The work of G. Sviridov is represented mainly by chamber vocal, oratorio and a capella choral works. The main features of Sviridov’s style developed by the early 50s and then varied only slightly. The main feature of Sviridov's style is the Russian national origin of his music, the songfulness characteristic of Russian folklore - hence the diatonism that underlies most of his works, the abundance of unisons and parallelisms, the widespread use of subvocal polyphony and choral pedals. Chromatics are also found in Sviridov’s choral harmony, most often where the music expresses a complex state of mind (cf. “Night Clouds” No. 1); according to A. Belonenko, “harmony becomes a mirror in which the slightest movements of the human soul are reflected” [Belonenko A. Choral creativity of G. Sviridov // G. Sviridov, Works for choir, issue 1. "Music", M.1989, p.12]. In general, Sviridov’s melody is diatonic; archaic modes are widely used, on the basis of which laconic and very expressive half-tone intonations are created. Sviridov's achievements in the field of melody are especially noticeable against the backdrop of the passion of many of his contemporaries for new writing techniques - sonorism, aleatorics, the introduction of onomatopoeic effects into the score - Sviridov remained faithful to the tradition of the singing choir, which, first of all, allowed him to convey the intonational richness of Russian melodic speech. Almost without quoting folklore melodies, the composer freely dissolves in his music the intonations of peasant and urban songs, Znamenny chant and spiritual verse, revolutionary and mass songs. Sviridov is one of the few modern composers who returned melody to its dominant role. Even harmony is largely dictated by the melody: this is the so-called resonating harmony, which includes and, as it were, prolongs the sound of all the tones of the melody. Hence its unusual structure, which is based on quart and second ratios. Sviridov’s harmony, as a rule, plays not a functional, but a phonic role, in it there is “a feeling of vast spaces, sounding distances, ringing bells.” A similar coloristic role is played by the orchestra. Despite the fact that Sviridov wrote few symphonic works, there is no doubt that he created a fundamentally new orchestral style, combining brightness and power with transparency, a sense of vocal sound with purely instrumental strumming and ringing. Sviridov contributed especially much to the sphere of choral visualization and sound recording: he masterfully masters the timbre palette of the choir, he is capable of the most subtle techniques and the most refined shades of sonority.

In songs, romances, and individual parts of large choral works, Sviridov uses simple traditional forms: two- and three-part, especially verse and verse-variation. Thanks to the constant, penetrating variation, its forms become end-to-end, most often the result is the last section or verse. The composition of cantata-oratorio works is individual each time and depends on the creative task being solved at the moment. The musical development in them is less subject to the laws of drama, there is no purposefully developing plot, unlike the cantatas and oratorios of the 30s ("Alexander Nevsky" by S. Prokofiev, "On the Kulikovo Field" by Y. Shaporin). In the foreground is not the image of the event as such, but its comprehension and emotional experience, therefore a certain type of dramaturgy arises, based on the gradual construction of a three-dimensional whole from seemingly insignificant details. This type of composition is close to ancient Russian epic works.

The theme of the Motherland in the broad sense of the word permeates all of Sviridov’s work. It occupies a central place, subordinating everything else: the historical fate of Russia, its nature, the fate of an individual and an entire nation, the role of art in human life. The theme of revolution, its place in the history of Russia and the destinies of people is repeatedly reflected upon. No less important for Sviridov is the theme of the Poet - the voice and conscience of the people. The poet is the main character of most of Sviridov's major works: the first in this series is Pushkin's cycle, and with the advent of the poem "The Country of the Fathers" this theme becomes the leading one.

After a cycle of poems by Burns, the composer focuses entirely on national subjects and Russian poetry. Created in the early 60s. diptych based on S. Yesenin’s poems, new trends in Sviridov’s creativity are visible: the first chorus (“You sing me that song that before ...”) adjoins the previous stage of creativity, abundant in songs, while the second chorus (“The soul is sad about heaven”) begins a new stage with his characteristic appeals to the musical and historical past of Russia, which will subsequently lead to the creation of three choirs for A. Tolstoy’s drama “Fyodor Ioannovich”, where Sviridov addresses the peculiarities of Znamenny chant; a little later, he approached the genre of the choral concert as an independent one, which became the most suitable form for the embodiment of major ideas, which can be considered in connection with the composer’s interest in antiquity and the desire to master ancient Russian artistic traditions. This generally affected the tone of many of his works - non-vain and sublime - and the peculiarities of the language, and the completion of his creative path was the creation of original spiritual chants. Sviridov continues and develops the traditions of Russian classics - Glinka and the Kuchkists, especially Mussorgsky, who, like Sviridov, in every work, especially vocal, constantly sought expressiveness of intonation, strived for the utmost cohesion of music and words. Sviridov’s turn to vocal music is a consequence of the deep connection of his work with national roots, since it is known that all ancient music, both professional and folk, was connected with the word - it was sung. The song, in the broadest sense of the word, became the basis of Sviridov’s style.

From the very beginning of his career, Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov paid attention to vocal and choral music. Romances to the poems of Pushkin by Lermontov Blok, song cycles to the words of Beranger, Burns, Isaakyan Prokofiev were included in the golden fund of Soviet vocal literature. Sviridov is original as a vocal and choral composer. Sviridov's vocal and choral creativity is unique in its breadth of coverage of various poetic styles. The composer turned to the poetry of Shakespeare and Burns, Pushkin and Lermontov, Nekrasov and Isaakyan, Mayakovsky and Pasternak, Prokofiev, Orlov, Tvardovsky and others. But Sviridov’s favorites were always two truly Russian poets, in whom he found eternal themes that are in tune with today - A. Blok and S. Yesenin.

Sviridov had a rich melodic gift. The melody is chanting, Russian, soulful - the “holy of holies” of Sviridov’s creativity. Definitions of Sviridov’s style are characteristic: “Sviridov’s work is a song in the literal (interest in vocal genres, attention to the word) and figurative (tireless glorification of the Motherland) sense of the word,” and “songness” in the broad sense of the word, as a principle that determines the specifics of thematicism. . becomes one of the main qualities that reveals the national in his work.”

Sviridov’s mastery of choral writing was especially evident in his “Five unaccompanied choirs to the words of Russian poets,” which were created in 1959 between two choral canvases: “Poem in Memory of S. Yesenin” and “Pathetic Oratorio.” This work reveals important stylistic features of the composer. They are in many ways indicative of the development of one of the directions of modern choral writing. The best study of the work of E. Sviridov is rightfully considered the monograph by A. Sokhor, the materials of which are used by us when analyzing choral works.

“Five Unaccompanied Choirs” (1959) was written to poems by various poets, united by the main theme of Sviridov’s work - the theme of the Motherland, a collective image of the Russian land, its nature and people, beautiful in their sincerity and spiritual purity. It is no coincidence that Sviridov’s music is perceived as the “quintessence” of everything Russian: nature, landscape, the human soul, songfulness, poetry, religion. Deep penetration into the soul of the people, comprehension of the nature of Russian melodic music - in peasant and city songs, in Znamenny chants - evokes analogies with the music of Rachmaninov. The composer knows how to combine in his work socially significant themes and lyrics, images of his native nature and heroic pages of the history of the revolution and civil war. But the main - patriotic - theme, the theme of love for the Motherland, receives a lyrical and philosophical embodiment in him. The chorus “On Lost Youth” (based on a prose excerpt from the second volume of “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol) - memories of past childhood and youth, serves as an introduction to the collection. The second and fifth choirs of the collection are written to poems by S. Yesenin, the composer’s favorite poet. The third and fourth, telling about the meeting of a son with his father, and about “the birth of a poetic song, are written on poems by poets of the Soviet period - A. Prokofiev and S. Orlov.

In the chorus “About Lost Youth” the narration is told from the perspective of the soloist (author). Emphasizing the importance of semantic details, the solo part is contrasted with the choir singing without words. The melody of the choir is determined by the intonation and rhythm of the text. The music contains elegiac sadness, characteristic of everyday romances (part 1), and the bitterness of loss (section 2). Hence the homophonic texture (solo and accompanying parts). The two-part stanzaic form is highlighted both by the tonal plan and by the variability of functions in cadences. The melodic phrases of the cadences of this choir go into the main material of the next second choir “In the Blue Evening”, being its starting point and connecting both choirs with thematic unity, as indicated by A. N. Sokhor. The intonation-thematic connection of these choirs appears in the similarity of themes and plots of their compositional basis. However, this similarity is used by the composer as a prerequisite for the contrast of their opposition.

In the second chorus, “In the Blue Evening,” the narrative is told on behalf of the author, but is presented by the choir. The picturesqueness of the musical picture is brought to the fore, which, according to the description of A. N. Sokhor: “everything is intoxicatingly beautiful and colored with dreaminess.” “What inner beauty, severity and restraint in the expression of feelings this truthful music is filled with! Only at times the major elegance of the general coloring is drowned out piercing notes of deep sorrow and disappointment. An indelible impression is left by the transition from the short “requiem” (male quartet with violas) to the “endless” major cadence, as if reviving the past dreams of youth in a tired heart. In this choir, Sviridov, it seems, was not inferior to Yesenin: the poet. sounds equaled the poet of words,” writes O. Kolovsky.

“A son met his father” is a heroic song about a dramatic episode of the civil war, full of emotional intensity. It is close to the theme from the “Poem in Memory of Yesenin” (“The Red Army’s bayonets and belts are shining, here father and son can meet”). A fragment of S. Yesenin’s ditty (from “Song of the Great March”) unfolds in the choir (to the text by A. Prokofiev) into a stage. The lyrical concept of the choir reproduces the spirit of an epic tale and legend. The action does not reveal dramatic events; it is implied in the subtext. The chorus is written in free form, consisting of five episodes. The energetic chorus of the male choir with melodic ups and downs in a dotted rhythm is reminiscent of the brave songs of the Don Cossacks. In varied variability, not only the intonation-rhythmic and textural basis of the music changes, it is transformed into the genre of the chorus. The variation of the chorus serves as a means of dramatic expressiveness. The first part is divided into two halves thanks to the choral instrumentation, in which the male and female choir groups alternate. The second episode, performed by a women's choir (“At the waste path”), sounds softly like a lyrical girl's song. Next, the choral groups unite, presenting a one-part strophic form. The dramatic contrast and climax are the 3rd and 4th episodes (“The wind walked with an unsteady gait” and “The peacock spread her tail ...”). The mixed choir sounds compact, powerful, the tessitura rises, the tempo accelerates, deviations into parallel minor and everything breaks off. After a long pause, the last section begins with a majestic, bright melody - a hymn to the future, affirming the victory of life over death. In this choir, everything is built on contrasting comparisons: first the male choir sings, then the female choir. In the first tutti the harmonic texture is three-part (there is also a unison episode). In the last episode there is a “colorful and timbral modulation from the bright tones of a genre picture to the half-tone tints of a peaceful feeling.” The choral texture enhances the harmonic richness with complexes (partially duplicating the melody of the choir singing without words).

“How the song was born” - soulful lyrics. Behind the apparent external melodic and rhythmic monotony (verse-variation form) there is a wealth of feelings, the beauty of the Russian soul, poetry. “Here, a feature of Sviridov’s style was especially masterfully demonstrated - subvocality in all its manifestations: everything starts with a modest, one-voice chorus, then one of the voices “gets stuck” in the form of a pedal, the other begins to echo. The main three-voice structure of the work arises, which later becomes more complex vertically and horizontally; from the second a massive chord grows, from the pedal - elegant contrapuntal lines. All this as a whole forms an unusually melodic, natural-sounding choral texture, just like in a folk song. This choir can be compared with such examples of the subvocal Russian style as the choir. Borodin's villagers, Mussorgsky's opera choirs, some choirs from Shostakovich's "Ten Poems for Chorus" Here Sviridov not only proceeds from the general style of folk song, but also implements in his work individual intonation and structural patterns of folk song art, enriching them with the means of professional composition. technology."

“Tabun” is a song about Russia. In the wide heroic chorus of male voices there is a panorama of native spaces. Love for Russia, admiration for its nature, an unusually poetic picture of a sunset, a herd of horses at night, the sounds of a shepherd's horn - fill the sound of the choir with a special reverence. Fine moments of sound recording give way to philosophical reflections. The choral texture is rich in choral presentation techniques (from unison to tutti, choral bass-octavist pedal, closed-mouth singing), colorful (modulations, textural variability) and emotional. The semantic conclusion is a proud hymn-like melody with the words: “Loving your day and night darkness. For you, O Motherland, I composed that song!” The score of this choir is rich in contrasts: frequent changes of rhythms, textures, vocal and choral colors: after two episodes with a transparent texture, for example, the heavy seven-part voice sounds very impressive against the background of the choral pedal - like a “horizon”, which in turn is replaced by ringing and melodious chords final section.

In the compositional aspect, the poetic unity of “Five Choirs” is similar to the structure of one of the composer’s “Yesenin” cycles, “My Father is a Peasant.” Thanks to the frame “from the author”, all choirs acquire a lyrical tone.

These a cappella choirs reflected all the main stylistic features of Sviridov; songfulness (in the choir melody and voice leading), modal diatonicity and subvocality with its textural and harmonic variability of functions; plagalism (the predominance of tertian relationships with major-minor vibrations typical of Russian music) , features of formation (the role of verse-variation and strophic forms), diversity of choral compositions, timbral richness of choral orchestration - from melody to harmony, the use of divisi in all parts, especially in male voices, which Sviridov appreciates for its strength, density, fundamentality (three). bass parts and one tenor). enormous importance of texture and harmonic

Features of choral writing:

1. The dominant position is occupied by the sphere of vocal genres, the composer’s world is the human voice;

2. Attraction to folk music, its intonations, modes, its inner spirit and content;

3. The basis of choirs is a melodic layer based on accompaniment (instrument or other voices);

4. Characteristic diatonic melodies, brightness;

5. Tonal harmony, motionless for a long time, an elusive touch - the overlay of a chord;

6. Tonal restraint. Most choirs have one, unchangeable key (even in adjacent parts of cycles);

7. Rhythm – characterized by simplicity, but it can also be exquisitely whimsical (as in the chorus “By the Green Shore” from the cantata “Night Clouds”);

8. Types of choral texture:

1) Expressiveness of Sviridov’s accompaniments. In choral works there is always a stratification of the musical fabric into two layers - the main and auxiliary (accompaniment). So, sustained sounds are placed under the melody, in a “different” timbre (or another group of a mixed choir, solo, or different methods of sound production - closed mouth, vowel sound, etc.).

2) chord, choral type (“In the blue evening”, “You sing me that song”). Polyphonic texture cannot be found in the classical form, since the mixing and interweaving of lines, in the composer’s opinion, interferes with the expression of poetic thought. And Sviridov appreciated the utmost clarity of words.

9. The most important principle is the connection between words and music. He never subordinates the word to music, does not illustrate the text, he reads the main idea, the main mood of the verse, and his music strengthens the word - it is a form of expression of the verse and thought (“About Lost Youth”);

10. Uses the poetry of Pushkin, Yesenin, Lermontov, Blok, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev.

Sviridov's music combines originality and precision, expressiveness, exquisite simplicity and deep spirituality. “This music is forever. It contains the pulse of a life free from political fuss. It contains time that continues forever, despite all historical disasters, blows of fate and irreparable losses.” This is what film director M. Schweider said about her. There is hardly anyone whose heart would not skip a beat in admiration at its sounds. A short biography of Sviridov gives an idea of ​​the life and work of the famous composer. We invite you to familiarize yourself with it in this article.

The great Russian composer Georgy Sviridov

During his lifetime, admirers called Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov (12/03/1915-01/06/1998) a great Russian composer.

The musician was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, in addition, he is a laureate of Lenin and three times laureate of State Prizes, as well as the owner of many state awards.

Brief biography of Sviridov: childhood and youth

Sviridov’s hometown is Fatezh (Kursk region). The composer's father was a postal worker, actively supported the Bolsheviks, and participated in the civil war. His mother worked as a school teacher and was more liberal-minded; she never shared her husband’s political aspirations.

When the boy was four years old, his father died in one of the Bolshevik clashes with the enemy. Mother and son were left alone, without a breadwinner or means of subsistence. They moved to Kursk, closer to their mother’s distant relatives. Here the future composer went to first grade.

At a very early age, he showed talent and passion for literature. Sviridov attends school clubs, actively participates in theatrical productions and even writes poetry. The eight-year-old child knew many domestic and foreign authors, and he was even able to analyze their work. But literature did not become the only hobby of young Sviridov.

Musical talent. Conservatory

A short biography of Sviridov tells about the first manifestations of his musical talent. One day he had to perform in a school play as a hero playing the balalaika. The future composer learned to play this instrument in a short time. This is how his love for music began. Soon he began to compose his own melodies, selecting well-known motives by ear.

In 1936, Georgy Sviridov became a student at the Leningrad Conservatory. Here he studied musical art with the likes of Shostakovich and Ryazanov. A year later, on the recommendation of Ryazanov, he was accepted into the Union of Composers of Russia.

War. First musical compositions

At the beginning of World War II, Georgy Sviridov entered the Leningrad Military School, from which he was expelled due to poor health. He leaves for Novosibirsk, where he composes various songs and melodies, writes works for evacuated theaters, and participates in many local productions.

Creation

Throughout his life, Georgy Sviridov idolized the poetry and prose of Pushkin. The composer's first works were created as musical illustrations for the works of the great poet. The most famous of those that Sviridov drew attention to is “Blizzard”.

It is difficult to list all the works created by the composer. These are pieces for piano, romances, sonatas, symphonic works. He is known to the general public as the author of music for more than ten films. Among them: “Przhevalsky”, “Virgin Soil Upturned”, “Rimsky-Korsakov”, “Time, Forward”, etc.

According to bibliographers and critics, Sviridov's influence on Russian classical music of that time is truly enormous. In his work, he, like no one else, knew how to emphasize the breadth of soul and the originality of the culture of the Russian people.

Personal life

A short biography of Sviridov contains information about the musician’s personal life. His wife Elsa Gustavovna at one time captivated the musician with her beauty and good taste. They met at one of his concerts. After the composer’s performance ended, the girl approached him to express admiration for his work. The young people fell in love with each other at first sight. A few months later they got married and lived happily ever after.

The musician died in 1998. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

"Blizzard"

Since the mid-1950s, the composer has developed his own bright and original style. He tries to write works that are exclusively Russian in nature. According to biographers, of all the seasons, the composer loved winter most of all. He believed that winter is the most suitable time for a vivid expression of the nature of Russia. He illustrated the beautiful northern winters in his works with special inspiration. One of the most striking works in which Sviridov musically reflected the Russian winter is “Blizzard”.

“Winter is incomprehensibly felt in his music...”

The music for the film "Blizzard", based on Pushkin's story, was written by Georgy Sviridov in 1964. Listeners loved it very much, the work was often performed on radio and television programs.

In 1974, on the advice of his wife, a true expert and connoisseur of his work, Sviridov made a thorough revision of the score. The composition received the status of an independent work and became known as “Musical illustrations for the story by A.S. Pushkin "Blizzard" World fame came to him after his performance by a symphony orchestra conducted by the famous V. Fedoseev. Critics noted that in the running of Sviridov’s “Troika” (the first part) “the presence of winter is incomprehensibly felt...”

Plot

Everyone knows the plot of Pushkin’s story, according to which, in response to the request of the film’s director V.P. Basov, created Sviridov’s “Blizzard”.

The story is slightly ironic and crafty. It is considered one of the classic examples of Russian literature. Pushkin retold an anecdotal story about a provincial young lady who, by the will of fate, married a random stranger because her fiancé got lost in a snowstorm. The story, however, ends happily: new love is born.

Georgy Sviridov moved away from Pushkin's plot. His music, it would seem, is not connected with the plot outline of the story. She is an independent character in the picture, only occasionally intertwined with some fragments. The irony of the literary work disappeared from it. But something else emerged - poetry, soulfulness. It became a real masterpiece and immediately took on a life of its own. Critics noted its amazing tangibility. It is generally accepted that the music of “Blizzard” can not only be heard, it can be seen with one’s own eyes: genre scenes pass before the listener, pictures of nature open up, and a ball unfolds against the backdrop of a waltz.

Reworking for the suite

In 1973, the composer again turned to this music. He remade the fragments scattered throughout the film into one whole. The suite was completed in 1974.

The magnificent music of Georgy Sviridov will be discussed and interpreted for a long time. She has one truly greatest quality: the pictures she draws seem to grow from the depths of our genetic memory.

Creativity of G. V. Sviridov

Life and creative path

Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov was born on December 3, 1915 in the small town of Fatezh, located in the steppe Kursk province. Sviridov's father was a peasant. At the beginning of the revolution, he joined the Communist Party and in 1919 died defending Soviet power.

From the age of nine, Georgy Sviridov lived in Kursk. Here he began to learn to play the piano. But soon the lessons stopped. Much more than the piano, the young music lover was attracted to the balalaika. Sviridov learned to play it and joined an amateur orchestra of Russian folk instruments.

In 1929, he entered the piano class of a local music school. Three years later, Sviridov graduated from school and came to Leningrad to continue his music studies. He began studying at the piano department of the Central Music College.

In Leningrad, a seventeen-year-old boy learned a lot of new things. For the first time in his life, he visited the opera house and a symphony concert. But the main discovery was that, it turns out, you can learn to compose music and that there is even a special composing department at the music college. Sviridov decided to go there. He wrote two piano pieces and in May 1933 was accepted into the composition class of Professor M.A. Yudin. With extraordinary zeal, the new student began to make up for lost time. After just a month of hard work, they were presented with their first essay.
At the end of 1935, Sviridov fell ill and left for Kursk for a while. There he wrote six romances based on the words of Pushkin: “The forest drops its wind cover”, “Winter Road”, “To the Nanny”, “Winter Evening”, “Premonition”, “Approaching Izhora”. This cycle brought the young composer his first success and fame.

Surprisingly simple, close to the traditions of Russian music, and at the same time original, original Pushkin romances of Sviridov immediately fell in love with both performers and listeners.

In 1936, Sviridov entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he became a student of D. D. Shostakovich. Years of persistent, intense work began, mastering the skill of composition. He began to master different styles, try his hand at various types of music - during his conservatory years, Sviridov composed violin and piano sonatas, the First Symphony, and the Symphony for string orchestra.

In June 1941, Sviridov graduated from the conservatory. In the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, he was enrolled as a cadet at a military school, but was soon demobilized for health reasons.

At the very beginning of the war, Sviridov wrote his first songs for the front. The musical comedy “The Sea Spreads Wide,” written at the same time, dedicated to the Baltic sailors, is also closely linked to military themes. Even before the end of the war, in 1944, Sviridov returned to Leningrad. Over the course of three years, he wrote several large chamber instrumental works that reflected the events and experiences of the war years.

The most original thing in Sviridov’s work of the 1940s is his vocal compositions: the poem “Songs of the Wanderer”, a suite based on the words of W. Shakespeare, new romances and songs based on the words of Soviet poets, which appeared in 1948.

Sviridov works a lot in theater and cinema. This experience helped him create new major works, which appeared in the early 1950s.

In 1949, Sviridov became acquainted with the work of the great Armenian poet Avetik Isahakyan and was shocked by his inspired poetry. One after another, romances based on Isahakyan’s poems began to appear in translations by A. Blok and Soviet poets. Soon the idea of ​​a large vocal poem for tenor and bass with piano in eleven parts called “Country of Fathers” was formed. Sviridov’s poem is an “epic song” of our days about the perseverance and wisdom of the people, about the greatness of their spirit.

In 1955, Sviridov wrote nine songs for bass and piano based on poems by Robert Burns in an excellent translation by S. Marshak. Unlike the poem “Country of the Fathers,” this cycle does not contain monumental images and paintings reflecting events of great historical significance. At the same time, these two works have much in common - the seriousness of the concept, the composer’s ability to see behind particular phenomena their great, universal meaning.

If in the poem “Country of Fathers” each part was a picture, then the songs based on Burns’ words are a gallery of musical portraits of ordinary people, a string of scenes from their lives around one image - a young man, “the best guy of our age.”
In November 1955, Sviridov, carried away by the poetry of Sergei Yesenin, wrote several songs based on his poems. They were followed by a number of others, and in a burst of high creative inspiration, in just two weeks, the multi-part poem “In Memory of Sergei Yesenin” was born. It was first performed on May 31, 1956 in Moscow.

Yesenin’s lines, with their beauty and magical melodiousness, seem to be asking to be set to music. But the composer can read them in different ways. Sometimes in Yesenin only the “pure” lyricist, the “singer of love” with a guitar is appreciated. Sviridov saw in him a great national poet who loved Russia like a son.

As always, Sviridov’s music is not just a musical illustration of his favorite poems. The composer really knows how to “read” poetry; he is always very attentive and sensitive to the unique characteristics of this or that author.

The main line of the composer's work has clearly emerged - the creation of vocal music, although instrumental works do not disappear from the sphere of his interests. At first, chamber genres predominated in Sviridov’s work - song, romance; but gradually he moves on to larger forms, in particular to oratorios. And each of his works is marked by spirituality.

A special place in Sviridov’s work is occupied by “Pathetic Oratorio” (1959) for soloists, choir and orchestra based on poems by V. Mayakovsky. Many Soviet composers wrote works of various genres based on Mayakovsky’s poems. But, perhaps, Sviridov’s “Pathetic Oratorio” is the most significant and interesting of them.
“Pathetic Oratorio” is a monumental artistic canvas, woven from many intonations. Particularly impressive is the last, final part of the oratorio, which uses excerpts from the poem “An Extraordinary Adventure that Vladimir Mayakovsky had in the Summer at the Dacha.” This part is called “The Sun and the Poet.” Bright, jubilantly solemn music is accompanied by the ringing of bells, as if conveying the blazing sounds of “one hundred and forty suns.”

The line of revolutionary romance coming from the “Pathetic Oratorio” was further continued in the very dynamic music for the film “Time, Forward!” (1977), which for many years was the musical theme for the information television program “Time”, as well as in the oratorio “The Twelve” based on the poem by A. Blok.
Following the oratorio, “Spring Cantata” was written to the verses of N. Nekrasov, the cantata “Wooden Rus'” to the verses of S. Yesenin, several unaccompanied choral works to his poems “In the Blue Evening”, “Herd”, “The Soul is Sad about Heaven”, cantata “It’s snowing” based on poems by B. Pasternak.

These works are certainly mature, marked by high professionalism, filled with poetic images. As for the style, the urban song flow has become brighter and more prominent in them.

However, the composer did not part with peasant songwriting. In the 1960s, the composer's passion for this fundamental principle of Russian folk music became even more pronounced. Thus, the vocal cycle “Kursk Songs” was created, which was the pinnacle of Sviridov’s creativity in those years and one of the masterpieces of Soviet music.
The basis for the cycle was folk songs of the Kursk region, recorded by a group of folklorists and published in the late fifties. The result of the composer's creative work is this wonderful work of our time. In “Kursk Songs” the features of any particular era do not appear. However, the life of the Russian people with all its features is reflected in the music of this work.

Like a prophetic Bayan, the composer slowly unfolds this life before us, showing its various facets. He tells with enthusiasm, lively and at the same time strictly, sublimely, with the objective restraint of a chronicler.

The seven songs have a single dramatic line with a climax and a conclusion. Moreover, the result is a vibrant folk scene, optimistic in nature.

A sensitive comprehension of folk song material allowed the composer to create a special harmonic structure of musical accompaniment, which, with its capacity and expressiveness, is equivalent to the main melodic line and helps to identify the meaning and content of the whole.

In his late period of creativity, Sviridov seems to synthesize the harmony of being and the subtlety of feelings, which creates some kind of even more weightless spirituality and sublimity.

Examples of this are “Spring Cantata” to the words of Nekrasov (1972) with its amazing lightness, fresh as spring drops, the first part, and one of the most striking works of Sviridov - Three choruses from the music to the tragedy of A. K. Tolstoy “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich "(1973). Here the intonations of ancient cult chants acquire a modern sound and emotional poignancy. This music is perhaps close to the ancient hymns of early Christianity with their solemn sadness and deep sense of the imperfection of human existence.

It should also be noted “Concert in Memory of A. A. Yurlov” (1973) - a kind of requiem in three slow mournful parts with a very refined and complex choral texture, evoking sad and bright memories of an outstanding musician. This is a passionate, slow, painful funeral service, coming from the very depths of an agitated heart.
In the poem “Rus' Set Away” (1977), on the contrary, there are many contrasts, and there are also moments of a majestic tragic nature. But these are not pictures of social battles. All the “action” is raised, as it were, to cosmic heights. Hence the legendary nature of the images of good and evil, Christ and Judas.
The figurative world of Pushkin's poetry again attracts the composer and inspires him to create beautiful music. The music for the television film “Blizzard” (1974) based on Pushkin is unusually poetic. Even without looking at the screen, but only listening to the music, you can “see” pictures of nature, and genre scenes, and a ball, which all unfolds against the backdrop of a waltz, in the light “flying” intonations of which some tragic premonitions are felt. A gloomy alertness is felt in the music for the “Wedding” scene. And “Romance,” which immediately became popular and often performed, superficially resembles the romances of Pushkin’s time, but being filled with some kind of fatal forebodings brings it closer to an extended symphonic poem.

The whole country has been listening to the music of Georgy Sviridov every day for several decades. It was his melodies “Time, forward!” was destined to become the harbinger and symbol of every major news story of the last half century. Perhaps this is the insight of fate - in the past century there has not been a composer whose work is so strongly connected with Russia, its original culture and spiritual foundations. His music, filled with moral purity, greatly influences the feelings of listeners, enlightening them, but most importantly, it encourages a person to believe in his own strength.

Read a short biography of Georgy Sviridov and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Sviridov

On December 3, 1915, in the provincial town of Fatezh, Kursk Region, the first child was born into the family of a telegraph employee and a teacher. The parents had peasant roots and could not even imagine that their son, Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov, would become one of the most famous composers in Russia. A few years later his brother and sister were born. In 1919, the youngest son of the Sviridovs died from the Spanish flu, and then his father died. The family moved to Kursk, where little Yura, as the future musician was called in his childhood, began playing the balalaika, and then the capable child was accepted into the folk instrument orchestra.

The music school teachers recommended the young man to continue his education in Leningrad. According to Sviridov’s biography, with their light hand, in 1932 Yura entered the music college. Afterwards he went to the conservatory, where he was lucky enough to become a student D.D. Shostakovich . However, Sviridov’s relationship with his great teacher was far from cloudless. He even dropped out of the conservatory in his last year, not returning to classes after the defeat that Shostakovich inflicted on his six songs to the words of A. Prokofiev. Communication between the composers resumed only a few years later.

In the summer of 1941, Sviridov was promoted from musician to soldier, but by the end of that year his poor health did not allow him to continue serving. It is impossible to return to besieged Leningrad, where his mother and sister remained, and until the blockade is lifted he works in Novosibirsk. In 1956, Sviridov moved to the capital. In Moscow, he leads a busy social life, holding leadership positions in the Union of Composers.

While still a student, the composer married pianist Valentina Tokareva, and in 1940 their son Sergei was born. The marriage did not last long; already in 1944, Sviridov left the family for the young Aglaya Kornienko. After 4 years, he again becomes the father of a son, George Jr., immediately after whose birth he moves to his third wife Elsa Gustavovna Klaser. Georgy Vasilyevich outlived both of his sons. Sergei committed suicide at the age of 16, after which Sviridov had his first heart attack. Georgy Georgievich died on December 30, 1997 from a chronic illness. The composer never found out this tragic news - his wife was going to tell him about it when he got stronger after a recent heart attack. This never happened - a week after the death of his youngest son, on January 6, 1998, Sviridov passed away.

Interesting facts about Sviridov

• The composer has no direct descendants. Elsa Gustavovna died four months after him. The entire creative heritage of Sviridov is handled by his sister’s son, art critic Alexander Belonenko. He created the National Sviridov Foundation and the Sviridov Institute. He published the book “Music as Fate,” compiled on the basis of diaries that the composer kept since the late 60s. In 2002, this publication was declared book of the year. In 2001, the first complete musical directory of Sviridov’s works was compiled, and unpublished musical texts were restored. In 2002, the publication of the Complete Works of G.V. began. Sviridov in 30 volumes.
• Sviridov named his eldest son in honor of Sergei Yesenin. The youngest son, Georgiy Georgievich, was a major expert on medieval Japanese prose. In 1991, he was invited to work in Japan. For him, this literally became a salvation - due to chronic renal failure, he needed regular hemodialysis, which was provided free of charge in Japan.
• Vasily Grigorievich Sviridov, the composer’s father, died under tragic circumstances. During the First World War, he was mistakenly hacked to death by Red Army soldiers who mistook the uniform of a postal worker for a White Guard uniform. The younger sister Tamara was born after the death of her father.
• Georgy Vasilyevich, unlike many of his contemporaries, was not a wealthy person. For example, he did not have his own dacha, living on a state-owned property, and rented the piano that was in his home from the Union of Composers.
• Georgy Vasilyevich was an encyclopedically educated person. His home library consisted of more than 2.5 thousand books - from ancient playwrights to Soviet writers. He was well versed in painting and sculpture. There are eyewitness accounts of him giving a tour of the rooms with Turner's paintings in a London art gallery.

Creativity of Georgy Sviridov

Unlike his teacher and idol, D.D. Shostakovich , Georgy Vasilyevich was by no means a “prodigy”. From Sviridov’s biography we learn that his first compositions date back to 1934-1935 - these are pieces for piano and romances based on poems by A.S. Pushkin. The great poet will be destined to become a companion of the composer's work for many years. It is the music to Pushkin's " Blizzards "will become the most famous of his works. It would also become his “trap” - no later works were performed as often, and it was the one that his listeners preferred.

For a composer professing classical musical forms, the choice of the main creative direction was also unconventional - vocal music, song, romance. Although sonatas were written, and a Piano Trio, awarded the Stalin Prize, and music for dramatic performances, and even a single symphony. But what changed the life of a 19-year-old aspiring composer was Pushkin's romances. Sviridov wrote them both in the noisy dormitory of the music college and in his home, sick and hungry in St. Petersburg, strengthened and caressed by maternal warmth in Kursk. The romances were immediately published, and in the year of the centenary of the poet’s death, they were performed by many outstanding singers.

The composer was inspired by poets of the first magnitude - Lermontov, Tyutchev, Pasternak, R. Burns, Shakespeare. He set Mayakovsky's style and even Gogol's prose to music. Perhaps the most beloved and closest to him were Sergei Yesenin and Alexander Blok. Starting with the vocal cycle " My father is a peasant"and vocal-symphonic poem " In memory of S.A. Yesenina", written in 1956, Sviridov constantly uses Yesenin’s poems to create his works. Almost as often, he turns to the poetry of Blok, whom he considered the prophet of his country. Among the works: “ Voice from the choir", cycle " St. Petersburg songs", cantata " Night clouds" and the last large-scale work, the creation of which took 20 years - a vocal poem " Petersburg" The composer finished this work, knowing that he would entrust its first performance to the young baritone D. Hvorostovsky. The premiere took place in London in 1995. In 1996-2004, the singer released two discs of Sviridov’s works. For many years, E. Obraztsova was Sviridov’s muse, with whom several romance concerts were performed, where the composer personally accompanied the singer, and records were recorded.

A notable direction of Sviridov's creativity was choral music. This and " Five choirs to the words of Russian poets", and cantata " Kursk songs"based on folklore sources, awarded the State Prize, and the most famous " Pushkin wreath" The author designated the genre of this work as a choral concert. A wreath is one of the symbols of life itself with its cycle of seasons, the cyclicity of birth and death. It intertwines thoughts and feelings, external and internal. From the poet’s creative heritage, Sviridov chose 10 poems - written at different times, from 1814 to 1836, different in themes, mood, famous and almost forgotten. Each part of the concert, trying to correspond to the poetic fundamental principle, has its own sound. The author does not limit himself to the choir; he introduces instrumental accompaniment, bell ringing, and uses the sound of a second chamber choir.

In 1958-1959, Sviridov created a seven-part “ Pathetic oratorio"to poems by V. Mayakovsky. This work became a symbol of a new stage in the composer’s life. The oratorio was unusual in many ways - its literary source (after all, Mayakovsky’s poetry was considered anti-musical), the expanded composition of the orchestra and choir, and its bold musical form. The work was awarded the Lenin Prize.

With rare exceptions, such as the cantata " Ode to Lenin“to the words of R. Rozhdestvensky, Sviridov did not betray his calling - to glorify Russia, its people, nature, culture, spirituality. One of the master’s last works was the choral composition “Songs and Prayers,” written on the themes of the psalms of David.

Sviridov's music in cinema

Since 1940, Georgy Vasilyevich worked for cinema 12 times. The music for the two films surpassed the glory of the films themselves. In 1964, Vladimir Basov filmed “The Snowstorm” based on Pushkin’s story of the same name and invited Sviridov to write the music. Lyrical melodies were born that perfectly reflect the patriarchal life of the province of Pushkin’s era. In 1973, the composer compiled “Musical illustrations for the story by A.S. Pushkin " Blizzard " A year later, the film “Time, Forward!” was released. about the builders of Magnitogorsk. The leading roles were played by the best actors of their time. Sviridov's music vividly expressed the enthusiasm and emotional upsurge of Soviet youth.

Among the composer’s other film works: “Rimsky-Korsakov” (1952), “Resurrection” (1961), “Red Bells. Film 2. I saw the birth of a new world" (1982). In 1981, the operetta “Ogonki” was filmed (the film “It Was Behind the Narva Gate”).

Sviridov's music is rarely used in film soundtracks. Some of the few include: “Lorenzo’s Oil” (1992), “Dead Man Walking” (1995), “Tanner Hall” (2009).

I chose song as my main form of creativity. He drew inspiration from how people lived, believing that art should be simple and understandable. Being a religious man, he remembered that in the beginning there was the word. It was the word that the composer valued above all else. That's why he devoted his life to combining words and music. Today, two decades after the creator’s departure, his music still lives on – popular, relevant and in demand by listeners.

Video: watch a film about Sviridov