Medtner Nikolai Karlovich. Nikolai Medtner: “For creative work you must be able to stop life...” Nikolai Karlovich Medtner - quotes

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was born in Moscow on January 5, 1880. He came from a wealthy family artistic traditions: mother is a representative of the famous musical family of Goedicke; brother Emilius was a philosopher, writer, music critic (pseudonym - Wolfing); another brother, Alexander, is a violinist and conductor. Having graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1900 with a degree in piano from V. Safonov with a Small Gold Medal, Medtner soon attracted attention as a talented, technically strong pianist and an interesting, thoughtful musician.

He did not receive a systematic education as a composer, despite his early ability to compose music. During his conservatory years, Medtner attended classes in counterpoint and fugue with Taneyev for only one half-year, although later, as his wife A. M. Medtner testifies, “he really loved showing his works to Sergei Ivanovich and was happy when he received his approval.” The main source of acquisition of compositional skill for him was self-study samples of classical musical literature.

By the time he graduated from the conservatory, Medtner was the author of quite a large number of piano pieces, which, however, he did not make public, considering them, apparently, not mature and perfect enough for this.

The voice of Medtner, a pianist and composer, was immediately heard by the most sensitive musicians. Along with the concerts of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, Medtner's original concerts were events musical life both in Russia and abroad. Writer M. Shaginyan recalled that these evenings were a holiday for the listeners.

He first performed publicly as a composer in 1903, playing in his concert on March 26 of this year, along with works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin, several of his own plays from the “Pictures of Moods” cycle. In the same year, the entire cycle was published by P.I. Jurgenson. It was favorably received by critics, who noted the early maturity of the composer and the pronounced originality of his creative individuality.

Among Medtner's works that followed his first opus, the most significant is the sonata in F minor, on which the composer worked in 1903-1904, guided by the advice of Taneyev. Its general tone is excitedly pathetic, its texture is more strict and “muscular” in comparison with Medtner’s previous works, the main themes, distinguished by their conciseness and elasticity of rhythm, seem to be charged kinetic energy, which gives impetus to further development.

Starting from this first, not yet fully mature and independent experience of mastering a new form for him, the sonata genre occupies the most important place in Medtner’s work. They wrote fourteen piano sonatas, three sonatas for violin and piano, if we add to this works of a different kind, based on the principles of sonata form (concertos, quintet, even some of the small form pieces), then we can confidently say that not one of Medtner’s contemporaries not only Russia, but throughout the world, did not develop this form with such tenacity and perseverance as he did. But, having assimilated the achievements of the classical and romantic era in the development of the sonata form, Medtner interprets it largely independently, in a new way. First of all, attention is drawn to the extraordinary diversity of his sonatas, which differ from each other not only in the expressive nature of the music, but also in the structure of the cycle. But in any case, regardless of the volume and number of parts, the composer strives to consistently pursue from beginning to end a single poetic idea, which is indicated in some cases by special titles - “Tragic”, “Thunderstorm” sonatas, “Memory Sonata” - or the poetic epigraph he prefaced. The epic-narrative principle is also emphasized by such author’s definitions as “Sonata-ballad”, “Sonata-fairytale”. This does not give the right to talk about the programmatic nature of Medtner's sonatas in the proper sense of the word: rather, we can talk about the unity of the general poetic concept, which receives end-to-end development throughout the entire sonata cycle.

One of Medtner's best sonatas, beloved by listeners and performers, is the sonata in G minor, written in 1909-1910. Slenderness and completeness of form are combined in it with the expressive dramatic impetuosity of the music and courageous strong-willed pathos.

Best of the day

Being himself an outstanding pianist, he showed himself most fully and brightly in the field of piano music. Of the sixty-one works he published, almost two-thirds were written for piano. A significant, often leading role belongs to this favorite instrument in his other works (romances, violin sonatas, quintet). Before leaving abroad, when living conditions forced him to expand his concert activities, Medtner performed rarely, considering his performances as a kind of reports to the public on new creative achievements.

Medtner did not like to perform in large rooms in front of large audiences, preferring concert halls chamber type. The tendency toward intimacy and intimacy was generally characteristic of Medtner’s artistic appearance. In a response letter to his brother Emilius, he wrote: “If my art is “intimate,” as you often say, then so be it! Art always originates intimately, and if it is destined to be reborn, then it must become intimate again... Remind This is what I consider my duty to people. And in this I am firm and iron-clad, as a son of the century should be..."

One of Medtner’s favorite types of piano work was the fairy tale genre - small work lyrical-epic content, telling about various impressions of what was seen, heard, read or about events of internal mental life. Distinguished by their richness of imagination and diversity of character, Medtner's tales are not the same in scale. Along with simple, unpretentious miniatures, we also find among them more detailed compositions that are complex in form. The first of them appears in Medtner in 1905.

At the same time, Medtner’s vocal creativity was also developing. In the summer of 1903, when he first began to take a serious interest in poetic literature and to develop in himself “some technique in reading poetry,” the German poet Goethe opened the way to understanding the secret power of the poetic word. “And now,” he shared his impressions with his brother Emilius, “when I discovered Goethe, I positively went crazy with delight. During the years 1904-1908, Medtner created three cycles of songs based on Goethe’s poems. The composer wrote them on the original German text, which allowed him to preserve all the features of the author’s poetic speech, despite some of their unevenness, Medtner’s three Goethean cycles should generally be considered among the composer’s highest achievements in the field of chamber music. vocal music. They were appreciated by their contemporaries and were awarded the Glinkin Prize in 1912.

Having created a kind of “musical offering” to the German poet he highly valued, Medtner subsequently turned primarily to Russian poetry. In 1911 - 1914, a number of romances appeared based on the poems of Tyutchev and Fet, whom he had previously underestimated, but the composer’s main attention was drawn to the poetry of Pushkin. One can with the same justification speak about the “Pushkin period” of Medtner’s vocal creativity, with which his first decade deserves the name “Goethean”. Prior to this, Medtner’s appeal to Pushkin was only of a random, episodic nature. In 1913-1918, like Goethe's earlier ones, Medtner created three Pushkin cycles one after another.

The romances included in them are very unequal, but among them there are undoubted successes, and the best of Medtner's Pushkin romances deserve to be classified as masterpieces of Russian vocal lyricism at the beginning of the century. These are, first of all, two vocal poems “Muse” and “Arion”, the images of which grow in Medtner’s musical interpretation to epic proportions.

It was quite successful and pedagogical activity Medtner. In 1909-1910 and 1915-1921, Medtner was a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students are many subsequently famous musicians: A. Shatskes, N. Stember, B. Khaikin. V. Sofronitsky and L. Oborin used Medtner’s advice.

And the composer had something to say to his students. After all, Medtner was the highest master of polyphony. The goal of his aspirations was “the fusion of contrapuntal style with harmonic style,” the highest example of which he found in the work of Mozart.

The external, sensual side of sound, sound color as such, was of little interest to Medtner. For him, the main thing in music was the logic of expressing thoughts or feelings in a complete, consistently unfolding harmonic structure, the elements of which are firmly interconnected and subordinated to a single holistic plan. An excessive abundance of colors could, from his point of view, only distract the listener’s attention from the development of the main idea and thereby weaken the strength and depth of the impression. It is characteristic that for all his skill and comprehensive technical equipment, Medtner was completely devoid of a sense of orchestral sonority. Therefore, when composing all three of his piano concertos, where he had to resort to the help of an orchestra, he was forced to turn to his musician friends for advice and help.

The composer's piano concertos are monumental and approach symphonies. The best of them is the First, whose images are inspired by the terrible upheavals of the World War. A relatively small one-movement concert is distinguished by the greatest internal integrity and unity of concept. Medtner worked hard on it for four whole years. In the summer of 1917, he wrote to his brother Emilius: “The concert, started three years ago, is still not finished. However, its music is completely finished, but the rock instrumentation is only a third. Instrumentation is very difficult for me. I am essentially an improviser.”

In the early 1920s, Medtner was a member of the MUZO People's Commissar of Millet. In 1921 he went abroad, touring in France, Germany, England, Poland, as well as the USA and Canada. In 1927, the composer came to the USSR and gave concerts with a program of his works in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Kharkov, and Odessa.

In his work and abroad, Medtner again turns to Russian poetry. Two romances based on Tyutchev's poems and two Pushkin romances - "Elegy" ("I love your unknown twilight") and "The Cart of Life" were included in the opus written in 1924, and at the end of the 1920s another cycle was created - " Seven songs based on Pushkin's poems." Pushkin's poetry is also represented in Medtner's last vocal opus, written in the decline of his life. The composer is occupied in this group of works by various tasks, mainly of a characteristic nature. The most interesting of them is the “Cart of Life”, highly valued by the author himself, which allegorically characterizes various periods human life in the form of a swashbuckling, rollicking road song. In Medtner's last Pushkin cycle, attention is drawn to "Scottish Song", "Raven Flies to Raven" and two Spanish romances - "Before the Noble Spanish Woman" and "I am Here, Inezilla" with their characteristic complex, intricately patterned rhythm.

In 1928, the last series of Medtner's fairy tales was published in Germany, consisting of six plays of this genre, with the dedication to "Cinderella and Ivan the Fool."

The feeling of loneliness, of alienation to everything that has been increasing over the years, which determined not only the paths of development musical art in the 20th century, but also the entire system modern world, forced Medtner to isolate himself from his surroundings, protecting the purity of the spiritual values and ideals dear to him. This left a stamp of isolation, sometimes gloominess and gloomy unsociability on his work. These features of Medtner's music were noted more than once by the composer's contemporaries. Of course, he could not completely isolate himself from what was happening in the reality around him, and echoes of modern events found a conscious or unconscious echo in his works. Composed in the early 1930s, when a premonition of impending upheavals was already brewing in Europe, Medtner called the “Thunderstorm Sonata” the “most modern” of his works, “because it reflects the stormy atmosphere of modern events.”

In 1935 happens most important event in Medtner's life - the composer's book "Muse and Fashion" is published in Paris. The thoughts and judgments expressed in it are the result of long, concentrated reflections that worried Medtner throughout his entire adult life. The author sharply critically evaluates the contemporary state of music, likening it to a “out-of-tune lyre.”

In his reasoning, he proceeds from the recognition of certain eternal, unshakable foundations, or, as he puts it, “meanings” of music, deviation from which leads to disastrous consequences for it. "Loss of meaning" in modern music Medtner believes main reason the crisis and confusion it is experiencing. Since 1936, Medtner lived in England, where his work was recognized. While abroad, he continued to consider himself a Russian musician and declared: “essentially I have never been an emigrant and never will become.” He was deeply shocked by the attack of Hitler's Germany on the USSR: “...Moscow is experienced by me as if I were there, and not here” (from a letter to I.E. and E.D. Prenam dated October 27, 1941). On June 5, 1944, Medtner performed in a concert in favor of the Joint Relief Committee Soviet Union in London, where his music was performed next to the works of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich. IN recent years During his life, Medtner was forced to give up concert performances due to heart disease.

Country

Russia

Professions Tools http://www.medtner.org.uk/publications.html

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner(December 24, 1879 (January 5), Moscow - November 13, London) - Russian composer and pianist.

Biography

Medtner's ancestors were of Scandinavian origin (father - Danish, mother - Swedish-German), but by the time of his birth the family had already lived in Russia for many years. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six from his mother, then studied with his uncle, Fyodor Goedicke (father of Alexander Goedicke). Medtner entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied in the classes of A. Galli, P. Pabst, V. Sapelnikov and V. Safonov, and graduated with a large gold medal. Medtner studied composition on his own, although during his student years he took lessons in theory from Kashkin and harmony from Arensky.

Shortly after graduating from the conservatory, Medtner took part in the Rubinstein Piano Competition, at which he earned an honorable mention from an influential jury, however, on the advice of Sergei Taneyev and his older brother Emilia, instead of a concert career, he took up composition seriously, performing only occasionally, and mostly with own writings. In 1903, some of his works appeared in print. Sonata in f-minor attracted the attention of the famous Polish pianist Joseph Hoffmann, his attention to music young composer converted Sergei Rachmaninov (who became more later years one of Medtner's closest friends). In 1907, Medtner gave concerts in Germany, but did not make much of an impression on critics. At the same time, in Russia (and especially in Moscow) he gained many admirers and followers. Medtner's recognition as a composer came in 1909, when he was awarded the Glinkin Prize for a cycle of songs based on words by Goethe. Medtner took an active part in the activities of the House of Song. Soon he received a position as a professor of piano class at the Moscow Conservatory, and another Glinkin Prize for piano sonatas. N. K. Medtner was a member of the board of the Russian Music Publishing House, established in 1909 by Sergei Koussevitzky, which in addition to him also included A. F. Gedicke, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. N. Scriabin (his place was later taken by A. V. Ossovsky), N. G. Struve.

Creation

One of the last Romantic composers, Medtner occupies a crucial place in the history of Russian music, along with Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev, in whose shadow he remained throughout his career. The piano occupies a dominant place in Medtner’s work - he does not have a single composition in which this instrument is not involved. An excellent pianist, Medtner has a keen sense of the expressive capabilities of the piano; his works place high technical demands on the performer. Medtner's style of music differs from most of his contemporaries; in it, the Russian spirit is harmoniously combined with classical Western traditions - ideal structural unity, mastery of polyphonic writing, and sonata form. The composer's language has undergone virtually no changes over time.

The Russian and German sides of Medtner's musical personality are clearly manifested in his attitude to the melodic component, which ranges from Russian motifs (Russian Fairy Tale) to the subtlest lyricism (Second Concerto). Medtner's harmony is intense and rich, but practically does not go beyond the framework formed in the 19th century. The rhythmic component, on the other hand, is sometimes quite complicated - Medtner uses various types polyrhythms.

Fourteen piano sonatas occupy a special place in Medtner’s legacy. These are works of varying scale, from small one-movement sonatas from the Triad to the epic e-minor sonata, Op. 25 No. 2, which fully reveals the composer's mastery of large-scale structure and depth of thematic penetration. Among Medtner's other works for solo piano, thirty-eight miniatures of varied character, elegant and masterfully written, entitled “Fairy Tales” by the author, stand out. The three piano concertos are the only works in which Medtner uses an orchestra. The composer considered instrumentation a complex and boring matter; his orchestra sounded colorless and somewhat ponderous. Medtner's chamber works include three sonatas for violin and piano, several small pieces for the same composition, and a piano quintet. Finally, another area of Medtner’s creativity is vocal compositions. More than a hundred songs and romances were written to poems by Russian and German poets, mainly Pushkin and Goethe. The piano plays no less important role in them than the voice.

Essays

Concertos for piano and orchestra

Concerto No. 1 in c minor, op. 33 (1914–1918)
Concerto No. 2 in c minor, op. 50 (1920–1927)
Concerto No. 3 e-moll, op. 60 (1940–1943)

Piano solo

Eight paintings, op. 1 (1895-1902): Prologue ― Andante cantabile, Allegro con impeto, Maestoso freddo, Andantino con moto, Andante, Allegro con humore, Allegro con ira, Allegro con grazia
Three improvisations, op. 2 (1896–1900): Nixe, Eine Ball-Reminiscenz, Infernal Scherzo (Scherzo infernale)
Four Pieces, op. 4 (1897–1902): Study, Caprice, Musical moment"The Dwarf's Complaint", Prelude
Sonata in F minor, op. 5 (1895–1903)
Three Arabesques, op. 7 (1901–1904): Idyll, “Tragic Fragment” a-moll, “Tragic Fragment” g-moll
Two tales, op. 8 (1904―1905): c-moll, c-moll
Three Tales, op. 9 (1904―1905): f-moll, C-dur, G-dur
Three Dithyrambs, op. 10 (1898–1906): D-dur, Es-dur, E-dur
Sonata Triad, op. 11 (1904–1907): As-dur, d-moll, C-dur
Two tales, op. 14 (1905–1907): “Song of Ophelia” f-moll, “March of the Paladin” e-moll
Three short stories, op. 17 (1908―1909): G-dur, c-moll, E-dur
Two tales, op. 20 (1909): b-moll, no. 1, “Campanella” h-moll, No. 2.
Sonata in g minor, op. 22 (1901–1910)
Four lyrical fragments, op. 23 (1896―1911): c-moll, a-moll, f-moll, c-moll
Sonata-fairy tale in C minor, op. 25 No. 1 (1910–1911)
Sonata “Night Wind” e-moll, op. 25 No. 2 (1910–1911)
Four Tales, op. 26 (1910–1912): Es-dur, Es-dur, f-moll, fis-moll
Sonata-ballad Fis-major, op. 27 (1912–1914)
Sonata in A minor, op. 30 (1914)
Three Pieces, op. 31 (1914): Improvisation, Funeral March, Fairy Tale
Four Tales, op. 34 (1916―1917): “The Magic Violin” b-moll, e-moll, “Leshy” a-moll, d-moll
Four Tales, op. 35 (1916―1917): C-dur, G-dur, a-moll, cis-moll
"Forgotten Motives", op. 38 (1919–1922): Sonata-Reminiscenza, Graceful Dance (Danza graziosa), Festive Dance (Danza festiva), River Song (Canzona fluviala), Country Dance (Danza rustica), Evening Song (Canzona) serenata), Christmas dance (Danza silvestra), In the spirit of memories (alla Reminiscenza)
"Forgotten Motives", op. 39 (1919–1920): Meditation (Meditazione), Romance (Romanza), Spring (Primavera), Morning Song (Canzona matinata), Sonata "Tragic"(Sonata Tragica, op. 39 no. 5)
"Forgotten Motives", op. 40 (1919–1920): Danza col canto, Danza sinfonica, Danza fiorata, Danza jubilosa, Danza ondulata, Danza ditirambica
Three Tales, op. 42 (1921–1924): f-moll (“Russian Fairy Tale”), c-moll, gis-moll
Second improvisation, op. 47 (1925–1926)
Two tales, op. 48 (1925): C major, g minor
Three Hymns to Labor, op. 49 (1926–1928)
Six Tales, op. 51 (1928): d-moll, a-moll, A-dur, fis-moll, fis-moll, G-dur
Sonata “Romantic” in b minor, op. 53 No. 1 (1929–1930)
Sonata “Thunderstorm” in f-moll, op. 53 No. 2 (1929–1931)
Romantic sketches for youth, op. 54 (1931–1932): Prelude (Pastoral), Bird's Tale, Prelude (Tempo di sarabanda), Tale (Scherzo), Prelude, Tale (Organ Grinder), Prelude (Hymn), Tale
Theme with variations, op. 55 (1932–1933)
Sonata-Idyll in G major, op. 56 (1935–1937)
Two Elegies, op. 59 (1940–1944): a-moll, e-moll

Works without opus number and unpublished

Funeral Adagio e-moll (1894–1895), unpublished
Three plays (1895–1896): Pastoral in C major, Musical Moment in C minor, Humoresque in F minor, not published
Prelude in b minor (1895–1896), unpublished
Six Preludes (1896–1897): C-dur, G-dur, e-moll, E-dur, gis-moll, es-moll
Prelude in Es major (1897), unpublished
Sonata in B minor (1897), unpublished
Impromptu in the spirit of a mazurka in B minor (1897), unpublished
Impromptu F minor (1898), unpublished
Sonatina in g minor (1898), unpublished
Two cadenzas for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto (1910)
Study in c minor (1912)
Fairytale d-minor (1915), unpublished
Andante con moto B major (1916), unpublished
Two easy piano pieces (1931): B major, a minor, unpublished

For two pianos

"Russian round dance", op. 58 No. 1 (1940)
"Knight Errant", op. 58 No. 2 (1940–1945)

Chamber works

Three Nocturnes for violin and piano, op. 16 (1904–1908): d-moll, g-moll, c-moll
Sonata for violin and piano No. 1 in b-moll, op. 21 (1904―1910)
Two canzones with dances for violin and piano, op. 43 (1922―1924): C major, b minor
Sonata for violin and piano No. 2 G major, op. 44 (1922–1925)
Sonata for violin and piano No. 3 e-moll “Epic”, op. 57 (1935–1938)
Piano Quintet in C major, op. posth (1904―1948)

Vocal compositions

“Prayer” based on poems by Lermontov (1896), unpublished
“Epitaph” based on poems by Andrei Bely (1907), not published
“Wie kommt es?” based on poems by Hesse (1946–1949), unpublished
“Angel” to poems by Lermontov, op. 1bis (1901–1908)
Three Romances, op. 3 (1903) on poems by Lermontov, Pushkin and Fet from Goethe
Nine Songs of Goethe, op. 9 (1901–1905)
Three Poems by Heine, op. 12 (1907)
Two songs, op. 13: " Winter evening"(poems by A. S. Pushkin; 1901-1904), "Epitaph" (poems by A. Bely; 1907)
Twelve Songs of Goethe, op. 15 (1905–1907)
Six Poems of Goethe, op. 18 (1905–1909)
Three Poems by Nietzsche, op. 19 (1907–1909)
Two Poems by Nietzsche, op. 19a (1910―1911)
Eight poems by Tyutchev and Fet, op. 24 (1911)
Seven poems by Fet, Bryusov, Tyutchev, op. 28 (1913)
Seven poems by Pushkin, op. 29 (1913)
Six poems by Pushkin, op. 32 (1915)
Six poems by Pushkin, op. 36 (1918–1919)
Five poems by Tyutchev and Fet, op. 37 (1918–1920)
Sonata vocalise, op. 41 No. 1 (1922), without words
Suite-vocalise, op. 41 No. 2 (1927), without words
Four songs, op. 45 (1922–1924)
Seven Songs, op. 46 (1922–1924)
Seven songs based on poems by A. S. Pushkin, op. 52 (1928–1929), including "Raven" (No. 2).
“Noon” (poems by Tyutchev), op. 59 No. 1 (1936)
Seven songs based on poems by Russian and German poets, op. 61 (1927–1951)

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner occupies a special place in the history of Russian and world musical culture. An artist of original individuality, a remarkable composer, pianist and teacher, Medtner did not belong to any of the musical styles, characteristic of the first half of the 20th century.

Approaching partly to aesthetics German romantics(Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann), and from Russian composers - to Sergei Taneyev and Alexander Glazunov, Medtner was at the same time an artist striving for new creative horizons; he has much in common with the brilliant innovation of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.

Nikolai was born on January 5, 1880, in Moscow. Medtner's ancestors were of Scandinavian origin (father - Danish, mother - Swedish-German), but by the time of his birth the family had already lived in Russia for many years. Medtner came from a family rich in artistic traditions: his mother was a representative of the famous musical family of Goedicke; brother Emilius was a philosopher, writer, music critic (pseud. Wolfing); another brother, Alexander, is a violinist and conductor.

Nikolai received his first piano lessons at the age of six from his mother, then studied with his uncle, Fyodor Goedicke (father of Alexander Goedicke). In 1892, Nikolai Medtner entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied in the classes of Anatoly Galli, Pavel Pabst, Vasily Sapelnikov and Vasily Safonov. In 1900 he brilliantly graduated with a large gold medal. Medtner studied composition on his own, although during his student years he took theory lessons from Nikolai Kashkin and harmony from Anton Arensky.

Shortly after graduating from the conservatory, Medtner took part in the Rubinstein Piano Competition, where he earned an honorable mention from an influential jury. However, on the advice of Sergei Taneyev and his older brother Emilia, instead of a concert career, he took up composition seriously, performing only occasionally, and mostly with his own compositions.

The voice of Medtner, a pianist and composer, was immediately heard by the most sensitive musicians. Along with the concerts of Sergei Rachmaninov and Alexander Scriabin, Medtner's original concerts were events in musical life both in Russia and abroad. Marietta Shaginyan recalled that these evenings “were a holiday for the listeners.”

In 1903, some of his works appeared in print. The F minor sonata attracted the attention of the famous Polish pianist Joseph Hoffmann, and Sergei Rachmaninov (who in later years became one of Medtner’s closest friends) turned his attention to the young composer’s music.

In 1904–1905 and 1907, Medtner gave concerts in Germany, but did not make much of an impression on critics. At the same time, in Russia (and especially in Moscow) he gained many admirers and followers. Medtner's recognition as a composer came in 1909, when he was awarded the Glinka Prize for a cycle of songs based on words by Goethe.

Nikolai Karlovich was a member of the board of the Russian Music Publishing House, founded in 1909 by Sergei Koussevitzky, which in addition to him also included A. F. Gedicke, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. N. Scriabin (his place was later taken by A. V. Ossovsky) , N. G. Struve.

In 1909-10 and 1915-21. Medtner was a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students are many subsequently famous musicians: Abram Shatskes, Nikolai Shtember, Boris Khaikin. Vladimir Sofronitsky and Lev Oborin used Medtner's advice.

In 1921, Medtner emigrated with his wife to Germany, where, however, interest in his music was negligible, and there were almost no concert offers. Rachmaninov provided financial assistance to Medtner, who organized the pianist’s concert tour across the United States in 1924–1925.

Returning to Europe, Medtner settled in Paris, but there, as in Germany, his writings did not enjoy great success. Nikolai Karlovich wrote:

"For creative work(especially artistic) you need to be able to stop life!! You can't paint a landscape from the window of a courier train!

The transmission of the most intimate, most musical thoughts is inaccessible to consciousness. Musical thoughts, that is, themes, grains, cannot be and have never been the result of conscious logical reasoning, but fall from above in the form of an unexpected gift..."

Medtner's circle of friends at this time was small and consisted mainly of Russian emigrants. Among the few contemporary musicians in France who revered his work was Marcel Dupre. In 1927, Medtner gave concerts in Soviet Russia, and a year later - in Great Britain, where the composer received the title of honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music and successfully performed his own Second Concerto with the orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society.

The warm welcome he received encouraged him to settle permanently in London. In 1929–1930, Medtner conducted new series concerts in North America, however, the concert agency that collaborated with him went bankrupt, and only with the help of Rachmaninov did he manage to avoid financial difficulties.

Observing the development of contemporary composing techniques, Medtner in the early 1930s decided to express his own aesthetics in print, which was considered too conservative among his contemporaries.

“Before you sit down to hot work, close your eyes and in silence imagine this thought developed into a play, for it undoubtedly exists as a play, and the whole task should be to identify its individual images, and not to invent them.

Such meditation should undoubtedly suggest the sonority of presentation and the line of form of a given topic. Make a recording immediately and no matter how: where possible - with notes, where - with words, and where - with graphics. It is necessary to develop some calmness and self-control in the process of composing work. She needs this no less than the virtuoso. But this process can never be the same and constant...

...Of all the obstacles to work, the worst is nerves. Nothing speeds up the pace and rhythm of work like nerves. The feeling of rushing, being rushed, rushing from one thing to another and the desire to do everything at once leads, in the end, only to hopeless fatigue and despair. Having realized all this, you first need to master the nerves, that is, the pace and rhythm of your entire being, every step, every thought, and then begin to work on any separate piece of matter, forgetting about the existence of the entire chaos of matter...”

In his book “Muse and Fashion,” published in Paris in 1935, the composer outlined his views on the immutable laws of art and expressed the opinion that fashionable modernist trends in music are nothing more than delusions that destroy the connection between the soul of a musician and his work.

In October 1935, the composer and his wife finally settled in London. The success of his concerts, private teaching and a contract with a German publishing house provided him with a decent living until the outbreak of World War II, when the Medtners were forced to move to Warwickshire, where they were taken in by the family of pianist Edna Iles.

In 1942, Medtner had a heart attack, but already in February 1944 he was able to perform his new composition, the Third Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, at the Royal Albert Hall.

The last years of Medtner's life, despite his illness, were eventful. In 1946, the Indian Maharaja allocated a sum for the founding of the Medtner Society, which allowed the pianist to record almost all of his major works over the next few years. These recordings form part of the golden fund of world musical culture and provide a clear idea of the musician’s skill.

Nikolai Karlovich died on November 13, 1951, and was buried in London at Hendon Cemetery.

In 2006, pianist Mikhail Lidsky organized International festival Nikolai Medtner (“Medtner Festival”). In 2006 and 2007, the festival was held in several Russian cities at once - Yekaterinburg, Vladimir and Moscow.

An excellent pianist, Medtner has a keen sense of the expressive capabilities of the piano; his works place high technical demands on the performer. Medtner's style of music differs from most of his contemporaries; in it, the Russian spirit is harmoniously combined with classical Western traditions - ideal structural unity, mastery of polyphonic writing, and sonata form. The composer's language has undergone virtually no changes over time.

Central location V creative heritage Medtner is occupied by 14 piano sonatas. Amazing with inspired ingenuity, they contain a whole world of psychologically profound musical images. They are characterized by a breadth of contrasts, romantic excitement, internally concentrated and at the same time spiritually warmed meditation.

Among Medtner's other works for solo piano, thirty-eight miniatures of varied character, elegant and masterfully written, entitled “Fairy Tales” by the author, stand out.

The three piano concertos are the only works in which Medtner uses an orchestra. Medtner's chamber works include three sonatas for violin and piano, several small pieces for the same composition, and a piano quintet.

Finally, another area of Medtner’s creativity is vocal compositions. More than a hundred songs and romances were written to poems by Russian and German poets, mainly Pushkin and Goethe. The piano plays no less important role in them than the voice.

Medtner's romances (the composer himself never used the word “romances” in the titles of his opuses, preferring the terms “songs” or “poems”) are varied in mood and very expressive, most often these are restrained lyrics of deeply philosophical content. They are usually written in the form of a lyrical monologue, revealing a person’s spiritual world; many are dedicated to paintings of nature. Medtner's favorite poets were A. Pushkin (32 romances), F. Tyutchev (15), I. V. Goethe (30).

The path of Russian and modern world music is just as impossible to imagine without Medtner, as it is impossible to imagine it without his great contemporaries - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.

“Hardly any composer after Beethoven mastered the sonata form as perfectly as Medtner. Medtner also has some kind of innate, absolutely exceptional mastery of counterpoint, and his polyphonic texture bears little resemblance in style to Bach's counterpoint, but rather echoes the techniques late period Beethoven's works.

Despite the extreme saturation of the musical fabric with complex harmonic turns, Medtner's works are always clear, logical and distinguished by exceptional completeness of form. Medtner’s work, despite its deep seriousness and even severity, is at the same time characterized by immediate naivety, songlike melodiousness and the lively humor of dance...”
A. B. Goldenweiser, “Memories of N. K. Medtner”

ClassicalMusiNews.Ru, from various sources

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5
Medtner's ancestors were of Scandinavian origin (father - Danish, mother - Swedish-German), but by the time of his birth the family had already lived in Russia for many years. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six from his mother, then studied with his uncle, Fyodor Gedicke (father of Alexander Gedicke). Medtner entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied in the classes of Anatoly Galli, Paul Pabst, Vasily Sapelnikov and Vasily Safonov, and graduated with a large gold medal. Medtner studied composition on his own, although during his student years he took theory lessons from Nikolai Kashkin and harmony from Anton Arensky.
Shortly after graduating from the conservatory, Medtner took part in the Rubinstein pianist competition, at which he earned an honorable mention from an influential jury, however, on the advice of Sergei Taneyev and his older brother Emilia, instead of a concert career, he seriously took up composition, performing only occasionally, and mainly with his own compositions . In 1903, some of his works appeared in print. The F minor sonata attracted the attention of the famous Polish pianist Joseph Hoffmann, and Sergei Rachmaninov (who in later years became one of Medtner’s closest friends) turned his attention to the young composer’s music. In 1907, Medtner gave concerts in Germany, but did not make much of an impression on critics. At the same time, in Russia (and especially in Moscow) he gained many admirers and followers. Medtner's recognition as a composer came in 1909, when he was awarded the Glinkin Prize for a cycle of songs based on the words of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The first performer of a number of his songs was Valentina Dmitrievna Filosofova, daughter of General Dmitry Filosofov.
Medtner took an active part in the activities of the “House of Song”. Soon he received a position as a professor of piano class at the Moscow Conservatory, and another Glinkin Prize for piano sonatas. N. K. Medtner was a member of the board of the Russian Music Publishing House, established in 1909 by Sergei Koussevitzky, which, in addition to him, also included Alexander Gedicke, Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin (his place was later taken by Alexander Ossovsky), Nikolai Struve.

Creation

One of the last Romantic composers, Medtner occupies a crucial place in the history of Russian music, along with Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev, in whose shadow he remained throughout his career. The piano occupies a dominant place in Medtner’s work - he does not have a single composition in which this instrument is not involved. An excellent pianist, Medtner has a keen sense of the expressive capabilities of the piano; his works place high technical demands on the performer. Medtner's style of music differs from most of his contemporaries; in it, the Russian spirit is harmoniously combined with classical Western traditions - ideal structural unity, mastery of polyphonic writing, and sonata form. The composer's language has undergone virtually no changes over time.
The Russian and German sides of Medtner's musical personality are clearly manifested in his attitude to the melodic component, which ranges from Russian motifs (Russian Fairy Tale) to the subtlest lyricism (Second Concerto). Medtner's harmony is intense and rich, but practically does not go beyond the framework formed in the 19th century. The rhythmic component, on the other hand, is sometimes quite complicated - Medtner uses various types of polyrhythms.
Fourteen piano sonatas occupy a special place in Medtner’s legacy. These are works of varying scale, from small one-movement sonatas from the Triad to the epic e-minor sonata, Op. 25 No. 2, which fully reveals the composer's mastery of large-scale structure and depth of thematic penetration. Among Medtner's other works for solo piano, thirty-eight miniatures of varied character, elegant and masterfully written, entitled “Fairy Tales” by the author, stand out. The three piano concertos are the only works in which Medtner uses an orchestra. Medtner's chamber works include three sonatas for violin and piano, several small pieces for the same composition, and a piano quintet. Finally, another area of Medtner’s creativity is vocal compositions. More than a hundred songs and romances were written to poems by Russian and German poets, mainly Pushkin and Goethe. The piano plays no less important role in them than the voice.

Essays

Concertos for piano and orchestra
- Concerto No. 1 in c minor, op. 33 (1914–1918)
- Concerto No. 2 in c minor, op. 50 (1920–1927)
- Concerto No. 3 e-moll, op. 60 (1940–1943)
Piano solo
- Eight paintings, op. 1 (1895-1902): Prologue ― Andante cantabile, Allegro con impeto, Maestoso freddo, Andantino con moto, Andante, Allegro con humore, Allegro con ira, Allegro con grazia
- Three improvisations, op. 2 (1896–1900): Nixe, Eine Ball-Reminiscenz, Infernal Scherzo (Scherzo infernale)
- Four Pieces, op. 4 (1897–1902): Etude, Caprice, Musical moment “The Dwarf’s Complaint”, Prelude
- Sonata in f minor, op. 5 (1895–1903)
- Three Arabesques, op. 7 (1901–1904): Idyll, “Tragic Fragment” a-moll, “Tragic Fragment” g-moll
- Two tales, op. 8 (1904―1905): c-moll, c-moll
- Three Tales, op. 9 (1904―1905): f-moll, C-dur, G-dur
- Three Dithyrambs, op. 10 (1898–1906): D-dur, Es-dur, E-dur
- Sonata Triad, op. 11 (1904–1907): As-dur, d-moll, C-dur
- Two tales, op. 14 (1905–1907): “Ophelia’s Song” in f minor, “Procession of the Knights” e-moll
- Three short stories, op. 17 (1908―1909): G-dur, c-moll, E-dur
- Two tales, op. 20 (1909): b-moll, no. 1, “Campanella” h-moll, No. 2.
- Sonata in g minor, op. 22 (1901–1910)
- Four lyrical fragments, op. 23 (1896―1911): c-moll, a-moll, f-moll, c-moll
- Sonata-fairy tale in C minor, op. 25 No. 1 (1910–1911)
- Sonata “Night Wind” e-moll, op. 25 No. 2 (1910–1911)
- Four Tales, op. 26 (1910–1912): Es-dur, Es-dur, f-moll, fis-moll
- Sonata-ballad Fis-major, op. 27 (1912–1914)
- Sonata in A minor, op. 30 (1914)
- Three Pieces, op. 31 (1914): Improvisation, Funeral March, Fairy Tale
- Four Tales, op. 34 (1916―1917): “The Magic Violin” b-moll, e-moll, “Leshy” a-moll, d-moll
- Four Tales, op. 35 (1916―1917): C-dur, G-dur, a-moll, cis-moll
- "Forgotten Motives", op. 38 (1919–1922): Sonata-Reminiscenza, Graceful Dance (Danza graziosa), Festive Dance (Danza festiva), River Song (Canzona fluviala), Country Dance (Danza rustica), Evening Song (Canzona) serenata), Christmas dance (Danza silvestra), In the spirit of memories (alla Reminiscenza)
- "Forgotten Motives", op. 39 (1919–1920): Meditation (Meditazione), Romance (Romanza), Spring (Primavera), Morning Song (Canzona matinata), Sonata “Tragic”(Sonata Tragica, op. 39 no. 5)
- "Forgotten Motives", op. 40 (1919–1920): Danza col canto, Danza sinfonica, Danza fiorata, Danza jubilosa, Danza ondulata, Danza ditirambica
- Three Tales, op. 42 (1921–1924): f-moll (“Russian Fairy Tale”), c-moll, gis-moll
- Second improvisation, op. 47 (1925–1926)
- Two tales, op. 48 (1925): C major, g minor
- Three Hymns to Labor, op. 49 (1926–1928)
- Six Tales, op. 51 (1928, dedicated to Cinderella and Ivan the Fool): d-moll, a-moll, A major, fis-moll, fis-moll, G-dur
- Sonata “Romantic” in b minor, op. 53 No. 1 (1929–1930)
- Sonata “Thunderstorm” in f-moll, op. 53 No. 2 (1929–1931)
- Romantic sketches for youth, op. 54 (1931–1932): Prelude (Pastoral), Bird's Tale, Prelude (Tempo di sarabanda), Tale (Scherzo), Prelude, Tale (Organ Grinder), Prelude (Hymn), Tale
- Theme with variations, op. 55 (1932–1933)
- Sonata-Idyll in G major, op. 56 (1935–1937)
- Two Elegies, op. 59 (1940–1944): a-moll, e-moll
Works without opus number and unpublished
- Funeral Adagio e-moll (1894–1895), unpublished
- Three plays (1895–1896): Pastoral in C major, Musical Moment in C minor, Humoresque in F minor, not published
- Prelude in b minor (1895–1896), unpublished
- Six Preludes (1896–1897): C-dur, G-dur, e-moll, E-dur, gis-moll, es-moll
- Prelude in Es major (1897), unpublished
- Sonata in B minor (1897), unpublished
- Impromptu in the spirit of a mazurka in B minor (1897), unpublished
- Impromptu F minor (1898), unpublished
- Sonatina g minor (1898)
- Two cadenzas for the Fourth Piano Concerto
The work of Nikolai Karlovich Medtner stands apart in Russian musical culture– he did not join any of the stylistic trends that existed in the first half of the twentieth century. In his style one can detect the influence of German romantics - in particular, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, one can also talk about his closeness to Sergei Taneyev.

The main place in Medtner’s work is occupied by piano music, which makes up two-thirds of everything he wrote, because Medtner was a composer-pianist, whose author’s concerts attracted the attention of the public no less than the performances of Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin. At Medtner’s concerts, not only his own creations were heard, but his performing interpretations were distinguished by such depth that it seemed as if the music was born directly at the moment of performance: “His performance is always creative, always as if “the author’s” and always as if “for the first time,” - this statement by Medtner about Rachmaninov can quite reasonably be attributed to Nikolai Karlovich himself. The piano always remained the closest instrument for the composer - to such an extent that he experienced some uncertainty when working with orchestral scores, with instruments that he did not play (however, he argued that the images of his future piano works appeared to him initially in the orchestral presentation). Medtner's love for this instrument manifests itself even beyond the boundaries of piano music as such - in his violin sonatas the piano part is so developed that its performer must be not only an excellent accompanist with an exceptional sense of ensemble, but also a true virtuoso.

He did not like performing in front of large audiences in large halls, preferring chamber halls - this was explained by the nature of his talent, which gravitated towards intimacy. “Art always originates intimately, and if it is destined to be reborn, then it must become intimate again.” Although Medtner’s concerts, according to Marietta Shaginyan, “were a holiday for the listeners,” Nikolai Karlovich himself felt himself first and foremost a composer, and public speaking perceived as a kind of “creative reports”.

Medtner's piano texture has a lot in common with orchestral writing - for example, special touches associated with the sound of strings, or sustained pedals reminiscent of the sound of wind instruments. But at the same time, attention is always maintained to the features of the piano - for example, to the gradually fading sound.

Medtner's works always use a wide register range. Play a big role bass voices– they often set out melodic lines. However, the thematic development unfolds continuously in all elements of the texture, which leads to an increased role of the polyphonic principle - fugues are included in some of Medtner’s works.

Topics piano works Medtner is embodied by two main figurative spheres - lyricism and drama. Lyrical themes - smooth, “soaring”, dramatic ones are characterized by a sharp, complex and rich rhythm, which echoes many of his contemporaries, especially Scriabin. A variety of rhythmic patterns, rhythmic interruptions appear already in early works composer. In Medtner one can find both marching and dancing, but all this receives a unique interpretation, including the use of polyrhythms.

The complexity of the rhythm, sophistication and intensity of thematic development, combined with the texture of Medtner’s piano works, saturated with polyphonic elements, lead to the clarity of the graphic lines of the musical fabric, to the predominance of “pattern” rather than color in it - and this contrasts piano creativity Medtner to some contemporary movements, in particular, impressionism, whose representatives concentrated their creative searches precisely in the field of instrumental “colors”.

Medtner’s harmonic language is also complex; his creative quest is directed towards altered harmonies and complex tonal movement (for example, the slow movement of the “Romantic Sonata” begins in B minor and ends in B flat minor).

A distinctive feature of Medtner's piano works is narrative style. The narrative can be calm, emotional, pathetic or epic.

In the field of piano music, Medtner proved himself to be a subtle lyricist who created deeply meaningful works.

All rights reserved. Copying prohibited
We also recommend