M.I. Glinka "Waltz-fantasy"
"Waltz-fantasy" is a work that permeates the creative path of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. It is precisely by the changes that the author added that one can see how the composer grew musically. You can read the history of creation, listen to the work, as well as get acquainted with interesting facts on our page.
History of creation
1839 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is located in St. Petersburg. The composer is already known as an excellent composer of romances and songs. He is currently working on the first opera. But everything is not as cloudless as it may seem at first glance. Disappointed in his own wife, the young musician is forced to live in his sister's house. One evening, Michael met Catherine Kern and fell in love. She inspired him to create a romance "I remember a wonderful moment," which in turn, Alexander Sergeevich dedicated to the girl's mother. Then he began to create a piece for piano, called "Waltz-fantasy". In this awesome piece, he paints an image of his beloved one who swirls easily in dance.
Love was mutual, but fleeting. Two people who were married could not break this bond, so they had to part. Then the young girl left for treatment in the Caucasus. Three years have passed. Katerina again arrived in St. Petersburg. She was waiting for a meeting with Michael, but he no longer felt anything. Having returned all the letters written by Kern, he set off to travel around Europe with a light heart.
The enormous popularity of the composition led to the fact that it was orchestrated by one of the famous conductors - J. Hermann. He constantly clarified with Glinka how the orchestration should look like in his opinion, but nevertheless, the conductor did not meet expectations and the composer was not satisfied with the result. Then in 1845, arriving in the capital of France, he wrote his own version. It was called the "Waltz Scherzo". The premiere was held in one of the concert halls of Paris. The audience with great enthusiasm took an essay full of lyricism and penetration.
1856 The composer looked at the work from a different angle. He decided that dance was not appropriate for such an elegant play. Orchestration turned out more transparent and poetic. It was in her that all dreams, longing for the passing youth, unfulfilled hopes were embodied. Everything went as if in a dance, leaving behind only the opportunity to dream up about how things could have happened in the past, if we had acted differently.
Interesting Facts
- The orchestrated version was called the Scherzo in the form of a waltz.
- Glinka's Waltz-Fantasy was used in the famous TV series Gotham, released in 2015.
- Officially, the work is devoted to the sister's husband, D. Strunev, but this is only a cover in order not to compromise the married Catherine Kern.
- Initially, the orchestration was made by J. Hermann, a conductor popular in those years. Despite the fact that he took the recommendations from the author, the composer was extremely dissatisfied with the result and created his own version.
- The notes of the first version for orchestra were lost, so now it’s impossible to hear how the composition sounded.
- Fan of Glinka's creativity was Hector Berlioz. He especially appreciated this symphonic work.
- The final orchestral version is dedicated to K. Bulgakov, who was the best friend of the musician.
Content
There are three versions of the work, each of which has its own musical overtones. The most interesting to consider from the point of view of drama is the final orchestration of the piece.
Waltz-fantasy is not just a dance, because the composer has managed to put deep content into the everyday genre, has complicated the form. Waltz rhythms have become a real poetic novel.
Bravura intro tunes the listener to the atmosphere of the ball. Suddenly, the main theme appears. It is very different from the previous musical material. Light, lyrical and feminine sounds especially well in the timbre of the violin and the backstage of flutes and clarinets. The transparent accompaniment of the string group in the waltz rhythm supports such an elegant theme. There is a sense of incompleteness, riddle, striving forward.
The tonality in B minor adds elegiac, aggravates this feeling unresolved increased sixth degree. One after another, various sad and funny, feminine and courageous, graceful and rude, but all equally beautiful themes take turns. They are like memories of the past. Dance prevails in this episode. As if a person finds himself in this magical world of the ball, nevertheless, these topics are only background. The main thing is this beautiful feminine and lyrical theme. The listener understands that something has changed in this fragile image. She dramatized, the desperate sound grows to the cry of the soul, expressed in the dynamics of fortissimo of the whole orchestra. This is the moment of culmination. The impression enhances the conduct of a short motive, isolated from the melody, in the sequence (later it will be a favorite trick of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to signify the dramatization of the image).
Then everything subsides, but only for a moment. The subject appears at the end. She loops this musical world, leaving behind a special feeling. This short flash quickly fades away and results in a code. In the construction, the cadence's chords will be mixed with distant echoes of the theme. They are subordinate to the waltz rhythm, but their humble sounding has in itself an irresistible sadness. In the slow-motion version, an elegiac theme is conducted, which will be interrupted by the introduction, which has remained bravura and pathos. Ball and society, which is located on the carnival of life, drowned out the cry of the soul. Happiness, like fleeting pictures sped past. Was it just an illusion or could everything be true? No answer, only the world of the ball remains.
"Waltz-fantasy" by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka made an enormous contribution to the further development of Russian symphonic music. After all, it is thanks to this work that the Russian lyrico-psychological symphony will grow, which will fully reflect the inner world of a person, with all his feelings and emotions.
Leave Your Comment