M.I. Glinka romance "I remember a wonderful moment"
Russia is a country whose main wealth is a talented people. Russia is the birthplace of many great people, most of whom are called geniuses. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka - these names are well known to every Russian person, since they made an invaluable contribution to the development of national culture: Pushkin became the founder of the Russian literary language, and Glinka laid the foundations of national classical music. Being contemporaries, they were connected not only by friendly relations, but also by creative connections. The composer on the poetic texts of the poet wrote many works, skillfully combining the word and music together. One of the models of the merger of the talents of the two "Titans" was a vocal miniature "I remember a wonderful moment". A romance in which Glinka, with his inspirational music, managed to subtly reflect all the nuances of the poetic language of the genius Pushkin.
The history of the creation of the romance "I remember a wonderful moment" by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, as well as many interesting facts and musical content of the work, read on our page.
History of creation
The history of the creation of the romance "I remember a wonderful moment" began long before Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka took a blank sheet of musical paper and wrote the name of his new work on it. Perhaps this masterpiece could not have happened if it were not for one amazing acquaintance. In one of the days of 1819, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, visiting the famous literary salon of Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin, met there the niece of the hostess of Elizaveta Markovna’s house - Anna Petrovna Kern.
A nineteen-year-old woman, whose beauty was admired by the whole of Petersburg, while for two years she was the wife of a fifty-four-year-old general Ermolai Kern. When she married at the insistence of her parents, Anna was not very happy in marriage, and the entire northern capital knew about it. Pushkin, being very indifferent to the female sex, respectively, could not miss the charming woman past his attention. However, if the beautiful appearance of the young generals left a strong impression on Alexander Sergeevich, then this acquaintance turned out to be little remarkable for Anna, especially since she did not like the frivolous behavior of the poet at all.
Six years have passed. Pushkin from August 1824, languishing in exile by order of the highest authorities in the Mikhailovsky family estate, was very pleased to learn that their relative Anne Kern came to visit the neighboring estate Trigorskoye to Osipov. This time, a young woman, at that time becoming a passionate admirer of the poet’s creative work, herself sought to see her idol. So, in one of the June days of 1825, Anna and Alexander Sergeevich saw each other again. The poet, exhausted from boredom, was extremely happy at this meeting. Once again amazed at Anna's beauty and inspired by her charm, Pushkin immediately takes a feather in his hand and creates a masterpiece that in all subsequent times will excite people's souls.
Time has passed, and ironically Glinka acquainted with the daughter of Anna Kern - Catherine. Their meeting took place within the walls of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens, in which the girl studied from an early age, and then worked as an educator. The composer, on the other hand, often visited this institution, since the husband of the composer’s sister served as the manager of the economic part. Mikhail Ivanovich loved to visit a happy family who lived in a government apartment at the institute. Once in 1839, at Easter, Glinka in Smolny met with an unfamiliar young lady. Not being beautiful, she was so enchanted by Mikhail Ivanovich at first sight that he could not take his eyes off her. Catherine, that was the name of the girl, the composer reminded someone, but whom he understood only when he recognized her name. Katenka was the daughter of Anna Petrovna Kern - a famous beauty, to whom the great Pushkin devoted his immortal creation - "I remember a wonderful moment." After some time, the thirty-five-year-old Glinka himself admitted that he was madly in love with a girl who was barely twenty-one years old and her company was priceless for him. It was then that a romance appeared, but now it tells about the composer's tender feelings for his beloved Catherine Kern.
Interesting Facts
- Catherine's mother, Anna Petrovna Kern, despite the good attitude towards Glinka with whom Pushkin introduced her, was against her daughter’s relationship with the composer, as Mikhail Ivanovich was married at that time.
- In addition to the romance "I remember a wonderful moment", Mikhail Glinka wrote nine more vocal miniatures on the poetic texts of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, including the famous "The fire of desire burns in the blood", "I'm here, Inesilla", "Don't sing, beauty, with me" and "Night Marshmallow".
- Anna Petrovna Kern introduced Pushkin to the composer Glinka after he returned from exile in Mikhailovsky in September 1826. Mikhail Ivanovich, too, at first could not resist the charms of the fatal beauty and suffered for a long time from this. Later, in her memoirs, Anna Kern will write about her friendship with the composer.
- The composer devoted not only the romance "I Remember a Wonderful Moment", but also the vocal miniature of A. Koltsov's poetic text "If I Meet with You" and Wonderful Creation - ", my beloved Catherine Kern.Waltz fantasy". In order not to tarnish the name of a dear person, Glinka officially dedicated the Waltz to the husband of his sister D. Struneev.
- Relations between Mikhail Ivanovich and Catherine broke off in 1844. Before his second trip abroad, the composer stopped by to say goodbye to the girl and after that they never met again. Ekaterina Yermolaevna had been waiting for the composer for many years and only in 1854, at the insistence of her relatives, married Mikhail Shokalsky, and before the marriage she burned all the messages of Glinka.
- The son of Mikhail Osipovich and Yekaterina Yermolaevna, Yuli Shokalsky, born in 1856, later became an academician and became famous as an outstanding geographer.
- Ekaterina Kern carried her deep feelings for Glinka through her whole life, and even on her deathbed in 1904, she recalled with great tenderness about the composer.
- Back in 1828, Anna Kern turned to Glinka with a request to write a romance on a poetic text, which Alexander Pushkin addressed to her. For some reason, the composer did not immediately respond to this appeal. Apparently this was a reason that today, unfortunately, no one can explain to us.
Content
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, who is rightly called the founder of the Russian classical school of composition, attracted various genres in his work, but he paid special attention to chamber-vocal music. Having written in his life more than eighty vocal miniatures for the poetic texts of various authors, in the composer’s legacy the most significant place is occupied by romances based on poems by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
Of the ten beautiful life-affirming creations full of feelings, which are based on Mikhail Ivanovich put the works of the great poet, the most famous is the song "I remember a wonderful moment." It not only merged verses and music, but also vividly reflected the spiritual closeness of the two greatest creators. Glinka felt so subtly and inspiredly reflected in the sounds of Pushkin's captivating poems that as a result a masterpiece of the highest skill was born.
The composer concluded the vocal miniature in accordance with the literary content of Pushkin’s poetic text, which reflected three important episodes from the life of the protagonist, in three-part form. The main tone of romance in F major. Copyright tempo indication - Allegro moderato.
The vocal miniature opens with a small, light-sounding in the upper register, four-stroke introduction, based on the motif of the main theme of the composition. Then the romance begins, the flowing melody of which, filled with soft sadness, makes Pushkin’s image even more beautiful. A lyrical tune that sounds against the background of an arpeggiated accompaniment captivates with its beauty and elegance.
In the middle section of the romance, beginning with the words "Years went by ...", the nature of the music changes noticeably. F major is modulated in A - flat major. Sensitive tender cantilena transformed into rebellious recitation. Anxiety and excitement emphasizes the pulsating repetitive accompaniment chords, as well as peculiar melodic ornaments called tirats. From the words "In the wilderness, in the darkness of confinement ..." the mood in the romance changes again. Music is filled with sadness, tired resignation and despair. The melodic line rises with tension, but then returns to the original sounds.
After this fragment begins joyfully - excited and bright reprise. The romantic theme of love returns, which then, underlined by the active accompaniment of the sixteenth duration, is filled with passion and leads to a jubilant climax. The composition ends with the same four-touch thematic material that the piano sounded in the introduction.
"I remember a wonderful moment"- this universally recognized masterpiece, called the pearl of Russian vocal lyrics, is considered the highest achievement Mikhail Glinka in this genre. In him the maestro, perfectly linking the delightful poems of the great Pushkin and the charming melody, showed all his composer's skill. Since its inception, this captivating romance, vividly reflecting the beauty of human feeling, many famous vocalists include in their repertoire. Therefore, at the present time it quite often sounds from scenes of concert halls.
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