CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF GREAT MUSICIANS: THE PATH TO SUCCESS

ANNOTATION

Global problems of humanity, the crisis in international relations, as well as radical socio-political changes in Russia have an ambiguous impact on various spheres of human activity, including culture and music. It is important to promptly compensate for negative factors that reduce the “quality” of music education and the “quality” of young people entering the world of music. Russia faces a long struggle with global challenges. It will be necessary to find answers to the coming demographic collapse in our country, a sharp decrease in the influx of young personnel into the national economy and the cultural sphere. One of the first people in the art world to face this problem will be children’s music schools.

The articles brought to your attention are intended to partially mitigate the influence of some negative factors, including demographic ones, on musical culture by increasing the quality and mastery of young musicians. I would like to believe that stronger motivation of young musicians for success (following the example of their great predecessors), as well as organizational and methodological innovations in the music education system, will yield results.

The peacemaking potential of music in the interests of easing tensions in international relations is far from exhausted. Much remains to be done to intensify interethnic musical ties.

I would like to believe that the view of the teacher of a children’s music school on current and future changes in Russian culture will be perceived by the expert community as a timely, not belated (“The Owl of Minerva flies at night”) value judgment and will be useful in some way.

A series of articles in a popular presentation for students of children’s music schools and their parents

 P R E D I S L O V I E 

We, the young, love the sunny world around us, in which there is a place for our most cherished dreams, favorite toys, music. We want life to always be happy, cloudless, fabulous. 

But sometimes from “adult” life, from the lips of our parents, we hear alarming phrases that are not always clear about some problems that can darken the lives of children in the future. Money, military conflicts, starving children in Africa, terrorism… 

Dads and moms teach us to solve problems, without fighting, with kindness, in a peaceful way. We sometimes object to them. Isn’t it easier to achieve your goal with your fists? We see many such examples on the screens of our favorite TVs. So, will strength or beauty save the world? The older we become, the stronger our faith in Good, in the creative, peace-making power of Music becomes. 

Science fiction writer Marietta Shaginyan was probably right. Talking about the orchestra playing Beethoven’s music on the deck of the Titanic during the terrible moments of the ship’s plunge into the cold depths of the ocean, she saw extraordinary power in music. This invisible force is capable of supporting people’s peace in difficult times… We, young musicians, feel that the great works of composers give people joy, brighten up sad moods, soften, and sometimes even stop disputes and conflicts. Music brings Peace into our lives. This means that she helps Good in the fight against evil. 

The most talented of you are destined for a very difficult, great mission: to reflect our reality, its main, epoch-making features in music. At one time, Ludwig van Beethoven and other luminaries did this brilliantly. Some composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. managed to look into the future. They predicted the most powerful tectonic shifts in the life of mankind. And some masters, for example Rimsky-Korsakov, managed to look many centuries into the future in their music. In some of his works, he “hid” his message to future generations, who, he hoped, would be able to understand him. They were destined for the path of peaceful, harmonious cooperation between Man and the Cosmos.  

Thinking about tomorrow, about gifts for your long-awaited birthday, you, of course, think about your future profession, about your relationship with music. How talented am I? Will I be able to become the new Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich? Of course, I will study diligently. Our teachers give us not only musical education. They teach us how to achieve success and overcome difficulties. But they say there is another ancient source of knowledge. Great musicians from the past (and some of our contemporaries) knew the “secrets” of mastery that helped them reach the heights of their Olympus. The stories we offer you about the young years of great musicians will help reveal some of the “secrets” of their success.   

Dedicated to young musicians  “CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF GREAT MUSICIANS: THE PATH TO SUCCESS” 

A series of articles in a popular presentation for students of children’s music schools and their parents 

S O D E R J A N I E

Young Mozart and music school students: friendship through the centuries

Beethoven: triumph and groans of a great era in music and the fate of a genius

Borodin: a successful chord of music and science

Tchaikovsky: through thorns to the stars

Rimsky-Korsakov: music of three elements – sea, space and fairy tales

Rachmaninov: three victories over oneself

Andres Segovia Torres: the revival of the guitar 

Alexey Zimakov: nugget, genius, fighter 

                            ZAKLU CHE N I E

     I would like to believe that after reading stories about the childhood and youth years of great musicians, you are a little closer to unraveling the secrets of their mastery.

     We also learned that MUSIC is capable of working miracles: reflecting today’s day in itself, as in a magic mirror, predicting, anticipating the future. And what’s completely unexpected is that the works of brilliant musicians can help  people turn enemies into friends, mitigate international conflicts. The ideas of world friendship and solidarity embedded in music, sung in 1977. scientists of the “Club of Rome” are still alive.

      You, a young musician, can be proud that in the modern world, when international relations have become extremely strained, Music sometimes remains almost the last resort for positive, peaceful dialogue. The exchange of concerts, the sound of great works of world classics softens the hearts of people, elevates the thoughts of the powerful above political vanity.  Music unites generations, eras, countries and continents. Cherish music, love it. She gives new generations the wisdom accumulated by humanity. I would like to believe that in the future music, with its enormous peacemaking potential,  will  solve  problems on a cosmic scale.

        But wouldn’t it be interesting for your descendants in a hundred or a thousand years to learn about the grandiose events of Beethoven’s era not only through the dry lines of historical chronicles? The future inhabitants of planet Earth will want to FEEL that very era that turned the life of the planet upside down for many centuries, to UNDERSTAND it through the images and allegories captured in the music of the genius.  Ludwig van Beethoven’s hope will never disappear that people will hear his plea to “live without wars!” “People are brothers among themselves! Hug millions! Let yourself be united in the joy of one!”

       Human thought knows no boundaries. She has gone beyond the boundaries of the Earth and is eager to reach other inhabitants of Space.  For almost 40 years in Space it has been rushing towards the closest star system, Sirius.  interplanetary ship. Earthlings are inviting extraterrestrial civilizations to make contact with us.  On board this ship is Music, a picture of a man and a drawing of our Solar System. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,  Bach’s music, Mozart’s “Magic Flute” will one day sound and “tell” aliens about You, your friends, your World. Culture is the soul of humanity…

      By the way, ask yourself, will they understand our music? And are the laws of music universal?  What if  on a distant planet there will be a different force of gravity, different sound propagation conditions from ours, different sound and intonation  associations with “pleasant” and “dangerous”, dissimilar emotional reactions to significant events, different artistic representations? What about the pace of life, the speed of metabolism, the passage of nerve signals? There’s a lot to think about.

      And, finally, why, even on our own planet, “European” music is so different, for example, from classical Chinese?  The “language” (“linguistic”) theory of the origin of music (it is based on the intonational origins of music, in other words, the features of speech form the special intonation of music) partially explains such differences. The presence in the Chinese language of four tones of pronunciation of the same syllable (such intonations do not exist in other languages) gave rise to music that in past centuries some European musicologists did not understand, and even considered barbaric…  It can be assumed that the melody of the language  there will be aliens  different from ours. So, extraterrestrial music will amaze us with its unusualness?

     Now do you understand how interesting and useful it is to study music theory, and in particular, harmony, polyphony, solfeggio…?

      The path to Great Music is open to you. Learn, create, dare!  This book  help you. It contains the formula for your success. Try to use it. And your path to your goal will become more meaningful, illuminated by the bright light of talent, hard work, and self-sacrifice of your great predecessors. By adopting the experience and skill of famous masters, you will not only preserve the traditions of culture, which is already a great goal, but also increase what you have accumulated.

      Formula for success! Before we talk about it in more detail, we will try to convince you that mastering any profession requires a person to have certain business and personal qualities. Without them, you are unlikely to be able to become a first-class doctor, pilot, musician…

      For example, a doctor, in addition to having professional knowledge (how to treat), must be a responsible person (the health, and sometimes the life of the patient, is in his hands), must be able to establish contact and get along with the patient, otherwise the patient will not want to talk openly about his problems. You must be kind, sympathetic, and restrained. And the surgeon must also be able to work calmly in extreme conditions.

       It is unlikely that anyone who does not have the highest emotional and volitional stability and the ability to calmly and without panic make the right decision in critical situations will become a pilot. The pilot must be neat, collected, and courageous. By the way, due to the fact that pilots are incredibly calm, imperturbable people, it is generally accepted, jokingly, that their children are the happiest in the world. Why? The fact is that when a son or daughter shows their pilot dad a diary with a bad mark, the father will never lose his temper, explode, or scream, but will calmly begin to figure out what happened…

    So, for every profession, very specific qualities are desirable, and sometimes simply necessary. Teacher, astronaut, bus driver, cook, actor…

     Let’s get back to the music. Anyone who wants to devote himself to this beautiful art must certainly be a purposeful, persistent person. All great musicians have had these qualities. But some of them, for example, Beethoven, almost immediately became like this, and some  (Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov) – much later, at a more mature age. Hence the conclusion: it is never too late to become persistent in achieving your goal. “Nihil volenti difficil est” – “Nothing is difficult for those who wish.”

     Now, answer the question: can children who have  no desire or interest in mastering the intricacies of the musical profession? “Of course not!” you answer. And you will be right three times. Understanding this, you will receive a pass to the profession. At the same time, it should be noted that not all great masters immediately became passionate about music. For example, Rimsky-Korsakov completely turned his face to music only when the craving for art defeated his other passion –  sea.

      Abilities, talent. They are often transmitted to young people from their parents and ancestors. Science does not yet know for sure whether every person can achieve professional excellence in any field of human activity? Is there a genius sleeping in each of us? Those who, having noticed abilities or talent in themselves, are probably right, do not rest on this, but, on the contrary, with triple  develops and improves by force what is given to him by nature. Genius must work.

     Were all the greats equally talented?  Not at all.  So, if Mozart found it relatively easy to compose music, then the brilliant Beethoven, oddly enough, wrote his works, spending  more labor and time. He rewrote individual musical phrases and even large fragments of his works many times. And the talented Borodin, having written many musical works, spent almost his entire creative life working on the creation of his masterpiece “Prince Igor”.  And I didn’t even have time to completely complete this opera. It’s good that he knew how to be friends with many people and help them. And his friends generously repaid him. They helped finish his life’s work when he could no longer do it himself.

      A musician (performer and composer) needs an excellent memory. Learn to train and improve it. A work is born in the head thanks to a person’s ability “from memory” to build from a huge number of musical bricks that unique palace, unlike any other, which may turn out to be more beautiful than a fairy-tale castle from the world of Disney. Ludwig van Beethoven, thanks to his imagination and memory, heard every note within himself and “built” it into the desired chord, phrase, melody. I mentally listened to see if it sounded good?  Achieved perfection. For everyone around him, it was an insoluble mystery how Beethoven, having lost the ability to hear sounds, was able to continue composing the brilliant  Symphonic music?

     A few more lessons from famous masters. It is not uncommon for a young person to begin a long and difficult path to music with minimal outside support. It happened that she was not there at all.  And someone faced misunderstanding from loved ones, even with their opposition  dream of becoming a musician.  Rimsky-Korsakov, Beethoven, and Borodin went through this in their childhood years.

        Much more often, famous musicians in their youth received invaluable help from their relatives, and this was of great benefit. This leads to a very important conclusion. Your parents, even if they don’t have  professional knowledge, we could, together with your teacher, under his guidance, promote your studies, as well as help develop the positive qualities inherent in you.        

      Your parents could help you and your music teacher in one more important matter. It is known that acquaintance in early childhood with the sounds of music, if done delicately, unobtrusively, competently (maybe in the form of a game or a fairy tale), contributes to the emergence of interest in music and friendship with it. Perhaps the teacher will recommend certain things for listening at home.  works. Great musicians have grown from the melodies of childhood.

     From an early age you often hear words about discipline. Like, you can’t go anywhere without her! What if I’m talented? Why bother in vain? If I want, I do it, if I want, I don’t! It turns out that even if you –  You’re a child prodigy and you’re a genius; without following certain rules and the ability to obey these rules, you’re unlikely to succeed. You can’t just do what you want. We must learn to overcome ourselves, endure difficulties steadfastly, and withstand the cruel blows of fate. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Zimakov showed us a positive example of such perseverance.

    Real discipline, frankly speaking, not typical for children, has been formed  from the young Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. But Rachmaninov during these same years was characterized by rare disobedience. And it is even more amazing that Sergei Rachmaninov, at the age of ten (!), was able to pull himself together, mobilize all his will and overcome himself without outside help. Subsequently he became  by sample  self-discipline, internal composure, self-control. “Sibi imperare maximum imperium est” – “The highest power is power over oneself.”

   Remember young Mozart. During the best of his young years, he worked uncomplainingly, with inspiration, tirelessly. His trips with his father to European countries for ten consecutive years played a decisive role in Wolfgang’s work. Think about the words of many great people: “Work has become great pleasure.” All celebrities could not live in idleness, without work. It becomes less of a burden if you understand its role in achieving success. And when success comes, joy makes you want to do even more!

     Some of you would like to become not only a musician, but also master some other profession.  Some people believe that in conditions of unemployment it would be useful to gain knowledge in some other area. The unique experience of Alexander Borodin could be useful to you. Let us remember that he managed not only to combine the profession of a scientific chemist with the vocation of a composer. He became a star both among scientists and in the world of music.

     If somebody  wants to become a composer, you won’t be able to do this without the experience of luminaries. Take them as an example. Develop your creative imagination, a tendency to fantasize, and imaginative thinking. But first of all, learn to hear the melody within yourself. Your goal is to hear  music born in your imagination and bring it to people. The great ones learned to interpret, modify the melody they heard, and transform it. We tried to understand the music, to “read” the ideas contained in it.

   The composer, as a philosopher, knows how to look at the world from the heights of the stars. You, as a composer, will have to learn to see the world and the era on a large scale. To do this, one must, like Beethoven, study history and literature in more depth, comprehend the secrets of human evolution, and become an erudite person. Absorb into yourself all the knowledge, material and spiritual, that people are rich in. How else, having become a composer, will you be able to speak on an equal footing with your great predecessors and continue the intellectual line in world music? Thinking composers have armed you with their experience. The keys to the Future are in your hands.

      How much and how little has yet been done in music! In 2014, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony left the solar system.  And although the spaceship with brilliant music on board will fly to Sirius for many, many thousands of years, the father of young Wolfgang was infinitely right when he told the Great Son of our Earth: “Every lost minute is lost forever…”  Hurry! Tomorrow, humanity, having forgotten mutual strife, inspired by great music, must have time to come up with a way to speed up and bring closer Contact with cosmic intelligence. Maybe at this level, in a new format, decisions will be made in the unthinkable future  macrocosmic problems. Probably, these will include the tasks of development and survival of highly intellectual life, and the search for answers to the threats associated with the expansion of the Cosmos. Where there is creativity, flight of thought, intellect, there is music. New challenges – new sound of music. The activation of its intellectual, philosophical and inter-civilizational harmonizing role is not excluded.

     I would like to hope that now you better understand what complex tasks young people have to solve for a peaceful life on our planet! Learn from brilliant musicians, follow their example. Create New.

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