Musical anniversaries and memorable dates in 2017

In 2017, the music world will celebrate the anniversaries of several great masters – Franz Schubert, Gioacchino Rossini, Claudio Monteverdi.

Franz Schubert – 220 years since the birth of the great romantic

One of the most significant events of the coming year is the 220th anniversary of the birth of the famous Franz Schubert. This sociable, trusting, according to contemporaries, man lived a short but very fruitful life.

Thanks to his work, he received the right to be called the first great romantic composer. An excellent melodist, emotionally open in his work, he created more than 600 songs, many of which have become masterpieces of world classics.

Fate was not favorable to the composer. Life did not spoil him, he had to seek shelter from his friends, sometimes there was not enough music paper to record the melodies that came to mind. But this did not prevent the composer from being popular. He was adored by friends, and he composed for them, gathering everyone at musical evenings in Vienna, which even began to be called “Schubertiades”.

Unfortunately, during his lifetime, the composer did not receive recognition, and only the only author’s concert, which took place shortly before his death, brought him some fame and earnings.

Gioacchino Rossini – 225th anniversary of the divine maestro

In 2017, the 225th anniversary of the birth of Gioacchino Rossini, the master of the opera genre, is celebrated. The performance “The Barber of Seville” brought fame to the composer in Italy and abroad. It was called the highest achievement in the comedy-satire genre, the culmination in the development of the buffa opera.

Interestingly, Rossini bequeathed all his savings to his hometown of Pesaro. Now there are opera festivals named after him, where the entire color of world musical and theatrical art gathers.

The tireless rebel Ludwig van Beethoven – 190 years since his death

Another date that cannot be passed by is the 190th anniversary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. His perseverance and fortitude can be admired endlessly. A whole series of misfortunes fell to his lot: the death of his mother, after which he had to take care of younger children, and the transferred typhus and smallpox, followed by a deterioration in hearing and vision.

His work is a masterpiece! There is practically no work that would not be appreciated by posterity. During his lifetime, his performance style was considered innovative. Before Beethoven, no one composed or played in the lower and upper registers of the piano at the same time. He focused on the piano, considering it the instrument of the future, at a time when contemporaries were still writing for the harpsichord.

Despite his complete deafness, the composer wrote his most significant works in the last period of his life. Among them is the famous 9th symphony with Schiller’s choral ode “To Joy” included in it. The finale, unusual for a classical symphony, caused a flurry of criticism that did not subside for several decades. But the listeners were delighted with the ode! During its first performance, the auditorium was covered with an avalanche of applause. In order for the deaf maestro to see this, one of the singers had to turn him to face the audience.

Fragments of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with ode “To Joy” (frames from the film “Rewriting Beethoven”)

Beethoven’s work is the culmination of the classical style, and it will also throw a bridge into a new era. His music echoes the discoveries of composers of a much later generation, rising above everything created by his contemporaries.

Father of Russian Music: 160 years of blessed memory of Mikhail Glinka

This year the world will once again remember Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, whose death marks 160 years.

He paved the way for the Russian National Opera to Europe, completed the formation of the national school of composers. His works are imbued with the idea of ​​patriotism, faith in Russia and its people.

His operas “Ivan Susanin” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, staged on the same day – December 9 with a difference of six years (1836 and 1842) – are the brightest pages in the history of world opera, and “Kamarinskaya” – orchestral.

The composer’s work served as the basis for the searches of the composers of The Mighty Handful, Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky.

He “built a bridge” in the baroque – 450 years of Claudio Monteverdi

2017 is an anniversary year for the composer, who was born long before those mentioned above: as many as 450 years have passed since the birth of Claudio Monteverdi.

This Italian became the largest representative of the era of the fading of the Renaissance and the coming into force of the early Baroque. Listeners noted that no one manages to show the tragedy of life in such a way, to reveal the nature of the human character, as Monteverdi.

In his works, the composer boldly handled harmony and counterpoint, which was not liked by his colleagues and was subjected to the most severe criticism, but was enthusiastically accepted by his fans.

He is the inventor of such playing techniques as tremolo and pizzicato on stringed instruments. The composer assigned a large role to the orchestra in the opera, noting that different timbres highlight characters and moods more strongly. For his discoveries, Monteverdi was called the “prophet of the opera”

Russian “Nightingale” by Alexander Alyabyev – 230 years the world knows the composer

The 230th anniversary of his birth is celebrated by the Russian composer, whose world fame was brought by the romance “The Nightingale”. Even if the composer had not written anything else, the light of his glory would not have faded.

“The Nightingale” is sung in different countries, instrumented, it is known in the arrangements of F Liszt and M. Glinka, there are many untitled transcriptions and adaptations of this work.

But Alyabyev left a rather large legacy, including 6 operas, overtures, more than 180 songs and romances, and numerous choral and instrumental works of various genres.

The famous Nightingale by A. Alyabyev (Spanish: O. Pudova)

Masters who will not be forgotten by posterity

I would like to briefly mention a few more prominent figures whose days of memory fall in 2017.

• 180 years of the famous Mily Balakirev, born in January 1837. This inspirer and teacher of the “Kuchkists” supported the development of national art with all his heart, supported young Russian composers and did a lot as a public figure.
• 90 years since the birth and 10 years since the death of the great cellist and composer Mstislav Rostropovich. With his creativity, social activities and indefatigable temperament, he embraced the entire musical world, striving to strengthen the cultural ties of different peoples.

Author – Victoria Denisova