Great classical composers: a list of the best. Russian classical composers
This is not a list of the 10 greatest works; such a list is simply impossible to compile. However, each piece on this list is great for different reasons, and each is iconic either for the history of music, for society, or for a particular composer.
1.Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Perhaps the most famous of all symphonies is Beethoven's classic. If you like this symphony, try listening to the other 8 symphonies composed by Beethoven.
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Marriage of Figaro”
Perhaps the pinnacle of Mozart’s work in opera, based on Beaumarchais’s comedy “Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro,” a magnificent cocktail of wonderful music and comic situations.
3. Johann Strauss (Jr.) “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” (The Blue Danube)
This elegant waltz has become the unofficial anthem of Austria (where Mozart is “our everything”), gracefully capturing the beauty of the big city of Vienna.
4. Gioachino Rossini “The Barber of Seville”
Another interesting comic opera, now from the great Italian composer. Rossini used the famous overture from this opera in two of his other operas.
5. Richard Wagner “Siegfried Idyll”
A symphonic piece created as a birthday present for his wife and named after her newborn son, who was named after the hero of the opera Siegfried. The main theme of this play is taken from the opera Siegfried from the Ring of the Nibelung cycle.
6. Hector Berlioz “Fantastic Symphony” (Symphonie Fantastique)
French composer Hector Berlioz's greatest contribution to orchestral music, Symphony Fantastique is a wonderfully colorful and expressive work.
7. Robert Schumann “The Poet's Love” (Dichterliebe)
One of the greatest song cycles for piano and voice. A set of 16 poems by Heinrich Heine, set to music by Schumann, revives in the heart hope and pride in the wonderful ability and destiny of man - to love!
8. Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich Symphony No. 10
After Stalin's death in 1953, Shostakovich, after a long period of forced creative restriction, was finally able to freely create an epoch-making work. The result was one of the great symphonies of the 20th century, in which the composer summed up the era of Stalinism and is believed to have created a unique musical portrait of Stalin.
9. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6
Tchaikovsky's final work is a masterpiece of emotional anguish. It seems that such deep scenes of spiritual life, despair and hopelessness have never been expressed in music with such incomparable talent and beauty.
10. Gustav Holst, The Planets Suite
A monumental musical work dedicated to the planets of the solar system and the gods of the same name. The suite describes seven planets, the composer missed Earth, and Pluto had not yet been discovered, and now it is no longer a planet.
So, our focus today is on the most famous classical musical works. Classical music has been exciting its listeners for several centuries, causing them to experience storms of feelings and emotions. It has long been a part of history and is intertwined with the present with thin threads.
Undoubtedly, in the distant future, classical music will be no less in demand, since such a phenomenon in the musical world cannot lose its relevance and significance.
Name any classical work - it will be worthy of first place in any music chart. But since it is not possible to compare the most famous classical musical works with each other, due to their artistic uniqueness, the opuses named here are presented only as works for reference.
"Moonlight Sonata"
Ludwig van Beethoven
In the summer of 1801, the brilliant work of L.B. was published. Beethoven, who was destined to become famous throughout the world. The title of this work, “Moonlight Sonata,” is known to absolutely everyone, from old to young.
But initially, the work had the title “Almost a Fantasy,” which the author dedicated to his young student, his beloved Juliet Guicciardi. And the name by which it is known to this day was invented by the music critic and poet Ludwig Relstab after the death of L.V. Beethoven. This work is one of the composer's most famous musical works.
By the way, an excellent collection of classical music is represented by publications of the newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” - compact books with discs for listening to music. You can read about and listen to his music - very convenient! We recommend order classical music CDs directly from our page : click the “buy” button and immediately go to the store.
"Turkish March"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This work is the third movement of Sonata No. 11, it was born in 1783. Initially it was called “Turkish Rondo” and was very popular among Austrian musicians, who later renamed it. The name “Turkish March” was assigned to the work also because it is in tune with the Turkish Janissary orchestras, for which the sound of percussion is very characteristic, which can be seen in the “Turkish March” by V.A. Mozart.
"Ave Maria"
Franz Schubert
The composer himself wrote this work for the poem “The Virgin of the Lake” by W. Scott, or rather for its fragment, and did not intend to write such a deeply religious composition for the Church. Some time after the appearance of the work, an unknown musician, inspired by the prayer “Ave Maria,” set its text to the music of the brilliant F. Schubert.
"Fantasy-impromptu"
Frederic Chopin
F. Chopin, the genius of the Romantic period, dedicated this work to his friend. And it was he, Julian Fontana, who disobeyed the author’s instructions and published it in 1855, six years after the composer’s death. F. Chopin believed that his work was similar to the impromptu of I. Moscheles, a student of Beethoven, a famous composer and pianist, which was the reason for the refusal to publish “Fantasia-Impromptus”. However, no one has ever considered this brilliant work to be plagiarism, except the author himself.
"Flight of the Bumblebee"
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
The composer of this work was a fan of Russian folklore - he was interested in fairy tales. This led to the creation of the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” based on the story by A.S. Pushkin. Part of this opera is the interlude “Flight of the Bumblebee”. Masterfully, incredibly vividly and brilliantly, N.A. imitated the flight sounds of this insect in the work. Rimsky-Korsakov.
"Caprice No. 24"
Niccolo Paganini
Initially, the author composed all his caprices solely to improve and hone his violin playing skills. Ultimately, they brought a lot of new and previously unknown things to violin music. And the 24th caprice - the last of the caprices composed by N. Paganini, carries a rapid tarantella with folk intonations, and is also recognized as one of the works ever created for the violin, which has no equal in complexity.
"Vocalise, opus 34, no. 14"
Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov
This work concludes the composer’s 34th opus, which combines fourteen songs written for voice with piano accompaniment. Vocalise, as expected, does not contain words, but is performed on one vowel sound. S.V. Rachmaninov dedicated it to Antonina Nezhdanova, an opera singer. Very often this work is performed on the violin or cello accompanied by piano accompaniment.
"Moonlight"
Claude Debussy
This work was written by the composer under the impression of the lines of a poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine. The title very clearly conveys the softness and touchingness of the melody, which affects the soul of the listener. This popular work by the brilliant composer C. Debussy is heard in 120 films of different generations.
As always, the best music is in our group in contact .
Here is a list of 10 composers you should know. Of each of them it can be said with certainty that he is the greatest composer who ever lived, although in fact it is impossible, and indeed impossible, to compare music written over several centuries. However, all of these composers stand out among their contemporaries as composers who composed music of the highest caliber and sought to push the boundaries of classical music to new limits. The list does not contain any order, such as importance or personal preference. Just 10 great composers you should know.
Each composer is accompanied by a quotable fact of his life, remembering which you will look like an expert. And by clicking on the link to the last name, you will find out his full biography. And of course, you can listen to one of the significant works of each master.
The most important figure in world classical music. One of the most performed and respected composers in the world. He created in all genres that existed in his time, including opera, ballet, music for dramatic performances, and choral works. The most significant in his legacy are considered to be instrumental works: piano, violin and cello sonatas, concertos for piano, violin, quartets, overtures, symphonies. The founder of the romantic period in classical music.
Interesting fact.
Beethoven first wanted to dedicate his third symphony (1804) to Napoleon; the composer was captivated by the personality of this man, who seemed to many at the beginning of his reign a real hero. But when Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, Beethoven crossed out his dedication on the title page and wrote only one word - “Heroic”.
"Moonlight Sonata" by L. Beethoven, listen:
2. (1685-1750)
German composer and organist, representative of the Baroque era. One of the greatest composers in the history of music. During his life, Bach wrote more than 1000 works. His work represents all the significant genres of that time, except opera; he summarized the achievements of musical art of the Baroque period. The founder of the most famous musical dynasty.
Interesting fact.
During his lifetime, Bach was so underrated that less than a dozen of his works were published.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach, listen:
3. (1756-1791)
The great Austrian composer, instrumentalist and conductor, representative of the Vienna Classical School, virtuoso violinist, harpsichordist, organist, conductor, he had a phenomenal ear for music, memory and the ability to improvise. As a composer who excelled in any genre, he is rightfully considered one of the greatest composers in the history of classical music.
Interesting fact.
While still a child, Mozart memorized and recorded the Miserere (cat. chant on the text of the 50th Psalm of David) by the Italian Gregorio Allegri, having listened to it only once.
"Little Night Serenade" by W.A. Mozart, listen:
4. (1813-1883)
German composer, conductor, playwright, philosopher. He had a significant influence on European culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, especially modernism. Wagner's operas are stunning in their grandiose scale and eternal human values.
Interesting fact.
Wagner took part in the failed revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany and was forced to hide from arrest by Franz Liszt.
"Ride of the Valkyries" from R. Wagner's opera "Walkyrie", listen
5. (1840-1893)
Italian composer, central figure of the Italian opera school. Verdi had a sense of the stage, temperament and impeccable skill. He did not deny operatic traditions (unlike Wagner), but on the contrary developed them (the traditions of Italian opera), he transformed Italian opera, filled it with realism, and gave it the unity of the whole.
Interesting fact.
Verdi was an Italian nationalist and was elected to the first Italian parliament in 1860, following the declaration of Italian independence from Austria.
Overture to D. Verdi's opera "La Traviata", listen:
7. Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Russian (American - after emigration) composer, conductor, pianist. One of the most significant composers of the twentieth century. Stravinsky's creativity is consistent throughout his entire career, although the style of his works was different in different periods, but the core and Russian roots remained, which were evident in all his works; he is considered one of the leading innovators of the twentieth century. His innovative use of rhythm and harmony has inspired and continues to inspire many musicians, not just in classical music.
Interesting fact.
During World War I, Roman customs officers confiscated Pablo Picasso's portrait of Stravinsky as the composer was leaving Italy. The portrait was painted in a futuristic manner and customs officers mistook these circles and lines for some kind of encrypted secret materials.
Suite from I.F. Stravinsky's ballet "Firebird", listen:
8. Johann Strauss (1825-1899)
Austrian composer of light music, conductor and violinist. "King of Waltzes", he created in the genre of dance music and operetta. His musical heritage includes more than 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and ballets. Thanks to him, the waltz became extremely popular in Vienna in the 19th century.
Interesting fact.
Johann Strauss's father is also Johann and also a famous musician, so the "Waltz King" is called the youngest or son, his brothers Joseph and Eduard were also famous composers.
Waltz by J. Strauss "On the Beautiful Blue Danube", listen:
9. Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov (1873-1943)
Austrian composer, one of the outstanding representatives of the Viennese classical music school and one of the founders of romanticism in music. During his short life, Schubert made significant contributions to orchestral, chamber and piano music that influenced an entire generation of composers. However, his most striking contribution was to the development of German romances, of which he created more than 600.
Interesting fact.
Schubert's friends and fellow musicians would get together and perform Schubert's music. These meetings were called "Schubertiads". Some first fan club!
"Ave Maria" by F.P.Schubert, listen:
Continuing the theme of great composers you should know, new material.
What would our life be like without music? For many years, people have asked themselves this question and come to the conclusion that without the beautiful sounds of music, the world would be a very different place. Music helps us feel joy more fully, find our inner self and cope with difficulties. Composers, working on their works, were inspired by a variety of things: love, nature, war, happiness, sadness and much more. Some of the musical compositions they created will forever remain in the hearts and memories of people. Here is a list of ten of the greatest and most talented composers of all time. Under each composer you will find a link to one of his most famous works.
10 PHOTO (VIDEO)
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer who lived only 32 years, but his music will live on for a very long time. Schubert wrote nine symphonies, about 600 vocal compositions, and a large amount of chamber and solo piano music.
"Evening Serenade"
German composer and pianist, author of two serenades, four symphonies, as well as concerts for violin, piano and cello. He performed at concerts from the age of ten, and gave his first solo concert at the age of 14. During his lifetime, he gained popularity primarily due to the waltzes and Hungarian dances he wrote.
"Hungarian Dance No. 5".
George Frideric Handel was a German and English composer of the Baroque era; he wrote about 40 operas, many organ concerts, and chamber music. Handel's music has been played at the coronations of English kings since 973, it is also heard at royal wedding ceremonies and is even used as the anthem of the UEFA Champions League (with a small arrangement).
"Music on the water"
Joseph Haydn is a famous and prolific Austrian composer of the classical era, he is called the father of the symphony, as he made significant contributions to the development of this musical genre. Joseph Haydn is the author of 104 symphonies, 50 piano sonatas, 24 operas and 36 concertos
"Symphony No. 45".
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the most famous Russian composer, author of more than 80 works, including 10 operas, 3 ballets and 7 symphonies. He was very popular and known as a composer during his lifetime, and performed in Russia and abroad as a conductor.
"Waltz of the Flowers" from the ballet "The Nutcracker".
Frédéric François Chopin is a Polish composer who is also considered one of the best pianists of all time. He wrote many pieces of music for piano, including 3 sonatas and 17 waltzes.
"Rain waltz".
Venetian composer and virtuoso violinist Antonio Lucio Vivaldi is the author of more than 500 concertos and 90 operas. He had a huge influence on the development of Italian and world violin art.
"Elf Song"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is an Austrian composer who amazed the world with his talent from early childhood. Already at the age of five, Mozart was composing short plays. In total, he wrote 626 works, including 50 symphonies and 55 concertos. 9.Beethoven 10.Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist of the Baroque era, known as a master of polyphony. He is the author of more than 1000 works, which include almost all significant genres of that time.
"Musical joke"
Anna Karenina. Lev Tolstoy
The greatest love story of all time. A story that has not left the stage, has been filmed countless times - and has still not lost the boundless charm of passion - destructive, destructive, blind passion - but all the more bewitching for its greatness.
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Master and Margarita. Michael Bulgakov
This is the most mysterious of the novels in the entire history of Russian literature of the 20th century. This is a novel that is almost officially called “The Gospel of Satan.” This is “The Master and Margarita”. A book that can be read and reread dozens, hundreds of times, but most importantly, it is still impossible to understand. So, which pages of “The Master and Margarita” were dictated by the Forces of Light?
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Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë
A mystery novel included in the top ten best novels of all time! The story of a stormy, truly demonic passion that has been exciting the imagination of readers for more than one and a half hundred years. Katie gave her heart to her cousin, but ambition and a thirst for wealth push her into the arms of a rich man. Forbidden attraction turns into a curse for secret lovers, and one day.
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Eugene Onegin. Alexander Pushkin
“Have you read “Onegin”? What can you say about “Onegin”? These are the questions that are constantly repeated among writers and Russian readers,” noted the writer, enterprising publisher and, by the way, the hero of Pushkin’s epigrams, Thaddeus Bulgarin, after the publication of the second chapter of the novel. For a long time now it has not been customary to evaluate ONEGIN. In the words of the same Bulgarin, it is “written in Pushkin’s poems. That's enough."
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Notre Dame Cathedral. Victor Hugo
A story that has survived centuries, become canon and given its heroes the glory of household names. A story of love and tragedy. The love of those to whom love was not given and not allowed - by religious dignity, physical weakness or someone else's evil will. The gypsy Esmeralda and the deaf hunchback bell-ringer Quasimodo, the priest Frollo and the captain of the royal riflemen Phoebe de Chateaupert, the beautiful Fleur-de-Lys and the poet Gringoire.
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Gone With the Wind. Margaret Mitchell
The great saga of the American Civil War and the fate of the headstrong Scarlett O'Hara was first published more than 70 years ago and does not become outdated to this day. This is Margaret Mitchell's only novel for which she received a Pulitzer Prize. A story about a woman whom neither an unconditional feminist nor a staunch supporter of house-building is ashamed to emulate.
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Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare
This is the highest tragedy about love that human genius can create. A tragedy that has been filmed and is being filmed. A tragedy that does not leave the theater stage to this day - and to this day it sounds as if it was written yesterday. Years and centuries go by. But one thing remains and will forever remain unchanged: “There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet...”
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The Great Gatsby. Francis Fitzgerald
“The Great Gatsby” is the pinnacle not only in Fitzgerald’s work, but also one of the highest achievements in world prose of the 20th century. Although the novel takes place in the “roaring” twenties of the last century, when fortunes were made literally from nothing and yesterday’s criminals became millionaires overnight, this book lives outside of time, because, telling the story of the broken destinies of the generation of the “Jazz Age”.
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Three Musketeers. Alexandr Duma
The most famous historical and adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas tells about the adventures of the Gascon d'Artagnan and his musketeer friends at the court of King Louis XIII.
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Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandr Duma
The book presents one of the most exciting adventure novels of the classic of French literature of the 19th century, Alexandre Dumas.
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Triumphal Arch. Erich Remarque
One of the most beautiful and tragic love novels in the history of European literature. The story of Dr. Ravic, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and the beautiful Joan Madu, who is entangled in the “unbearable lightness of being,” takes place in pre-war Paris. And the alarming time in which these two happened to meet and fall in love with each other becomes one of the main characters of the Arc de Triomphe.
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The man who laughs. Victor Hugo
Gwynplaine, a lord by birth, was sold as a child to comprachicos bandits, who made a fair jester out of the child, carving a mask of “eternal laughter” on his face (at the courts of the European nobility of that time there was a fashion for cripples and freaks who amused the owners). Despite all the trials, Gwynplaine retained the best human qualities and his love.
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Martin Eden. Jack London
A simple sailor, in whom it is easy to recognize the author himself, goes through a long, full of hardships path to literary immortality... By chance, finding himself in secular society, Martin Eden is doubly happy and surprised... both by the creative gift that awakened in him, and by the divine image of the young Ruth Morse, so not similar to all the people he knew before... From now on, two goals are relentlessly facing him.
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Sister Kerry. Theodore Dreiser
The publication of Theodore Dreiser's first novel was fraught with such difficulties that it led its creator to severe depression. But the further fate of the novel “Sister Carrie” turned out to be happy: it was translated into many foreign languages and republished in millions of copies. New and new generations of readers enjoy immersing themselves in the vicissitudes of Caroline Mieber's fate.
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American tragedy. Theodore Dreiser
The novel “An American Tragedy” is the pinnacle of the work of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. He said: “No one creates tragedies - life creates them. Writers only portray them.” Dreiser managed to portray the tragedy of Clive Griffiths so talentedly that his story does not leave the modern reader indifferent.
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Les Misérables. Victor Hugo
Jean Valjean, Cosette, Gavroche - the names of the heroes of the novel have long become household names, the number of its readers in the century and a half since the publication of the book has not become smaller, the novel has not lost popularity. A kaleidoscope of faces from all layers of French society in the first half of the 19th century, bright, memorable characters, sentimentality and realism, a tense, exciting plot.
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The adventures of the good soldier Schweik. Jaroslav Hasek
A great, original and outrageous novel. A book that can be perceived both as a “soldier’s tale” and as a classic work directly related to the traditions of the Renaissance. This is a sparkling text that makes you laugh until you cry, and a powerful call to “put down your arms,” and one of the most objective historical evidence in satirical literature.
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Iliad. Homer
The attractiveness of Homer's poems is not only that their author introduces us to a world separated from modernity by tens of centuries and yet unusually real thanks to the genius of the poet, who preserved in his poems the beat of contemporary life. Homer's immortality lies in the fact that his brilliant creations contain inexhaustible reserves of universal human values - reason, goodness and beauty.
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St. John's wort. James Cooper
Cooper managed to find and describe in his books the originality and unexpected brightness of the newly discovered continent, which managed to captivate the whole of modern Europe. Each new novel by the writer was eagerly awaited. The exciting adventures of the fearless and noble hunter and tracker Natty Bumppo captivated both young and adult readers..
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Doctor Zhivago. Boris Pasternak
The novel “Doctor Zhivago” is one of the outstanding works of Russian literature, which for many years remained closed to a wide range of readers in our country, who knew about it only through scandalous and unscrupulous party criticism.
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Don Quixote. Miguel Cervantes
What do the names of Amadis of Gaul, Palmer of England, Don Belianis of Greece, Tyrant of the White tell us today? But it was precisely as a parody of the novels about these knights that “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was created. And this parody has survived the genre being parodied for centuries. “Don Quixote” was recognized as the best novel in the entire history of world literature.
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Ivanhoe. Walter Scott
“Ivanhoe” is a key work in the series of novels by W. Scott, which take us to medieval England. The young knight Ivanhoe, who secretly returned from the Crusade to his homeland and was deprived of his inheritance by the will of his father, will have to defend his honor and the love of the beautiful lady Rowena... King Richard the Lionheart and the legendary robber Robin Hood will come to his aid.
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Headless horseman. Reed Main
The plot of the novel is so skillfully constructed that it keeps you in suspense until the very last page. It is no coincidence that the exciting story of the noble mustanger Maurice Gerald and his lover, the beautiful Louise Poindexter, investigating the sinister mystery of the headless horseman, whose figure terrifies the inhabitants of the savannah upon his appearance, was extremely loved by readers in Europe and Russia.
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Dear friend. Guy de Maupassant
The novel “Dear Friend” became one of the symbols of the era. This is Maupassant's most powerful novel. Through the story of Georges Duroy, who is making his way to the top, the true morals of high French society are revealed; the spirit of corruption that reigns in all its spheres contributes to the fact that an ordinary and immoral person, such as Maupassant’s hero, easily achieves success and wealth.
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Dead Souls. Nikolay Gogol
The publication of the first volume of N. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” in 1842 caused heated controversy among contemporaries, splitting society into fans and opponents of the poem. “...Talking about “Dead Souls”, you can talk a lot about Russia...” - this judgment of P. Vyazemsky explained the main reason for the controversy. The author’s question is still relevant: “Rus, where are you rushing, give me the answer?”
