“Plots” and “heroes” of the musical form. Scenario of the conversation “literary and musical heroes in the works of classical composers Dramatic musical image

Music obeys the laws of life, it is reality, and therefore has an impact on people. It is very important to learn to listen and understand classical music. Even at school, children learn what a musical image is and who creates it. Most often, teachers define the concept of image as a particle of life. The rich possibilities of the language of melodies enable composers to create images in musical works to realize their creative ideas. Plunge into the rich world of musical art, learn about the different types of images in it.

What is a musical image

It is impossible to master musical culture without appreciating this art. It is perception that makes it possible to carry out composing, listening, performing, pedagogical, and musicological activities. Perception makes it possible to understand what a musical image is and how it originates. It should be noted that the composer creates an image under the influence of impressions with the help of creative imagination. To make it easier to understand what a musical image is, it is better to imagine it in the form of a set of musical expressive means, style, character of the music, and construction of the work.

Music can be called a living art that unites many types of activities. The sounds of melodies embody the content of life. The image of a musical work refers to thoughts, feelings, experiences, actions of certain people, and various natural manifestations. This concept also includes events from someone’s life, the activities of an entire people and humanity.

A musical image in music is a complexity of character, musical and expressive means, socio-historical conditions of its origin, principles of construction, and style of the composer. Here are the main types of images in music:

Lyrical. Conveys the author's personal experiences and reveals his spiritual world. The composer conveys feelings, mood, sensations. There are no actions here.
Epic. It narrates, describes some events in the life of the people, talks about their history and exploits.
Dramatic. Depicts the private life of a person, his conflicts and clashes with society.
Fairy. Shows fictitious fantasies and imaginations.
Comic. He exposes everything bad using funny situations and surprise.

Lyrical image

In ancient times there was such a folk stringed instrument - the lyre. Singers used it to convey their various experiences and emotions. From him came the concept of lyrics that convey deep emotional experiences, thoughts and feelings. The lyrical musical image has emotional and subjective elements. With its help, the composer conveys his individual spiritual world. A lyrical work does not include any events, it only conveys the mental state of the lyrical hero, this is his confession.

Many composers have learned to convey lyrics through music, because it is very close to poetry. Instrumental lyrical works include works by Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, and Vivaldi. Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky also worked in this direction. They formed musical lyrical images with the help of melodies. It is impossible to formulate the purpose of music better than Beethoven did: “What comes from the heart must lead to it.” When forming a definition of the image of musical art, many researchers take exactly this statement. In his "Spring Sonata" Beethoven made nature a symbol of the awakening of the world from hibernation. The musical image and skill of the performer help to see in the sonata not only spring, but also joy and freedom.

We must also remember Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. This is truly a masterpiece with a musical and artistic image for piano. The melody is passionate, persistent, ending in hopeless despair.

The lyric in the composers' masterpieces connects to imaginative thinking. The author tries to show what imprint this or that event left on his soul. Prokofiev simply masterfully conveyed the “melodies of the soul” in Natasha Rostova’s waltz in the opera “War and Peace.” The character of the waltz is very gentle, it feels timid, unhurried and, at the same time, excited, thirst for happiness. Another example of the lyrical musical image and skill of the composer is Tatiana from Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin". Also an example of a musical image (lyrical) can be the works of Schubert “Serenade”, Tchaikovsky “Melody”, Rachmaninoff “Vocalise”.

Dramatic musical image

Translated from Greek, "drama" means "action". With the help of a dramatic work, the author conveys events through the dialogues of the characters. In the literature of many nations, such works existed a long time ago. There are also dramatic musical images in music. Composers show them through the actions of heroes looking for a way out of the situation and entering into a fight with their enemies. These actions evoke very strong feelings that force you to take actions.

The audience sees the dramatic hero in constant struggle, which leads him either to victory or to death. Actions, not feelings, come first in drama. The most striking dramatic characters are Shakespeare's - Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet. Othello is jealous, which leads him to tragedy. Hamlet is overcome by a desire for revenge on the murderers of his father. Macbeth's strong thirst for power forces him to kill the king. Without a dramatic musical image in music, drama is unthinkable. He is the nerve, the source, the focus of the work. The dramatic hero appears to be a slave to passion, which leads him to disaster.

One example of a dramatic conflict is Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades" based on Pushkin's story of the same name. At first, viewers meet the poor officer Herman, who dreams of getting rich quickly and easily. He had never been interested in gambling before, although he was a gambler at heart. Herman is motivated by his love for the rich heiress of an old countess. The whole drama is that the wedding cannot take place due to his poverty. Soon Herman learns about the secret of the old countess: she supposedly keeps the secret of three cards. The officer is overcome by the desire to find out this secret at all costs in order to hit the big jackpot. Herman comes to the countess's house and threatens her with a pistol. The old woman dies of fear without revealing the secret. At night, a ghost comes to Herman and whispers the treasured cards: “Three, seven, ace.” He comes to his beloved Lisa and confesses to her that it was because of him that the old countess died. Lisa threw herself into the river out of grief and drowned herself. The ghost’s cherished words haunt Herman; he goes to a gambling house. The first two bets, on three and seven, turned out to be successful. The win turned Herman's head so much that he goes all-in and bets all the money he won on the ace. The intensity of the drama is approaching its peak; instead of the ace, the queen of spades appears in the deck. At this moment, Herman recognizes the old countess in the queen of spades. The final loss leads the hero to suicide.

It is worth comparing how Pushkin and Tchaikovsky show the drama of their hero. Alexander Sergeevich showed Hermann as cold and calculating; he wanted to use Lisa to enrich himself. Tchaikovsky approached the portrayal of his dramatic character a little differently. The composer slightly changes the characters of his heroes, because inspiration is needed to portray them. Tchaikovsky showed Herman as romantic, in love with Lisa, and with a passionate imagination. Only one passion displaces the image of his beloved from the officer’s head - the secret of three cards. The world of musical images of this dramatic opera is very rich and impressive.

Another example of a dramatic ballad is Schubert's "The King of the Forest". The composer showed the struggle between two worlds - real and fictional. Schubert was characterized by romanticism, he was fascinated by mysticism, and the work turned out to be quite dramatic. The collision of two worlds is very vivid. The real world is embodied in the image of a father who looks at reality sensibly and calmly and does not notice the Forest King. His child lives in a mystical world, he is sick, and he dreams of the Forest King. Schubert shows a fantastic picture of a mysterious forest shrouded in gloomy darkness and a father rushing through it on a horse with a dying child in his arms. The composer gives each character his own characteristics. The dying boy is tense, frightened, and in his words there is a plea for help. A delirious child finds himself in the terrible kingdom of the formidable Forest King. The father tries with all his might to calm the child.

The entire ballad is permeated with a heavy rhythm, the stomping of a horse is represented by a continuous octave beat. Schubert created a complete visual-auditory illusion filled with drama. At the end, the dynamics of the musical development of the ballad ends, as the father held the dead baby in his arms. These are the musical images (dramatic) that helped Schubert create one of his most impressive creations.

Epic Portraits in Music

Translated from Greek, “epic” means story, word, song. In epic works, the author talks about people and the events in which they take part. Characters, circumstances, social and natural environment come first. Literary epic works include stories, legends, epics, and stories. Most often, composers use poems to write epic works; they tell about heroic deeds. From the epic you can learn about the life of ancient people, their history and exploits. The main dramatic musical images and the composer's skill represent specific characters, events, stories, and nature.

The epic is based on real events, but there is also a share of fiction in it. The author idealizes and mythologizes his heroes. They are endowed with heroism and perform feats. There are also negative characters. The epic in music shows not only specific persons, but also events, nature, symbolizing the native land in a particular historical era. Thus, many teachers present a lesson on musical image in the 6th grade using excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Sadko”. Students try to understand by what means of music the composer was able to draw a portrait of the hero after listening to Sadko’s song “Oh, you dark oak tree.” Children hear a melodious, smooth melody and an even rhythm. Gradually, the major is replaced by a minor, the tempo slows down. The opera is quite sad, melancholy and thoughtful.

The composer of The Mighty Handful, A.P. Borodin, worked in the epic style. The list of his epic works includes the “Heroic Symphony” No. 2 and the opera “Prince Igor”. In Symphony No. 2, Borodin captured the mighty heroic Motherland. At first there is a melodious and smooth melody, then it turns into a jerky one. The smooth rhythm gives way to a dotted one. Slow tempo combined with minor key.

The famous poem “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” is considered a monument of medieval culture. The work tells the story of Prince Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsians. Bright epic portraits of princes, boyars, Yaroslavna, and Polovtsian khans were created here. The opera begins with an overture, then there is a prologue about how Igor prepares his army for a campaign and watches a solar eclipse. Four acts of the opera follow. A very striking moment in the work is Yaroslavna’s crying. At the end, the people sing glory to Prince Igor and his wife, even though the campaign ended in defeat and the death of the army. To portray the historical hero of that era, the musical image of the performer is very important.

It is also worth including in the list of epic creations the work of Mussorgsky's "Bogatyr Gate", Glinka's "Ivan Susanin", Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky". Composers conveyed the heroic deeds of their heroes through various musical means.

Fairytale musical image

The very word “fabulous” contains the storyline of such works. Rimsky-Korsakov can be called the most brilliant creator of fairy-tale creations. Even from the school curriculum, children will learn his famous fairy tale-opera “The Snow Maiden”, “The Golden Cockerel”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”. One cannot help but recall the symphonic suite “Scheherazade” based on the book “1001 Nights”. Fairy-tale and fantastic images in Rimsky-Korsakov's music are in close unity with nature. It is fairy tales that lay the moral foundation in a person, children begin to distinguish good from evil, they learn mercy, justice, and condemn cruelty and deceit. As a teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov spoke in the language of fairy tales about high human feelings. In addition to the above operas, one can name “Kashchei the Immortal”, “The Night Before Christmas”, “May Night”, “The Tsar’s Bride”. The composer's melodies have a complex melodic-rhythmic structure, they are virtuosic and moving.

Fantastic music

It is worth mentioning the fantastic musical images in music. A lot of fantastic works are created every year. Since ancient times, various folk ballads and songs praising various heroes have been known. Musical culture began to be filled with fantasy in the era of romanticism. Elements of fantasy are found in the works of Gluck, Beethoven, and Mozart. The most prominent writers of fantastic motifs were German composers: Weber, Wagner, Hoffmann, Mendelssohn. Their works have Gothic intonations. The fairy-tale-fantastic element of these melodies is intertwined with the theme of man’s confrontation with the world around him. The folk epic with elements of fantasy is based on the works of composer Edvard Grieg from Norway.

Is fantastic imagery inherent in Russian musical art? The composer Mussorgsky filled his works “Pictures at an Exhibition” and “Night on Bald Mountain” with fantastic motifs. Spectators can watch the witches' Sabbath at night on the holiday of Ivan Kupala. Mussorgsky also wrote an interpretation of Gogol's work "Sorochinskaya Fair". Elements of fantasy can be seen in the works of Tchaikovsky “The Mermaid” and Dargomyzhsky “The Stone Guest”. Such masters as Glinka (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Rubinstein (The Demon), Rimsky-Korsakov (The Golden Cockerel) did not stand aside from science fiction.

A real revolutionary breakthrough in synthetic art was made by the experimenter Scriabin, who used elements of light music. In his works, he specially wrote lines for light. His works “The Divine Poem”, “Prometheus”, “Poem of Ecstasy” are filled with fantasy. Some fantasy techniques were present even in the realists Kabalevsky and Shostakovich.

The advent of computer technology has made fantasy music a favorite for many. Films with fantastic compositions began to appear on television and cinema screens. After the advent of musical synthesizers, great prospects for fantastic motifs opened up. The era has come when composers can sculpt music like sculptors.

Comic displays in musical works

It’s difficult to talk about comic images in music. Few art critics characterize this direction. The task of comic music is to correct with laughter. It is smiles that are the true companions of comic music. The comic genre is easier; it does not require conditions that bring suffering to the heroes.

To create a comic moment in music, composers use the effect of surprise. Thus, J. Haydn in one of his London symphonies created a melody with a timpani part that instantly shakes up the listeners. A pistol shot disrupts the smooth melody in Strauss's waltz with a surprise ("Bull's-eye!"). This immediately cheers up the room.

Any jokes, even musical ones, carry with them amusing absurdities, funny inconsistencies. Many people are familiar with the genre of comic marches, joke marches. From start to finish, Prokofiev's march from the collection "Children's Music" is endowed with comedy. Comic characters can be seen in Mozart's work "The Marriage of Figaro", where laughter and humor are heard already in the introduction. Cheerful and smart Figaro cleverly plays tricks in front of the count.

Elements of satire in music

Another type of comic is satire. The satirical genre is characterized by harshness, it is menacing, withering. With the help of satirical moments, composers exaggerate and exaggerate certain phenomena in order to expose vulgarity, evil and immorality. Thus, Dodon from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Golden Cockerel” and Farlaf from Glinka’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila” can be called satirical images.

Image of nature

The theme of nature is very relevant not only in literature, but also in music. By showing nature, composers depict its real sound. Composer M. Messiaen simply imitates the voices of nature. Such English and French masters as Vivaldi, Beethoven, Berlioz, Haydn were able to convey pictures of nature and the feelings they evoke with melody. A special pantheistic image of nature is found in Rimsky-Korsakov and Mahler. The romantic perception of the surrounding world can be observed in Tchaikovsky's play "The Seasons". Sviridov's composition "Spring" has a gentle, dreamy, friendly character.

Folklore motives in musical art

Many composers used the melodies of folk songs to create their masterpieces. Simple song melodies became the decoration of orchestral compositions. Images from folk tales, epics, and legends formed the basis for many works. They were used by Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin. Composer Rimsky-Korsakov in the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" used the Russian folk song "Whether in the garden or in the vegetable garden" to create the image of a squirrel. Folk melodies can be heard in Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina. Composer Balakirev created the famous fantasy “Islamey” based on Kabardian folk dance. The fashion for folklore motifs in the classics has not disappeared. Many people are familiar with V. Gavrilin’s modern symphony-action “Chimes”.

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What is form in music?

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couplet form

What one soloist sings is the chorus of the song. Have you ever paid attention to how a song is composed? Especially a song that can be sung by many people together - at a demonstration, on a hike, or in the evening around a pioneer fire. It seems to be divided into two parts, which are then repeated several times. These two parts are sung, otherwise known as a verse (the French word couplet means stanza) and a chorus, otherwise called a refrain (this word is also French - refrain).

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In choral songs, the chorus is often performed by the singer alone, and the choir takes up the chorus. A song consists of not one, but usually several verses. The music in them usually does not change or changes very little, but the words are different each time. The chorus always remains unchanged both in text and music. Remember any pioneer song or any of those that you sing when you go camping in the summer, and check for yourself how it is built. The form in which the vast majority of songs are written is therefore called the verse form.

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SCHOOL SHIP Lyrics: Konstantin Ibryaev Music: Georgy Struve And on a fine September day, And when February sweeps, School, school, you look like a ship running into the distance. Chorus: Now our watch is at the school board, So that means, a little bit, we are all sailors. We are familiar with the thirst for discovery, Our roads are far. 2Every year we enter together into a new class, like into a new port. And we take our dreams and songs on board, as always. Chorus. Now our watch is at the school board, So that means that we are all sailors a little. We are familiar with the thirst for discovery, Our roads are far. 3 In the footsteps of Green's heroes, Along the pages of good books We are under an invisible sail, Sail straight with friends. Chorus. Now our watch is at the school board, So that means that we are all sailors a little. We are familiar with the thirst for discovery, Our roads are far. 4 Whether we become sailors, whether we pilot a spaceship, we will never leave a Man overboard. Chorus. Now our watch is at the school board, So that means that we are all sailors a little. We are familiar with the thirst for discovery, Our roads are far.

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old rondo form

They are based on two (or - in Rondo - several) different thematic materials. The form in such cases is built on the comparison, development, and sometimes the collision of these often contrasting, and sometimes even conflicting themes.

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tripartite form

The three-part structure is built according to a scheme that is usually depicted in letters like this: ABA. This means that the initial episode is repeated at the end, after the contrasting middle episode. In this form, the middle parts of symphonies and sonatas, parts of suites, various instrumental pieces are written, for example, many nocturnes, preludes and mazurkas by Chopin, songs without words by Mendelssohn, romances by Russian and foreign composers.

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two-part form

The two-part form is less common, as it has a connotation of incompleteness, comparison, as if “without conclusion,” without a conclusion. Its diagram: AB. There are also musical forms based on just one theme. These are, first of all, variations, which can more accurately be called a theme with variations (variations are also the subject of a separate story in this book). In addition, many forms of polyphonic music are built on the same theme, such as fugue, canon, invention, chaconne and passacaglia.

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free form

that is, a composition not associated with established standard musical forms. Most often, composers turn to free form when creating program works, as well as when composing all kinds of fantasies and medleys on borrowed themes. True, often and in free forms there are features of tripartiteness - the most common of all musical structures. It is no coincidence that the most complex, the highest of all musical forms - the sonata - is also fundamentally tripartite. Its main sections - exposition, development and recapitulation - form a complex tripartite structure - a symmetrical and logically complete structure.

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Heroics are an important theme in the works of many domestic and foreign composers. We can say that, along with the love theme, the heroic theme is the most widespread in music. Any narrative musical work is characterized by the presence of a hero (and often an anti-hero), and therefore, the author is faced with the task of creating his artistic image.

Heroic images are very typical for, the composer creates them based on the motives of patriotism, sacrifice for the Motherland, military and human feats. And since the history of any country has no shortage of heroes, the main layer of national musical culture is dedicated to them.

The heroic theme has always attracted the attention of Russian composers, and it has become the main theme in the work of some of them. The overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the Patriotic War of 1812, the Revolution of 1917, the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars left an indelible mark on Russian music, each of these events has its own heroes. Many of these heroes, or rather their images, are embodied in the works of domestic authors. Foreign composers also dedicated many works to heroes who fought for their fatherland.

Among the images of Russian heroes, especially beloved in musical art, we can name: Prince Igor Borodin, Ivan Susanin Glinka, Alexander Nevsky and Kutuzov from Prokofiev’s operas. Many musical works depict a collective heroic image of the Russian people, for example, in the operas “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina” by Mussorgsky.

The works of foreign composers also contain many heroic images; Beethoven, Mozart, and Liszt turned to heroism at different times.

Glinka was the first Russian composer to write an opera; he lived in a difficult historical period - during the Patriotic War of 1812. This life-and-death struggle of the Russian people, the desire to defend their fatherland at all costs, inspired Glinka to write the opera "Ivan Susanin".

The story of Ivan Susanin himself echoes the realities of the war with Napoleon, in the era in which the composer lived and worked. As follows from the legend (some historians are convinced that Susanin’s feat is actually fictional), Susanin, without fear for his life, led a detachment of Polish interventionists into the forest, where they perished. Susanin himself died along with his enemies. In his opera, Glinka paints a multidimensional image of a hero, as the serf peasant Ivan Susanin appears before us. A characteristic feature of this image is the ringing of bells that accompanies his aria. The ringing symbolizes the victory of the people over foreign invaders; it was the bells in Rus' that called the people to council and reported on significant events. So Glinka connected the image of the hero with the image of a bell alarm.

The feeling of urbanity that arises when listening to Glinka’s opera was undoubtedly the author’s idea. To do this, the composer used the entire rich palette of musical expressive means and, in particular, melodies similar to folk songs. Before his death, Susanin sings that he is afraid to die, but he sees no other way out than to die for his Motherland, but not to give it up to the enemy. Even at the cost of terrible torment (his enemies torture him so that he would show them the way out of the thicket), Susanin does not betray his own.

In the opera “Ivan Susanin,” Glinka also created a heroic image of the people, who performs the part of the choir and, as it were, confirms the words of the main character, who, without fear of death, is ready to give his life for the salvation of the Motherland. The entire Russian people glorifies Susanin’s feat and, without hesitation, will go to death in the name of life.

The plot of Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor” is based on the story of the struggle of ancient Russian princes with the nomadic Polovtsians. The story itself was described in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” which the composer used when writing his work. In Borodin's opera, as in Glinka's opera, much attention is paid to folk motifs, especially in the choral parts. Prince Igor is a true hero, he passionately loves his homeland - Rus' and is ready to defend it from enemies with fire and sword.

The opera “Prince Igor” is a majestic folk epic, truthfully recreating in generalized, vivid and life-convincing images one of the tragic periods of the past of the Russian people in their struggle for unity and national independence. In the heroic concept of the opera, in its main musical images, Borodin embodied the most typical features of the national character and mental makeup of the Russian people: selfless love and devotion to the Motherland, moral fortitude and heroic unity in the fight against the enemy, resistance to despotism, violence and tyranny.

In the operas “Khovanshchina” and “Boris Godunov” their author, M. Mussorgsky, paints a heroic image of the people.

Work on “Khovanshchina” continued until the last days of the composer’s life; one might say it was the work of his whole life.

At the center of the opera “Khovanshchina” is the idea of the tragic collision of old and new Rus', the disappearance of the old way of life and the victory of the new. The content consists of genuine historical events of the end of the 17th century, the struggle of the reactionary feudal nobility led by Prince Khovansky against the party of Peter I. The plot is presented in a complex, multifaceted development, various social groups are shown - archers, schismatics, peasants (“newcomers”), the rude feudal lord Khovansky and the “half-European, half-Asian” Vasily Golitsyn. Not everything in the opera corresponds to actual events, but the drama of the Russian people is presented with amazing depth, its spiritual strength and its resilience are shown. In Khovanshchina, Mussorgsky created images of Russian people (Dositheus, Martha), striking with the greatness of their souls.

The people are at the center of the action of Khovanshchina. The peculiarity of this opera by Mussorgsky is that the author does not show the people as a single whole, but identifies various social groups, which receive a special musical depiction, and the characteristics of each group are given in development. Thus, the characteristics of the archers differ sharply from the characteristics of the schismatics; The group of “newcomers”, peasants, stands out especially; Mussorgsky emphasizes other features when depicting Khovansky’s serfs. Different characteristics are given to individual groups through different song genres and different song characters. The choirs of riotous archers are built on the intonations of valiant, dance songs with energetic, dance rhythms; the song “about Gossip” reflected the features of urban ditty folklore. The contrast is presented by the prayer choirs of Streltsy and the choirs of Streltsy wives in the scene of the “procession to execution” - where the basis is people’s cries, screams, and lamentations. The choirs of schismatics sound archaic, they combine the features of folk songs with the severity of znamenny chant (the “Pobedihom” choir, in which the melody of the folk song “Stop, my dear round dance” is reworked); in Act V (“At the Skete”), ancient schismatic prayers and chants are widely used in the music. The choirs of “newcomers” and serf girls use directly peasant song - lyrical, drawn-out, majestic.

The heroic theme is also reflected in the works of S. Prokofiev. We can say that all the music he wrote is literally imbued with heroism. Most of the composer's works are created using historical plots, and where there is history, there are heroes. The images of the heroes are especially vivid in his famous opera “War and Peace”, written based on the epic novel of the same name by L. Tolstoy. With special care, the composer works on the image of Kutuzov, forced to leave Moscow to be plundered by the enemy, and the collective image of a Russian soldier fighting for his Fatherland.

The idea for the opera “War and Peace” arose from Prokofiev in the spring of 1941. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War made this topic especially close and relevant. The composer wrote: “...Already then the thoughts that were fermenting in me to write an opera based on the plot of Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” took clear forms. Somehow, the pages telling about the struggle of the Russian people against the hordes of Napoleon in 1812 and the expulsion of Napoleonic army from Russian soil became especially close. It was clear that these pages should form the basis of the opera.”

The steadfastness of the Russian character, which withstood and did not break in the face of the severe trials that befell him during the difficult years of the enemy invasion, is shown in the opera in scenes on the battlefield, folk images (soldiers, militias, Moscow residents, partisans) and in the images of individual heroes . The majestic figure of the commander, Field Marshal Kutuzov, especially stands out, whose musical characteristics consist of leisurely phrases separated by pauses, recitatives, his main theme and an aria-monologue that completes the image. In Prokofiev's opera, two principles are concentrated, generally expressed in the theme of war, national disaster, and in the theme of Moscow - the Motherland. The first theme, with its insistent, harsh sound of trumpet and horns against a backdrop of trumpet and bassoon ostinatos, forms a symphonic introduction. This menacing and alarming “screensaver” plays an important dramatic role, sounds like an alarm bell, announcing the mortal danger looming over Moscow and Russia. The second theme - the symbol of the immortality of the Motherland - sounds in Kutuzov's aria. Kutuzov’s majestic, structurally complete monologue is the culmination of the 10th film. This aria, written in a complex three-part form with a declamatory introduction and a middle part, stands out as a mighty peak above the “fluid” recitative music of the preceding dialogues of the participants in the military council. It was created on the principle of an epic portrait of the Russian hero in the operas of Glinka and Borodin, mentioned above. Kutuzov’s thoughts and feelings are turned to the fate of Moscow and the Fatherland.

Among foreign composers, it is worth highlighting Beethoven, who wrote the famous Coriolanus Overture. Coriolanus was a Roman general who lived in the 1st century BC. The name Coriolanus was given to him in honor of his conquest of the Volscian city of Coriola. Beethoven wrote his own music for Collin's production of the play. In the overture, the composer paints a psychological “portrait” of Coriolanus, showing the tragic conflict of his soul. According to Beethoven, it is great misfortune that allows a person to become courageous, which is what we see in Kriolan. The entire overture is the hero's internal monologue, the formation of his heroic image.

To summarize the above, we note that Russian composers in their work often turned to the heroic-patriotic theme, since it was relevant at all times. The main thing is that the heroic images created in music reflect the idea of protecting the Motherland, glorify peaceful life and show that heroes only defend the Fatherland from the enemy, but never attack. The hero generally brings only good to people, protects and preserves them, and in himself belongs to the people. Such is Ivan Susanin, whose image is depicted in Glinka’s opera, such are the people from Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, such is Prokofiev’s Kutuzov, forced to surrender the capital to the enemy in the name of saving the entire country.

A necessary condition for the significance of the heroic images embodied by the composer is the historicism of the author's thinking. Heroic musical works trace the connection of times from the spark of the national spirit that flared up in the distant past, affirming the need to fight for oneself, one’s family, one’s nation, to the selfless struggle for the liberation of the peoples of Europe from fascism in the Great Patriotic War, for universal peace on Earth for all peoples - in our time. The appearance of each work - opera, symphony, cantata - is always determined by the needs of its era. Or as they say, every era has its own hero. But the important thing is that no era can exist without heroes.

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What one soloist sings is the beginning of the song. Have you ever paid attention to how a song is composed? Especially a song that can be sung by many people together - at a demonstration, on a hike, or in the evening around a pioneer fire. It seems to be divided into two parts, which are then repeated several times. These two parts are the chorus or, in other words, the verse (the French word couplet means stanza) and the chorus, otherwise called the refrain (this word is also French - refrain).

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Lesson objectives:

Musical lesson material:

Ø R. Wagner.

Ø E. Krylatov, poetry N. Dobronravova.

Additional material:

During the classes:

I. Organizational moment.

II. Lesson topic message.

Lesson topic: What is musical form. “Plots” and “heroes” of the musical form.

III. Work on the topic of the lesson.

Artistic form is content that has become visible.

I. Gofmiller

Musical form-

1. A holistic, organized system of expressive means of music (melody, rhythm, harmony, etc.), with the help of which its ideological and figurative content is embodied in a musical work.

2. Construction, structure of a musical work, the relationship of its parts. The elements of musical form are: motive, phrase, sentence, period. Different ways of developing and juxtaposing elements lead to the formation of various musical forms. Basic musical forms: two-part, three-part, sonata form, variations, verse form, group of cyclic forms, free forms, etc. The unity of the content and form of a musical work is the main condition and at the same time a sign of its artistic value.

A musical form is usually called a composition, that is, the features of the construction of a musical work: the relationship and methods of development of musical thematic material, the relationship and alternation of tonalities. Of course, each piece of music has its own unique features. But nevertheless, over the course of several centuries of the development of European music, certain patterns and principles have developed, according to which certain types of works are built.

One of the musical forms you are all, no doubt, very familiar with. This is the verse form in which songs are written. The ancient form of the rondo, which originates from it, is similar to it. They are based on two (or - in rondo - several) different thematic materials. The form in such cases is built on the comparison, development, and sometimes the collision of these often contrasting, and sometimes even conflicting themes.

Three-part and two-part forms are also common in musical practice. The three-part structure is built according to a scheme that is usually depicted in letters like this: ABA. This means that the initial episode is repeated at the end, after the contrasting middle episode. In this form, the middle parts of symphonies and sonatas, parts of suites, various instrumental pieces are written, for example, many nocturnes, preludes and mazurkas by Chopin, songs without words by Mendelssohn, romances by Russian and foreign composers. The two-part form is less common, as it has a connotation of incompleteness, comparison, as if “without conclusion,” without a conclusion. Its diagram: AB.

There are also musical forms based on just one theme. These are, first of all, variations, which can more accurately be called a theme with variations. In addition, many forms of polyphonic music are built on the same theme, such as fugue, canon, invention, chaconne and passacaglia. The stories “polyphony”, “fugue”, “variations” introduce you to them.

The so-called free form is also found in music, that is, a composition not associated with established standard musical forms. Most often, composers turn to free form when creating program works, as well as when composing all kinds of fantasies and medleys on borrowed themes. True, often and in free forms there are features of tripartiteness - the most common of all musical structures.

It is no coincidence that the most complex and highest of all musical forms - the sonata - is also fundamentally tripartite. Its main sections—exposition, development, and recapitulation—form a complex tripartite structure—a symmetrical and logically complete structure. You will read about this in the story dedicated to the sonata.

PROGRAM MUSIC

You are listening to a piano or violin concerto, a Mozart symphony or a Beethoven sonata. While enjoying beautiful music, you can follow its development, how different musical themes replace one another, how they change and develop. Or you can reproduce in your imagination some pictures, images that the sound of music evokes. At the same time, your fantasies will probably differ from what another person imagines when listening to music with you. Of course, it doesn’t happen that the sound of music sounds like the sound of battle to you, or a gentle lullaby to someone else. But stormy, menacing music can evoke associations with the rampant elements, and with the storm of feelings in the human soul, and with the menacing roar of battle...

There are many musical works in which the composer, in one form or another, explains their content to listeners. Thus, Tchaikovsky called his first symphony “Winter Dreams”. He prefaced its first part with the title “Dreams on a Winter Road”, and the second - “Gloomy Land, Foggy Land”.

Program music is called such instrumental music, which is based on a “program”, that is, some very specific plot or image.

Programs come in different types. Sometimes the composer retells in detail the content of each episode of his work. This is what, for example, Rimsky-Korsakov did in his symphonic film “Sadko” or Lyadov in “Kikimora”. It happens that, turning to widely known literary works, the composer considers it sufficient only to indicate this literary source: this means that all listeners know it well. This is done in Liszt’s Faust Symphony, in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and many other works.

There is also a different type of programming in music, the so-called pictorial, when there is no plot outline, and the music paints one image, a picture or a landscape. These are Debussy's symphonic sketches for The Sea. There are three of them: “From dawn to noon on the sea”, “Play of the waves”, “Conversation of the wind with the sea”. And Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” is called that because in them the composer conveyed his impression of some of the paintings by the artist Hartmann. If you haven't heard this music yet, try to get acquainted with it. Among the pictures that inspired the composer are “Gnome”, “Old Castle”, “Ballet of Unhatched Chicks”, “Hut on Chicken Legs”, “Bogatyr Gate in Ancient Kyiv” and other characteristic and talented sketches.

HISTORY OF CREATION

Wagner became acquainted with the legend of Lohengrin in 1841, but only in 1845 did he sketch the text. The following year, work on music began.

A year later, the opera was completed in clavier, and in March 1848 the score was ready. The premiere scheduled for Dresden did not take place due to revolutionary events. The production was carried out thanks to the efforts of F. Liszt and under his direction two years later, on August 28, 1850 in Weimar. Wagner saw his opera on stage only eleven years after its premiere.

The plot of Lohengrin is based on various folk tales, freely interpreted by Wagner. In coastal countries, among peoples living along the banks of large rivers, poetic legends about a knight sailing in a boat drawn by a swan are common. He appears at the moment when a girl or widow, abandoned and persecuted by everyone, is in mortal danger. The knight frees the girl from her enemies and marries her. They live happily for many years, but the swan unexpectedly returns, and the stranger disappears as mysteriously as he appeared. Often, “swan” legends were intertwined with tales of the Holy Grail. The unknown knight then turned out to be the son of Parsifal - the king of the Grail, who united around himself heroes who guard a mysterious treasure that gives them miraculous power in the fight against evil and injustice. Sometimes legendary events were transferred to a certain historical era - to the reign of Henry I the Birdcatcher (919-936).

The legends of Lohengrin inspired many medieval poets, one of them was Wolfram Eschenbach, whom Wagner brought out in his Tannhäuser.

According to Wagner himself, the Christian motives of the legend of Lohengrin were alien to him. The composer saw in her the embodiment of the eternal human aspirations for happiness and sincere, selfless love. The tragic loneliness of Lohengrin reminded the composer of his own fate - the fate of an artist who brings to people the high ideals of truth and beauty, but is met with misunderstanding, envy and malice.

And in other heroes of Wagner’s tales, living human traits were attracted. Elsa, saved by Lohengrin, with her naive, simple soul, seemed to the composer the embodiment of the elemental power of the people's spirit. She is contrasted with the figure of the evil and vindictive Ortrud - the personification of everything inert and reactionary. In individual remarks of the characters, in side episodes of the opera, the breath of the era when Lohengrin was created is felt: in the king’s calls for unity, in Lohengrin’s readiness to defend his homeland and his faith in the coming victory, echoes of the hopes and aspirations of the progressive people of Germany of the 1840s are heard . This interpretation of ancient tales is typical of Wagner. For him, myths and legends were the embodiment of deep and eternal folk wisdom, in which the composer sought the answer to the questions that troubled him today.

PLOT

On the banks of the Scheldt River, near Antwerp, King Henry the Birdcatcher gathered knights, asking them for help: the enemy was again threatening his possessions. Count Friedrich Telramund appeals to royal justice. Dying, the Duke of Brabant entrusted him with his children - Elsa and little Gottfried. One day, Gottfried mysteriously disappeared. Friedrich accuses Elsa of fratricide and demands her trial. He names his wife Ortrud as a witness. The king orders Elsa to be brought. Everyone is amazed by her dreamy appearance and strange enthusiastic speeches. Elsa says that in a dream a beautiful knight appeared to her, who promised her help and protection. Listening to Elsa's ingenuous story, the king cannot believe in her guilt. Friedrich is ready to prove that he is right in a duel with the one who will stand up for Elsa’s honor. The cry of the herald is heard far away, but there is no answer. Frederick is already celebrating victory. Suddenly, on the waves of the Scheldt, a swan appears, drawing a rook; in it, leaning on a sword, stands an unknown knight in shining armor. Coming ashore, he tenderly says goodbye to the swan, and it slowly swims away. Lohengrin declares himself Elsa's protector: he is ready to fight for her honor and call her his wife. But she must never ask the name of the deliverer. In a fit of love and gratitude, Elsa swears eternal fidelity. The duel begins. Frederick falls, struck by Lohengrin's blow; the knight generously grants him life, but he will be expelled for slander.

That same night, Frederick decides to leave the city. He angrily reproaches his wife: it was she who whispered false accusations against Elsa and awakened in him ambitious dreams of power. Ortrud mercilessly ridicules her husband's cowardice. She will not retreat until she takes revenge, and the weapons in her fight will be pretense and deception. Not the Christian god, in whom Frederick blindly believes, but the ancient vengeful pagan gods will help her. We must force Elsa to break her oath and ask the fateful question. It is not difficult to gain confidence in Elsa: seeing instead of the former arrogant and proud Ortrud a humble, poorly dressed woman, Elsa forgives her for her past anger and hatred and invites her to share her joy. Ortrud begins an insidious game: she humbly thanks Elsa for her kindness and, with feigned concern, warns her against trouble - the stranger did not reveal Elsa’s name or family, he may unexpectedly leave her. But the girl's heart is free from suspicion. Morning comes. People are gathering in the square. The wedding procession begins. Suddenly, Elsa's path is blocked by Ortrud. She has dropped her mask of humility and is now openly mocking Elsa, who does not know the name of her future husband. Ortrud's words cause general confusion. It intensifies when Frederick publicly accuses an unknown knight of witchcraft. But Lohengrin is not afraid of the anger of his enemies - only Elsa can reveal his secret, and he is confident in her love. Elsa stands in confusion, struggling with internal doubts - Ortrud's poison has already poisoned her soul.

The wedding ceremony is over. Elsa and Loengrn are left alone. Nothing disturbs their happiness. Only a light cloud overshadows Elsa’s joy: she cannot call her husband by name. At first, timidly, caressingly, and then more and more persistently, she tries to find out the secret of Lohengrin. In vain does Lohengrin calm Elsa down, in vain does he remind her of her duty and oath, in vain does he assure her that her love is dearer to him than anything in the world. Unable to overcome her suspicions, Elsa asks the fatal question: who is he and where did he come from? At this time, Friedrich Telramund bursts into the chambers with armed soldiers. Lohengrin draws his sword and kills him.

The day is busy. Knights gather on the banks of the Scheldt, ready to go on a campaign against their enemies. Suddenly the joyful cries of the people fall silent: four nobles are carrying the cloak-covered corpse of Frederick: they are followed by the silent Elsa, tormented by grief. The appearance of Lohengrin explains everything, Elsa did not keep her oath, and he must leave Brabant. The knight reveals his name: he is the son of Parsifal, sent to earth by the brotherhood of the Grail to protect the oppressed and offended. People must believe in the messenger of heaven; if they have doubts, the power of the Grail Knight disappears, and he cannot remain on earth. The swan appears again. Lohengrin sadly says goodbye to Elsa and predicts a glorious future for Germany. Lohengrin frees the swan, it disappears into the water, and little Gottfried, Elsa’s brother, emerges from the river, transformed by Ortrud’s witchcraft into a swan. Elsa cannot bear separation from Lohengrin. She dies in her brother's arms. And a shuttle glides along the waves of the Scheldt, carried away by the white dove of the Grail. Lohengrin stands in the canoe, leaning sadly on the shield. The knight leaves the earth forever and retires to his mysterious homeland.

MUSIC

"Lohengrin" is one of Wagner's most complete and perfect operas. It reveals with great completeness the rich spiritual world and complex experiences of the characters. The opera vividly depicts a sharp, irreconcilable clash between the forces of good and truth, embodied in the images of Lohengrin, Elsa, the people, and the dark forces personified by the gloomy figures of Friedrich and Ortrud. The opera's music is distinguished by its rare poetry and sublime, spiritual lyricism.

This is already evident in the orchestral introduction, where in the transparent sound of the violins a vision of the beautiful kingdom of the Grail arises - the land of an impossible dream.

In the first act, the free alternation of solo and choral siennas is permeated with continuously increasing dramatic tension. Elsa’s story “I remember how I prayed, with a deeply grieving soul” conveys the fragile, pure nature of the dreamy, enthusiastic heroine. The chivalrous image of Lohengrin is revealed in the solemnly sublime farewell to the swan “Swim back, O my swan.” The quintet with the choir captures the concentrated thought that gripped those present. The act ends with a large ensemble, in the joyful jubilation of which the angry remarks of Friedrich and Ortrud are drowned.

The second act is full of sharp contrasts. Its beginning is shrouded in ominous darkness, an atmosphere of evil intrigues, which is opposed by the bright characteristics of Elsa. In the second half of the act there is a lot of bright sunlight and movement. Everyday scenes - the awakening of the castle, warlike choirs of knights, a solemn wedding procession - serve as a colorful backdrop for the dramatic clash between Elsa and Ortrud. Elsa’s small arioso “O light-winged wind” is warmed with joyful hope and trembling expectation of happiness. The subsequent dialogue emphasizes the dissimilarity of the heroines: Ortrud’s appeal to the pagan gods has a passionate, pathetic character, Elsa’s speech is permeated with cordiality and warmth. The extensive ensemble scene of the argument between Ortrud and Elsa at the cathedral - Ortrud's malicious slander and Elsa's hot, excited speech - impresses with its dynamic changes of mood. A large build-up leads to a powerful quintet with choir.

The third act contains two scenes. The first is entirely devoted to the psychological drama of Elsa and Lohengrin. In the center is her love duet. In the second, crowd scenes occupy a large place. A brilliant orchestral intermission introduces the lively atmosphere of a wedding feast with warlike shouts, the clash of weapons and simple-minded chants. The “Joyful Day” wedding choir is filled with jubilation. The dialogue between Lohengrin and Elsa “The tender heart burns with a wonderful fire” is one of the best episodes of the opera; wide flexible lyrical melodies with amazing depth convey the change of feelings - from the intoxication of happiness to collision and disaster.

The second scene opens with a colorful orchestral intermezzo built on a roll call of trumpets. In Lohengrin’s story “In a foreign land, in a distant mountain kingdom,” a transparent melody paints a majestic, bright image of the messenger of the Grail. This characterization is complemented by the dramatic farewell “Oh my swan” and the mournful, impetuous address to Elsa.

¾ R. Wagner. Intermission to Act III. From the opera "Lohengrin" (listening).

Vocal and choral work.

¾ R. Wagner. Intermission to Act III. From the opera "Lohengrin" (listening).

¾ E. Krylatov, poetry N. Dobronravova. I believe only in masts and dreams (singing).

IV. Lesson summary.

V. Homework.

Lesson 18

Topic: “Artistic form is content that has become visible”

Lesson objectives:

Ø Teach to perceive music as an integral part of every person’s life.

Ø To cultivate emotional responsiveness to musical phenomena, the need for musical experiences.

Ø Formation of a listening culture based on familiarization with the highest achievements of musical art.

Ø Meaningful perception of musical works (knowledge of musical genres and forms, means of musical expression, awareness of the relationship between content and form in music).

Musical lesson material:

Ø W. A. Mozart.

Ø F. Schubert. Serenade (listening).

Ø E. Krylatov, poetry N. Dobronravova. I believe only in masts and dreams (singing).

Ø A. Zatsepin, poetry L. Derbeneva. There is only a moment (chanting).

Additional material:

During the classes:

I. Organizational moment.

II. Lesson topic message.

Lesson topic: “Artistic form is content that has become visible”

III. Work on the topic of the lesson.

The content is both “images of changeable fantasies” and “dreams”, running, wandering, finding calm and completion only in the precision and definiteness of the form. Before the origin of the work, the idea does not yet exist, it is not formalized, it is not realized. And only after How a work is created, we can judge all the merits of its content - not because the form is more important, but because the world is structured in such a way that content cannot exist outside of form .That is why studying a musical form means studying music, how it is made, what paths a musical thought follows, from what components it is composed, forming composition and dramaturgy of a musical work. Already in the way the work is formed, what means of expression come to the fore in it, the composer’s intention is guessed. What makes up the musical sound, forming the form of music? Musicians know that composers often refer to their works not by titles, but by indications of keys: Prelude in C major, Sonata in B minor, etc. This means that the choice of musical mode - major and minor, as well as a specific key, contains a deep meaning. It is known that many composers even had favorite tonalities with which they associated certain figurative ideas. Perhaps, when Mozart turned to the tonality of D minor, and Messiaen wrote about the meaning of F sharp major in his works, these composers were subjective (as, probably, those musicians who have a “colored ear”, that is, connect the sound certain tones with certain colors). However, their music convinces us of the vivid expressiveness of the chosen tonalities, of their deep figurative validity. Of course, the mournful and at the same time sublime D minor in “Lacrimosa” from Mozart’s Requiem sounds completely different in Gluck’s elegiac-sad Melody from the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice” or in Schubert’s dreamy Serenade. After all, the choice of tonality in itself is not important, but its connection with the idea, image, and means of musical expression.

¾ W. A. Mozart. Requiem. Lacrimosa (listening).

¾ F. Schubert. Serenade (listening).

Vocal and choral work.

¾ E. Krylatov, poetry N. Dobronravova. I believe only in masts and dreams (singing).

¾ A. Zatsepin, poetry L. Derbeneva. There is only a moment (chanting).

IV. Lesson summary.

Each element of a musical form is the main carrier of content: by the way the music sounds, what dominates it, what are the features of its structure, we can judge the musical image, character, and mood.

V. Homework.

Learn song lyrics and definitions.

Lesson 19

Topic: From the whole to the details

Lesson objectives:

Ø Teach to perceive music as an integral part of every person’s life.

Ø Develop an attentive and friendly attitude towards the world around you.

Ø To cultivate emotional responsiveness to musical phenomena, the need for musical experiences.

Ø Develop an interest in music through creative self-expression, manifested in reflections on music and one’s own creativity.

Ø Formation of a listening culture based on familiarization with the highest achievements of musical art.

Ø Meaningful perception of musical works (knowledge of musical genres and forms, means of musical expression, awareness of the relationship between content and form in music).

Musical lesson material:

Ø W. A. Mozart. Overture from the opera “The Marriage of Figaro” (listening).

Ø F. Schubert. Organ grinder. From the vocal cycle “Winter Retreat” (listening).

Ø E. Krylatov, poetry N. Dobronravova. I believe only in masts and dreams (singing).

Ø A. Zatsepin, poetry L. Derbeneva. There is only a moment (chanting).

Ø E. Kolmanovsky, poetry L. Derbeneva, I. Shaferan. Moscow serenade (singing).

Ø A. Rybnikov, poetry R. Tagore. The last poem. From the movie “You Never Even Dreamed of It” (singing).

Additional material:

During the classes:

I. Organizational moment.

II. Lesson topic message.

III. Work on the topic of the lesson.

THE WEDDING OF FIGARO (Le nozze di Figaro) - opera buffa by W. A. Mozart in 4 acts, libretto by L. da Ponte. Premiere: Vienna, 1 May 1786, conducted by the author.

When Mozart decided to write “The Marriage of Figaro,” there were already works on the theme of “The Barber of Seville” - G. Paisiello (1782), F. L. Benda and others. It is generally accepted that the success of Paisiello’s opera prompted Mozart to turn to Beaumarchais’s second play about Figaro . Perhaps this motive played a certain role, but, of course, it was not decisive. The popularity of both plays by Beaumarchais, their artistic perfection, wit and, above all, social acuity, attracted the sympathy of Mozart, a man and artist who was aware of the humiliating position of a musician in feudal society. The image of Figaro, a representative of the rising third estate, speaking out in defense of human dignity, personified the democratic ideas of his time. However, in Austria, Beaumarchais's comedy was banned, and in order to obtain permission to stage the opera, it was necessary to make concessions to censorship. Therefore, when reworking the comedy into the libretto, many of Figaro’s lines had to be omitted. However, it is not these abbreviations of the text that determine the nature of the work, which retained the anti-feudal orientation of Beaumarchais's comedy.

The opera clearly expresses the idea of the superiority of an intelligent, enterprising and courageous person from the people over a depraved, arrogant and hypocritical nobleman. Mozart not only preserved the basic and most important ideological motives of comedy; he rethought, deepened and enriched the images of the heroes, and boldly dramatized the action. His Countess feels more deeply and subtly than in the comedy. Her experiences are dramatic, although she remains a character in a comic opera. Purely buffoonish images are also enriched, such as Marcelina. The moment she finds out that Figaro is her son, the melody of her party changes unrecognizably: a sincere, excited feeling displaces the intonations familiar to a comedic character. A new understanding of the system of operatic dramaturgy found expression in the expansion of the role of ensembles: in Mozart’s opera their number (14) is equal to the number of arias. If earlier the action was revealed in recitatives, and arias and ensembles were like a stop in the development of the plot, then in Mozart they also move the action. Due to its inexhaustible inspiration and rare expressiveness, “The Marriage of Figaro” is the most important milestone in the history of world musical theater.

HISTORY OF CREATION

The plot of the opera is borrowed from the comedy of the famous French playwright P. Beaumarchais (1732-1799) “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro” (1781), which is the second part of a dramatic trilogy (the first part - “The Barber of Seville”, 1773 - served as the basis for the same name operas by D. Rossini). The comedy appeared in the years immediately preceding the French Revolution (it was first staged in Paris in 1784), and due to its anti-feudal tendencies it caused a huge public outcry. Mozart was attracted to The Marriage of Figaro not only by the liveliness of the characters, the swiftness of the action, and the comedic sharpness, but also by its social-critical orientation. In Austria, Beaumarchais's comedy was banned, but Mozart's librettist L. da Ponte (1749-1838) obtained permission to stage the opera. When reworking the libretto (written in Italian), many scenes of the comedy were shortened, and Figaro's journalistic monologues were released. This was dictated not only by the requirements of censorship, but also by the specific conditions of the opera genre. Nevertheless, the main idea of Beaumarchais's play - the idea of the moral superiority of the commoner Figaro over the aristocrat Almaviva - received an irresistibly convincing artistic embodiment in the music of the opera.

The hero of the opera, the footman Figaro, is a typical representative of the third estate. Clever and enterprising, a mocker and a wit, boldly fighting the all-powerful nobleman and triumphing over him, he is depicted by Mozart with great love and sympathy. The opera also realistically depicts the images of Figaro's perky and tender friend Susanna, the suffering countess, the young Cherubino, overwhelmed by the first emotions of love, the arrogant count and the traditional comic characters - Bartolo, Basilio and Marcelina.

Mozart began composing music in December 1785 and finished it five months later; the premiere took place in Vienna on May 1, 1786 and was a minor success. The opera gained true recognition only after its production in Prague in December of the same year.

PLOT

The Countess is saddened by her husband's indifference. Susanna's story about his infidelity deeply hurts her heart. Sincerely sympathizing with her maid and her fiancé, the Countess willingly accepts Figaro's plan - to call the Count into the garden at night and send him on a date instead of Susanna, Cherubino, dressed in a woman's dress. Susanna immediately begins to dress up the page. The sudden appearance of the Count throws everyone into confusion; Cherubino is hidden in the next room. Surprised by his wife's embarrassment, the Count demands that she open the locked door. The Countess stubbornly refuses, assuring that Susanna is there. The Count's jealous suspicions intensify. Deciding to break the door, he and his wife go to get some tools. The clever Susanna releases Cherubino from his hiding place. But where to run? All doors are locked. In fear, the poor page jumps out the window. The returning count finds Susanna behind a locked door, laughing at his suspicions. He is forced to ask his wife for forgiveness. Figaro runs in and reports that the guests have already gathered. But the count delays the start of the holiday in every possible way - he is waiting for Marcelina to appear. The housekeeper sues Figaro: she demands that he either return her old debt or marry her. The wedding of Figaro and Susanna is postponed.

The court decided the case in favor of Marcelina. The Count triumphs, but his triumph is short-lived. Suddenly it turns out that Figaro is the son of Marcelina and Bartolo, who was kidnapped by robbers as a child. Figaro's moved parents decide to get married. Now there are two weddings to celebrate.

The Countess and Susanna did not give up the idea of teaching the Count a lesson. The Countess decides to put on the maid's dress herself and go on a date night. Under her dictation, Susanna writes a note, scheduling a meeting with the Count in the garden. During the holiday, Barbarina must hand it over.

Figaro laughs at his master, but, having learned from the simpleton Barbarina that the note was written by Susanna, he begins to suspect his bride of deception. In the darkness of the night garden, he recognizes Susanna in disguise, but pretends that he mistook her for the countess. The Count does not recognize his wife, disguised as a maid, and takes her into the gazebo. Seeing Figaro declaring his love to the imaginary countess, he makes a fuss and calls people to publicly convict his wife of treason. He refuses pleas for forgiveness. But then the real Countess appears, having taken off her mask. The Count is ashamed and asks his wife for forgiveness.

MUSIC

“The Marriage of Figaro” is an everyday comic opera in which Mozart, the first in the history of musical theater, managed to vividly and comprehensively reveal living individual characters in action. The relationships and clashes of these characters determined many of the features of the musical dramaturgy of “The Marriage of Figaro” and gave flexibility and variety to its operatic forms. The role of ensembles associated with stage action, which often develop freely, is especially significant.

The rapidity of movement and intoxicating fun permeate the overture of the opera, introducing the cheerful atmosphere of the events of the “crazy day”.

In the first act, ensembles and arias alternate naturally and naturally. The two successive duets of Susanna and Figaro attract with their grace; the first is joyful and serene; in the playfulness of the second, alarming notes slip through. Figaro's wit and courage are captured in the cavatina “If the master wants to jump,” the irony of which is emphasized by the dance rhythm. Cherubino’s tremblingly excited aria “I can’t tell, I can’t explain” outlines the poetic image of a page in love. The terzetto expressively conveys the count's anger, Basilio's embarrassment, and Susanna's anxiety. The mocking aria “Frisky Boy”, designed in the character of a military march, accompanied by the sound of trumpets and timpani, paints an image of an energetic, temperamental and cheerful Figaro.

The second act begins with bright lyrical episodes. The Countess's aria "God of Love" attracts with its lyricism and noble restraint of feeling; The plasticity and beauty of the vocal melody is combined with the subtlety of the orchestral accompaniment. Cherubino’s aria “The Heart Excites” is full of tenderness and longing for love. The act finale is based on a free alternation of ensemble scenes; dramatic tension builds in waves. The stormy duet of the count and countess is followed by a terzetto, beginning with Susanna's mocking remarks; The following scenes with Figaro sound vividly, brightly, rapidly. The act ends with a large ensemble in which the triumphant voices of the Count and his accomplices are contrasted with the parts of Susanna, the Countess and Figaro.

In the third act, the duet of the Count and Susanna stands out, captivating with the truthfulness and subtlety of the characteristics; his music simultaneously conveys the slyness of a charming maid and the genuine passion and tenderness of the deceived count. The duet of Susanna and the Countess is designed in transparent, pastel colors; voices softly echo, accompanied by oboe and bassoon.

The fourth act begins with Barbarina’s small, naively graceful aria “Dropped, Lost.” Susanna's lyrical aria “Come, my dear friend” is covered in the poetry of a quiet moonlit night. The music of the finale, conveying the complex feelings of the characters, sounds muffled at first, but is gradually filled with joyful jubilation.

Let's consider one of the most cheerful works in the history of music - Mozart's Overture to his opera "The Marriage of Figaro". The German musicologist G. Abert, characterizing the Overture, writes about its incessant musical movement, which “trembles everywhere and everywhere, now laughs, now quietly giggles, now triumphs; in a rapid flight, more and more of its sources arise.. Everything rushes towards the face