MIKHAIL GLINKA (1804-1857)

1. Raised initially by grandmother

a. Weak constitution
b. House kept at least 77 deg. F

1. Glinka kept indoors.

c. Cut off from music except for:

1. church music
2. bell music
3. folk songs

a. sung by his nurse, Avdotya Ivanovna

2. Age of Ten

a. Hears clarinet quintet by Crusell
b. Dedicates himself to music

3. St. Petersburg

a. Arrives in 1 817 to study music
b. 1822, First attempts at composition
c. 1825, First popular work

1. Romance, set to Russian words

4. Italy

a. 1830-33, Studies Italian music
b. Begins to desire return to Russia to write Russian music.

1. "My labors at composition I consider less successful. It cost me no little effort to counterfeit the Italian sentimento brillante, as they call the sense of well-being which is the result of an organism being happily placed beneath the influence of the beneficent southern sun. We, the inhabitants of the North, feel differently: impressions either do not touch us at all, or else penetrate our souls deeply. With us it is either frantic jollity or bitter tears. With us love, that delightful feeling that creates a universe, is always joined to sadness. There is no doubt that our mournful Russian song is a child of the North, and perhaps owes something to the inhabitants of the East... A longing for my own country led me gradually to the idea of writing in a Russian manner.

5. First Opera, A Life for the Tsar

a. 1834, Glinka decides to write Russian opera
b. Zhukovsky suggests story of Ivan Susanin

1. Russian peasant who in 1612 saved Mikhail Romanov from Polish troops by leading troops deep into a forest where they all perished.

c. Original title: Ivan Susanin

1. Changed by Tsar Nikolai I.
2. Nikolai wanted to emphasize Susanin's loyalty to his Tsar, the founder of the Romanov dynasty.

d. Opera becomes instant success

1. Tunes from opera became popular songs
2. Contemporary commentary

a. "Mr. Glinka... has looked deeply into the character of our folk music, has observed all its characteristics, has studied and assimilated it -- and then has given full freedom to his own fantasy which has taken images which are purely Russian, native. Many who heard his opera noticed something familiar in it, tried to recall from which Russian song this or that motif was taken, and could This is high praise to our maestro; is not one borrowed phrase, but which Russian song this not discover the original. in fact, in his opera there is not one borrowed phrase , buy they are all clear, comprehensible, familiar to us simply because they breathe a pure nationalism, because we hear in them native sounds."

6. Second Opera, Ruslan and Liudmilla

a. 1837, first idea to write opera on this theme
b. 1842, work premiered in Nov.
c. Story of Ruslan and Liudmilla

1. Lyudmilla, daughter of the Prince of Kiev, is abducted by Chernomor, a wicked dwarf. This happens during the night after the feast celebrating her betrothal and marriage to Ruslan who, with her three unsuccessful suitors, forthwith sets out to rescue her. After defeating one of his rivals in combat... Ruslan reaches Chernomor's castle. The dwarf's source of strength lies in his immense beard, and after a struggle involving a three day aerial flight hanging on to the beard, Ruslan is able to cut it off with a magic sword and rescues Lyudmilla, but not before Chernomor puts her into a charmed sleep. After other adventures, Ruslan arrives in Kiev and with the help of a friendly magician he wakes Lyudmilla amid general rejoicing.