The Russian Review/Volume 1/March 1916/Music in Russia II
Music in Russia.
II. Its Development.
By Alexis Rienzi.
The development of Russian music consists of a continuous struggle between the ideas of the composers of Western Europe and the peculiar genius of national music. Almost every Russian composer shows traces of such a struggle. And it is when the national spirit dominates over the foreign, that the musical art of the country rises to its sublimest heights.
Before the nineteenth century, music in Russia was introduced almost exclusively by German and Italian musicians and composers, who were brought over by the Court and the aristocracy. They did not care to study the national music of the country, but composed according to their own Western ideas. At times it happened that they did introduce into their work national motifs and tunes, but this was usually done "to order" and the result lacked all artistic value.
There were also several Russian composers during this first period of Russian music. Among these were Titov, called "the grandfather of Russian song," Varlamov, Yakovlev, Aliabiev, Donaurov, Verstovsky, and others. But the musical education of these men was not thorough, and their work was too German-Italian to be of any great service to Russian music. Verstovsky even attempted to write an opera called "Askold's Tomb," but this opera had nothing of the native flavor.
The second period in the development of Russian music begins with Glinka (1804-1857). In his earlier works he was still under the influence of the German-Italian school, and even his national opera, "Life for the Tsar," did not escape this influence. If it were not for the characteristically Russian strains in the chorus of the last act, and in the fugue, the trio, and Vania's aria, this opera would have had to be classed with his other early works, all of them foreign in their provenience.
It was only after his trip to Italy, in the thirties, that Glinka came to the conclusion that Italy had nothing to give him. He then wrote to his friend Kukolnikov, that his eyes were finally opened, and that he realized that "we Russians are different, and what we want is something different." After this, he discarded foreign ideas and came to rely upon his own original genius. It was at this time that he began to produce the series of compositions that have earned for him the title of "Creator of Russian Music."
While we cannot here go into a critical study of Glinka's works as a composer, it must be said that his opera, "Ruslan and Ludmila," is the starting-point of the truly Russian school of music. Among his instrumental pieces the most remarkable ones are "Chota," "Kamarinskoye," and "Nights in Madrid." Glinka wrote many songs, but only one of them, the "Night Review," occupies a really high place.
There is another composer whose name is extremely important in the consideration of the second period in the development of Russian music. Dargomyzhsky's career is in many ways like that of Glinka. He, too, at first, bowed to the influence of foreign models. He even imitated Glinka for some time. Among his many songs is one called the "Night Review," which is in structure similar to Glinka's song of the same name. One of his pieces, however, "Palladin," is a gem, and many think that it has never been surpassed in the treasure-house of songs.
Dargomyzhsky's opera, "Rusalka" (The Nymph), with the libretto based on Pushkin's dramatic poem of the same name, is perhaps more Russian than Glinka's "Life for the Tsar," but in it Dargomyzhsky is still far from attaining to the height he reached in his later operas, "Rogdana" and "The Stone Guest." It was Glinka who laid the foundation for the Russian school of music, but it was Dargomyzhsky that reared the walls of the structure.
There is, perhaps, no other Russian composer, with the exception of Moussorgsky, whose music expresses so realistically the truth of life. "I want the sound to express the word," said Dargomyzhsky, and this was his watchword to the end. It was the legacy he left to that wonderful group of composers which followed him and which came to be known as the "Moguchaya Kuchka" (The Mighty Group).
It was Dargomyzhsky's house that became the meeting-place of the men who were destined to carry on the noble task of creating a national music. Dargomyzhsky was the first to recognize the mighty musical genius of Moussorgsky. Through him, the young army-officer, brimful of talent, became intimately connected with Balakirev and Cui. These three men were soon joined by Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, and the "Moguchaya Kuchka" came to be.
The work of this group of composers forms the third stage in the development of Russian music. Among them, the most faithful follower of the precepts of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky was Moussorgsky. Everything that he composed is permeated with truly Russian coloring. All his subjects were taken from the actual life of the Russian people. This genius, this "god of the new Russian music," as Debussy once called him, represented in his glowing tones, with marvelous power and truthfulness, every phase of human life,—be it of peasant or boyar,—from childhood to death. There is scarcely another composer who has approached as near as Moussorgsky to Dargomyzhsky's great precept, "I want the sound to express the word."
Balakirev is sometimes called the leader of the "Moguchaya Kuchka." But he was a leader only in a certain sense. When the little group came into existence, Balakirev was already a well-known musician. Naturally, the others, much younger than he in years and in musical experience, grouped themselves about their more accomplished and maturer colleague. But Balakirev's influence was not such as to affect the development of the musical work of the younger composers. It is true they often sought his advice and criticism, but each followed his own road, although all these roads converged to the same goal, the realization and the extension of the precepts of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky.
As a composer, Balakirev made several very valuable contributions to the music of his country. While not very numerous, all his compositions are remarkable for their originality, polish, and finish. Among his best compositions are his symphony "Russia," his symphonic poem "Tamara," and his overture "On Russian Themes." He edited an excellent collection of Russian popular songs.
A. P. Borodin was one of the most brilliant exponents of the Russian national music that was being created by the "Moguchaya Kuchka." It is as a symphonist that he attained prominence, and his compositions were instrumental, rather than vocal. Except for a few exquisite songs, Borodin's larger vocal compositions, like his opera, "Prince Igor," for example, appear to be unfinished, as though he did not devote to them the painstaking attention which results in brilliancy and polish. His orchestral pieces are his most distinctive works.
C. A. Cui was a devoted member of the "Moguchaya Kuchka." But his contribution to the work of this musical cenacle was not so much in the capacity of composer, as of musical critic, always ready to defend the ideas and the strivings of the "Kuchka." As composer, he can scarcely be classed with the school of Russian national music. He was an enthusiastic admirer of the later Western composers of the classic school, Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz. His works are romantic in character, and even his subjects, with the exception of several songs, are not taken from Russian life.
The last member of the "Moguchaya Kuchka," N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, was the most prolific and many-sided composer of the group. All his works, no matter what their character, seem equally brilliant, and it is impossible to say whether the palm is to be given to his orchestral, or his vocal compositions. Some of his most remarkable works for the orchestra are his symphony in E-moll, "Scheherazade," and his Capriccio on Spanish themes. He wrote many operas, the best known among which are "Sniegurochka," "Mlada," "Pskovitianka," "Tale about Tsar Saltan," and "The Royal Bride." His efforts comprise, moreover, whole volumes of songs, duets, choruses, and cantatas.
The cult of the Russian national music, whose prophets were Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, and whose apostles were Balakirev, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov. Borodin, and Cui, was, and still is, religiously worshipped by a whole group of talented composers. Among them are men honored not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the West. Glazounov, Rachmaninov, Ilinsky, Kalinnikov, Grechaninov, Liadov, Arensky, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Taneyev—all these are the men whose works are slowly being revealed to the music-lovers of the world.
There are two more names of which musical Russia is justly proud. These are P. Chaikovsky (1840-1898) and A. Rubinstein (1829-1894). Both of these composers have done yeoman's service in the cause of music in Russia, although they followed different paths.
Chaikovsky stands apart from the rest of the Russian composers. Many and invaluable were his contributions to the wealth of Russian music, and yet his creative genius as a composer belongs not to Russia alone. A Russian by spirit and temperament, he is, at the same time, cosmopolitan in his creative work. It is for this reason that his works were produced in Western Europe before any other Russian had a hearing.
In speaking of Rubinstein, one cannot help comparing him with Glinka. If Russian national music would, perhaps, have been impossible without Glinka, without Rubinstein the blossoming out of the native music would have been delayed many decades. Rubinstein's efforts to arouse interest in music were unending. He was responsible for the establishment of the first Russian conservatory of music; he organized various musical societies, and worked indefatigably to make Russian music a possession of the Russian people, not of the chosen few.
But as a composer, he has done almost nothing for the music of Russia, although he has written much. His works include several operas, among them "Gorusha" and "The Demon." Rubinstein was almost fanatically attached to the standards of the Western classical composers. He distrusted innovations, and not only avoided them, but actually opposed them. He wrote an interesting little booklet, which he called "Finita la Musica." In this pamphlet he attempted to prove that after Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelsohn, Chopin, and Glinka, there can be nothing new in music. Rubinstein was a bitter opponent of the "Moguchaya Kuchka."
Modern Russian music presents many interesting developments, but it is yet too new to be judged fairly and impartially. Such men as Gliere, Stravinsky, and Spendiarov, are among the creators of the new Russian music, which recently sustained the loss of one of its most prominent interpreters, Alexander Skriabin. The future will show what offerings these "moderns" have brought to the treasure-house of Russian music.