Portraits of Mussorgsky - stages of life of the great composer

Mussorgsky's portraits were not made often. This is not Rembrandt, who annually peered at himself and watched as he changed. Mussorgsky's portraits, as a rule, reflect only the external, we are interested in his inner world, which allowed him to create great musical works.

early years

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was the son of a rich but noble landowner. He was born in the northern Pskov region in 1839. Two older brothers died early, and mother Julia Ivanovna gave all her tenderness and love to her youngest son.

Intimacy with her Modest Petrovich preserved his whole life, and later her death was for him a heavy blow. Maman was the first to teach him how to play the piano. From this time the portraits of Mussorgsky have not been preserved. But his future was solved long ago: the boy will be a military man.

St. Petersburg

After graduating from the school of guard sub-lieutenants, Modest Mussorgsky began his service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. In the photo to the left - an officer of the Life Guards. This is the year 1856. He is 17. A young man with a beautiful posture, a modest, almost a child, a young man who has not yet determined his life. It feels ready to serve, to follow a duty, self-control and willpower. Right next to his picture with his brother in 1858. Internal freedom, a stern look, as if the future composer is solving something for himself. Rassudochnost, self-deepening is present in every line of it.

By this time Modest Mussorgsky - A gifted musician. He is also a very educated person: he speaks fluently and writes in French and German, reads in Greek and Latin. He is already familiar with A.S. Dargomyzhsky and MA Balakirev and wrote two scherzos. One of them managed to orchestrate a musician who did not study at the conservatory.

Under the guidance of Balakirev, Mussorgsky worked on orchestral scores, carefully studying them, and also analyzed the harmony, counterpoint and form of compositions of famous composers, studied critically, and deeply assessed them. By this time, he leaves the service in the army, but makes to himself the most stringent requirements, which do not allow any debauchery.

Secular person

Modest Petrovich took care of his appearance. The musician tried to make people get the impression of him as a happy man. Indeed, with a neatly combed hair to the hair of the head to the ends of polished exquisite shoes, a well-groomed elegant man looks through us with complete equanimity on his face.

In life it was a man with such manners, elegance, magnificent speech, wit and education that all the women melted under his charm. He also had a secret love for a woman whose name he did not reveal to anyone. Presumably - it's NP. Opochinin, whom he placed on the highest pedestal and dedicated her most lyrical compositions.

Maturity

This is the beginning of the darkest period in the life of the composer. The portrait presented below shows that Modest Mussorgsky holds despite the blows that destiny causes him: the "Mighty Handful" has disintegrated, the press has viciously attacked his writings, the play "Boris Godunov" has almost ceased to be staged. Her beloved woman died, and the composer suffered immensely. After her death, he wrote a bitter romance, "Tombstone." He lived only by creativity, creating romances for the verses of his new friend, Count AA. Golenishchev-Kutuzov. But he married and inflicted friendship and cooperation irreparable to Mussorgsky's blow.

Creative takeoff

Even in the military school, the craving for libations was awakened. Under heavy emotional experiences, she again awakened. The developed imagination allowed together with wine to avoid the woeful reality and create. Impulsiveness, which was peculiar to him, made him start new works, not leading them to the end. Sublimating the inner strength, Modest Petrovich, an individualist, went into music with his head. It was at this time that the "Pictures from the Exhibition" were written, a piano suite for the memory of friend-artist Hartmann. He himself composed the plot of "Khovanshchina" and began to write it, as well as "Sorochinskaya fair" based on Gogol. He was already thinking about the opera on the theme of the Pugachev uprising. Contrary to everything, he wanted to create and enjoy life.

Ilya Repin "Portrait of Mussorgsky"

Modest Petrovich no longer served. Friends formed and paid him a small pension. In 1881, he had an attack of white fever. He was placed in a hospital. During four sessions from March 14 to 17, Repin created a portrait of M.P. Mussorgsky. And on March 28 the composer passed away. This gives the portrait a special depth and drama. The hospital gown, disheveled hair and beard do not distract us from the face of a completely sick person. In his eyes, the shine burns and the living mind and the thought of future works are shining, which he will not be able to compose. He did not think about death. Repin did not embarrass the composer, and so he turned out to be a living and real person.

Tumescents and wrinkles the artist smoothed, made the most complex light nuances on the face and left us an image full of creative forces and inner nobility. Colorite is light and transparent. On a light background, the face and figure look especially significant.

All the portraits of Mussorgsky show his change from an impeccable officer and a secular man to a person who has come to a breakdown.