Music calendar – June

June is the month that opens the long-awaited summer, the month of the birth of bright people. In June, the music world celebrates the birthdays of such masters as Mikhail Glinka, Aram Khachaturian, Robert Schumann, Igor Stravinsky.

Coincidentally, the premieres of Stravinsky’s ballets Petrushka and The Firebird also took place this month.

Their talent has survived the ages

1 June 1804 year a composer was born in the Smolensk province, whose importance in the development of national Russian culture cannot be overestimated – Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. Based on the centuries-old achievements of professional and folk Russian music, he summed up the process of formation of the national school of composers.

From childhood he was fond of folk songs, played in his uncle’s horn orchestra, met Alexander Pushkin as a teenager, was interested in Russian history and legends. Trips abroad helped the composer realize his desire to bring Russian music to the world level. And he succeeded. His operas “Ivan Susanin”, “Ruslan and Lyudmila” entered the world treasury as examples of Russian classics.

6 June 1903 year was born in Baku Aram Khachaturyan. This unique composer did not receive an initial musical education; Khachaturian’s professional introduction to the art of music began at the age of 19 with admission to the Gnesins’ musical college, first in the cello class, and then in composition.

His merit is that he was able to combine the monodic melody of the East with classical symphonic traditions. Among his famous works are the ballets Spartacus and Gayane, which are among the masterpieces of world classics.

A.I. Khachaturian – “Waltz” from the music for the drama “Masquerade” (frames from the movie “War and Peace”)

8 June 1810 year one of the brightest representatives of the era of romanticism came to the world – Robert Schumann. Despite the profession of a lawyer received at the insistence of his mother, the composer did not begin to work in his specialty. He was attracted by poetry and music, for some time he even hesitated, choosing a path. His music is notable for its penetrating nature, the main source of his images is the deep and multifaceted world of human feelings.

Schumann’s contemporaries did not want to accept his work, for them the composer’s music seemed complex, unusual, requiring thoughtful perception. Nevertheless, it was duly appreciated by the composers of the “mighty handful” and P. Tchaikovsky. Piano cycles “Carnival”, “Butterflies”, “Kreisleriana”, “Symphonic Etudes”, songs and vocal cycles, 4 symphonies – this is a far from complete list of his masterpieces, leading to the repertoire of the leading performers of our time.

Among the famous composers born in June and Edvard Grieg. He came into being 15 June 1843 year in Norwegian Bergen in the family of the British consul. Grieg is a pioneer of Norwegian classics who brought it to the international level. The initial skills and love for music were instilled in the composer by his mother. An individual composer’s style began to take shape at the Leipzig Conservatory, where, despite the classical system of education, Grieg was drawn to the romantic style. His idols were R. Schumann, R. Wagner, F. Chopin.

After moving to Oslo, Grieg began to strengthen national traditions in music and promote it among listeners. The composer’s work quickly found its way to the hearts of the listeners. His suite “Peer Gynt”, “Symphonic Dances”, “Lyric Pieces” for piano are constantly heard from the concert stage.

17 June 1882 year born in Petersburg Igor Stravinsky, a composer who, in his own opinion, was living “at the wrong time”. He gained a reputation as a subverter of traditions, a seeker of new interweaving styles. Contemporaries called him the creator with a thousand faces.

He dealt freely with forms, genres, constantly looking for new combinations of them. The scope of his interests was not limited to composing. Stravinsky was intensively engaged in performing and educational activities, met with outstanding people – N. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. Diaghilev, A. Lyadov, I. Glazunov, T. Mann, P. Picasso.

The circle of his familiar artists was much wider. Stravinsky traveled a lot, visited many countries. His magnificent ballets “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring” delight modern listeners.

Interestingly, in the month of his birth, the premieres of two ballets by Stravinsky took place. On June 25, 1910, the first production of The Firebird took place at the Grand Opera, and a year later, on June 15, 1911, the premiere of Petrushka took place.

Famous performers

7 June 1872 year appeared to the world Leonid Sobinov, a singer whom the musicologist B. Asafiev called the spring of Russian lyrics. In his work, realism was combined with an individual approach to each image. Starting to work on the role, the singer aimed to reveal the character of the hero most naturally and truthfully.

Sobinov’s love for singing appeared from childhood, but he began to seriously engage in vocals while studying at the university, where he attended two student choirs: spiritual and secular. He was noticed and invited as a free student to the Philharmonic School. Success came with the part of Sinodal from the opera “The Demon”, staged at the Bolshoi Theater. The audience accepted the young singer enthusiastically, the aria “Turning into a falcon …” had to be performed as an encore. Thus began the successful concert activity of the singer not only in Russia, but also abroad.

14 June 1835 year was born Nikolai Rubinstein – an outstanding Russian conductor and pianist, teacher and public figure. As a pianist, he selected his repertoire in such a way as to convey to the listener the variety of musical trends and styles. No less famous is Nikolai Rubinstein as a conductor. Under his leadership, more than 250 concerts were held at the RMO not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in provincial cities.

As a public figure, N. Rubinshtein organized free folk concerts. He was the initiator of the opening of the Moscow Conservatory, and for a long time was its director. It was he who attracted P. Tchaikovsky, G. Laroche, S. Taneyev to teach in it. Nikolai Rubinstein enjoyed great popularity and love among friends and listeners. For many years after his death, concerts in his memory were held at the Moscow Conservatory.

M.I. Glinka – M.A. Balakirev – “Lark” performed by Mikhail Pletnev

Author – Victoria Denisova