MOD ES T M U S S OR G S K Y

1 83 9 - 1 8 8 1
ENT AT ION B Y TERRY XII
PRES
IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY, RUSSIA
WAS A POWERFUL EMPIRE WITH A
STRONG SOCIAL DIVIDE BETWEEN RICH
AND POOR, ARISTOCRATS AND SERFS. THE
THE BALAKIREV CIRCLE KNOWN AS THE RUSSIAN
RUSSIAN FIVE WAS FORMED BY MODEST
MUSSORGSKY, NIKOLAI RIMSKY-
FIVE
KORSAKOV, ALEXANDER BORODIN,
CAESAR CUI AND MILII BALAKIREV.
A CONTEMPORARY OF THE MIGHTY FIVE IS PYOTR
ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, AND AT THE END OF THE
19TH CENTURY ANATOLY LYADOV, ALEXANDER
GLAZUNOV, SERGEI TANEEV, SERGEI
RACHMANINOFF AND ALEXANDER SCRIABIN THE
ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES IN THE RUSSIAN
MUSIC. IGOR-STRAVINSKY, SERGEI PROKOFIEV,
RUSSIAN
DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH AND OTHERS DEVELOPED FIVE
THE TRADITIONS OF THE RUSSIAN SCHOOL IN THE
FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
THE IDEA

THE IDEA WAS TO CREATE A RUSSIAN MUSICAL STYLE

BASED ON RUSSIAN FOLKLORE WITH THE BASIC
COMPOSITIONAL PRINCIPLES SUCH AS
PROGRAMMABILITY, VARIATION AND WIDE USE OF THE
OPERA GENRE.
 MODEST MUSSORGSKY, AS PART OF THE MIGHTY FIVE,
CONTRIBUTES WITH REALISTIC WORK AND EMBODIES
SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF RUSSIAN SOCIETY. HE
IS A MASTER OF MUSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, CREATING
WHAT DID MEMORABLE PORTRAITS AND IMAGES IN HIS "PAINTINGS
FROM AN EXHIBITION", ROMANCES, SONGS. MUSSORGSKY
MUSSORGSKY RECREATES THE INTONATIONS OF RUSSIAN SPEECH IN HIS
BRING TO THE MUSIC AND USES HARMONIC CHORDS MORE FREELY. THESE
TABLE? CHORDS PLAY THE ROLE OF SOUND COLORS. HIS CHAMBER
WORKS INCLUDE SONGS, ROMANCES, VOCAL CYCLES
"WITHOUT THE SUN" , "SONGS AND DANCES OF DEATH“. AS
WELL AS PIANO PIECES: 2 SCHERZOS AND A PIANO CYCLE
"PAINTINGS FROM AN EXHIBITION".
 MUSSORGSKY DEVELOPED THE GENRE OF THE
SONG BY INTRODUCING SATIRICAL AND
GROTESQUE IMAGES USING A VARIETY OF
TECHNIQUES IN CREATING MUSICAL
WHAT DID PORTRAITS. SOME OF HIS POPULAR SONGS
MUSSORGSKY ARE: "HOPAK", "SONG OF THE FLEA",
BRING TO THE "SEMINARIST", "CLASSIC" AND OTHERS, AND
TABLE? IN HIS OPERA THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF OPERAS:
HEROIC-ROMANTIC ("SALAMBO"), COMIC
(MARRIAGE) AND SOROCHINSKI FAIR),
HISTORICAL (BORIS GODUNOV AND
KHOVANSHCHINA).
BORIS GODUNOV
OPERA
ITS THEME IS THE TRAGIC GUILT AND INEXORABLE ( NOT ABLE TO BE STOPPED
OR CHANGED ) FATE OF A GREAT HERO, BORIS FYODOROVICH GODUNOV, WHO
REIGNED AS TSAR FROM 1598 TO 1605. PUSHKIN’S MASTERLY DEVELOPMENT OF
THE DRAMATIC ACTION ON TWO PLANES—ONE POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL, THE
OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL—IS SET AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF TURBULENT
EVENTS AND RUTHLESS AMBITIONS.

COMRADE, WHAT THEY DO THERE?

 THE HISTORY AND IDEAS BEHIND IT
THE OPERA "BORIS GODUNOV" WAS WRITTEN IN 1869. IN THE FIRST VERSION,
BUT NOT ADDED. MUSSORGSKY MAKES AN EDIT IN WHICH HE ADDS CHARACTERS
AND ANOTHER PICTURE AT THE END. THIS VERSION OF THE OPERATION WAS
ADDED IN 1874. HE DESCRIBES OPERA AS A HEROIC FOLK DRAMA. IT HAS A
PROLOGUE, 4 ACTS AND IS BASED ON THE POEM OF THE SAME NAME BY A.
PUSHKIN. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN RUSSIAN MUSIC, THE PEOPLE ARE THE MAIN
PROTAGONIST, SO MUSSORGSKY POSES THE PROBLEM OF THE CONFLICT
BETWEEN TSAR AND PEOPLE. THE IMAGES OF BORIS GODUNOV AND THE PEOPLE
ARE RECREATED IN MANY WAYS WITH DIFFERENT MEANS OF EXPRESSION. THE
IMAGE OF THE PEOPLE IS DEPICTED THROUGH THE INTONATION OF THE RURAL
FOLKLORE.
 THE HISTORY AND IDEAS BEHIND IT

FOR THE FIRST TIME, MUSSORGSKY ALSO USED SOLO LINES, CHORAL LAUGHTER AND
LAMENTABLE INTONATIONS IN CHOIRS. THE IMAGE OF THE PEOPLE IS COMPLEMENTED BY
THE MINOR CHARACTERS OF THE INNKEEPER AND THE WANDERERS BARLAAM AND MISAIL.
FOLK DANCE INTONATIONS ARE USED FOR THEM. THE IMAGE OF THE PEOPLE CHANGES
THROUGHOUT THE OPERA / PERFORMANCE, AS IN THE BEGINNING IT IS AN
UNENLIGHTENED, EASILY CONTROLLED CROWD, AND IN THE END IT REBELS AND SEEKS THE
TRUTH, BUT IS DECEIVED AGAIN. THE OPERA ENDS WITH THE CRY OF THE UGLY ONE, WHO
MOURNS THE FATE OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE. THE IMAGE OF BORIS GODUNOV IS DEEP AND
MULTI-LAYERED, IT DEVELOPS THROUGHOUT THE OPERA. HE WAS TORN BY THE THOUGHT
OF MURDER, ALTHOUGH HE IS PORTRAYED AS A CRUEL RULER, BUT HIS BRIGHT LOVING
AND WISE SIDE IS ALSO PRESENT IN HIS IMAGE.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE THOUGHT OF
MURDER DESTROYS HIM. HE (BORIS
GODUNOV) IS IN CONSTANT CONFLICT
WITH HIS PEOPLE, AND THIS IS
UNDERSTOOD FROM HIS MUSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS. RECITATIVE
INTONATIONS AND CHURCH SLAVONIC
INTONATIONS PREDOMINATE IN
GODUNOV'S PARTY. CENTRAL TO HIS IMAGE
ARE 3 SCENES: THE MONOLOGUES FROM
THE PROLOGUE, THE SECOND AND FOURTH
ACT.
 IN THE END
THE TYPICAL THING ABOUT THE OPERA IS THAT IT
HAS A CONTINUOUS MUSICAL STAGE ACTION, THEY
ARE USED INSTEAD OF ARIAS, MONOLOGUE SCENES
AND DIALOGUE SCENES. THE ORCHESTRA PLAYS A
VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN RECREATING THE
EXPERIENCES OF THE CHARACTERS AND IT SHOWS
THE COLORFUL HARMONIOUS LANGUAGE OF
MUSSORGSKY. HE USES DISSONANT CONSONANCES,
CHROMATISMS, WEAKENS THE FUNCTIONAL
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE CHORDS AND USES
THEM AS COLORS WITH WHICH HE PAINTS THE
IMAGES AND MUSIC OF THIS OPERA. WITH ALL THIS,
MUSSORGSKY PREPARED IMPRESSIONISM FROM
THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY.