Music calendar – April

April pleased us with the birth of such luminous composers as Sergei Rachmaninov, Edison Denisov, Alexander Alexandrov, Sergei Prokofiev, as well as celebrity musicians such as Montserrat Caballe.

Their opuses resound to this day

April 1 1873 years born in Novgorod province Sergey Rachmaninov, who later became a brilliant pianist and composer. It seems that nature itself helped him become a fantastic performer: the musician’s fingers were so long that they calmly covered a distance of 12 white keys. Despite the fact that Rachmaninoff spent many years in Europe and the USA, he always considered himself Russian. All his works are permeated with images of his beloved Motherland, powerful prowess, vast expanses of fields, and a riot of colors. His 2nd Piano Concerto became a symbol of a new era, with its explosive energy and turbulent change.

April 6 1929 years – birthday Edison Denisov – a composer who believed that music and mathematics are closely intertwined. He received two polar opposite higher educations: he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Tomsk University and the Moscow Conservatory. The composer resolutely rejected all typical, fashionable or time-tested trends in music. He believed that in art it is necessary to invent a new beauty, because the classics cannot be repeated.

Denisov is constantly experimenting, and as a result he creates such masterpieces as the Symphony for a large orchestra, the ballet “Confession”, “Requiem”.

April 13 1883 years came into the world Alexander Alexandrov, a man who later created the song and dance ensemble of the Red Army, which gained worldwide fame. Nature endowed the composer with a beautiful voice. It is not surprising that he is the author of more than 70 arrangements of folk songs and the creator of 81 author’s songs. One of the most famous works of the composer is the song “Holy War”, and, in addition, the modern national anthem of Russia is performed to his music.

Alexandrov, with his Red Banner Ensemble, did a great job of servicing the military units of the USSR, both in peacetime and during the war. He did not forget about aesthetic education, advocated the creation of ensembles in work groups, clubs, and provided practical assistance.

April 20 1881 years was born Nikolai Myaskovsky – the oldest representative of the Russian composer school of the XX century. Critic Boris Asafiev wrote that in the work of this composer, brighter than others, “there is a thread from the original Russian, through the seething present, to the foresight of the future.” The main genre in Myaskovsky’s work is the symphony. This genre is called “spiritual chronicle”. It contains reflections on both the present and the difficult years of post-war devastation, coverage of the events of the tragic 1930s, the hardships of the Great Patriotic War. His symphonies are a constant, painful search for an ideal.

April 23 1857 years was born Ruggiero Leoncavallo – the author of the famous opera “Pagliacci”. The grandson of a famous Neapolitan artist, he also connected his life with art. In his youth, he was better known as a talented pianist and accompanist, and only at a more mature age did he show the world his talent as a composer. Despite the successful production of Rural Honor, it was the premiere of the opera Pagliacci that brought the composer a triumph. An important role was also played by the fact that Enrique Caruso played the main role in it, and Arturo Toscanini conducted the orchestra. Unfortunately, Leoncavallo could not surpass the success of “Pagliacci” and remained among the composers – the authors of one masterpiece.

On the same day, but rest half a century later, April 23 1891 years, in the village of Sontsovka, a boy was born, who, by an incredible coincidence, was called a “sunny” child for his bright cheerful character – Sergey Prokofiev. He began to study music and compose early. All his opuses were diligently recorded by his mother, so by the age of 10 the young composer already had a rich creative heritage, including 2 operas.

At the age of 13, Prokofiev was enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, from which he brilliantly graduated in three areas at once: as a performer on the organ, piano, and as a composer. His works could be liked or not, they were praised or criticized, but did not leave any of the listeners indifferent.

S.S. Prokofiev – March from the opera “Love for Three Oranges”

An interesting fact about the opera “The Love for Three Oranges” is known. She so inspired one of the major planters that he offered Prokofiev a profitable cooperation only for the opportunity to place the slogan on his advertisement that his oranges inspire the great maestro to write masterpieces. The treasury of world classics includes the children’s symphonic fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf”, the ballet “Romeo and Juliet”, the First “Classical” and the Seventh Symphony.

Her voice plays on the strings of listeners

April 12 1933 years in a very poor Spanish family was born Montserrat Caballe. Escaped from poverty thanks to her talent and incredible perseverance, the singer became the greatest artist of the outgoing XNUMXth century.

Perhaps the world would not have recognized this name, but fate presented the future prima donna with a gift. Due to the serious illness of her father, the girl had to get a job as a seamstress at a handkerchief factory. There her singing was accidentally heard by patrons, the spouses Beltran Mata. It was they who identified the talented teenager at the Liceo Conservatory in Barcelona, ​​where her talent flourished.

V. Bellini “Casta Diva” from the opera “Norma” – Spanish. M. Caballero

She performed almost all the tragic opera parts, including Violetta, Tosca, Salome, Madame Butterfly. But no matter how the heroines died, from a dagger or poison, performed by Caballe, their dying arias sounded like a promise of another, heavenly life, unity with God.

Interesting events

On April 9, 1860, a most interesting event for music lovers took place: the inventor from France, Edward Leon Scott de Martinville, long before the discovery of the phonograph by Thomas Edison, made the first recording of sound on paper treated in a special way. The scientist himself did not attach importance to this fact, his experiment had a completely different goal. And only in 2008, scientists from the Lawrence National Laboratory (USA), using modern optical technologies, reproduced the sounds recorded on paper sheets stored in the archive.

S.V. Rachmaninov – “Bless the Lord, O my soul…”

Author – Victoria Denisova