Glinka M.I., (1804-1857), composer

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GLINKA Mikhail Ivanovich (1804-1857), composer. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1817; in 1818-22, studied at the Noble Boarding School of the Main Pedagogical Institute (164 Fontanka River Embankment). Glinka's tutor was W.K. Kuchelbecker. He studied piano under J. Field and K. Mayer, and violin under the first violinist of F. Behm's Court Orchestra. In 1824-28, he served in the Chancellory of the Council of the Main Department for Transport Communication (9 Moskovsky Avenue). Visited the Bolshoy Theatre, attended concerts by P.I. Yushkov's orchestra, and the salons of F.P. Lvov and A.F. Lvov (4/7 Pochtamtskaya Street), E.K. Sivers (10 Pochtamtskaya Street), V.F. Odoevsky, the Vielgorskys, A.A. Delwig, and becoming acquainted with V.A. Zhukovsky, Alexander Pushkin and A. Mickiewicz. Began composing music, playing and singing his compositions any time he was given the opportunity, and published small plays and romances. In 1830-34, he toured across Europe. In 1834-44, with breaks, he again lived in St. Petersburg. He took advantage of his reputation as the first ethnic Russian musician, and went on to compose and stage classical operas: A Life for the Tsar (to E.F. Rosen's libretto, premiered on 27 November 1836, the birthday of Emperor Nicholas I at the solemn reopening of the Bolshoy Theatre after reconstruction due to fire) and Ruslan and Ludmila (V.F. Shirkov's libretto, premiered on 27 November 1842, also at the Bolshoy Theater). In 1837-39, he served as Kapellmeister of the Court Capella. It was in that period he came together with A.S. Dargomyzhsky, entered Zhukovsky's circle, gave performances at court and, having married, held his own musical evenings. In the late 1830s, he became friends with the Kukolnik brothers, wrote music to N. V. Kukolnik's tragedy Prince Kholmsky (1841), his romance Doubt, and a vocal cycle called Farewell to St. Petersburg to his poem. Composed sacred music, drafted "motif du chant national" (in 1992-2001 it became Russian Federation's national anthem), and dedicated a romance to Pushkin's verse I Remember the Wonderful Moment (1840) to the daughter of A.P. Kern, Ekaterina. In 1844, he left Russia, visiting St. Petersburg in 1848-49, 1851-52 and 1854-56. In 1850, at a charity concert at the Noble Assembly for the Poor Aid Society, Glinka's symphonic compositions - Recuerdos de Castilla (which later became A Night in Madrid), Jota Aragonesa and Kamarinskaya - were performed for the first time in the composer's absence. In 1851, Glinka acquired fame as the first Russian symphonic composer. During his last Petersburg period, Glinka's circle of friends underwent some changes. V.P. Engelgardt, to whom Glinka presented all his manuscripts, became his close friend; Glinka also became friends with D.V. Stasov and V.V. Stasov, with A.N. Serov, and frequented O.I. Senkovsky's residence. In the winter of 1854/55, he finished his Notes. His final large musical composition written in St. Petersburg was the third orchestral version of Waltz-Fantasy, which was performed for the first time at D. M. Leonova's concert given at the Alexandrinsky theatre in the spring of 1856. Glinka is the first Russian classic composer, and is considered the creator of the national Russian opera and Russian symphonic music. Odoevsky and Serov, the best of Glinka's critics, wrote many articles about his music and artistic credo during Glinka's lifetime. In the 1930s, the opera A Life for the Tsar, based on the Romanovs' family myth about the miraculous escape of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, was rewritten as a people's tragedy (new text written by S.M. Gorodetsky) and from 1939 to the beginning of the 1990s it was performed under the name Ivan Susanin. Glinka rented a new flat almost every year. The majority of the buildings where he lived have not been preserved. In 1828-29 and in 1851-52, he rented a flat at the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Vladimirsky Avenue (2/49); in 1836-37 and in 1840-41 at the corner of Fonarny Lane and Glukhoy Lane (today Pirogova Street; building 8/3; memorial plaque installed); in 1837-39 he lived in the flat of the Capella (20 Moika River Embankment); and in 1841-1842 lived at 16 Bolshaya Meschanskaya (today Kazanskaya) Street. In 1848-49 he stayed with his son-in-law V.I. Fleri, director of School for the Deaf and Mute at the corner of Gorokhovaya Street and Moika River Embankment (54/18); in 1854-56 he lived on Ertelev Lane (today 7 Chekhova Street; memorial plaque installed). Originally buried in Berlin, his remains were moved in 1857 to the Tikhvinskoe Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (today the Necropolis of Artists ). On 8 March 1857, the Philharmonic Society organized a memorial concert to Glinka at the Noble Assembly. The State Academic Capella, the Small Hall of the Philharmonic (with a monument on the staircase) and a street close to the Mariinsky Theatre have been named after Glinka. In 1906, a monument to Glinka was opened on Teatralnaya Square near the Conservatory (sculptor R.R. Bach, architect A. R. Bach); a bronze bust (sculptor V.P. Pashchenko, architect A.S. Lytkin) was mounted in 1899 in the Alexandrovsky Garden. The All-Russian (previously All-Union) Glinka Vocal Competition has been held since 1960.

Works: Literary Heritage: in two volumes. Leningrad; Moscow, 1952-1953.

References: Глинка в воспоминаниях современников. М., 1955; Орлова А. А. Глинка в Петербурге. Л., 1970.

A. L. Porfiryeva. Bach Alexander Romanovich
Bach Robert Romanovich
Behm Franz Ludwig
Dargomyzhsky Alexander Sergeevich
Delwig Anton Antonovich
Engelgardt Vasily Pavlovich
Field John
Fleri Viktor Ivanovich
Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich
Gorodetsky Sergey Mitrofanovich
Kern Anna Petrovna
Kern Ekaterina Ermolaevna
Kuchelbecker Wilhelm Karlovich
Kukolnik Nestor Vasilievich
Leonova Daria Mikhailovna
Lvov Alexey Fedorovich
Lvov Fedor Petrovich
Lytkin Anton Sergeevich
Mayer Karl
Mickiewicz Adam
Mikhail Fedorovich, Tsar
Nicholas I, Emperor
Odoevsky Vladimir Fedorovich
Pashchenko Vladimir Mikhailovich
Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
Romanovsky Andrey Petrovich
Rosen Egor (Georgy) Fedorovich, Baron
Senkovsky Osip Ivanovich (Yuzef Yulian)
Serov Alexander Nikolaevich
Shirkov V.F.
Sivers Egor Karlovich
Stasov Dmitry Vasilievich
Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich
the Kukolniki
the Vielgorskys, Counts
Yushkov P.I.
Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich
Chekhova St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 164
Gorokhovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 18
Kazanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city, house 16
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 54
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 20
Moskovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 9
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 49
Pirogova Lane/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3/8
Pochtamtskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 10
Pochtamtskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 7/4
Vladimirsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 2
Глинка в воспоминаниях современников. М., 1955
Орлова А. А. Глинка в Петербурге. Л., 1970
Литературное наследие: В 2 т. Л.; М., 1952-1953 Lines of Communication, Chief Administration for
Assembly of Nobility
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Deaf-Mute School
Necropolis of Artists
Mariinsky Theatre
1836
1842