What made the composer Kabalevsky famous? Music for dramatic performances

Creative activity Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky covers many areas. He was a composer, a teacher, a public figure, and a doctor of art history - and everywhere his contribution was very significant.

Kabalevsky was born in 1904 in St. Petersburg. I started studying music as a child, and even then I felt the urge to compose. According to the composer’s recollections, the teacher, supported by his parents, did not encourage his desire to improvise on the piano, contemptuously calling it “strumming.” But boring exercises could not satisfy the capable, energetic boy, and he continued to secretly do what he was forbidden to do. One day he shocked his parents: he was asked to perform some play in front of the guests - and the boy began to improvise instead. Subsequently, the composer ironically recalled that he then “strummed” to his heart’s content, but his music studies stopped for several years. But at the age of fourteen, Dmitry again entered music school, graduated from it, then studied at the College of Music, where he regularly showed his teacher own compositions. The student was so persistent that the director had to open a composition department. After graduating from technical school, Kabalevsky becomes a student at the Moscow Conservatory, where he studies in two faculties at once - as a pianist and as a composer. He learns composition from, and piano playing– from Alexander Goldenweiser.

Years in which the period occurred creative development Kabalevsky, were very difficult both for the country as a whole and for people of art. On the one hand, young composers of that era received an excellent school and had a musical education high level, on the other hand, the authorities demanded an extremely democratic musical language, with equal zeal classifying both academic musical traditions and the innovative quests of Western composers of that time as “enemy influence”. Similar sentiments prevailed in the “Production Collective”, an association of student composers.

In this difficult environment, the composer is looking for his own musical language. In his early piano works one can feel the influence of Alexander Scriabin, in the symphonies -. But due to circumstances, Kabalevsky had to come into direct contact with the very people on whose behalf the Soviet government acted. student years. The need to earn a living forced me to work with amateur clubs in factories and military units, as well as teach in music school at the technical school. Then Kabalevsky wrote his first works for children, and subsequently this became a very important aspect of his work.

The composer worked in different genres: "", "The Family of Taras" and other operas, the operetta "Spring Sings", cantatas "The Great Motherland", "Leninists", "Song of the Morning, Spring and Peace", "O native land", "Requiem", piano music, concerts for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, music for films ("Academician Pavlov", "First-grader" and others), symphonic music. The second symphony of Dmitry Kabalevsky was one of his favorite works. Distinctive features His work has always remained imaginative brightness, clarity of musical thoughts, logic of form, as well as cheerfulness. IN Soviet era Many composers strove for a similar attitude, especially not very gifted ones, because the social order that existed at that time involved the glorification of achievements Soviet people, but the cheerfulness of Kabalevsky’s music was never false or feigned; his music is distinguished by the sincerity of feelings.

His civil position. It may not seem entirely consistent - he could, for example, criticize with equal enthusiasm for “formalism” and convince children of the genius of their music. But if Kabalevsky was sometimes inconsistent, he was never a hypocrite - he always remained sincere and believed in what he said and did. Being an active public figure, Kabalevsky never aspired to the highest positions - in particular, in the Union of Composers he was one of the deputy first secretaries, without aspiring to more.

The composer created a lot of music for children - for example, his songs “Our Land” and “ School years"Everyone knew Soviet schoolboy. Many of him piano works designed for performance by children: “Collection of Children's Plays”, “From Pioneer Life”.

Kabalevsky is the author of the concept of musical education of children, on which music lessons in Russian secondary schools are based to this day. He abandoned “singing lessons” in favor of “music lessons”, in which children would be able to comprehend the basic principles of music, its connection with other forms of art, and most importantly - with human life. The main topic his program – the “ultimate task”, as the composer said – is the connection between music and life, revealed in two forms: the reflection of reality in music and the role of music in the life of every person. He gave many lectures on music to children, and since 1973 he himself worked as a music teacher, introducing his system. School programs in music, created in subsequent years by other teachers, can be presented as an alternative to Kabalevsky’s program, but, in essence, are built on the same principles.

Dmitry Kabalevsky died in 1987, returning from the international forum “For a Nuclear-Free World,” where he spoke at the request of the country’s leadership - his authority was so high.

Musical Seasons

Born in St. Petersburg on December 17 (30), 1904. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of N.Ya. Myaskovsky in 1929. From 1932 until the end of his life he taught there, mainly composition. In 1940–1946 he was editor-in-chief of the magazine “Soviet Music”, in 1949–1952 he headed the music sector of the Institute of Art History in Moscow. Since the early 1950s, he was a member of the governing bodies of the Union Soviet composers(after 1957 - the Union of Composers of the USSR), in particular, from 1962 until the end of his days he headed the commission for the aesthetic education of children and youth, and was a full member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (since 1971).

The composer created many works in a variety of genres, his heritage includes five operas, two of which are Cola Brugnon after R. Rolland (1938, 2nd ed. 1968) and The Taras Family (on a plot from the era of World War II, 1950) are quite were widely staged during the author's lifetime, as well as a ballet, an operetta, four symphonies, orchestral poems and suites, a number of cantatas (of which the most notable is Requiem to the words of R.I. Rozhdestvensky, 1964), instrumental concerts, chamber instrumental ensembles, a lot of piano music and romances; he is the author of the music for a large number theatrical productions and movies.

The most popular were the composer's works for children and teenagers: a triad of instrumental concerts (including a piano concert on the theme of the song "Birch and Rowan"), cycles of piano pieces and songs; In vocal music, Shakespeare's Ten Sonnets (1955), often performed in their time, stand out. Having a good command of the pen, Kabalevsky appeared a lot in periodicals and wrote several books on musical and aesthetic education.

At one time, Kabalevsky’s name was usually mentioned in the top five Soviet composers, after Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian, which hardly corresponded to the real situation. Kabalevsky was cultured person and an educated musician; had an undoubted, although not very deep, melodic talent (hence his success in music for children and in music for theater and cinema); mastered classical forms. The role of Kabalevsky in history Soviet music contradictory. In particular, it is still unclear why his name, which appeared on the list of those accused of “formalism” in 1948 (of course, without any reason, like other victims of the “Zhdanovshchina”), did not appear in the published text of the notorious resolution of the opera Great friendship“(according to one version, Kabalevsky managed to “repent”, and his name was replaced by the name of another musician). In any case, after 1948 Kabalevsky, who in his youth was for some time a member of the Association modern music, took exclusively retrograde positions, especially in his journalism. School reform music education, carried out on his initiative, also cannot be considered successful. Happy ending Soviet period Kabalevsky's music, previously diligently propagated, practically ceased to sound.

KABALEVSKY, DMITRY BORISOVICH(1904–1987), Russian composer and public figure. Born in St. Petersburg on December 17 (30), 1904. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of N.Ya. Myaskovsky in 1929. From 1932 until the end of his life he taught there, mainly composition. In 1940–1946 he was editor-in-chief of the magazine “Soviet Music”, in 1949–1952 he headed the music sector of the Institute of Art History in Moscow. From the beginning of the 1950s, he was a member of the governing bodies of the Union of Soviet Composers (after 1957 - the Union of Composers of the USSR), in particular, from 1962 until the end of his days he headed the commission for the aesthetic education of children and youth, and was a full member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (since 1971 ).

The composer created many works in a variety of genres; his legacy includes five operas, two of which are Cola Brugnon according to R. Rolland (1938, 2nd ed. 1968) and Taras family(on a plot from the era of the Second World War, 1950) were staged quite widely during the author’s lifetime, as well as a ballet, an operetta, four symphonies, orchestral poems and suites, a number of cantatas (of which the most notable is Requiem to the words of R.I. Rozhdestvensky, 1964), instrumental concerts, chamber instrumental ensembles, a lot of piano music and romances; He is the author of music for a large number of theatrical productions and films.

The most popular were the composer's works for children and teenagers: a triad of instrumental concerts (including a piano concert on the theme of the song Either a birch or a rowan), cycles of piano pieces and songs; in vocal music, those often performed in their time stand out Ten Sonnets by Shakespeare(1955). Having a good command of the pen, Kabalevsky appeared a lot in periodicals and wrote several books on musical and aesthetic education.

At one time, Kabalevsky’s name was usually mentioned in the top five Soviet composers, after Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian, which hardly corresponded to the real situation. Kabalevsky was a cultured man and an educated musician; had an undoubted, although not very deep, melodic talent (hence his success in music for children and in music for theater and cinema); mastered classical forms. The role of Kabalevsky in the history of Soviet music is contradictory. In particular, it is still unclear why his name, which appeared on the list of those accused of “formalism” in 1948 (of course, without any reason, like other victims of the “Zhdanovshchina”), did not appear in the published text of the infamous resolution About opera« Great friendship“(according to one version, Kabalevsky managed to “repent”, and his name was replaced by the name of another musician). In any case, after 1948 Kabalevsky, who in his youth was for some time a member of the Association of Contemporary Music, took exclusively retrograde positions, especially in his journalism. The reform of school music education, carried out on his initiative, also cannot be considered successful. With the end of the Soviet period, Kabalevsky's music, previously diligently propagated, practically ceased to sound.

Kabalevsky - Russian Soviet composer, music writer and public figure. In the unspoken musical hierarchy of the country, he occupied fourth place - immediately after the largest Soviet composers of that time, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian, and was a laureate of many Stalin and Lenin Prize, holder of the highest orders of the country - the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Hero of Socialist Labor, academician, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Kabalevsky worked in many genres. He wrote the operas “Cola Brugnon” (“The Master of Clamcy”), “On Fire”, “The Family of Taras”, “Nikita Vershinin”, “Sisters”; operetta “Spring is Singing”, Requiem to poems by R. Rozhdestvensky, 4 symphonies, 3 concertos for piano and orchestra, Concerto for violin and orchestra, 2 concertos for cello and orchestra, great amount instrumental, most often piano pieces, including instructional ones, romances and songs for children. His music is different good taste, professional skill, national flavor, predominant appeal to traditional means of expression for the 19th century.

Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky was born on December 17 (30), 1904 in St. Petersburg, into an intelligent family. His father was a mathematician, a graduate of St. Petersburg University, his mother, who devoted her life to her family and children, was a born teacher and educator. WITH early years the boy showed a variety of abilities, which were encouraged and developed in the family. Among them was musical talent, but a strict teacher, who suppressed the desire of young Kabalevsky to improvise, turned him away from music for a long time. Instead, a desire to paint appeared, a desire to express himself in picturesque and plastic images, so strong that after a few years it led the young man to the school of painting and sculpture.

In 1918, the family moved to Moscow. It was there, when he was 14 years old, that Kabalevsky, in his own words, “took the second musical start“, now not at the request of the parents, not because it was customary in the families of their circle, but out of an irresistible spiritual attraction. He entered a music school, where through hard work he began to make up for lost years. A year later, he was accepted into the Scriabin Music College, into the piano class of the director, V. Selivanov. At the same time, he began to engage in composition, bringing his teacher more and more opuses, and thereby forced the director to open a new composition department at the technical school. A prominent musical scientist, author of works on musical analysis and harmony G. Catuar. Life in those years, after the Bolshevik revolution, was extremely difficult. I had to think not only about classes, but also about earning money. The young man tried many activities: he painted posters, served as a postman, was a movie theater performer, and finally began teaching children in a music school that was open at the technical school. So he came to the children, with whom he remained connected until the end of his days. The first instructional plays appeared.

In 1925, Kabalevsky entered the Moscow Conservatory in the piano and composition departments and graduated in 1929 in the composition class of N. Myaskovsky and in 1930 in the special piano class of A. Goldenweiser.

During his years at the conservatory, the young man showed himself to be an active public figure. He took an active part in the work of the so-called Prokoll - a production team of student composers who had a negative attitude towards the old artistic heritage, considering it an outdated noble art, and called for the creation of a new one, understandable to workers, peasants and Red Army soldiers. The main attention was paid to choirs and mass songs. Kabalevsky visited factories, factories, military units, participated in amateur groups, and at the same time continued to work with children and write for them. By the end of the conservatory, he had written a string quartet and the First Concerto for piano and orchestra.

Throughout the 30s, works appeared in different genres - “Poem of Struggle” to the words of the proletarian poet A. Zharov, three symphonies, of which the first is dedicated to the “15th anniversary of the Great October revolution", and the Third - Requiem in memory of Lenin. He writes music for several films. The most interesting and then widely heard throughout the country was the music for the comedy “Anton Ivanovich is Angry,” in which the famous tenor S. Lemeshev starred. A lot of music is also created for dramatic performances, which has become an approach to the significant work pre-war years- the opera “The Master of Clamcy” (“Cola Brugnon”) based on the story by Romain Rolland.

Along with his writing, all these years Kabalevsky was engaged in pedagogy, and not only for children: in 1932 he began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, in 1935 he received the academic degree of candidate of art history without defending a dissertation, and in 1939 he became a professor. In 1940, he joined the country's only ruling Communist Party.

After the start of the Great Patriotic War, like many other capital institutions, the Union of Composers was evacuated. Kabalevsky ended up with him in Sverdlovsk (formerly and now - Yekaterinburg). There he taught at the Ural Conservatory, organized concerts and conversations about art in vocational schools. In 1942, the musician traveled to the active army several times. Together with the poet E. Dolmatovsky, he wrote songs, conceived the suite “People's Avengers” for a mixed choir and symphony orchestra- about partisans operating behind enemy lines, the opera “On Fire.” In the fall of 1943, Kabalevsky visited besieged Leningrad, and upon returning from there he began to create one of his best works. This work was “24 Preludes for Piano” - a cycle of small pieces, each of which is based on a folk melody, interpreted in its own original way by the author. Completed in the autumn of 1944, they were first performed by J. Flier after the end of the war. “For more than a quarter of a century I have been performing his 24 preludes,” the pianist recalled. - I performed with them here, in Japan, in America and in most European countries. ... A number of major musicians turned to them, Horowitz, Smith, Magalov and others included them in their repertoire. ... This is not a treatment of songs. This is a completely new, original, very organic work, a cycle in which each of its twenty-four parts at the same time has independent meaning. Each prelude has its own meaning, its own mood, its own imagery. Overall, this is one of Kabalevsky’s most profound and masterfully executed works.”

Themes and ideas related to military themes do not leave the composer for a long time. The images and events of the past terrible years are inspired by the Second String Quartet, some of the songs, the Second and Third Piano Sonatas, and finally the opera “The Family of Taras” based on the story “The Unconquered” by B. Gorbatov, created during 1946-1950.

All these years, work has continued on works for children. In 1944, a collection of 24 light piano pieces appeared, then “Seven Merry Songs” with poems by S. Marshak, “Four Joke Songs” with poems by S. Mikhalkov. At the end of the 40s, the composer came up with the idea of creating a triad of instrumental concerts for young performers. In 1948, the first of them appeared - for violin and orchestra, with a dedication to youth - also one of his most successful works. Conceived as a modest pedagogical opus, the concert was widely performed by many master musicians and received international recognition. At the beginning of 1949, the next one was written - Concerto for cello and orchestra, and in 1952 the last of the triad was completed - Piano Concerto, based on the intonations of children's, pioneer songs, designed for performance by schoolchildren. 1955 brings the vocal cycle "Shakespeare's 10 Sonnets" - a work that the composer dreamed of for many years, not daring to touch great poetry; For the Moscow Vakhtangov Theater, Kabalevsky writes music for the play “Romeo and Juliet” - this is how another meeting with Shakespeare takes place. From it the author compiled a suite - “Musical sketches for Shakespeare’s tragedy for a large symphony orchestra.” At the end of the same year the premiere took place new opera Kabalevsky "Nikita Vershinin" based on the play by Vs. Ivanov “Armored train 14-69” from the times civil war on Far East. IN next year the Fourth Symphony appears; 1957 brings two major works - the cantata “Songs of Morning, Spring and Peace,” dedicated to the theme of the struggle for peace, popular in those years of harsh confrontation between the two systems, and the operetta “Spring is Singing,” which continues the theme of youth in Kabalevsky’s work.

The film composer works a lot. “First-Grader”, “Academician Ivan Pavlov”, “Mussorgsky”, “Hostile Whirlwinds”, “Volnitsa” - these different films by different directors are equally professionally “voiced” by Kabalevsky. And during 1956-1959, he created the most significant of his film works - music for the trilogy “Walking in Torment” based on the novel by A. Tolstoy. Based on the music for the first part of the trilogy - “Sisters” - the Pathetic Overture, full of dramatic intensity, and symphonic poem“Spring”, which incorporates lyrical, bright images of film music.

In 1962, Kabalevsky's Requiem to the poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky appeared, dedicated to “those who died in the fight against fascism,” as stated on the first page of the score. This is not the first composition of this kind in Soviet music; back in the mid-30s, the first atheistic, not only not based on liturgical texts, but glorifying the fighter for communism, the Requiem in Memory of Kirov M. Yudin, appeared, then, in 1946, the Requiem in Memory fallen heroes by Yu. Levitin. So Kabalevsky only continued the tradition of the Soviet atheistic requiem. However, his work became the most popular in this series. Following the Requiem, several more works appeared, which researchers of the composer’s work called “companions of the Requiem” - this is mourning music for the numerous monuments to those killed in battles, erected after great war V different cities: Gorlovka, Bryansk, Anapa, Volgograd (Stalingrad), Polotsk, Tver (then Kalinin), Artemovsk, etc.

All these years, the “children’s theme” has continued in Kabalevsky’s life. He has not taught for a long time, although he continues to write instructional plays. His work now goes in a different direction: he is the chairman of the commission on the aesthetic education of children and youth, honorary president of the International Society for musical education children and youth. He writes articles dedicated to young people, conducts conversations as in concert halls, and from the TV screen. Meets with young listeners and performers at pioneer bonfires: regularly travels to the largest in the country, international pioneer camp Artek in Crimea, and to other, less known, but also prestigious camps. Finally, he writes a book “About three pillars and about much more” - about song, dance and march, which he considers to be the “three pillars” of music, about communication different types arts His correspondence with children and their parents was extensive, dedicated to their musical experiences and more. musical problems. Finally, in the early 60s, he gave his name to the competition of young pianists of the Volga region, which originated in Kuibyshev (Samara) and became traditional, surviving until the end of the 20th century. The composer is always present at the first competitions, creates new works especially for them, and participates in the winners’ concerts as a conductor.

At the end of the 60s, the composer returned to the opera of his youth, which has now been returned to its real name - he reworks Cola Breugnon. The premiere of the second edition took place at the beginning of 1968 at the Leningrad Maly Opera Theater. And a year later, another premiere took place at the Perm Opera House - the opera “Sisters” based on the story “Meeting with a Miracle” by I. Lavrov. The Perm performance is not accidental. The composer is connected with this city social activity. It was in Perm that for many years he was elected to deputies of one of the chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR - the Council of Nationalities (in it, according to what was developed over the years Soviet power status, the most major representatives art and culture). And we must give him his due: Kabalevsky does a lot for his voters, for which they pay him with sincere love. Since 1970, the composer became chairman of the USSR parliamentary group, and from 1979 to 1984 - deputy chairman of the Council of Nationalities. No other cultural figure had such trust from the omnipotent government.

The 1970-1980s brought the “Prague” piano concerto, the cantata “About the Native Land”, the vocal cycle “Time” - six romances based on Marshak’s poems - the works created can be listed on one hand, as more and more time is spent on other things. Along with parliamentary activities, this is activity in ISME - the International Society for Music Education - in which Kabalevsky has been taking part since 1960, and in last years acts as a member of the Board of Directors. The composer attended ISME congresses in Paris, Tokyo, Budapest, Interlochen (USA), Dijon, Stockholm, Perth (Australia), Montreux (Switzerland), Warsaw. Everywhere he gives messages, reports, speeches.

He also has one more, completely unexpected occupation: in 1973 he became a music teacher in secondary school and teaches his only grade from the first to the seventh, creating new program music lessons in his own laboratory, where he is helped by enthusiasts. It seems that Kabalevsky is an absolutely clear person: open, friendly, democratic. However, in his personal life he is very private. In the 70-80s, many books appeared about him, authors turned to him for this or that information, but the composer never spoke about anything other than creativity and other various activities. Very little is known about him: he married quite early, but the marriage, from which he left a son, was short-lived. For the rest of his life, he united with his second wife, Larisa Pavlovna, who became his friend, assistant, and mother of his beloved daughter Maria. Even with those whom he himself chose as his biographers, Kabalevsky was not frank. He managed to achieve maximum freedom for himself in an unfree country. Who knows what he sacrificed, what he did for this. In any case, he, a man of the same origin and upbringing as Prokofiev and Shostakovich, was not affected by the persecution and bullying that befell them, as well as the lot of many musicians of lesser rank. On the contrary, he was always among those who determined artistic policy. “Kabalevsky is a magnet that attracts to itself, Kabalevsky is a pole that concentrates around itself,” one of his assistants in “children’s affairs” wrote about him. But he emphasized that Kabalevsky was a “difficult” person, and it was not easy to work with him.

The last few years have been difficult: hectic activity, often associated with travel, both within the country and abroad, alternates with long stays in hospitals and sanatoriums. The composer now invests his main efforts in promoting his favorite brainchild - the program for musical and aesthetic education, which meets stubborn resistance from the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. Kabalevsky pins a lot of hopes on the declared new Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU M. Gorbachev perestroika: one of his articles dedicated to the grueling struggle with scientific research institutes artistic education Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, even called “On perestroika with optimism, but without embellishment.” The composer never tires of talking about the same thing in the Union of Composers of the USSR, of which he has long been one of the leaders.

At the beginning of 1987, the international forum “For a nuclear-free world, for the survival of humanity” gathered in Moscow. The country's leadership asked Kabalevsky to definitely take part in it - he had such international authority. And the composer canceled his planned trips because of this. On February 14, he was at the opening of the forum, met with many acquaintances from different countries peace. On the way home, I was talking to the driver in the car, but suddenly fell silent. The driver looked around and stopped the car: his passenger’s heart was beating. So this man passed away, as if on the fly, in a rush of affairs - in Moscow on February 14, 1987. His funeral was solemn and official, as befits the status of a major composer and public figure under Soviet rule.

L. Mikheeva

Essays: operas - Cola Brugnon (The Master from Clamcy, after R. Rolland, 1938, Leningrad. Small Opera theatre; 2nd ed. 1968, post. 1970, Leningrad. Maly Theater of Opera and Ballet, at the same time. at the Estonia Theater, Tallinn), On Fire (Near Moscow, 1943, Grand Theatre), The Taras Family (based on the story “The Unconquered” by Gorbatov, 1950, Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov), Nikita Vershinin (based on the story and play “Armored Train 14-69” by Vs. Ivanov, 1955, Bolshoi Theater), Sisters ( based on the story “Meeting with a Miracle” by Lavrov, 1969, Perm Opera and Ballet Theater); ballet - Golden Ears (1940, not finished); operetta - Spring is Singing (1957, Moscow Operetta Theater); for symphony orc. and choir - Poem of Struggle (1930), The Great Motherland (cantata, lyrics. different poets, 1942), People's Avengers (suite, 1942), Song of Morning, Spring and Peace (cantata, 1958), Leninists (cantata, 1959), Requiem (dedicated to “Those who died in the fight against fascism”, lyrics by R. I. Rozhdestvensky, 1962), About the Native Land (cantata, 1965); for orc. - 4 symphonies (cis-moll - 1932, c-moll - 1934, b-moll - Requiem in Memory of Lenin for orchestra and choir - 1933, c-moll - 1956); suites - from the opera Cola Brugnon (1941), The Comedians (from the music for the play “The Inventor and Comedian” by Daniel, 1946), Romeo and Juliet (musical sketches, 1956); symphony poem Spring (1960), Pathetic Overture (I960); for fp. with orc. - 3 concerts (1929, 1936, 1952), rhapsody on the theme of the song “School Years” (1964), concert for Skr. with orc. (1948); for hvv. with orc. - 2 concerts (1949, 1964); chamber-instrument prod. - 2 strings. quartet (1928, 1945); for fp. (total approx. 150), incl. - 3 sonatas (1928, 1947, 1948), 2 sonatinas (1932, 1934), 24 preludes (1945), rondo (for the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition, 1958), From Pioneer Life (5 children's plays, 1931) , 30 children's plays (1938), 24 light plays for children (1944), 4 rondos (1958), 6 preludes and fugues (1959), etc.; for skr. and fp. - Improvisation (from the music for the film “St. Petersburg Night”), rondo (for the 2nd International Tchaikovsky Competition, 1962), 20 easy pieces for Sketch. and fp. (1965); for hvv. and fp. - sonata; for voice with FP. - 10 sonnets by Shakespeare (1955, trans. S. Ya. Marshak), romances on lyrics. R. Gamzatova and others; songs - 7 funny songs(lyrics by S. Ya. Marshak, 1945), 4 joke songs (lyrics by S. Ya. Marshak and S. V. Mikhalkov, 1945), Four friendly guys (lyrics by S. Ya. Marshak), Our Land ( lyrics by A. Alien), Pioneer Link (lyrics by O. I. Vysotskaya), About the Leader (lyrics by O. I. Vysotskaya), School Years (lyrics by E. A. Dolmatovsky), Good night(lyrics by V. I. Viktorov), The sentries are standing (lyrics by V. Shlyakhov), Not only boys (lyrics by V. I. Viktorov), Happiness (lyrics by O. I. Vysotskaya), Artekov Waltz (lyrics by V. I. I. Viktorova) and others; music for drama. performances (15) - “Earth and Heaven” br. Tour (1932, Moscow Art Theater 2nd), “Mstislav the Daring” by Prut (1932, Central Theater of the Red Army, Moscow), “Jokers” by Ostrovsky (1933, ibid.), “Death of the Squadron” by Korneychuk (1934, ibid.), “The Road of Flowers” by Kataev (1934, Vakhtangov Theater), “Glory” by Gusev (1936, Central Theater of the Red Army), “The Cheerful Little Tailor” (1935, Central Theater of the Red Army). puppet show), "Measure for Measure" by Shakespeare (1940, Vakhtangov Theater), "Devil's Bridge" by A. Tolstoy (1939, Moscow Theater of Satire), "School of Scandal" by Sheridan (1939, Moscow Art Theater), "Madame Bovary" (according to Flaubert, 1939, Moscow. Chamber theater), « Barber of Seville"Beaumarchais (1940, Moscow Lensoveta Theatre), "Dombey and Son" (based on Dickens, 1949, Moscow Art Theater), "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare (1956, Vakhtangov Theater); music for cinema - “St. Petersburg Night” (1933), “Aerograd” (1935), “Shchors” (1938), “Anton Ivanovich is angry” (1941), “First-grader” (1946, together with M. P. Ziv), “Sisters” (1957), “The Eighteenth Year” (1958), “Gloomy Morning” (1959), etc.; music for radio shows. Lit. cit.: B.V. Asafiev, M., 1954; Selected articles about music, M., 1963; From memories different years, “SM”, 1964, No. 12; About three whales and about much more (a book about music), M., 1970; The beautiful awakens the good, M., 1973.

1. "twice baptized" atheist

Despite the fact that Kabalevsky was “baptized twice,” he still became an atheist, which he repeated more than once at meetings with Soviet pioneers. Mitya Kabalevsky was baptized on January 9, 1905, on the day of Bloody Sunday, when it was unsafe to go outside. The parents found some priest who baptized the child at home. A year and a half later, Mitya took the cross from his neck, wound it on a chain and swallowed it. To the astonished questions of why he did this, the child firmly answered: “That’s how it should be!”
But the cross was very large, and the chain was long, it was decided to perform an operation on the child, which, however, did not come to fruition: the cross and chain came out naturally. The surgeon joked about this: “Mitya is now baptized both outside and inside.”

2. but the man was smart...

IN Great hall Conservatoires gave Kabalevsky's Fourth Symphony to a crowd of people. The music was ordinary, Kabalev-Soviet. Composer Karetnikov sat, listened and got angry. After the performance, he decided to go and congratulate Kabalevsky.
- Congratulations to you, Dmitry Borisovich... - and did not add anything more to this.
Kabalevsky looked carefully at Karetnikov and understood everything: he was an intelligent man.
People's Artist of the USSR, Doctor of Musicology, Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, Secretary of the Union of Composers of the USSR, Order Bearer, Laureate Stalin Prizes, future Lenin laureate, future hero Socialist Labor, future chairman of the jury of the competition named after himself "For the best performance of one's own works" and the future "Children's Best Musical Friend" suddenly leaned towards Karetnikov's ear and said quietly:
- What, Kolenka, is the music shitty?..

(1904–1983)

Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich, Russian composer and public figure. Born in St. Petersburg on December 17 (30), 1904. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of N.Ya. Myaskovsky in 1929. From 1932 until the end of his life he taught there, mainly composition. In 1940–1946 he was editor-in-chief of the magazine “Soviet Music”, in 1949–1952 he headed the music sector of the Institute of Art History in Moscow. From the beginning of the 1950s, he was a member of the governing bodies of the Union of Soviet Composers (after 1957 - the Union of Composers of the USSR), in particular, from 1962 until the end of his days he headed the commission for the aesthetic education of children and youth, and was a full member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (since 1971 ).

The composer created many works in a variety of genres. His legacy includes five operas, two of which - Cola Breugnon after R. Rolland (1938, 2nd edition 1968) and The Family of Taras (on a plot from the era of World War II, 1950) were staged quite widely during the author’s lifetime. Also ballet, operetta, four symphonies, orchestral poems and suites, a number of cantatas (of which the most notable is Requiem to the words of R.I. Rozhdestvensky, 1964), instrumental concerts, chamber instrumental ensembles, a lot of piano music and romances; He is the author of music for a large number of theatrical productions and films.

At one time, Kabalevsky’s name was usually mentioned in the top five Soviet composers, after Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian, which hardly corresponded to the real situation.

Kabalevsky was a cultured man and an educated musician; had an undoubted, although not very deep, melodic talent (hence his success in music for children and in music for theater and cinema); mastered classical forms. The role of Kabalevsky in the history of Soviet music is contradictory. In particular, it is still unclear why his name, which appeared on the list of those accused of “formalism” in 1948 (of course, without any reason, like other victims of the “Zhdanovshchina”), did not appear in the published text of the notorious resolution of the the opera “The Great Friendship” (according to one version, Kabalevsky managed to “repent”, and his name was replaced by the name of another musician). In any case, after 1948 Kabalevsky, who in his youth was for some time a member of the Association of Contemporary Music, took exclusively retrograde positions, especially in his journalism. The reform of school music education, carried out on his initiative, also cannot be considered successful. With the end of the Soviet period, Kabalevsky's music, previously diligently propagated, practically ceased to sound.