Mighty handful
The musical culture of the XIX century was extraordinarily rich in creative schools and artistic directions. Among them is the so-called "Mighty Handful" - the brilliant collaboration of five composers. All these musical geniuses were united not only by close friendship, love for music and creativity - their minds were captivated by common views on art. This group of talented musicians not only left a deep mark on national history, but also radically changed its further development.
How it all began
The circle of famous musicians was not formed immediately, because for various reasons they could not meet at full strength for several years.
The first step towards the emergence of the "Mighty Handful" was the arrival of M.A. from Nizhny Novgorod to St. Petersburg. Balakirev. Then he was only 18 years old, but he had already managed to gain fame as a gifted musician. All contemporaries unanimously noted his brilliant virtuoso technique, depth of performing thought and a great sense of form. With his performances, he attracted the attention of not only music lovers and regulars of St. Petersburg concert halls, but also music critic and art historian V.V. Stasov, who later became the main ideological inspirer of the Kukists. The talented pianist viedly invited wealthy grandees to his concerts, but Balakirev quickly realized that he was not interested in such secular entertainment, and chose a different path for himself. Mily Alekseevich saw his duty in a different service to the national culture - he decided to become an enlightener musician. By the end of the 50s - the beginning of the 60s, he was one of the leading figures of Russian musical art, to which novice musicians personally equaled and dreamed of meeting. And often, such acquaintances were held at musical evenings that were organized at home by lovers of high art.
In 1856, a passionate fan of chamber music, an inspector of St. Petersburg University A.I. Fitztum von Ekstedt regularly held quartet meetings in his house, at one of which a significant meeting of Balakirev and Ts.A. Cui. True, for Cui, then the music was just a hobby - he studied at the Military Engineering Academy and was made an officer not so long ago, but this meeting literally turned his life upside down. It would seem that he was the complete opposite of Milia - very reasonable, prudent, witty, but with his liveliness he was able to attract his attention and attract him. Then Balakirev told him about Glinka, and Cui shared with him his impressions of the music of his teacher Moniuszko. This seemingly simple conversation marked the beginning of a great friendship. Moreover, from that very moment they were not only friends who attended many musical evenings together: Balakirev became a teacher for Cui, under whose leadership he created his first composer opuses.
Meetings were regularly held in the house of S. Dargomyzhsky. It was there, in 1857, that Cui became friends with a Guards officer M. P. Mussorgsky. Cui, in turn, introduced the young serviceman Balakirev, and since then Modest Petrovich has become a frequent visitor to his house. Mussorgsky was so inspired by this acquaintance that at first he even took lessons from him.
The next rows of the future "Mighty Handful" were added by N.А. Rimsky-Korsakov. It happened with the filing of his teacher FA Canille. Moreover, the merit of this teacher before the musical art is enormous, because it was thanks to him that Rimsky-Korsakov, a graduate of the Naval Cadet Corps, continued to study music, despite the prohibitions of his older brother. Seeing the talent of his student, Canillet still invited him to his classes. True, these were not such full-fledged lessons - Nikolay showed his compositions, and his former teacher made comments and introduced him to composer techniques and theory. Since Canille was close to many outstanding musicians of his time, he firmly decided to introduce Rimsky-Korsakov into this circle. On November 26, he brought him to the house of Khilkevich, located on Ofitserskaya Street (later renamed Dekabristov Street), where young musicians gathered. In 1862, at such a meeting, Borodin was introduced to Balakirev and Cui.
With a light hand Stasov ...
In the 60s of the XIX century an event significant for the national musical culture took place, which gave the name of the community of Petersburg musicians. The sources of this event were MI. Balakirev.
One of Milia Alekseevich’s close friends was choir conductor G.Ya. Lomakin. Very often they, together with Serov and Stasov, got together to discuss pressing problems. During one of these meetings, the conversation turned to musical progress, the development of choral art, and, of course, the famous choir of Count Sheremetyev, where Lomakin was listed as bandmaster. And then everyone was outraged by the fact that only the elect can listen to this brilliant chorus, while it should be in the public domain. In response to this, Balakirev voiced his idea, which had not given him peace for a long time - he proposed to create a Free Music School in which anyone could get an education. Of the students, the composer suggested creating his own orchestra and choir. Lomakin liked this idea very much, and he immediately engaged in its implementation. He persuaded Sheremetyevo to release his chorus to a public concert, and to give all the collected money to the opening of the school. The count agreed, and on March 18, 1862, the first lessons were held in the institution. There were a lot of people willing to study, and therefore by 1865, Balakirev already had a well-trained symphony orchestra and a well-trained choir.
In parallel with the pedagogical work Balakirev continued conducting. In 1867, he went to Prague to acquaint the Czech public with the operas of Glinka. At the premiere of "Ruslana and Lyudmila" it turned out that the score had disappeared somewhere. However, the maestro did not lose his head and conducted by heart. This production revived inter-Slavic relations and representatives of other countries frequently visited Russia. In their honor, it was decided to arrange a concert by the Free Music School, and the future kuchkists were just preparing his program. Especially for him, they even decided to compose single-part works: Balakirev took up the Overture on Czech Themes, Rimsky-Korsakov - Fantasy on the Serbian themes, and Mussorgsky decided to write a symphonic poem about the 15th century Czech Republic.
As a result, Mussorgsky never realized his idea, but the other two works were written and performed at a concert on May 12, 1867. He passed with unprecedented success, and even wrote about him in the metropolitan press. Stasov also contributed to the discussion of this concert by writing a lengthy article entitled “The Slavic Concert of the City of Balakirev”. He decided to finish this work with one exhortation, so that the listeners would remember forever “how much poetry, feeling, talent and skill a small, but already powerful group of Russian musicians have”. This phrase became fateful and the name “The Mighty Handful” became firmly established in the musical history. Also this community of musicians is known under the names "Balakirev circle", "Group of Five", "Russian Five" and "New Russian School of Music".
Decay
In the last third of the 19th century, in the correspondence of the Kukkists, their friends and relatives, there are often speculations about what exactly caused the split of the community. This idea was best expressed by Borodin, who wrote that he considers the phenomenon to be natural, when, as the personality grows and grows up, its individuality and views prevail over social convictions. Tastes, preferences change with a person, and this process is inevitable at all times, he believed.
In 1881, Mussorgsky was the very first to die. Before the inevitable demise of his tormented health and constant ailments, moreover, depressed the difficult financial situation. All this distracted him from creative self-realization, drove him into depression and forced him to withdraw into himself.
1887 Borodin died. After his death, the roads of the surviving members of the group went irretrievably. Balakirev, choosing an alienated way of life, broke off relations with Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui had long since lost his gifted comrades in a creative sense. Only one Stasov continued to maintain relations with all three.
In the early 1970s, Balakirev left his musical claims and for a time ceased to be engaged in writing. At the end of the decade, he again began to create, but already then it was clear to everyone that his creative fuse had died away. It was obvious that the potential, the inner fire and the forces left the composer. But still, he managed to retain the seat of the head of the Court Chapel and the Free Music School. It was to him and Rimsky-Korsakov that the students were obliged to receive a brilliant education and, over time, became outstanding artistic activities. The maestro was gone in 1910.
In the course of time, Cui finally abandoned music and closely engaged in his second profession. In 1888 he took the place of professor and teacher at the Department of Protective Structures at the Military Engineering Academy and published many interesting works on this topic.
Only Rimsky-Korsakov until the end of his long life (he died only in 1908) remained loyal to the ideas and ideals that once raised the Mighty Handful. For a long time he headed the public music movement, was engaged in pedagogical work and even became the conductor of the Free Music School.
Interesting Facts
- Due to the fact that composers for a long time could not meet five of them, the exact date of the founding of the "Mighty Handful" does not exist. The time of creation of the circle is considered to be the end of 1850 and the beginning of 1860. XIX century. There is no exact date for the collapse of the community - in all sources appear 70-ies.
- A passionate admirer of the "Russian Five" was Franz Liszt. He personally knew Borodin, and very much appreciated his work. Liszt diligently promoted the works of all Kruchkists in Western Europe.
- Balakirev's headache helped him make acquaintance with Borodin. One day, Botkin, who was a therapist, came to Balakirev and complained of severe headaches. Botkin himself loved music, played the cello himself, and so he quickly ceased to be a doctor for Milia. Soon he invited him to take part in his "Saturdays" - that is how he called the meetings that took place at his home. Artists, musicians and writers gathered there, and it was there that Balakirev met Borodin. After that, Alexander Porfirevich became a frequent guest at Milia Alekseevich's house, and soon he organically fit into the creative union.
- After becoming acquainted with Balakirev, Musorsky began to take paid lessons from him. However, as soon as they became friends, their classes turned into friendly and free creative meetings.
- Borodin and Mussorgsky met for the first time in 1856, however, then they did not pay any attention to each other. It happened in a military land hospital. Then Borodin was the duty doctor, and Mussorgsky - the duty officer.
- Some historians consider the critic Stasov to be the unwritten sixth group, and this despite the fact that he was not engaged in composing activity.
- A great achievement of Balakirev composers was the revival of folklore. They sought to create a national style in art, and therefore returned to its origins - organized expeditions, during which they collected folklore, researched and systematized it, and then entered into their writings. Also, the Kukkists published several large collections of Russian folk songs, which are very popular today.
- In the world there are several composer associations, organized by the type of "Mighty Handful". For example, in the 20th century, the “Armenian Mighty Handful” appeared - this is the union of five Armenian composers, which arose in 1920-1921. It included A. Harutyunyan, A. Babajanyan, A. Khudoyan, L. Saryan and E. Mirzoyan. During these years, in France, under the leadership of E. Sati and J. Cocteau, the so-called "Six" was formed. In this creative union were listed L. Durey, D. Millau, A. Onegger, J. Orik, F. Pulenk and J. Tyfer. In 1930, another group formed in Spain - the G8, which included Rosa García Ascot, Salvador Bakarissa, Ernesto Alfter, Julian Bautista, Juan José Mantecon, Gustavo Pittaluga, Fernando Remac, Jesus Bal y Gay. Somewhat later, the Turkish Five was formed, which was composed of Jemal Resit Ray, Hasan Ferid Alnar, Ahmed Adnan Saygun, as well as Nejil Kazim Akses and Ulvi Jemal Erkin. There is also the "American Five", whose members are Charles Ives, C. Ruggles, W. Rigger, J. Becker, G. Cowell.
- Four kuchkist composers wore beards - these are Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky. Curiously, Borodin has no beard on any of his lifetime portraits, but on the gravestone he is depicted bearded.
- Russian artist K.E. Makovsky in 1871 created a caricature of the "Mighty Handful". On it, the composers are depicted in the guise of our younger brothers - Cui appears as a fox, the head of the community Balakirev as a bear, Mussorgsky as a rooster, and the lover of the sea element Rimsky-Korsakov - with a crab, Borodin looks out from behind him. Also on this canvas are V.Hartman in the form of a funny monkey, sister Purgold in the form of dogs, the famous critic Serov in the image of the thunder, and Stasov, on whose shoulder sculptor M. Antokolsky in the image of the great and cunning tempter Mephistopheles comfortably settled.
Have there always been five of them?
Curiously, at first only four composers were listed as part of the creative union - Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev. Every day they gathered in the house of Balakirev, and these first meetings were more like lessons - friends played music, and then analyzed the works of great geniuses of musical art, meticulously examining the technical and creative side of each composition. Having accumulated enough experience, they began to give real concerts - pianists Balakirev and Mussorgsky played a duet and separately, Modest Petrovich often sang. It happened that composers even staged whole scenes from operas. Here, for the first time, their compositions also sounded. Soon, however, this creative idyll was broken, and three friends were temporarily left - in 1862, Rimsky-Korsakov set off to circumnavigate the globe around the world. He returned only three years later.
During the absence of a naval officer, A.P. Borodin, and this also happened quite by accident. In the autumn of 1862, he returned from a trip abroad, where for three years he studied the achievements of Western scientists in chemistry. Now he dreamed of meeting with his family and friends. Among his dear people was his colleague, comrade from the Medical-Surgical Academy, S.P. Botkin. Borodin approached him and hurried to go. The famous doctor was a connoisseur of music and also organized musical meetings at his home. It was on such an evening that Botkin introduced Borodin to Balakirev. Creative meetings continued, but so far without Rimsky-Korsakov. With him, Borodin was introduced in absentia, performing his works. Upon the return of the naval officer, the acquaintance took place in person. It was 1865.
A little bit about the enemies of the "Mighty Handful"
The main opponent of the community was A.G. Rubinstein and his academic Petersburg school. Kuchkists and Rubinstein pursued one goal - the development of musical culture and education in Russia, but to achieve it they offered completely different ways. Actually, this was the main cause of the conflict. Balakirevts believed that Russian art should have its own development path and rely only on a national basis. Rubinstein, on the other hand, was convinced that domestic art and education needed to be built according to the Western European model. By the way, this position of the founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory was not shared not only by the composers of the circle, but also by almost all musicologists of the 20th century headed by Stasov. They considered his views pernicious for Russia.
Followers "Balakirevskogo circle"
The members of the Mighty Handful laid the foundations that Rimsky-Korsakov, during his teaching activities, was able to pass on to his students. On the great ideas of the Kruchkists AK were raised. Glazunov, A.S. Arensky, N.V. Lysenko, A.A. Spendiarov, MM Ippolitov-Ivanov, M.O. Steinberg, N.Y. Myaskovsky, A.K. Lyadov. Moreover, the embodiment of the traditions of Balakirev is observed not only in the works of these younger contemporaries and compatriots of the greatest teacher - the trends of “Kuchkism” can be clearly seen in the innovative achievements of the next, XX century. The creators of this time in a new way revived the theme peculiar to the circle. For example, favorite fairy tales and ancient rituals of Rimsky-Korsakov can be found in I.F. Stravinsky. Творческие находки кучкистов в симфонических пейзажных зарисовках нашли иное отражение в звукописи К. Дебюсси и О. Респиги. Столь любимая балакиревцами тема Востока сыграла основополагающую роль при становлении своенравного искусства А. Хачатуряна. Однако наиболее широкое развитие идеи содружества получили в творчестве С.С. Прокофьева, который неоднократно в своей работе обращался и к русским сказкам, и к прозе и даже к эпическим сказаниям.
Композиторы "Могучей кучки"in many respects they became pioneers, and the significance of their heritage for Russian musical culture cannot simply be overestimated. For subsequent generations, these five brilliant artists became not just a creative community, but a real constellation of talents firmly established in the world music sky.
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