A. Lyadov - biography

The future composer was born into the family of the famous Russian conductor Konstantin Lyadov.
He began receiving his first music lessons at the age of five from his father, and in 1870 he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory in piano and violin classes. Soon Lyadov became interested in theoretical disciplines and began to intensively study counterpoint and fugue. His first compositional experiments date back to the same time.

The talent of the young musician was highly appreciated by Modest Mussorgsky. Lyadov transferred to Rimsky-Korsakov's composition theory class, but in 1876 he was expelled from the conservatory for lack of attendance. Two years later, Lyadov returned to the conservatory and successfully graduated. In the same year, the composer received an invitation to the position of teacher of elementary music theory, harmony and instrumentation at the conservatory, where he worked until his death. A.K. Lyadov was one of the members of the Belyaev circle.

A.K. Lyadov was known for working very slowly on his works. So Sergei Lifar recalled that Sergei Diaghilev first of all turned to Lyadov with a request to write music for the ballet “The Firebird”. However, when he delayed the execution of the order, Diaghilev was forced to transfer the order to the young Igor Stravinsky.
A great admirer of A.K. Lyadov’s work and an expert on his musical heritage was the composer and teacher N.N. Vilinsky, who also wrote “Four Miniatures in Memory of A. Lyadov,” op. 40 (1956).

He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the composer’s teaching activity began immediately after his graduation from the same conservatory. Among the students: B. V. Asafiev, M. F. Gnesin, N. Ya. Myaskovsky, S. S. Prokofiev, V. M. Belyaev, I. I. Chekrygin, A. V. Ossovsky, A. A. Olenin , Maykapar and others.

A significant part of Lyadov’s works were written for piano: “Spillkins”, “Arabesques”, “About Antiquity”, “Idyll”, plays, preludes, waltzes. The composer is considered one of the masters of the miniature genre - many of his works are written in simple forms and last several minutes (Musical Snuffbox).

Among Lyadov’s most famous works are the symphonic poems “Baba Yaga”, “Magic Lake”, “Kikimora”, “Dance of the Amazon”, “Sorrowful Song”.

Lyadov is also known as a folklorist - he compiled several collections of Russian folk songs. For voice and piano: 18 children's songs based on folk words, collections of folk songs, romances, etc. For choir a cappella: “10 Russian folk songs”, “15 Russian folk songs”, 10 arrangements from Obikhod, etc.

Source: WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia

Anatoly Konstantinovich LYADOV: About Music

Anatoly Konstantinovich LYADOV(1855 - 1914) - Russian composer, conductor and teacher, professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory

You can hear the composer’s music on our website in the section

“There was a Chopin notebook on the table in front of us,” recalled student A.K. Lyadova A.V. Ossovsky about the spring exam at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1897 - “I did an oral harmonic analysis. A.K. Pointed with the end of a pencil at some note.

- What note is this? - A tone alien to the chord. Yes. A capricious note. And how delicious! The whole charm of art lies in the skillful breaking of rules, in these whims of fantasy.”

An outstanding teacher, master of musical miniatures and subtle artist Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was one of the most prominent representatives of the younger generation of the “New Russian Musical School”, a contemporary of Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, as well as Rachmaninov and Scriabin.

M. Gorky said: “Joyfully, to the point of insane pride, I am excited not only by the abundance of talents born in Russia in the 19th century, but also by their amazing diversity...”

Second half of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. - a period of unprecedented flowering of Russian culture. Nationality and realism distinguish the works of writers L. Tolstoy, A. Ostrovsky, I. Turgenev, A. Chekhov; artists Perov, Kramskoy, Repin, Shishkin; musicians Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Balakirev.

It was in this atmosphere of cultural upsurge that the creative style of the young musician Anatoly Lyadov was formed.

Not being as prolific as many of his famous contemporaries, Lyadov, nevertheless, made his contribution to the development of Russian art, and his best miniatures became firmly established in the repertoire of our musicians.

Lyadov's legacy is small. The basis of his work consists of works of small forms - piano, orchestral and vocal. Deeply national in their images and musical language, they attract attention with their special grace and subtlety of design, melody of lines, and perfection of form.

Anatoly Lyadov was born on May 11, 1855 in St. Petersburg into a very musical family. Among his ancestors there were quite a few professional musicians, and many were distinguished by truly extraordinary talent as a composer. Anatoly Lyadov’s grandfather, Nikolai Grigorievich Lyadov, was the conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society. And his father, composer Konstantin Nikolaevich Lyadov, served as conductor of the Imperial Russian Opera. His musical and educational activities were of great importance for the development of Russian classical art, and numerous romances and dances were very popular in society.

Music surrounded Anatoly Lyadov from infancy. Having lost their mother early, she and her sister often disappeared at work for their overly busy father. And it is not surprising that opera became one of the boy’s first sources of musical impressions. According to Rimsky-Korsakov, “everyone, from the first singer to the last lamp maker, spoiled him like the bandmaster’s son. During rehearsals, he played pranks backstage and climbed on the boxes.”

And when the children grew up enough that they could join the life of the theater themselves, they began to participate in productions as extras. Thus, Anatoly and Valentina were involved in the operas “Ivan Susanin” by Glinka and “Judith” by Serov.

When Lyadov turned 11, he entered the preparatory department of the conservatory, with enrollment in an honorary personal scholarship named after his father. This was in 1867, and eleven years later, releasing the young composer into free swimming, his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov said: “Lyadov gave him a truly wonderful thing. ... He’s very talented, and at the same time smart.”

However, Lyadov’s relationship with Rimsky-Korsakov was not always cloudless. The latter even expelled the young man from the conservatory for “incredible laziness.” In Rimsky-Korsakov’s notes you can find the following: “Inseparable friends of A.K. Lyadov and G.O. Dutsch, my talented students at the conservatory, very young at that time, became incredibly lazy and completely stopped attending my class. The rector, having talked with me and seeing that there was no goodwill with them, decided to expel them...”

Fortunately, Lyadov was soon reinstated at the conservatory and even began to help M.A. Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov in the preparation of a new edition of the scores of Glinka's operas A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Lyudmila, becoming closer at this time to the composers of the Mighty Handful.

While studying at the conservatory, Lyadov wrote four romances, which were quite highly appreciated among musicians. Mussorgsky noted in a letter to Stasov: “... a new, undoubted, original and Russian young talent has appeared, the son of Konstantin Lyadov, a student at the conservatory... Truly a talent! He writes easily, artlessly, briskly, freshly and with force...”
In 1878, Anatoly Lyadov graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, but did not leave its walls. From that time on, the composer's teaching activity began, which continued until his death (since 1886 he was a professor at the conservatory). Among Lyadov’s students: B.V. Asafiev, M.F. Gnessin, N.Ya. Myaskovsky, S.S. Prokofiev, V.M. Belyaev, A.V. Ossovsky and others.

About Lyadov’s attitude towards his students E. Braudo in the article “A.K. Lyadov" wrote: "... observation and psychological instinct allowed Lyadov to completely accurately determine the musical individuality of his students. And no one knew how to develop in them a sense of grace and nobility of taste to the same extent as he.”

And here’s how one of Lyadov’s students described the teacher: “... A huge and clear theoretical mind, with clearly understood principles and a teaching plan, accuracy, precision and elegance of explanatory formulas, wise conciseness of presentation.”

In the 80-90s. Anatoly Lyadov, in addition to teaching and composing, has repeatedly performed as a conductor in concerts of the St. Petersburg Circle of Music Lovers and in “Russian Symphony Concerts”. Regarding one of these concerts, music critic V.V. Stasov wrote: “... it is impossible not to mention, with deep gratitude, the excellent conducting of A.K. Lyadov, who not only prepared the choir and orchestra and generally led the whole affair, but was the first to suggest the idea of organizing a concert in memory of Mussorgsky. Honor and glory to the young talented musician, eager to publicly honor his talented predecessor.”

In 1889, at the World Exhibition in Paris, Lyadov's works, among others, were performed in two symphony concerts composed of works by Russian composers.

In addition, Lyadov, on behalf of the Imperial Geographical Society, was engaged in the processing of folk songs collected during the expeditions and published several collections that were highly appreciated by researchers of Russian folklore.

In 1909, ballet impresario S.P. Diaghilev ordered Lyadov for the Paris Russian Seasons a ballet based on the Russian fairy tale about the Firebird, but the composer delayed completing the order for so long that the plot was transferred to the young composer Igor Stravinsky.

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov(May 11, 1855 - August 28, 1914), Russian composer, conductor and teacher.

A.K. Lyadov went down in the history of music as one of Rimsky-Korsakov’s largest students, a highly authoritative representative of his school of composers - a teacher of numerous Russian musicians for over thirty years.

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov belonged to a unique family of professional musicians. Since childhood, a musical atmosphere surrounded the future composer. Several generations of the Lyadov family replenished the national musical cadre - from a modest ordinary orchestra member or choir member to a prominent musical figure, such as Father Konstantin Nikolaevich Lyadov.

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was born on May 11, 1855 in St. Petersburg. His whole life is connected with this city, with its artistic environment. He grew up in the artistic world. An excellent school for him was the Mariinsky Theater, where his father, then a famous conductor of Russian opera, worked. The entire opera repertoire of the theater was familiar to Lyadov from childhood, and in his youth he himself often participated in performances as an extra. “He, the darling of the acting troupe, was greatly fascinated by the stage. When the boy came home, he would portray Ruslan and Farlaf in front of the mirror.”

Lyadov’s rare talent was manifested not only in his musical talent, but also in his excellent drawing and poetic abilities, as evidenced by the many surviving witty, humorous poems and drawings of the composer.

He received his first piano lessons from pianist V. A. Antipova, his mother’s sister. However, there were no regular classes for a long time. The chaotic life of his father, the “bohemian” atmosphere in the house, the lack of real parental affection, care, love (Lyadov lost his mother at the age of six), the unsettled and chaotic life - all this not only did not contribute to the planned development of the young musician, but, on the contrary, formed it contains some negative psychological traits, for example, internal lack of composure, passivity, lack of will, which subsequently negatively influenced the entire creative process of the composer.

There is reason to think that already in the early years of his life Lyadov also came into contact with the treasury of folk songs, since one of his Children's songs (Lullaby op. 22 No. 1) is marked: “Heard from the nanny in childhood.” From there, the captivating world of folk tales entered his work, the charm of which retained its power over him throughout his life. The very first experience as a composer was also connected with the magical world. It was music for the fairy tale “Aladdin’s Magic Lamp” from The Arabian Nights, staged by him and performed together with his cousins.

The boy’s musical talent, which manifested itself early, naturally determined the decision of his relatives to send the youngest representative of the Lyadov family along the mainstream of the “family” profession. In January 1867, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory with an honorary personal scholarship named after his father. Study forever separated Lyadov from his parental home. At first, the boy was placed in a boarding house with A.S. Shustov, and he spent Sundays and holidays with the Antipov family.

During the first three years, he studied violin with A. A. Panov, and attended theory with A. I. Rubets. Lyadov studied with professors J. Johansen (theory, harmony), F. Beggrov and A. Dubasov (piano). In the fall of 1874, he finally entered Rimsky-Korsakov’s composition class. He immediately appreciated his student’s talent: “Indescribably talented.”

During his student years, Lyadov turned to the popular genre of romance in Russia. But he quickly lost his taste for romance lyrics and repeatedly emphasized in his statements that “The fame acquired by romances is cheap laurels.”

Possessing outstanding musical abilities, the young composer did not perform his duties in accordance with these abilities. “Little diligence”, “little attendance” “was very skimpy”, as Rimsky-Korsakov recalls in “The Chronicle of My Musical Life”. He cites a characteristic dialogue between Lyadov and his sister: “Tolya, I won’t let you have dinner because you haven’t written a fugu. “You asked me about this yourself,” says the sister. “As you wish, I’ll go to my aunt’s for dinner,” answered Anatoly.” In contrast to classroom studies, he was passionate about independent creativity.

However, the authority of Rimsky-Korsakov could not force Lyadov to overcome his dislike for systematic educational work. The result of his first year of study in the class of the famous composer in the spring of 1875 reads: “A. Lyadov did not appear for the exam.” Finally, in the middle of the next academic year, the conservatory management was forced to expel Lyadov, along with his friend Dütsch, from the student body.

This episode, however, did not play a special role in the composer’s creative biography. The next two years he spent outside the conservatory were not in vain. For his general and musical development, his acquaintance with the members of the Balakirev circle was of incomparably greater importance. While still a student, with the assistance of Rimsky-Korsakov, he entered the “Mighty Handful” community of composers, who warmly accepted the gifted young man into their clan as the successor of the “new Russian school.” This is how he became acquainted with Mussorgsky, Borodin, Stasov and became familiar with the aesthetic ideals of the Kuchkists. And although Lyadov found the circle already in the period of decline and inevitable split caused by the natural self-determination of its brilliant representatives, he still could not help but feel the powerful influence of the great tradition. It was from her that he inherited that “endless devotion to art and awareness of himself as a Russian, national artist,” which he carried throughout his life. By the time Lyadov was expelled from the conservatory, he had established himself as a talented and, despite his youth, professionally experienced musician.

Already at the end of 1876, Balakirev attracted him to cooperate in preparing for a new edition of the scores of Glinka’s operas. Probably such work contributed to the strengthening of friendly relations between the former teacher and student, when “the professor’s previous relationship with the rebellious student disappeared.” They become best friends.

Lyadov was an excellent pianist, although he did not consider himself a virtuoso and did not engage in public concert activities. All his contemporaries who heard him play noted his elegant, refined, chamber style of performance. The most original is the cycle “Spills”, created in 1876 and immediately revealing the talent of the twenty-year-old composer. “Biryulek” exudes freshness and youthful inspiration. Lyadov's piano pieces are a kind of musical and poetic sketches of individual life impressions, pictures of nature, reflected in the artist's inner world.

In 1878, in order to formalize his maturity as a composer, Lyadov submitted a request to be admitted to the ranks of students at the conservatory. At the final exams in May, he completely rehabilitated himself. Already an experienced composer, he brilliantly graduated from the conservatory, presenting as his diploma work the cantata “The Bride of Messina,” according to Schiller, performed at a high professional level.

In the mid-1880s, Lyadov became part of a new association of St. Petersburg musicians - the Belyaev Circle, where he immediately took a leading position, becoming a member of the leading triumvirate of Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Lyadov. This leading group, with the support of Belyaev, performed the most difficult work of selecting, editing, and publishing new works.

Lyadov also took an active part in musical gatherings known as “Belyaev Fridays,” where his compositions were constantly played, which had a significant impact on his younger contemporaries, representatives of the St. Petersburg school. With exceptional care, Lyadov also carried out the work of proofreading the works published by Belyaev. Knowing Lyadov’s exceptional scrupulousness and exactingness regarding the purity of writing, Belyaev entrusted this work to him then and jokingly called him “the laundress.”

In 1884, Lyadov met both P.I. Tchaikovsky and his relatives. Friendly communication with Modest Tchaikovsky continued until his last days. In the mid-1890s, Taneyev and Scriabin came to the Belyaevsky circle. The latter owes the strengthening of friendly ties with the publishing house to Lyadov. He was attracted by the combination of subtle lyrical spirituality with nobility of taste, grace and formal completeness.

Lyadov developed as an artist quite early, and throughout his entire career one cannot notice any sharp transitions from one stage to another. Already in his early years, Lyadov was characterized by a tendency to long-term incubation of his plans, which for a long time were not brought to final finishing. The composer's slowness and relatively little productivity confused and upset everyone who was sympathetic to his talent. One of the reasons for this is the financial insecurity of Lyadov, who is forced to do a lot of teaching work.

In 1878, he was invited to the conservatory as a professor and held this position until the end of his life. And since 1884, he also taught in the instrumental classes of the Court Singing Chapel. It must be said that as a teacher Lyadov achieved considerable success. Among his students are Prokofiev, Asafiev, Myaskovsky. Teaching took at least six hours a day. Lyadov composed, in his own words, “in the cracks of time,” and this very depressing for him.

“I compose little and slowly,” he wrote to his sister in 1887. - Am I really just a teacher? I really wouldn't want that! But it seems that I’ll end up with this...” In addition, since 1879 he was actively involved in conducting activities. Apparently, conducting attracted the composer from an early age. Along with the symphonic repertoire, his programs included vocal and choral works and solo works by Beethoven, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Rimsky-Korsakov. “Although things weren’t going well, thanks to the amateur orchestra, Lyadenka is becoming a good conductor.”

From a young age, Lyadov also developed that characteristic skeptical worldview, which towards the end of his life took on a pessimistic overtone. In Lyadov’s correspondence one constantly feels dissatisfaction with life, with oneself, with one’s work. In almost every letter he writes about boredom, melancholy, which prevents him from concentrating on both work and leisure. Everywhere, wherever he is, he is haunted by sad thoughts, premonitions of a “fatal end,” which have worsened over the years.

And in his very way of life, in his habits, he remained conservative. Outwardly, his years passed calmly and extremely monotonously. “30 years in one apartment - in winter; 30 years at one dacha - in the summer; 30 years in a very closed circle of people,” noted A. N. Rimsky-Korsakov. By the way, all of the composer’s most significant works were written in the summer in the village of Polynovka, Novgorod province. The enjoyment of freedom from conservatory duties was associated with hopes for new compositions: Variations on a Theme of Glinka, “Barcarolle”, “About Antiquity”. He was given a separate house with a piano. “My house is wonderful, but I don’t know whether it will help me write anything.”

In general, the quantitative results of Lyadov’s work as a composer turned out to be completely modest. He published 2-3 compositions a year.

Lyadov entered his period of creative development towards the end of the 1880s, distinguishing himself as a master of miniatures. This inclination manifested itself in his first piano works, in which his inherent brevity, refinement of musical thought and form, and jewelery finishing of details crystallized. Critics wrote about his music: “The most subtle artist of sound,” “in place of the impressiveness of feeling, he puts forward thriftiness of feeling, admiring the grains - the pearls of the heart.”

The pinnacle of the chamber form was undoubtedly Lyadov's preludes. He can well be called the founder of the Russian piano prelude. This genre was especially close to the aesthetic worldview of Lyadov the miniaturist. It is not surprising that it was in it that the individual, specific features of his handwriting were most clearly manifested. Among the works of the 1890s, “Preludes-Reflections” stand out, deeply psychological, inspired by some kind of inconsolable sadness.

But it was not only instrumental music that fascinated the composer. Three notebooks of “Children's Songs” written by Lyadov in 1887-1890 were very popular. They are based on truly folk texts of ancient, pre-bylin genres - spells, jokes, sayings.

In the original author’s melodies of “Children’s Songs,” the intonations of “nanny melodies” and gentle lullabies familiar from childhood are easily recognizable. Lyadov’s “Children’s Songs” amaze with their amazing sensitivity, touching love and deep understanding of the child’s soul. The composer presents the melody sometimes with gentle humor, sometimes with playful playfulness, sometimes in a deliberately important, narrative tone, sometimes in terms of grotesqueness and even paradox. In each of the “Children's Songs,” subtle Lyadovsky humor slips through - affectionate and kind. But almost all of them leave on the soul a feeling of slight sadness, pity, and sometimes a slightly creepy feeling of hopelessness and “disorder” in life.

“Couldn’t Lyadov better attest to his Russian spirit than in his adaptations of Russian songs,” wrote the famous music critic Vitol. The publication of the first of four collections of “Songs of the Russian People for One Voice with Piano Accompaniment” (30 songs) dates back to 1898, although Lyadov began to study Russian folklore back in the 1880s. In total, Lyadov processed 150 Russian folk songs.

Lyadov did not allow anyone into his personal life. In this regard, the fact of hiding his marriage in 1884 from his friends turned out to be very characteristic of him. He did not introduce his wife N.I. Tolkachev to any of them, with whom he lived happily all his life, raising two sons.

Lyadov seemed to deliberately fence himself off from the outside world, fearing its intrusion into his life, any changes in it for the worse. Perhaps it was precisely this outside intervention that he lacked for creative activity. Unlike many Russian artists, who found the strongest incentives for creative thought in foreign travels and new impressions, Lyadov, due to his natural inertia and lethargy, was afraid to “budge.” Only twice was the smooth flow of St. Petersburg life disrupted by short trips abroad to the World Art Exhibition in Paris in the summer of 1889, where his works were performed, and to Germany in 1910.

The last stage of Lyadov’s life is marked by some changes in the inertia that had formed over the previous years. The composer’s monotonous way of life, established over the years, was for a time sharply destroyed by the first Russian revolution. Intense socio-political struggle directly captured the field of musical art. Lyadov's departure from the conservatory was a demonstration of his sincere indignation at the attitude of the conservatory leaders towards Rimsky-Korsakov, who was fired on March 19, 1905 for supporting the revolutionary part of the student body.

Lyadov fully shared the demand put forward by the professorship for the autonomy of the conservatory, that is, the independence of the artistic council and director from the leadership of the Russian Musical Society. The events of these months cause Lyadov to be absolutely exceptionally active, which is usually not typical of him.

In addition to the pedagogical work that was eventually restored at the conservatory, Lyadov’s musical and social activities in the last decade of his life were associated with the board of trustees for the encouragement of Russian composers and musicians, which arose in January 1904, after the death of Belyaev, according to his will.

In the 1900s, he became closer friends with A. Ziloti, who was one of the first performers of Lyadov’s symphonic works - “Kikimoras”, “From the Apocalypse”. He was also close to R.M. Gliere, N.N. Cherepnin, L. Godovsky, I. Paderewsky.

At the same time, Lyadov became close to representatives of the “World of Art” group, with Diaghilev, with the artists Golovin, Roerich, Bilibin, to whom he dedicated “Eight Russian Folk Songs for Orchestra”.

He made demands on art of beauty, aristocracy, and novelty. The thirst for new content, leading away from everyday life, is declared by Lyadov in the words: “My ideal is to find the unearthly in art. Art is the kingdom of what doesn’t exist in the world, I’m so full of the prose of life that I only want the extraordinary - even stand on my head. Give me a fairy tale, a dragon, a Mermaid, a goblin, give me something, only then am I happy, in art I want to eat fried bird of paradise.”

A brilliant confirmation of Lyadov’s creative evolution are his famous program miniatures and symphonic masterpieces - “Baba Yaga”, “Magic Lake”, “Kikimora”. Created in 1904-1910, they reflected not only the traditions of their predecessors, but also the creative quest of our time. Lyadov’s orchestral fairy-tale paintings, with all the independence of their ideas, can be considered as a kind of artistic triptych, the outer parts of which (“Baba Yaga” and “Kikimora”) are bright “portraits”, embodied in the genre of fantastic scherzos, and the middle (“Magic lake") - a bewitching, impressionistic landscape.

The latest work in the field of symphonic music is “Kesche” (“Sorrowful Song”), associated with the symbolist images of Maeterlinck. “Sorrowful Song” turned out to be Lyadov’s “swan song”, in which, according to Asafiev, the composer “opened a corner of his own soul, from his personal experiences he drew material for this sound story, truthfully touching, like a timid complaint.”

This “confession of the soul” ended the creative path of Lyadov, whose original, subtle, lyrical talent as a miniaturist artist, perhaps, appeared somewhat ahead of his time.

The death of friends - Stasov, Belyaev, his sister, the departure of his eldest son to war, and another creative crisis had a negative impact on the composer’s health.

Omsk State University named after. F.M. Dostoevsky

Faculty of Culture and Art

Department of Theory and History of Music

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov

Completed by: KNS-004-O-08

Shumakova T.V.

Checked by: Fattakhova L.R.

Omsk, 2010

Introduction

Biography

The Lyadovs - a family of musicians

Style features

Conclusion

Photospage

List of works

Bibliography

The word "folklore" has several meanings

In a broad sense, folklore is a traditional folk culture, the components of which are beliefs, rituals, dances, applied arts, music, etc.

In the narrow sense, the term began to be used from the beginning of the 20th century. Folklore began to be understood as the verbal creativity of a particular people.

And one of the striking examples of folklorist composers was Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov

Biography

In 1877 he graduated with honors from the conservatory and was retained there as a professor of harmony and composition. Among Lyadov's students are S. S. Prokofiev and N. Ya. Myaskovsky.

In the early 1880s, Lyadov, together with A.K. Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov, became the leader of Russian quartet evenings founded by M.P. Belyaev, music publishing and symphony concerts, acting as a conductor in them.

Lyadov wrote relatively little, but everything he wrote is significant, many of which are masterpieces of art. Most of his works were written for piano: “Spillkins”, “Arabesques”, preludes, etudes, intermezzos, mazurkas, ballad “About Antiquity”, “Idyll”, “Marionettes”, “Musical Snuffbox” (especially popular), barcarolle, canzonetta , 3 canons, 3 ballet pieces, variations on a theme by Glinka, on a Polish song; cantata Bride of Messina according to Schiller, music to the play by Maeterlinck Sister Beatrice and 10 church choirs. All of these are elegant miniatures, distinguished by clarity of texture, distinctiveness and richness of melody, crystal purity of harmony, varied, sophisticated, but not pretentious, excellent sonority. The influences of Chopin, Schumann, Glinka, and in recent works - Scriabin, do not drown out the author’s own individuality, rooted in Russian folk music. His deep knowledge of the latter is reflected both in his vocal miniatures - charming songs based on folk words - and in his highly artistic adaptations of Russian folk songs.

He published several collections of them for solo voice, with piano accompaniment, and for vocal quartet. Three collections - "120 songs of the Russian people" - present arrangements of songs collected by the song commission at the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

His orchestral arrangement of eight Russian songs, compiled into a suite, is extremely remarkable; its distinctive features are a happy choice of themes, wit and richness of imagination in their variations, characteristic harmony and contrapuntal details, colorful, subtle instrumentation. To the earlier orchestral works - the scherzo, "Rural Scene at the Tavern" (mazurka) and two polonaises (one in memory of Pushkin, the other - A.G. Rubinstein), dating back to the middle period of Lyadov's work, a number of fabulous symphonic pictures have been added in recent years , original in concept and execution: “Baba Yaga”, “Magic Lake”, “Kikimora”. The fantasy for orchestra stands apart: “From the Apocalypse”, captured with harsh mysticism in the spirit of Russian folk spiritual poems.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s. Lyadov created over 200 arrangements of folk songs for voice and piano and other performing groups (male and female, mixed choirs, vocal quartets, female voice with orchestra). Lyadov’s collections are stylistically close to the classical adaptations of M.A. Balakirev and N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. They contain ancient peasant songs and preserve their musical and poetic features.

In 1909 S.P. Diaghilev ordered Lyadov a ballet based on the Russian fairy tale about the Firebird, but the composer delayed completing the order for so long that the plot had to be transferred to I.F. Stravinsky.

The Lyadovs - a family of musicians

1) Alexander Nikolaevich (1818-1871). He was the conductor of the ballet orchestra of the Imperial Theaters (1847-1871). He wrote the music for the ballets "Paquita" and "Satanilla".

) His brother, Konstantin Nikolaevich (1820-1868), was from 1850 the conductor of the Russian Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg. His compositions in a Russian folk (not entirely consistent) character - fantasy for choir and orchestra on the folk song "Near the river, near the bridge" (Russian songs, dances) were famous in their time.

) His son, Anatoly Konstantinovich (1855-1914) is a wonderful composer. The theatrical artistic environment and free access behind the scenes contributed to his artistic development. Innate musicality developed under the guidance of his father so much that at the age of 9 he wrote 4 romances.

His examination work - the final scene from Schiller's "Bride of Messina" - has not lost interest to this day. Acquaintance with Balakirev's circle and especially communication with Balakirev, who loved him very much, had a great influence on expanding his musical horizons. His relationship with Rimsky-Korsakov soon turned into friendship. While still studying at the conservatory, Lyadov was a collaborator with Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov in editing for publication the orchestral scores of both operas by Glinka, whose style he adheres to in his own compositions. He participated, together with Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Cui, in the composition of the piano “Paraphrase”, as well as in collective works: bow quartet B-la-f (scherzo), “Name Day” quartet (one movement), “Fanfare” for the anniversary Rimsky-Korsakov (1890, 3 parts), piano quadrille for 4 hands ("Bodinage"), quartet suite "Fridays" (mazurka, sarabande, fugue). He was a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the free composition class.

Style features

Along with this, Lyadov also embodied the genre-characteristic folk principle, which in some cases acquired in him a national-epic, “Borodino” shade, and the impressions of his beloved bright and calm Russian nature.

An integral feature of Lyadov’s creative image was humor (very characteristic of him in life). A playful joke, irony or a gentle, sly smile are uniquely reflected in his music. The area of folk fairy tales was also extremely close to him. The attraction to it was revealed most fully in a number of symphonic works of the last period of creativity, belonging to the most striking of all created by Lyadov.

One of the most characteristic features of the composer’s work is his exclusive limitation of his ideas to the scale of a small form. Whatever genre Lyadov touched, everywhere he invariably remained within the framework of the miniature, never going beyond its boundaries.

This was an organic property of his talent.

Conclusion

I believe that Lyadov made a fairly large contribution to Russian folklore and died when folklore began to be understood as the verbal creativity of a particular people, that is, to use this term in its narrow meaning. I think this is his merit.

It is also worth saying that his later works became more famous, from which we can conclude that A.K. Lyadov died in the full bloom of his talent.

lyadov composer conductor style

List of works

"Spillkins", "Arabesques" (for piano)

Preludes, etudes, intermezzos, mazurkas

Ballad "About Antiquity", "Idyll", "Puppets", "Musical Snuffbox" (especially popular)

Barcarolle, canzonetta

canons, 3 ballets, 10 church choirs, 4 romances

Variations on a theme by Glinka, a Polish song

Cantata Bride of Messina according to Schiller

Music to Maeterlinck's play Sister Beatrice

collection "120 songs of the Russian people"

Russian songs compiled into a suite

"Rural scene at the tavern" (mazurka)

polonaise (1 - in memory of A. S. Pushkin, 2 - A. G. Rubinstein)

A number of fabulous symphonic pictures, original in concept and execution: “Baba Yaga”, “Magic Lake”, “Kikimora”

Fantasy for orchestra: “From the Apocalypse”, captured with harsh mysticism in the spirit of Russian folk spiritual poems

In the late 1890s and early 1900s: over 200 arrangements of folk songs for voice with piano and other performing groups (male and female, mixed choirs, vocal quartets, female voice with orchestra)

He participated in the composition of the piano “Paraphrase”, as well as in collective works: the bow quartet B-la-f (scherzo), the “Name Day” quartet (one part), “Fanfare” for the anniversary of Rimsky-Korsakov (1890, 3 parts), piano quadrille for 4 hands (“Bodinage”), quartet suite “Fridays” (mazurka, sarabande, fugue), etc.

Bibliography

1.TSB. M. 1980

Musical literature. M., Music, 1975

Russian music of the mid-19th century, “ROSMAN” 2003

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov is a Russian composer, conductor, teacher, musical and public figure. Born on May 11, 1855 in St. Petersburg in the family of the conductor of the Mariinsky Theater K.N. Lyadova and pianist V.A. Antipova. He began his musical studies under the guidance of his father; his mother died early. Anatoly Konstantinovich comes from a family of professional musicians (not only his father, but his uncle and grandfather were famous conductors of his time), he was brought up in the musical world from an early age. Lyadov's talent was manifested not only in his musical talent, but also in his excellent drawing and poetic abilities, as evidenced by many surviving witty poems and drawings.

In 1867-1878 Lyadov studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with professors J. Johansen (theory, harmony), F. Beggrov and A. Dubasov (piano), and since 1874 - in the composition class with N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Lyadov graduated from the conservatory, presenting as his graduation work the cantata “The Final Scene from The Bride of Messina, after Schiller.”

Communication with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov determined the entire future fate of the young composer - already in the mid-70s. he became a member of the “Mighty Handful” as a junior representative (together with A.K. Glazunov) of the “New Russian Music School”, and in the early 80s. - Belyaevsky circle, where Lyadov immediately showed himself as a talented organizer, heading the publishing business. At the turn of the 80s. conducting activities began. Lyadov in concerts of the St. Petersburg Circle of Music Lovers and Russian Symphony Concerts. In 1878 he became a teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Among his outstanding students are Prokofiev, Asafiev, Myaskovsky, Gnesin, Zolotarev, Shcherbachev. And since 1884 he taught in the instrumental classes of the Court Singing Chapel.

Contemporaries reproached Lyadov for his lack of creative productivity(especially his close friend Alexander Glazunov). One of the reasons for this is Lyadov’s financial insecurity, who is forced to do a lot of teaching work. Teaching took up a lot of the composer's time. Lyadov composed, in his own words, “in the cracks of time” and this very depressing for him. “I compose little and compose slowly,” he wrote to his sister in 1887. - Am I really just a teacher? I really wouldn’t want that!”

Until the early 1900s. The basis of Lyadov's work was piano works, mainly pieces of small forms. More often these are non-program miniatures - preludes, mazurkas, bagatelles, waltzes, intermezzos, arabesques, impromptu, etudes. The play “The Musical Snuffbox” was very popular, as was the piano cycle “Spillkins”. In genre plays, some characteristic features of the music of Chopin and Schumann are implemented in an original way. But the author introduced his own individual element into these genres. In the piano works there are images of Russian folk songs; they are clearly national and in their poetic basis are related to the music of Glinka and Borodin.

Lyadov's lyrics are usually light and balanced in mood. She is reserved and slightly shy, ardent passions and pathos are alien to her. Distinctive features of the piano style are grace and transparency, refinement of thought, the predominance of fine technology - “jewelry” finishing of details. “The most subtle artist of sound,” he, according to Asafiev, “in place of the impressiveness of feeling puts forward the thriftiness of feeling, admiring the grains - the pearls of the heart.”

Among Lyadov’s few vocal works, “Children’s Songs” stand out. for voice and piano (1887-1890). They are based on truly folk texts of ancient genres - spells, jokes, sayings. These songs, successively associated with the work of M. P. Mussorgsky (in particular, the “Children’s” cycle), in terms of genre, were continued in the vocal miniatures of I. F. Stravinsky on folk songs.

The result of his work on folklore songs was the suite “Eight Russian Folk Songs” for orchestra (1906). The small form has acquired a new quality: his symphonic miniatures, despite the conciseness of the composition, are not just miniatures, but complex artistic images in which rich musical content is concentrated. Lyadov's symphonic works developed the principles of chamber symphonism - one of the characteristic phenomena in symphonic music of the twentieth century.

In the last decade of his life, in addition to the suite “Eight Russian Folk Songs,” other miniatures for orchestra were created. These are program orchestral “pictures” of fairy-tale content: “Baba Yaga”, “Kikimora”, “Magic Lake”, as well as “Dance of the Amazon”, “Sorrowful Song”. The last work in the field of symphonic music, “Sorrowful Song” (1914), is associated with the images of Maeterlinck. It turned out to be the “swan song” of Lyadov himself, in which, according to Asafiev, the composer “opened a corner of his own soul, from his personal experiences he drew material for this sound story, truthfully touching, like a timid complaint.” This “confession of the soul” ended Lyadov’s career; the composer died on August 28, 1914.

During his creative career, Lyadov remained an admirer of the classically clear art of Pushkin and Glinka, the harmony of feeling and thought, grace and completeness of musical thought. But at the same time, he vividly responded to the aesthetic aspirations of his time, became close and entered into creative contacts with representatives of the latest literary and artistic movements (poet S.M. Gorodetsky, writer A.M. Remizov, artists N.K. Roerich, I.Ya. Bilibin, A.Ya. Golovin, theater figure S. P. Dyagilev). But dissatisfaction with the world around him did not encourage the composer to engage in social issues in his work; art was personified in his mind with a closed world of ideal beauty and the highest truth.

Russian composer and teacher Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was born in St. Petersburg on April 29 (May 11), 1855 into a family of musicians - Lyadov’s father was a conductor of the Mariinsky Theater, his mother was a pianist. He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, but was expelled by Rimsky-Korsakov from his harmony class for "incredible laziness."

Russian composer and teacher Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was born in St. Petersburg on April 29 (May 11), 1855 into a family of musicians - Lyadov’s father was a conductor of the Mariinsky Theater, his mother was a pianist. He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, but was expelled by Rimsky-Korsakov from his harmony class for "incredible laziness." Soon, however, he was reinstated at the conservatory and began to help M.A. Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov in preparing a new edition of the scores of Glinka’s operas “A Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. In 1877 he graduated with honors from the conservatory and was retained there as a professor of harmony and composition. Among Lyadov’s students are S. S. Prokofiev and N. Ya. Myaskovsky. In 1885 Lyadov began teaching theoretical disciplines at the Court Singing Chapel. Somewhat later, on behalf of the Imperial Geographical Society, he was engaged in the processing of folk songs collected during expeditions and published several collections, highly valued by researchers of Russian folklore.

Lyadov's compositional heritage is small in volume and consists mainly of works of small forms. The most famous are the picturesque symphonic poems - "Baba Yaga", "Magic Lake" and "Kikimora", as well as "Eight Russian Folk Songs" for orchestra, two collections of children's songs (op. 14 and 18) and a number of piano pieces (among them "Music Box"). He composed two more orchestral scherzos (op. 10 and 16), the cantata “The Bride of Messina” after Schiller (op. 28), music for Maeterlinck’s play “Sister Beatrice” (op. 60) and ten church choirs (Ten Arrangements from Daily Life, collection of Orthodox chants). In 1909, S. P. Diaghilev ordered Lyadova for the Parisian “Russian Seasons” a ballet based on the Russian fairy tale about the Firebird, but the composer delayed completing the order for so long that the plot had to be transferred to I. F. Stravinsky. Lyadov died in a village near the town of Borovichi on August 28, 1914.