "toy" orchestra with flutes and drums, as if a toy army is stamping the step wooden soldiers. This "toy-like" is emphasized by very subtle means - quiet (piano) and even very quiet (pianissimo, at the very beginning, performance. In this miniature, the composer draws musical image precise and economical means of expression – a sense of puppetry and woodenness conveyed by the clarity of the rhythmic pattern and the precision of the stroke. All play performed extremely clearly, evenly, strictly, in moderate pace. For piano texture P.I. Tchaikovsky characterized by a significant role of the chord type of presentation. The close arrangement of chords, the consistency of rhythm and strokes figuratively convey harmonious movements soldiers walking in close formation to the beat of the drummer.

Play written in a simple tripartite form. Middle plays sounds secretive and even a little threatening, thanks to the change of fret (La Minor) and the application of Neapolitan harmony. But even this part in terms of dynamics does not go beyond the sonority of piano.

In the reprise, the original sonority is restored again, even quieter than in the middle plays as if "toy" the army leaves.

P.I. Tchaikovsky while writing« Album» achieved his goal by creating small masterpieces that are memorable plays, close and understandable to every child.

Publications on the topic:

Dear colleagues, thank you very much for sharing your work, so many interesting things, unusual material can be found. So I decided.

Dear colleagues. Just recently, in our group “Sunflowers” ​​(children 2-3 years old, there was sports entertainment. We called it.

I spied such a simple game in social network. I printed it out, cut it out, laminated it with tape and the game is ready. Of course you can.

For the Day of the Elderly in my group (2nd junior group) the album "My Grandparents" was created. In its creation Active participation accepted.

Musical and didactic game “Dance-song-march” (senior group) Main activity: musical Product of activity (result): development of memory and musical ear. Form: integrated Duration:.

Decoration of wooden spatulas “Gift for beloved mother” Objectives: 1. Educational: learn to create patterns according to the sample, using a variety of.

I have already referred to this wonderful work here:

Today all the pieces from this album will be performed by the Gnessin Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. Artistic director and conductor Mikhail Khokhlov. Videos made using drawings young artists IV Children's Arts Festival " January evenings" (2010)

In March 1878, P.I. Tchaikovsky arrived at the estate of his sister Alexandra Ilyinichna Davydova.

AND Menie A . I. Davydova
Now the museum of P.I. Tchaikovsky and A.S. Pushkin

He fell into Kamenka unexpectedly, out of the blue, and created a joyful commotion. Alexandra Ilyinichna’s children gave him such a concert that he had to cover his ears. Again the house was filled with “sweet, heavenly” sounds. Pyotr Ilyich settled comfortably in his room and was already scribbling something at his desk. A few days later he let slip:

Now, these birds,” he pointed to the children, “certainly want me to write “every last bit” in their album. I'll write, don't be afraid. I’ll write and we’ll play everything!

And he wrote for the “Children's Album” and played them with children.

Various children's games, dances, and random impressions found their place in the album. Music is both happy and sad ...

Morning prayer

Lord God! Save, warm:
Make us better, make us kinder.
Lord God! Save, save!
Give us the power of your love.

Winter morning

Mother

Mom, very, very
I love you!
I love you so much that at night
I don't sleep in the dark.
I peer into the darkness
I'm hurrying Zorka.
I love you all the time
Mommy, I love you!
The dawn is shining.
It's already dawn.
No one in the world
There is no better mother!

Kostas Kubilinskas

Horse game

I'm flying on my horse like a whirlwind,
I really want to become a brave hussar.
Dear horse, riding on you,
I gallop across the meadow dashingly with the breeze.

Brand new, beautiful soldiers just attract you. They are just like the real thing, you can line them up and send them to the parade. So they know how to march like real people, and it’s so cool that you just feel like marching with them.

March of the Wooden Soldiers

We are wooden soldiers
We march left and right.
We are the guardians of the fairy gates,
We protect them all year round.
We march clearly, bravo.
We are not afraid of obstacles.
We protect the town
Where the music lives!

While playing, children invent the most incredible stories. Looking at them, Pyotr Ilyich came up with his own story and told it to the children, but not just told it. This story fit into three plays, which the children heard.

The first story told about a girl Sashenka, who loved to play with her doll. But suddenly the doll got sick. The doll lies in the crib, complaining. Asks for a drink.

Doll disease

The girl is very sorry for her doll. Doctors are called to see her, but nothing helps. The doll is dead.

The play "The Doll's Illness" is followed by "The Doll's Funeral".

Everyone came to the funeral, all the toys. After all, they loved the doll so much! A small toy orchestra escorts a doll: The monkey plays the trumpet. Bunny is on the drum, and Mishka hits the timpani. Poor old Teddy bear, he was completely wet from tears.

Doll funeral

The doll was buried in the garden, next to a rose bush, and the entire grave was decorated with flowers. And then one day, my father’s friend came to visit.

He had some kind of box in his hands.

- This is for you, Sasha! - he said.
“What is it?” Sashenka thought, burning with curiosity.

An acquaintance untied the ribbon, opened the lid and handed the box to the girl...

There lay beautiful doll. She had big ones blue eyes. When the doll was rocked, the eyes opened and closed. The pretty little mouth smiled at the girl. Light curly hair fell on the shoulders. And from under the velvet dress white stockings and black patent leather shoes were visible. A real beauty!

Sashenka looked at the doll and couldn’t get enough of it.

- Well. What are you doing? Take it, it’s yours,” said dad’s friend.

The girl reached over and took the doll out of the box. A feeling of joy and happiness overwhelmed her. The girl impulsively pressed the doll to her chest and spun around the room with it, as if in a waltz.

- What a joy to receive such a gift! - thought Sasha.

New doll

The petals have grown cold
Open lips, childishly moist, -
And the hall floats, floats in lingering
The melodies of happiness and melancholy.
The shine of chandeliers and the ripple of mirrors
Merged into one crystal mirage -
And the ballroom wind blows,
The warmth of the fragrant fans.

I. Bunin

Waltz

Mazurka

“I grew up in the wilderness, from childhood, very early, I was imbued with the inexplicable beauty of the characteristic features of Russian folk music"- wrote Tchaikovsky. The composer's childhood impressions, his love for folk song and dance were reflected in three plays"Children's album": these are "Russian Song", "A Man Playing a Harmonica" and "Kamarinskaya".

Russian song Kamarinskaya

In Kamarinskaya the balalaika tune is imitated. And it was written in the form of variations, which is very characteristic of Russian music.

Dear readers, today I invite you to relax a little, fill up wonderful music along with your children and grandchildren. We will talk to you about the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky, about his “Children's Album”. I remember the time when I myself played many pieces from this amazing album. I also remember how, while working at a music school, I gave many works to children, and I remember their response to these works. The music from this album is close, understandable and interesting to children. It’s as if they live their lives in music, recognize themselves, empathize with the characters, learn to think, and get to know the world.

On the pages of my blog I often appeal to you: introduce children to beauty from childhood. Listen to good music, go with them to the Philharmonic, to concerts that will be close and understandable to them. This is a very important moment in nurturing a sense of beauty in our children. And this is always important for the family. Discuss what you heard with your children, develop their horizons.

I hope that our small conversations on the blog will help you. Today, together with Lilia Shadkovsky, a reader of my blog, a music teacher with extensive experience working with children, we have prepared material in our section. I give the floor to Lilia and I’ll add a little to her article.

Good afternoon to all readers of Irina’s blog! Today we once again invite you, together with your children and grandchildren, to take a journey into the fascinating world of music of the great Russian composer P.I. Tchaikovsky, whose wonderful and poetic music is loved not only by adults, but it is understandable and interesting to children.

Flowers, music and children are the best decoration of life

P.I. Tchaikovsky loved children very much, subtly and sensitively understood their souls, felt their mood. He often said: “Flowers, music and children make best decoration life."

Indeed, the children's theme runs through all of his work, and "Children's Album" became the first collection of plays for children in Russia, included in the gold fund of the world musical literature for children. It contained a whole children's country, a big world of a child, told in sounds.

The history of the creation of the “Children’s Album by P.I. Tchaikovsky”

One of the factors that determined the composer’s desire to write music for children was the example of Robert Schumann, whose fascinating pieces from “Album for Youth” were very much loved by both children and teachers.

Another very important factor in the creation of the “Children’s Album” was the unusually warm relationship with her sister’s children. He walked with them for a long time, played a lot, told them about his travels and incredible stories about the countries he had visited. And always with great interest he listened to children's stories about various events in their lives. An unusually tender and warm relationship with his nephews gave impetus to writing a children's album.

In March 1878, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky arrived at the estate of his sister Alexandra Ilyinichna Davydova. He fell into Kamenka unexpectedly, out of the blue, and created a joyful commotion. Alexandra Ilyinichna’s children gave him such a concert that he had to cover his ears. Again the house was filled with “sweet, heavenly” sounds. Pyotr Ilyich settled comfortably in his room and was already scribbling something at his desk. A few days later he let slip:

“Here, these birds,” he pointed to the children, “certainly want me to write “every last bit” in their album. I'll write, don't be afraid. I’ll write and we’ll play everything!

And he wrote for the “Children's Album” and played them with children. And Pyotr Ilyich also loved to listen to children play music. Listening to the play of little musicians, he often thought that there were not so many compositions intended for children.

To whom did Tchaikovsky dedicated his “Children’s Album”?

After the “Children's Album” was completed, Pyotr Ilyich decides to dedicate it to his beloved nephew.

“I dedicated this album to my nephew Volodya, who passionately loves music and promises to be a musician,” wrote Tchaikovsky in a letter to N.F. von Meck. And indeed, on the title page of the first edition it was written: “Dedicated to Volodya Davydov.”

We flip through the pages of the music collection and one after another pictures from the lives of children appear in front of us. How many events interesting stories and accidents!

There are fun games and upsets, entertaining fairy tales and pictures of Russian life, as well as sketches of Russian nature. I think that you will also be interested in experiencing the special spirit of that time through Tchaikovsky’s music, finding out how children lived then, what surrounded them, how they spent their time?

Look at the contents of the album. The titles of the plays will immediately tell you a lot.

"Children's Album" by Tchaikovsky. Content

The “Children's Album” includes the following plays:

1. Morning prayer
2. Winter morning
3. Horse game
4. March of the Wooden Soldiers
5. Doll disease
6. Doll funeral
7. Waltz
8. New doll
9. Mazurka
10. Russian song
11. A man plays the harmonica
12. Kamarinskaya
13. Polka
14. Italian song
15. An old French song
16. German song
17. Neapolitan song
18. Nanny's fairy tale
19. Baba Yaga
20. Sweet dream
21. The lark's song
22. The organ grinder sings
23. In the church

Let's walk through the pages of the "Children's Album" and listen to musical sketches and plays, some of which are probably already familiar to you. The collection contains 24 plays, where several plot lines are visible. We will listen to some of them.

Morning prayer

First story line associated with the child waking up and starting the day. The day in the family began and ended with prayer. We invite you to listen to “Morning Prayer,” whose bright and lyrical intonations are full of sublime peace and contemplation. This is a kind of reflection about God, about the soul. Surely the children were motivated to do good deeds and deeds by reciting the texts of the prayers. Let's listen to it with the children.

Winter morning

With his special compositional techniques, P.I. Tchaikovsky conveyed a poetic atmosphere winter morning. Swift and prickly, alarming and unfriendly. On such a morning, you want to sit at home in the warmth, read a book or just cuddle up to your mother, bury yourself in her warm palms...Remember the lines of F. Tyutchev with your children.

Enchantress in Winter
Bewitched, the forest stands -
And under the snow fringe,
motionless, mute,
He shines with a wonderful life.

And he stands, bewitched, -
Not dead and not alive -
Enchanted by a magical dream,
All entangled, all shackled
Light chain down...

Is the winter sun shining
On him your ray with a scythe -
Nothing will tremble in him,
It will all flare up and sparkle
Dazzling beauty.

F. Tyutchev conveys the peaceful state of winter nature, plunged into a magical sleep with the help of figurative metaphors. In the rays of the morning sun, it really looks like a real fairy-tale kingdom! And here is the music itself. Listening to “Winter Morning” from Tchaikovsky’s “Children’s Album”.

Mother

Extraordinarily touching sounds of peace and tranquility. Immediately before us stands the bright image of the mother and everything connected with the eternal symbol of motherhood. We feel her gentle hands, hear her gentle voice, feel protection and friendly support, seeing her calm gaze.

These were probably Pyotr Ilyich’s memories of his mother, whom he loved immensely. No wonder all his life he remembered her extraordinary eyes. Let's listen to the play "Mama" from the children's album of P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Horse game

But now the emotional experiences are replaced by mischievous, cheerful melodies of the second storyline. We are immersed in unbridled fun, laughter and joy. Children did not have cars or airplanes in the time of Tchaikovsky, so for any boy of that time, tin soldiers, a drum or a toy horse were a source of special pride. Listen to how unusual the music of the play “The Horse Game” sounds.

March of the Wooden Soldiers

But “March of the Wooden Soldiers” sounds cheerfully and solemnly - one of the most popular children's plays. You listen and imagine how a whole army of wooden soldiers are marching to this music. I think that your kids also wanted to pick up the drum and walk proudly, like a real brave soldier, marking every step.

Doll disease. Funeral of a doll. New doll

And then (especially for girls) topics with a doll will be interesting. Three plays are associated with it. The doll gets sick. The girl is very sorry for her doll. Doctors are called to see her, but nothing helps. The doll is dead. Everyone came to the funeral, all the toys. After all, they loved the doll so much! A small toy orchestra escorts a doll: The monkey plays the trumpet. Bunny is on the drum, and Mishka hits the timpani. Poor old teddy bear, he was completely wet from tears.

The doll was buried in the garden, next to a rose bush, and the entire grave was decorated with flowers. And then one day, my father’s friend came to visit. He had some kind of box in his hands.

- This is for you, Sasha! - he said.

“What is it?” Sashenka thought, burning with curiosity.

The friend untied the ribbon, opened the lid and handed the box to the girl. There lay a beautiful doll. She had big blue eyes. When the doll was rocked, the eyes opened and closed. The pretty little mouth smiled at the girl. Blonde curly hair fell on her shoulders. And from under the velvet dress white stockings and black patent leather shoes were visible. A real beauty! Sashenka looked at the doll and couldn’t get enough of it.

- Well. What are you doing? Take it, it’s yours,” said dad’s friend.

The girl reached over and took the doll out of the box. A feeling of joy and happiness overwhelmed her. The girl impulsively pressed the doll to her chest and spun around the room with it, as if in a waltz.

- What a joy to receive such a gift! – thought Sasha. Let's listen to the play "New Doll" from the "Children's Album".

Sweet dream

One of my favorite pieces from the Children's Album is “Sweet Dream”. A daydream is a dream, a tremulous state of mind, the contemplation of something unusual and sublime. I think that there are no people who would not dream of something secret. Talk to the children, ask what they dream about.

Nanny's fairy tale

As in those distant times, a day full of different impressions ends with a good good fairy tale. With bated breath, kids listen to their favorite fairy tales, sincerely worrying about their favorite characters.

“Nanny's Tale” has an intricate rhythmic pattern that creates an atmosphere of fairy-tale and anxiety. And what kind of stories do children suggest when listening to the play “Nanny’s Tales”? That’s where there is room for children’s fantasies to fly! Let's listen to this music too.

Songs of distant lands

The following storyline is represented by “Old French Song”, “German Song”, “Italian Song”. Each of the plays reflects the characteristics of folk music of these countries. It is known that Pyotr Ilyich traveled a lot, and he embodied his impressions in music. So you and I will do something exciting musical journey and try to understand the features of folk music and the flavor of these countries.

German song

The "German Song" from the "Children's Album" is reminiscent of the sound of a barrel organ and is very similar to the old German Lander dance, which was danced by peasants, with whirling and stomping in their wooden shoes

Neapolitan song

“The Neapolitan Song” is one of the most popular and brightest pieces of the “Children's Album”, reflecting the cheerful Italian carnival. Based on this play, Pyotr Ilyich created the “Neapolitan dance for the ballet “Swan Lake”.

Tchaikovsky's music, like Pushkin's poetry, comes to us in childhood and remains with us for life. Peter Ilyich left us a wonderful musical heritage - this is our culture, this is our art, without which there cannot be a worthy future.

Did you know that:

1. "Children's Album" was written in May 1878. The history of its creation is inextricably linked with Kamenka, a small Ukrainian village near Kyiv. Kamenka is the family nest of the large Davydov family Lev Vasilyevich Davydov himself was a great friend of Tchaikovsky and the husband of his beloved sister Alexandra Ilyinichna. Kamenka was the composer’s favorite place, where he worked and rested with inspiration. Tchaikovsky called this unusually picturesque place a “radiant land.” Here he spent his free time among the children, watching their games, listening to their children's stories. It was the unusually tender and warm relationship with his nephews that gave impetus to the writing of “Children’s Album.”
2. The creation of the “Children's Album” was preceded by a long communication with Kolya Conradi, a deaf-mute student of P. I. Tchaikovsky. It was with him and with their brother that they spent part of the time from 1877-1978.
3. 3. The idea of ​​dedicating the “Children’s Album” to Volodya Davydov obviously arose after finishing the composition. Tchaikovsky spent quite a lot of time with his nephew in the summer of 1878 in Kamenka.
4. Even later, in 1878, from Florence he wrote to L.V. Davydov, his sister’s husband: “Tell Bobik that the notes with pictures were printed, that the notes were composed by Uncle Petya, and what is written on them: dedicated to Volodya Davydov. He's stupid and won't understand what it means to be dedicated! And I’ll write to Jurgenson to send a copy to Kamenka.

This is the journey we took with you today, dear readers. I hope it was interesting to you and your children.

Sharko's shower

It sounds on all continents and finds ardent fans everywhere. The musical language of the great lyricist is so bright that it is recognizable in any of his works, be it a complex symphony or a simple children's play. You will be able to truly understand and appreciate his major works when you become adults. We will turn to the “Children's Album”.

Tchaikovsky was the first Russian composer to create an album of piano pieces for children. It was easy for him to do this because he understood and loved children.

For many years he lived in the large and friendly family of his sister, Alexandra Ilyinichna Davydova, in Ukraine, in the village of Kamenka. There, Pyotr Ilyich always felt at home and at home.

We learn about his sympathy for children from a letter to Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck, an admirer and friend of the composer: “...My nephews and nieces are such rare and sweet children that it is a great happiness for me to be among them. Volodya (the one to whom I dedicated the children's plays) is making progress in music and displays remarkable drawing abilities. In general, this is a little poet... This is my favorite. No matter how amazing it is younger brother, but Volodya still occupies the warmest corner of my heart.”.

Fifteen years will pass, and Tchaikovsky will dedicate the brilliant Sixth Symphony, his last work, to Vladimir Lvovich Davydov.

Pondering the idea of ​​the "Children's Album", composed in the summer months of 1878, Tchaikovsky wrote: "I want to do whole line small passages of unconditional ease with titles that are entertaining for children, like Schumann’s”. Referring to a similar work by Schumann (“Album for Youth” by a German composer), he only meant common task- create a series of small and technically simple plays from children’s lives that would be accessible to the children themselves to perform.

The result was a kind of piano suite, where in small pieces folk character The young pianist is consistently given various artistic and performance tasks. Melodic expressiveness, simplicity of harmonic language, and absence of textural complexities make these works accessible to young performers.

The figurative structure of Tchaikovsky’s “Children’s Album” is completely independent and typical for a Russian child from the environment in which the composer himself grew up. “A small suite from Russian life,” Asafiev calls this series of twenty-four miniatures depicting the world carefree childhood with its games and amusements, short moments of grief and sudden joys, perceived in its own way by the impressions of the surrounding life. A number of lively characteristic scenes are replaced by a motley sequence without a strict plot sequence.

There are fun, playful games, obligatory dances (waltz, mazurka, polka), and an entertaining fairy tale for the nanny with good ending, and suddenly a terrible image of Baba Yaga appears in the imagination. Behind the walls of the cozy nursery, another, street life is in full swing, noisy and riotous (“Russian Song”, “A Man Plays the Harmonica”, “Kamarinskaya”).

A kind of “suite within a suite” is represented by four foreign songs: Italian, old French, German, Neapolitan. Prologue and epilogue to this entire series of diverse music pictures serve as the opening piece of the cycle, “Morning Prayer,” and its concluding play, “In the Church,” with which the composer “seems to close the day with its motley impressions.”

The very first edition was made taking into account the capabilities of little Volodya, but later Pyotr Ilyich returned to his work and refined it, taking into account the general characteristic features of the game young musicians. The dedication to Volodya Davydov, who “suggested” the idea of ​​the “Children’s Album” to the composer, remains the same.

Later, collections of piano pieces for children with similar tasks and methods for solving them were created by A. S. Arensky, S. M. Maykapar, V. I. Rebikov, and before Tchaikovsky, “The great German composer Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) wrote an album for youth , whose name we met on the title page of the first edition of the “Children's Album”.

Morning prayer

Previously, every person’s day began and ended with an appeal to God. By praying, he tuned in to good thoughts and actions. In the morning prayer, the man thanked God that a new day had come and asked that this day go well.

Lord God!
Save sinners:
Make it better
Lived in Rus'.

Make it happen
Warm and light
And so that spring
The sun rose.

People, and birds, and animals,
Please, warm me up.
Please, my God!

The light key of G major, simple harmony, uniform rhythmic movement and strict four-voice texture (as if a choir is singing) - all this conveys a mood of concentration and peace. After carefully listening to the entire piece, you will understand that it develops one musical idea. Therefore, the composer used the simplest of musical forms - the period. About the meaning musical form, instrumental “outfit” of the theme, accompaniment harmony, etc. Tchaikovsky wrote to N. F. von Meck: “I never compose abstractly, that is, a musical thought never comes to me except in its corresponding external form.”.

The period here consists of two sentences. In the first sentence, the musical idea remains unsaid, ending with an unstable cadence on the dominant. In the second sentence, the musical thought, developing, comes to a climax, emphasized by a bright chord of a distant key. Unlike the first, the second sentence ends with a cadence on the tonic and therefore sounds stable.

The sentences are the same in size: each contains 8 bars. The “interrogative” cadence of the first sentence corresponds to the “affirmative” cadence of the second. Thus a balanced form was formed - the classical period of re-building. But the play didn't end here.

The period is supplemented by a large coda. There comes complete calmness, which is achieved by the long and measured sound of the tonic in the bass, the repetition of the “farewell” cadence. And only when the last transparent-light sounds of the coda fade into silence do we feel that the work is finished - the form is complete.

Code(translated from Italian as “tail”, “end”) is a structure that completes a musical work and gives it completeness and completeness.

Winter morning

A picture of a stormy winter morning - dark, snowy, cold, inhospitable. The music sounds either alarmed, confused, or pitiful.

The blizzard moans, the clouds drive away
To the lake close
In the low sky.

The paths are hidden, whitewashed
Delicate lace,
Light, snowy.

And the sparrow, little bird,
A small, unreasonable bird,
He wants to hide from the snowstorm,
He wants to hide, but doesn’t know how.

And the wind whirls it across the sky,
And carries him to a pure little pole,
From the slope, into the darkness of the forest...
Goryushko bitter,
Poor little bird!

The blizzard moans, the clouds drive away -
Hid all the ways
To get through.

Everything around is covered with white snow,
Snow covered everything around...

Transparently enlightened music depicts a foggy frosty morning. The light texture, slightly pointed rhythmic pattern of intermittent intonations create the impression of changeability, unsteadiness, reminiscent of running glares of light.

Music, as always with Tchaikovsky, develops very naturally, so it is easily perceived and remembered. Naturally, in particular, there is a slight increase in sonority in phrases that rise upward, and attenuation in motives that go down, and since each ascending motive is followed by a descending one, such development is perceived as naturally as inhalation and exhalation. This is not always realized, but it is always felt. Repetition in different voices the same intonation forces the pianist to take care of the transmission of this dialogue, so that the conversation of voices would be witty and interesting.

In the middle part there is a hint of some sadness. It can be emphasized by a warmer emotional tone of the sound of a descending melodic progression. It is worth paying attention to how the middle part is constructed: in it, each voice acquires independence. The lower voice, filled with chromatics and creating more complex harmonies, takes on a darker timbre. This sets off the onset of the reprise, that is, the middle part, in which everything that happened in the first is repeated, and the bright, animated character of the music is restored.

One compositional feature of this play is worth noting. The main key of the piece is B minor. The play ends in this key. It usually happens that the piece begins in the same key. Less often, the tonality of the beginning and end is different. When this happens, it happens in works of large scale, in which such a “mismatch” of the tonalities of the beginning and end is justified by the complex dramaturgy of the work. In plays of small form, in which such dramatic development does not happen, such discrepancies are hardly justified. This play is a rare exception in this sense: it is both small in size and deviates from the traditional construction of its tonal plan. At the same time, it sounds very harmonious and natural - you don’t even immediately realize this originality.

Horse game

Many of you, especially boys, have more than once imagined yourself as racing horsemen, playing with horses. In the imagination arise different adventures, fabulous pictures, obstacles that must be overcome. It’s okay that under you is not a real horse, but a toy or even a stick! Everything is happening as if for real. How many experiences a child has when he rides his toy horse! The music talks about this.

I'm on my golden-maned horse
He sat down and rushed across the green meadow,
By dandelions, by bells,
For burdocks, daisies and buttercups.
Past dragonflies and frogs and lizards,
Past beetles, moths and grasshoppers.

I'm on my golden-maned horse
He sat down and rushed through the overgrown garden
Past the raspberries and past the currants,
Past rowan, and cherry, and apple trees.

I'm on my golden-maned horse
He sat down and rushed around the house, through the rooms
Past the table, whatnot and bedside table,
Past the cat lying on the sofa,
Past the grandmother sitting knitting,
Past a ball and a box of toys.

I'm on my golden-maned horse
He sat down and rushed forward and forward.

The piece is written in the form of a toccata with the same type of rhythmic pulse, imitating the clatter of the hooves of a galloping horse. Tchaikovsky very subtly conveys the toy nature of horse racing: in contrast to the traditional method of transmission musical means all kinds of jumping and marching using an even meter, here an odd one is used - tripartite (three eighths) size that sounds light, lively (the composer's tempo is Presto, which means "very fast"), but not aggressively.

Uniformity, if not monotony, is more than compensated by the variety of harmony: almost every change of harmony sounds like a kind of surprise - unexpected and fresh. This adds great interest to the play and forces you to closely follow the course of events throughout its entirety.

Mother

The play has a very touching title that speaks volumes to every heart. The sincerity of feeling and the warmth of intonation give it a special charm.

I love you so much!
I need you
And at any hour and on any day
She was always with me.

I love you so much!
What can’t be said!
But I don't like it when
Your eyes are in tears.

I love you so much!
At least go around the whole world,
There is no one more beautiful than you
There is no one more tender than you.

There is no one kinder than you.
There is no one more beloved than you
Nobody, nowhere
My mother, my mother,
My mother!

Simple, unpretentious music turns out to be very capacious psychological saturation the finest nuances emotional experiences, expressed in flexible intonation, subtle harmonization, and flexible vocal performance.

This character is also revealed by the author’s remarks, traditionally made in Italian: Moderato (moderately), piano (quiet), molto espressivo e dolce (with great feeling and tenderness), legatissimo (very related).

The size of the piece is three-beat (three quarters)– was also not chosen by chance: a three-beat measure always sounds softer and more rounded than a two-beat measure: to verify this, it is enough to mentally compare the waltz and march.

The piece is presented in the form of a duet: the lower voice sets off the light, clear sound of the upper voice with a warmer timbre. The voices move parallel to each other at a distance of decima, and this creates beautiful sounds not only in the sense musical harmony, but also conveys a very harmonious feeling.

March of the Wooden Soldiers

Boys love to play soldiers. Here is a toy army taking a step in a funny march. What does the word “march” mean? The word march means procession. It's more comfortable to walk to music.

Along the wattle fences, fences and fences,
At-two, left-right, at-two, left-right,
Our brave squad is marching.

At-two, left-right, at-two, left-right,
We walk easily and cheerfully.
At-two, left-right, at-two, left-right,
We sing a wooden song.

At-two, left-right, at-two, left-right,
Our brave squad is marching.
At-two, left-right, at-two, left-right,
The commander leads us to the parade.

In this piece, Tchaikovsky paints a musical image with very precise and economical means: the feeling of puppetry and woodenness is conveyed by the clarity of the rhythmic pattern, definiteness, and precision of the stroke. Imaginary instrumentation (perhaps woodwind instruments and a snare drum), close arrangement of chords, consistency of rhythm and strokes figuratively convey the coordinated movements of soldiers marching in close formation to the dry beat of the drummer.

Pieces No. 6, 7, 8 and 9 form a small suite. Of course, these are plays not only about dolls, but also about a girl who experiences the doll’s illness, her funeral, and after some time rejoices new doll. These are short musical stories about the complex and serious mental life of a child who feels everything just as strongly and acutely as an adult.

Doll disease

Sad music about the very sincere experiences of a girl who takes her game seriously. Or maybe your favorite doll is really hopelessly broken (sick).

- Doll Masha got sick.
- The doctor said it was bad.
- Masha is in pain, Masha is in pain!
- You can't help her, poor thing.
- Masha will leave us soon.

This is woe, this is woe, woe, woe, woe...

The girl's doll fell ill. How does the music talk about this? What is unusual about the musical language of this piece? Listening to music, you will immediately notice that there is no continuous melodic line in it. It seems to be “broken” by pauses, each sound of the melody resembles a sigh: “Oh... ah...”

The form of the play can be defined as one-part, consisting of two periods with a coda. The doll’s “sighs” sound pitiful in the first sentence, then turning into muffled moans when they are transferred to a low register. The doll's "suffering" reaches its peak in the second period, which contains a tense climax. The period ends with a cadence on the tonic chord. The play has a long “fading” coda. The doll fell asleep...

Doll funeral

In music written for children, one feels careful attitude to the child’s experiences, understanding their depth and significance. Listening to this piece, you pay attention to the seriousness and genuineness of the little hero’s feelings, to the respect with which the composer treats the child’s personality.

Doll, dear, goodbye forever.
More, my beloved friend,
I can't play with you.

You were the best doll.
How come I didn’t save you?
How did this happen to you?
Where and why did you leave me?

Snow on the ground and snow on the heart.
Masha, dear, farewell forever.
More, my beloved friend,
I can't play with you.

It was no coincidence that Tchaikovsky gave the subtitle to his cycle – “In Imitation of Schumann.” This piece involuntarily recalls “The First Loss” from R. Schumann’s “Album for Youth.”

The play is permeated by the characteristic rhythm of a typical funeral march, but this feature does not make the play a truly funeral march. Sometimes in literature you can find a statement that here Tchaikovsky reproduced the sound of a choir. It seems to us that this music can be more easily imagined in an orchestral rather than a choral version. But be that as it may, both when performing and listening to this piece, you should not take everything too seriously. Still, the composer uses sounds to create the impression of a doll’s funeral: the element of play here should not completely disappear.

Waltz

The piece, sounding in one impulse, expresses the girl’s unbridled joy.

In my song you can hear the silvery sound of a stream.
The sweet-sounding voice of a nightingale is heard in it.
In my song you can hear the quiet rustling of reeds.

There is a surprised whisper of the breeze, a whisper of the breeze,
Whisper of the breeze, whisper of the breeze.

In the heart, bright songs began to sound again, began to sound.
And again I can dance without sadness, without sadness.

I spin and sing about the green elm, about myself and you.
I am ready to sing this song of mine every day and hour.

The play “Funeral of a Doll” is replaced by... a waltz. Why? Because it takes time for grief to be forgotten. But why does the waltz sound here? But because he was the most beloved dance XIX centuries, sounded both at modest home parties and in luxurious ballrooms. And the ability to dance and move beautifully was considered necessary for any well-mannered person.

“Waltz” from “Children’s Album” recreates the atmosphere of a home holiday. Pyotr Ilyich loved to participate in home evenings of the Davydov family; here he felt free and at ease.

In letters written a few days before the start of composing the “children’s album,” the composer describes Sasha’s sister’s name day: “There are a lot of guests, and I will have to tap in the evening for the sake of my dear nieces, who really love to dance.”. And after the holiday, interesting details for us: “Sasha’s name day was quite fun. In the evening there was a real ball with an orchestra... I started dancing rather timidly, but then, as always happens in Kamenka, I got carried away and danced passionately, tirelessly, with various demons and schoolboyishness.”.

Ballroom pianist- musician who plays at dance parties.

The waltz is written in the traditions of home music playing - with a simple melodious melody and a characteristic waltz accompaniment: a bass and two light chords. Melodic phrases are small, smooth, they are sung as if by chance (pay attention to the pauses in the melody).

Starting in a bright E-flat major, the melody gradually goes into the “shadow”, modulating into G minor. This is how we first encountered a form with a modulating period. This is followed by the second period, where the key of E-flat major returns. Mischievous, sweeping leaps appear in the melody, the music sounds cheerful, “with various obsessions and schoolboyism.”

Thus, a simple two-part form was formed from the two periods.

But then the character of the music changes - a C minor episode begins - the middle part of a complex three-part form. “Persistent” fifths of the bass and a sharply broken melodic line in a bipartite measure destroy the soft three-beat movement of the dance. It was as if an unfamiliar, bizarre mask had appeared among the dancers.

But the episode flashed by, and the waltz began again.

New doll

The girl is so happy about her new toy! Together with her doll, she spins, dances and probably feels very happy. The music is filled with a feeling of delight, trembling joy, happiness. The rhythmic pulse that the accompaniment provides throughout the piece is reminiscent of an excited heartbeat.

Oh, mom, mom, really?
Will the doll be delivered soon?
Oh, mom, mom, really
Will the doll be here soon?

Oh, where is my doll?
I want to see her.
Oh, what? Already? Then I pray -
Well, give me my doll.

Oh, how beautiful she is, mom!
I'm so glad, my God!
Oh, doll, doll! We never
We won't part with you,
Now with you, now with you
With you, with you, with you, with you.

“New Doll” completes the small suite. This miniature play appears as a light breeze of joy. It sounds for less than a minute. It is fused together different shades feelings: amazement, delight that grip a child at the sight of a beautiful toy that he has long dreamed of. It’s like a girl with a doll is spinning around a room flooded with sunlight...

The piece sounds like a fast waltz. The usual waltz time signature of 3/4 is doubled in time - 3/8. Therefore, the melody seems to be “suffocating.” It is not even divided into phrases, but consists of small motifs merging into one “wave”. The accompaniment is “lightened” by pauses on the weak beats.

The form of the play is simple three-part. The extreme parts, being eight-bar periods of a single structure, are repeated. The middle of the piece is harmonically unstable. Short motives seem to “flutter” from octave to octave. The main development technique in this section is the sequence. In a reprise, the melody “dissipates” and disappears.

Mazurka

Dance miniature in the mazurka genre.

The moon is outside the window. I'm dancing alone.
Why aren't you coming, dear?
Why can't you find me?

The moon is pouring sleepy light,
And you are not here and there.
But still, my unknown,
I believe that you will be with me,
You are with me, you are always with me.

In the grove, where the sound of the stream is heard,
Where is the sound of the stream, the gentle sound of the stream,
I will only wander with you,
I am with you, only with you alone, my friend.

In the field, when it's dark around,
It's dark around, and there's no one around.
We will wander with you, my friend,
With you, my friend, only with you alone...

For now I'm dancing alone.
The moon is outside the window.
Why aren't you coming, dear?
Why can't you find me?

The moon is pouring sleepy light,
And you are not here and there.
But still, my unknown,
I believe that you will be with me,
You are with me, you are always with me.

Mazurka - Polish folk dance. As a folk dance, this is a fast dance, always in three-beat time. The rhythm of the mazurka is unique: the accents are sometimes sharp, often shifting to the second and sometimes to the third beat of the bar. Sometimes it happens that two beats of a bar, or even all three, are emphasized. The emotional richness of the mazurka, its combination of daring, swiftness, sincerity - all this has long attracted the attention of composers, both Polish (Elsner, and then his brilliant student - F. Chopin), and foreign. On Russian soil, Tchaikovsky, the author of the mazurka, had predecessors - the most famous mazurka sounds in the Polish act “Life for the Tsar” ("Ivan Susanin") M. I. Glinka.

The mazurka from “Children's Album” naturally belongs to the mazurkas of a chamber, intimate nature. The first theme is thoughtful, elegiac in nature. Something personal and intimate can be heard in the music: hence the tinge of sadness in the sound of the first intonations.

This play, like the rest of the plays in the cycle, is three-part. middle part in it, however, it does not contrast, but rather develops the musical idea of ​​the first part, except that one can state in it a more emphasized dance character.

“...I grew up in the wilderness, from my earliest childhood, I was imbued with the inexplicable beauty of the characteristic features of Russian folk music...”- Tchaikovsky wrote to N. F. von Meck. The composer's childhood impressions, his love for folk songs and dances were reflected in three plays from the "Children's Album": "Russian Song", "A Man Playing the Harmonica" and "Kamarinskaya". They make up another small suite.

In the “Russian Suite” from the “Children’s Album” (No. 11, 12 and 13), the bright National character. The plays use the same method of development - variation. (change) characteristic of folk performance. This technique, however, manifests itself differently in all three plays.

Russian song

“Russian Song” - masterful arrangement folk song“Are you a head, my little head?” She recreates the powerful four-voice sound of a male choir, full of youthful strength and prowess.

- Let’s go to the woods with you, to the woods.
My daughter!
- Shall we go to the woods, to the woods?
My mother?
- We’ll go mushroom hunting with you, let’s go mushroom hunting.
My daughter!
- Well, let's go mushroom hunting, let's go mushroom hunting,
My mother.
Let's go mushroom picking, let's go mushroom picking!

The melody is laconic (6 bars). The phrases end either in minor or major. This is modal variability, which Tchaikovsky noted as characteristic feature Russian folk song. The author gives three options for processing the topic. At the same time, the bass line develops independently and becomes as expressive as the melody of the upper voice. In other voices, small independent motives and phrases sometimes appear - they are called sub-voices.

The number of votes changes freely: there are four, then three, then two, then four again. Similar free use voices is typical of Russian choral song. This style of presentation musical material called subvocal polyphony. In the “Russian Song,” the treatment of the theme can be likened to a tree, where the constant theme is the trunk, and the variations are the branches of this tree.

A man plays the harmonica

In a colorful figurative scene from folk life, the composer wittily imitates playing the harmonica. Listening to the play “A Man Plays the Harmonica,” you can clearly imagine how the accordion player stretches and again compresses the bellows of the harmonica.

I'll stretch Talyankin's furs.
The song will come out very well.

Eh, accordion, you, accordion,
My friend.
Touch you, just touch you -
And I’m immediately cheerful.

With my dear little girl
I will live - not to bother
I have many, many days
With my little girl, my, my...

A funny sketch “from life”, a kind of small scene. The sound of the piano is reminiscent of playing a harmonica: the piece plays on a dominant seventh chord - it is repeated 30 times! Multiple varied repetitions of this phrase create a comical impression: the hero seems puzzled by the unusual sound of his harmonica and is clearly unable to play anything else. The phrase, not completed, fades away in mid-sentence.

The scale of the melody is noteworthy - B-flat major, sounding based on the dominant rather than the tonic. Why did Tchaikovsky use this particular scale? It turns out that in the 70s (that is, around the time when the “Children’s Album” was written), craftsmen from the city of Livny, Oryol province, designed a new harmonica, called the “Livenskaya” (or “livenki”). It has exactly the same scale as in Tchaikovsky's play. The composer's sensitive ear noted the peculiar sound of the new instrument and, not without humor, recorded it in this piece.

Kamarinskaya

Kamarinskaya is the name of a Russian folk dance song, as well as a dance to the tune of this song.

How much fun we have today -
Everyone started dancing to Kamarinskaya.

Mom dances, dad dances, I dance,
My sisters are dancing, my whole family is dancing.
Grandma is dancing, grandfather is dancing,
My brother and neighbor are dancing.

The cat is dancing, the cat is dancing,
The bug is dancing at the gate,
And the tub, and the tub, and the rake and the grip,
And a broom, and a broom, and legs at the table.

The teapots are dancing, the spoons and pots are dancing,
Frying pans, ladle, kettles.
Bowls are dancing, buckets are dancing, basins are dancing...
What fun we have today!

This famous tune of Russian dance was used by Glinka in his brilliant orchestral fantasy back in 1848. Here, in the “Children’s Album,” the dance song appeared as a modest piano miniature.

Developing the traditions of Glinka, Tchaikovsky gives in it a vivid example of instrumental variations. The art of variation—patterned coloring of a theme—comes to the fore. Remember folk art paintings of Khokhloma, Palekh, its ringing and bright colors.

The composer varies the texture, changes the melody itself (unlike the “Russian Song”). 3A playful, scherzo theme is followed by three variations. The first and third variations, light and moving, seem to colorize the theme, preserving its staccato touch. In the second variation, a dashing, brave dance sounds. The theme is presented in “dense” chords, but even at the same time a familiar dance tune can be heard in the upper voice.

The folk character of the music, so obvious in P. Tchaikovsky, is also emphasized by the fact that at the beginning - throughout the theme (the first 12 bars) there is a “droning” bass sound of D (tonic). Together with the upper voice in the left hand part, it resembles the sound of bagpipes - a folk instrument on which you can play both a melody and such an invariably drawn out bass.

In addition to the imaginary sound of bagpipes, in the melody of the theme you can hear the timbres and strokes of the violin, and the intonations in the left hand part of the third variation resemble the sound of the so-called empty strings (that is, not pressed by the fingers of the violinist’s left hand and therefore sounding natural, as if primitive, not cultivated, “folk style”). The chord movement of the second variation can be mistaken for the “plucking” of the harmonic.

Polka

Polka is a Czech folk dance, cheerful, lively, playful, mischievous. It is danced with hops - small, light jumps. The name of this dance comes from the Czech word pulka - “half step”. Polka was also popular as a ballroom dance.

The polka starts gracefully and easily. You can imagine that a little girl in an airy dress and beautiful shoes that barely touch the floor is dancing it, she moves so skillfully and gracefully.

Over dusty paths,
Above the blades of grass, above the green ones,
And over the lake and over the puddle
The midges are spinning, the midges are spinning.

And under the maples, under the aspens.
Under the birches, under the rowan trees
Near the lake, near the puddle
Couples are spinning, couples are spinning.

Here is a squirrel circling with a pine cone,
A wolf with a fox, a hare with a bear.
The bear and the bunny deftly stomp
And they clap their hands loudly,
They clap loudly, they clap loudly.

Fast, dexterous, nimble, lively,
Nimble, light, quick, persistent -
In a clearing among a spruce forest,
Where a blackened stump stands in the moss.
Where do the juniper bushes grow?
Couples circle all day long.

This is one of the most popular plays in the cycle. Merry dance, full of grace; Only in the middle part does the theme, which has moved to the lower register, appear in a deliberately rude manner, with perky humor. The sound of the melody is complemented by continuous harmonic development; the right and left hand parts are perceived not as a melody and accompaniment, but as a single whole.

The play, like most of the plays in the “Children's Album,” is very easy to understand literally the first time, and after just one listen, parting with it, you carry its charming, graceful motif into your heart.

The next suite, which we would call “About Foreign Countries and People,” is formed by “songs” (No. 15 - 18, adjoined by No. 23). In them we feel the rhythmic liveliness of Italian melodies, the wise sadness of an ancient French tune, and the sedate regularity of German dance.

And yet Tchaikovsky gives preference to Italian “songs”. There are three of them in the “Children's Album”. This is no coincidence. The plays reflected the composer's fresh musical impressions received in Italy.

Tchaikovsky spent the autumn and winter of 1877-1878 abroad. He visited Italy, France, Switzerland.

In a letter from Milan to N.F. von Meck, Tchaikovsky writes: “My brother and I heard singing on the street in the evening and saw a crowd into which we made our way. It turned out that a boy of about 10 or 11 years old was singing to the accompaniment of a guitar. He sang in a wonderful, thick voice with such completeness, with such warmth, which are rarely found in real artists.”. Here the composer gives a fragment of a street song.

And she also quotes a song behind her. Pyotr Ilyich writes about her: “In Venice, in the evenings, a street singer with a little daughter sometimes came up to our hotel, and I really like one of their songs.”.

“Italian”, “German”, “The Organ Grinder Sings” and partly “An Old French Song” are reminiscent of the sound of an organ grinder. Tchaikovsky had vivid childhood memories associated with the mechanical sound of this instrument.

To the city of Votkinsk, where the future composer was born and spent his childhood in 1840, his father brought an orchestra - a mechanical organ - from St. Petersburg. The orchestra's rollers recorded music by Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. Excerpts from their works, performed by an orchestra, were for the “glass boy” (that was Tchaikovsky’s name in childhood) incomprehensible magic. From these childhood impressions a love for Mozart and Italian melodies was born. Therefore, the “songs” sound not only like music “about foreign countries and people,” but also like the composer’s memories of his childhood.

Italian song

The Italian song is very graceful, sweet, gentle, playful. Does it look like some kind of dance? Yes, it looks like a waltz. The play feels like a waltz, but this waltz is not smooth, but playful, lively.

At this tender morning hour
The sun looks tenderly at us.
We walk on dewy grasses
And we all sing together:

- The skies are beautiful here!
Beautiful bird voices!
The sun is pouring down from above
A soft light falls on this earth.
There is no better place than our Italy!

Our fields are beautiful!
Our land is beautiful!
Every home is beautiful
And every dome is golden
Under the dawn star!

There are many accents in the music that give it an energetic character and distinctness. In the accompaniment one can hear an imitation of musical instruments common in Italy - the mandolin and guitar.

“Italian Song” is one of the striking examples, firstly, of P. Tchaikovsky’s borrowing of musical ideas from outside musical world and, secondly, those compositional techniques that he used, turning other people's melodies into his own musical creations.

An old French song

In “An Old French Song” a sad, sincere, simple folk tune comes to life. It is like a song - soulful, thoughtful, dreamy, sad.

Tell me, my beloved,
Why aren't you with me?
I carry it in my soul
Your beautiful image!

I just don't understand -
Tell me why
You can't obey
Are you my heart?

Oh Lancelot, come back to me.
Otherwise I will burn in the fire of love.

Oh, you won't come back
My knight Lancelot.
Don't you want to know, knight?
What is Elaina waiting for you?

The princess sits alone by the window all day,
Shakes his head and looks into the distance with longing.
The forest turns blue before her, and it is full of miracles,
And the evil fairy lives in it, guarding the princess.

"Where are you, knight on a white horse,
When can you come to me?
You will rescue me, put me on a horse,
And you’ll take it with you from here forever.”

The composer used here an authentic tune of the 16th century - “Where have you gone, the hobbies of my youth...”. Having slightly changed the melody of his play, he included it in the opera “The Maid of Orleans”, where it is called “The Song of the Minstrels” and recreates the flavor of medieval France.

Minstrels- musicians and poets who served at the court of a wealthy feudal lord or knight.

The simple and leisurely tune is akin to an old ballad. The spare harmonies and restrained minor tone of the narrative are reminiscent of the paintings of the old masters with their muted dark palette of colors. From the deep shadows of these paintings emerge the faces and figures of people in ancient clothes who lived in ancient times...

The play is written in a simple two-part reprise form. At the beginning and end of the play, a three-voice polyphonic presentation is maintained: the melody sounds against the background of a sustained tonic bass, the middle voice echoes the melody, forming consonances with it. This was exactly the texture of French ballads and songs of the 14th -16th centuries.

At the beginning of the second part, the melody is enlivened, the texture changes: instead of polyphonic it becomes homophonic. In the reprise, the same narrative melody is heard again. Discreet and noble simplicity, the aroma of antiquity made this play a masterpiece of the “Children's Album”.

German song

It is similar to the old German rural dance Ländler - the predecessor of the waltz. It was danced by peasants in wooden shoes, slowly, with dignity, a little primly, with gallant bows, stamps and twirls.

Among the forested mountains, by the blue lakes,
Where in the thicket a discordant chorus of birds is heard,
Under the bright blue, under the centuries-old spruce
Today we will dance with you.

Today music will throw us into a merry dance,
A merry dance, a daring dance.
The music will throw us into a merry dance
At this sunny hour.

Now the two of us are in fast dance we'll walk side by side
Let's go side by side, together we'll go,
We're in a fast dance, my friend, let's go
Just the two of you.

Where the mountain meadow is hidden, where there is no one around,
Where the distant horn of the trapper is heard.
Among the forest flowers, in painted clothes
Let's go dance today, my friend.

“The German Song” is cheerful and simple-minded, but there is a mystery in it. The leisurely three-beat movement is consistent with the character of the Landler peasant dance. In the harmony, the monotony of which resembles the sound of a barrel organ, only the tonic triad and dominant seventh chord are used. The melody also moves along these same chord sounds. Sing the chorus. Its melodic pattern is sharp and broken.” The narrow intervals of the first phrase - thirds, seconds, like an echo in the mountains, are reflected by the inversions of these intervals - sixths and sevenths (sing the second phrase). Such sharp jumps in melody are not unique to this song. They often sound in melodies common among the inhabitants of the Alps. Such melodies and the leaps in them are called yodels. It was in them that the mystery of the “German Song” lay hidden.

Neapolitan song

Naples is a city in Italy. In his play, P. Tchaikovsky very expressively conveyed the features of Italian folk music and the sound of folk instruments.

This sea is in front of me, this sky is blue,
These solar networks - how can we live without them?
These groves by the bay, these flexible olives,
I have loved this evergreen land forever!

My Naples!
Here under the hot southern sun,
Here under the pearl cloud
Trouble will not come to me.

My Naples!
A place dear to my heart,
I won't part with you,
My Naples, never!

Everything around here is mine:
And the distances are endless, and the buildings are elegant,
And the streets are short, and the squares are ancient,
And boats on the sand, and Vesuvius itself in the distance.

In my Naples there is nothing to do without songs.
Boys and girls sing here from morning to evening.
And grandparents, and every yard and house.
Everyone is singing around here, in their native Naples.

“The Neapolitan Song” is one of the most striking plays in the “Children’s Album”. She came to Tchaikovsky's music from the streets of Naples. This little secret was revealed to us by a letter to Tchaikovsky from Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck: “Do they give you serenades under your windows? They gave it to us every day in Naples and Venice, and with what special pleasure I listened in Naples to the song that you took for the dance in “Swan Lake.”

The composer calls it a dance in the ballet and a song in the “Children's Album” - and there is no contradiction in this. It combined both song and dance.

The play is reminiscent of folk italian dance- tarantella (from the name of the city in southern Italy - Taranto). This is a fast, lively, cheerful dance with a clear rhythm, very graceful, elegant, and perky. The dance is often accompanied by singing. It is no coincidence that the play is called “The Neapolitan Song.” It is played by folk instruments. Spanish is spoken in Italy folk instrument- castanets. They are two pairs of plates, hollowed out of wood in the shape of a shell and connected with a cord (show the children castanets). Castanets sound very loud, clearly emphasize the rhythm of the music, giving it an energetic, proud character! One record hits the other with your fingers and a clicking, bright sound is heard, a bit like the sound of wooden spoons.

Folk dances with a clear, repeating rhythm, including the Italian tarantella, are performed accompanied not only by castanets, but also by other instruments. For example, the accompaniment in P. Tchaikovsky’s play resembles the sound of castanets and the chime of a guitar.

As in the “Italian”, the “Neapolitan Song” has two parts - the chorus and the chorus. The chorus has a simple two-part form. If in the chorus we hear a song and can sing it, then the melody of the chorus is more difficult to sing. The element of rapid dance reigns here. A picture of a cheerful Italian carnival arises in the imagination - Tchaikovsky observed it more than once while in Italy. The form of the entire play is complex, two-part.

Do you like listening to scary fairy tales? There are two of them in the Album.

Nanny's fairy tale

You can imagine the content of this play in different ways: either as the actual story, which is told by an old nanny, who herself remains, as it were, “behind the scenes.” Or, as the famous pianist I. Malinina suggests, we imagine an old nanny, “who immediately in our imagination transforms into the image of a fantastic witch...

Once upon a time there lived Tsar Ivan
In the thirtieth state.
He wanted to be his wife
Take the beautiful Elena.

Only suddenly the evil Kashchei
It comes like a whirlwind
And now he is carrying the maiden across the seas.

Immediately the king gathered
And he rushed off on horseback and on a dun
Through ravines, through thickets,
Through rivers, through mountains.

It took him a whole year to get there
Before the villain, before Kashchei,
And one day I entered the castle
And suddenly I saw Elena there.

Here from heaven to him
Kashchei the Immortal rushed.
But he cut it off with a sword
Tsar Ivan Kashchei's head.

And then he planted
Ahead of yourself is Elena,
And in an instant he rushed them home
Winged royal horse.

With careful, caustic sonority (a staccato touch) and sharp harmony, the composer creates a fairy-tale image. If you play this piece slowly, you will hear what “spiky” tritones are hidden in the chords. In the quiet tunes one can hear the mysterious “knock-knock-knock... knock-knock-knock.” Music filled with sensitive pauses and unexpected accents sounds wary. The development technique used here - a sequence - enhances the mood of anxiety, leading to “screams” (a jump to a diminished seventh). In the middle of the simple three-part form, the music is truly scary. Listen...

The upper voice “freezes with fear” at one sound, and from the gloomy low register a chromatic sequence “crawls out” like a ghost. The motives from which this “terrible” sequence is woven are the same as in the extreme parts (“knock-knock-knock”). The reprise exactly repeats the music of the first movement. And only the light key of C major seems to remind us that this fairy tale is a musical joke.

The play “Baba Yaga,” which represents a popular image of a Russian folk tale, fits well with the previous play, “Nanny’s Tale,” and together with the next one, “Sweet Dream,” forms another mini-cycle within the “Children’s Album.” It can be conventionally described as the fairy-tale-dreamy world of a child. And since this play is the play that defines the national “inclination” of this mini-cycle, we can safely talk about its Russian character.

If we consider the entire “Children's Album” as a kind of musical diary of P. Tchaikovsky, then these plays convey the mood of the composer, who has now returned from distant travels to Russia. And how can one not remember the words of P. Tchaikovsky himself about the experiences and feelings that overcome him when returning to his homeland. In one of his letters to N. von Meck (dated March 10, 1878), P. Tchaikovsky wrote: “I think about Russia with the greatest pleasure, that is, despite the fact that I feel so good here (in Switzerland), I will still be glad to find myself in my native land.”.

Baba Yaga

The play evokes a fantastic flight, accompanied by the “whistle of the wind.”

Who's there? Who's flying high there?
Who is there in the dark depths of the night?
Who is howling there, who is moaning there,
Who drives away the clouds with a broom?

Who is circling over the black thicket,
Who is there whistling over the sleeping village?
Who's hooting outside the windows?
Who's thumping across the rooftops with their knives?

Who's there all night long
Scaring the birds, scaring the kids?
Who's there? Who's flying above the ground?
Whose laughter and howling can you hear there?

This is Baba Yaga, bone leg
It circles above the earth, the dark forest guards.
This is Baba Yaga, the bone leg.

It’s very sad for her to circle under the moon alone.
Because she hasn't slept all night
He sings mournfully and calls us all from home.

In the works of composers fairy tale images found an unusually vivid embodiment. As for the image of the evil witch, a popular character in Russian fairy tales, a witch who scares little children, four years before the creation of this play by P. Tchaikovsky, M. Mussorgsky brilliantly captured his sounds in his “Pictures at an Exhibition” cycle. But if Mussorgsky created his work for adults, then Tchaikovsky was guided by children's perception and child psychology. As a result, his Baba Yaga is not so fierce.

“Baba Yaga” - a picture of a fabulous flight. Comparing the two tales, you will notice a lot in common in their musical language: the same sharp staccato touch, the same abundance of dissonances. There are also many differences. If “Nanny’s Tale” sounded leisurely, narratively “telling”, then “Baba Yaga” depicts a rapid “flight” at a Presto tempo.

This play, like “Nanny’s Tale,” is written in a three-part form, but the contrast of the middle is almost invisible here due to the continuous movement. The culmination of the piece is the beginning of the reprise, sounding an octave higher than the first part. The “screams” of Baba Yaga sound sharper, as if flying overhead and rapidly moving away. The impression of “removal” is created due to the gradual transition to the low register and attenuation of the dynamics. Flew away...

Sweet dream

The play conveys a dreamy, trembling state of mind.

I can’t play with my beloved doll -
Something unclear, elusive in the heart.
Something unclear, something beautiful...
And suddenly appeared before me
The prince is young and alive.

We are floating along the river,
We feel good together.
At this hour everything is for us:
The light of the moon, the sigh of a wave.

His words are tender...
My head is spinning...
This dream, a bright dream -
Is he a dream? Is he real?

But then the prince melted.
There's no one around.
I'm sitting alone again.
Maybe call your friends?

I just don’t want to call.
My heart is pounding in my chest.
What happened to me?
Oh, prince, don't go...

While falling asleep, the child dreams. His dream is embodied by the beautiful melody of the play. Its origins are in vocal music wide breath - opera aria, romance. Here the melody, developing in small phrases - “waves”, gradually “blooms”. It has the form of the classical period, consisting of two sentences.

The middle of a simple three-part form begins. The updated melody has been moved to a low register, and new, decisive intonations can be heard in it. In the reprise, the lyrical, dreamy mood returns.

You probably noticed the softness and consonance of the sound of the piece (this is especially noticeable after the tension, dissonance fairy tale plays). The balance of sound is combined with a harmonious form (a simple three-part, consisting of three equal periods of sixteen bars).

The lark's song

“The Lark's Song” from the “Children's Album” is a subtle picturesque sketch, painted with a light, joyful mood; Only in the middle part of the play does a touch of sadness appear.

Here on earth, my home,
This is my life, this is where I am happy,
And that's why I sing.

I fly, I flutter.
The expanse of heaven caresses the eye,
And my song flows.

My trill, drip,
Like drops, drops,
To the meadow, to the forest from heaven,
Drip, drip, drip.
On the bushes, drip,
On sheets, drip,
On the pond, aground,
On the spruce, drip, drip,
Drip, drip, drip, drip,
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.

Here, in the heights, it’s pleasant for me,
Until the dawn and the light is soft,
Fly and sing, rejoicing.

I pour out my song from my heart.
Well, which of you at least once
Have you heard me sing?

Ew, eew, eew,
Ew, eew, eew, eew,
Ew, eew, eew, eew, eew,
“Siegfried”... Examples can be given endlessly.

The absence of rhythmic supports in the melody of this piece from “Children’s Album” gives it lightness. This is also facilitated by the fact that the motives begin and end mostly on the weak beats of the bar. What gives the piece some instability and uncertainty is that the melody consists of motives, each of which covers two quarters, while they are superimposed on an accompaniment built according to the beat, that is, in three beats. This combination of seemingly incompatible rhythmic structures testifies to the great ingenuity of the composer.

The play is written in three-part form. In the third part, which generally repeats the first, the ending is changed in order to confirm the main tonality.

In the middle part, nothing opposes the three-beat pattern: here the melody does not fight with the accompaniment, but completely merges with it. With such dominance of the three-beat meter, Tchaikovsky’s most favorite variety, the waltz, begins to “shine through.”

The organ grinder sings

This play is a genre-characteristic sketch, the sounds of which depict an old man. He turns the handle of the organ and beautiful drawn-out sounds pour out of it. A simple, but wisely calm theme dispels the child’s gloomy thoughts.

There are seven mountains away.
Beyond the seven seas
A city where there are no unfortunates -
Happiness is given for free there.

So give me a penny
Don't be sorry -
Throw it here, passerby.

Perhaps with her
I'll be able to soon
Get to this city.

In a letter to N. von Meck from Milan dated December 16/28, 1877, P. Tchaikovsky wrote: “In Venice, in the evenings, a street singer with a small pipe would sometimes come up to our hotel, and I really like one of their songs. The truth is that this street performer has a very beautiful voice and a rhythm that is innate to all Italians. This last property of the Italian interests me very much, as something completely opposite to the structure of our folk songs and their folk performance.”.

The melody of this song, so beloved by P. Tchaikovsky, was used by him twice - in the play “The Organ Grinder Sings” and in the play “Interrupted Dreams,” op. 40, No. 12. How can one not recall the words of M. Glinka (recorded by A. Serov): “We don’t create music; creates a people; we (composers) only record and arrange”! Cases where a folk version and a composer's arrangement are known are extremely interesting. What to say when - as in in this case– the folk version was recorded by P. Tchaikovsky himself.

Sometimes you can come across the statement that this play is written in a waltz rhythm. This is an erroneous reading of the three-beat rhythm, which under other circumstances actually turns out to be characteristic feature waltz But if a waltz is always a piece in 3/4, then it does not follow that a piece in 3/4 is always a waltz. In this case, two circumstances prevent this play from “fitting” into the waltz genre: firstly, the title of the play. It makes us imagine a poor (or even beggarly) wandering musician, slowly (author's note: Andante – Italian at a calm pace) twisting the handle of his old organ-organ, making a quiet sound (author's note: piano – Italian quiet). As for the waltz, it is very typical for it that only the first beat in a bar is “one”, and it is always emphasized, while “two” and “three” should sound weaker. On a barrel organ, the beats sound the same - hence its sometimes mournful sound, and it does not resemble the rhythm of a waltz. Secondly, the waltz is opposed by a long and persistent organ point on the bass note G (tonic), clearly indicating a “primitive” folk instrument (the waltz is by no means a folk dance).

This detailed analysis of the play’s expressive means was needed in order to find the right performance solution on the piano (not on a real organ-organ). Thus, it is one thing to set the goal of performing a waltz (which would be an artistic miscalculation), and another thing to use sounds to paint a genre scene “an organ grinder sings.”

This play, according to researchers of Tchaikovsky’s work, expresses the idea of ​​​​the indissolubility of life and death, the meaning of which lies in the very title of the play. The circular repetition of the melody of the organ, the circular movement of its handle is a symbol of the infinity of the movement of life itself, that is, life goes in a circle, one generation gives way to another.

In the church

In the evening, each person thanked God for the day he had lived and asked for a good sleep, asking for forgiveness for his misdeeds (for example, a child did not obey his parents or was capricious, greedy, or got into a fight).

My God, my God!
I lift up my soul to You.
Holy One, teach me
Let me understand what Love is.

My God, my God!
Teach me to love.
I trust in You.
Don't leave me, Lord!

Do not leave me!
Do not leave me!
Lord, save and have mercy on me!
Grant, Lord, Faith and Love!

This is how this play was named by P. Tchaikovsky. People of the older generation, however, who are familiar with the "Children's Album", know it under the name "Choir". In Soviet-era publications, in no case could any association with the church and religious imagery be allowed.

Even if we don’t know how P. Tchaikovsky treated religion and the church, the very fact of completing a large cyclic musical work with a piece inspired by images of a church service should convince us of the composer’s reverent attitude towards Orthodox church rites.

The sound of this piece, placed at the end of the album, like “Morning Prayer,” is reminiscent of the singing of a church choir. The “evening” E minor of the piece sounds like a response to the “morning” G major of the first.

It is interesting that P. Tchaikovsky used for this piece the melody of a real prayer, which is sung in church. Therefore, the music sounds serious and strict, not at all childish. P. Tchaikovsky did not simplify the music he composed for children, but wrote it with the same depth of feeling as “adults”.

If you listen carefully, you will notice that at the end of both pieces there are repeated sounds in the bass. But in “Morning Prayer” they sound strictly and calmly, against the backdrop of a light melody, and in the evening prayer they sound more gloomy, concentrated, tired. The day has faded, the darkness of the night is falling, everything is quiet, calms down, freezes...

In its form, the play “In the Church” is a period of 12 bars, ending with a cadence on the tonic. But this period is not divided into sentences, but only into phrases that continue one another. This period is called the period of a single structure. The repetition of this period does not develop, but only confirms the expressed idea. It has a complement and an extended coda, almost equal in size to the repeated period. Its great length is explained by the fact that it completes not only this play, but also (in the generally accepted version) the entire collection. It contains the “farewell word” of the “Children’s Album”.

Questions and tasks:

1. What goal did Tchaikovsky set for himself when creating the “Children's Album”?
2. How many plays are in the “Children's Album”, what topics do they touch on?
3. Tell us about the plays with common themes and their features musical language in each of them.
4. Name plays written in period, two-part and three-part forms. Which one is used most often by the composer? Why?
5. In which plays and how is the variation form used?
6. What genre is the verse form associated with? Give examples from the “Children's Album”.

Presentation

Included:
1. Presentation - 33 (piano / symphonic performance) / 57 (song performance) slides, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Chaikovsky. Children's album:
Morning prayer, mp3;
Winter morning, mp3;
Horse Game, mp3;
Mom, mp3;
March of the Wooden Soldiers, mp3;
Disease of the doll, mp3;
Funeral of a doll, mp3;
Waltz, mp3;
New doll, mp3;
Mazurka, mp3;
Russian song, mp3;
A man plays a harmonica, mp3;
Kamarinskaya, mp3;
Polka, mp3;
Italian song, mp3;
Old French song, mp3;
German song, mp3;
Neapolitan song, mp3;
Nanny's tale, mp3;
Baba Yaga, mp3;
Sweet Dream, mp3;
Song of the Lark, mp3;
The organ grinder sings, mp3;
In the Church, mp3;
3. Accompanying article, docx.

All works of the “Children’s Album” are given in three versions ( each archive has its own): piano (performed by Vera Gornostaeva), symphony (performed by the State Chamber Orchestra Vladimir Spivakov“Moscow Virtuosi”), and song (vocal performance by Irina Vasilyeva, accompanied by piano). Also, in presentations with song accompaniment, slides with poems by Viktor Lunin are additionally inserted - the words of the songs performed; in presentations with piano and symphonic versions of musical accompaniment, there are no slides with poems.

Illustrations by Vera Pavlova were used in the design of the work.