It is known from history that Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka in 1845-47 traveled around Spain and studied folk music. He, in fact, studied not only Spanish music, but also Italian, studied singing canto (Bel canto) and in the early period of creativity "absorbed" like a sponge all the music that he heard. For example, his early nocturnes are close in style to Chopin's miniatures. This is quite normal, given that there were no conservatories where music is taught in Russia at that time, and one had to learn from someone. Later, in adulthood, Glinka fulfilled his dream - to combine Russian melos (peasant folklore, which he knew perfectly well) with Western music.

« Spanish motives” can be heard not only in the work of Glinka, but also in other outstanding composers: Balakirev “Overture on the Theme of the Spanish March”, , Liszt "Spanish Rhapsody", "Jota from Seven Spanish Songs" Falla.

But before setting off to Spain on a musical journey in the footsteps of Glinka, let's look into the depths of history and see where the jota came from.

Jota is a Spanish folk dance in triple meter. Genetically, jota is associated with the cult of the Pilar mother of God - the patron saint of Aragon - and with the festivities in her honor. At the beginning of the 19th century, jota spread throughout the peninsula, penetrated the Balkan and Canary Islands and was brought from Spain to America, Argentina, Mexico, and Peru. Researchers count up to a hundred varieties of jota in Spain.

The classic type of jota is Aragonese. It exists in three forms: as a dance with singing, as an independent song, and as an instrumental piece. They dance hota in pairs, with castanets. For Aragonese jota, special castanets are used - the so-called "pulgarets", which sound stronger and sharper than usual ones.

Aragonese jota - a lively, mobile, energetic dance, accompanies it instrumental ensemble"rondalya". Full jota also includes singing. Usually the member of the hota who does not dance sings.

The classic Aragonese jota is a matter of national pride. During the siege with the Napoleonic troops of Zaragoza, the defenders of the city, rushing into battle, inspired themselves with the singing of jota. Heroic-patriotic hotas have survived, for example, “Hota of the Pilar Maiden”. Almost every province in Spain has its own type of jota.

In addition to jota, which combines dance, singing and music of rondalia into a single whole, jota, which is an independent song, is widespread. There are "Jota of recruits", "Wedding hota", "Hota of reapers", "Hota of grape pickers".

In Glinka's work, invocative solemn fanfares at the beginning invite everyone to the hota. And when everyone has gathered, the graceful triple melody ignites hearts and eyes, conveys the colorful world of folk Spain, southern nature and life. The castanets in the orchestra, which are usually not included in the classical composition, brilliantly convey the fiery ardor, the swiftness of the Spanish dance. The main melody is not simply repeated several times in a variant development. It seems to convey different moods - both dance, and fighting, and solemn wedding, and mysterious. As if all varieties of traditional jota pass before us, like an excursion to Spain. Glinka takes us to the places where he himself visited, shows what he saw and heard, what he felt. And this journey, I must say, is very exciting.

Inna ASTAHOVA

Now we need to turn to M. I. Glinka's trip to Spain - a very important event in the formation of the "Spanish" style in Russian classical music. Fortunately, many travel documents have been preserved, and the most valuable are the composer's Notes, where he not only described in detail what he saw and heard, but also recorded Spanish folk melodies. They formed the basis of some of the works of Russian composers about Spain. We will turn to two texts - to the Spanish-language book by A. Canibano "Glinka's Spanish Notes" (Caсbano, 1996), as well as to the book by S. V. Tyshko and G. V. Kukol "Glinka's Wanderings. Commentary on Notes. Part III. Journey to the Pyrenees or Spanish arabesques” (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011). A. Canibano describes the ideas of Western Europeans about Spain in the 17th - 19th centuries. - and Spain appears here as an oriental country. Moreover, these ideas largely coincide with what Europeans thought about the East. Here we observe the same situation as with E. Said's book - a native of the East wrote about Orientalism (the West's ideas about the East), and a native of Spain A. Canibano wrote about the West's perception of Spain as an Oriental country.

The researcher points out that Jews, Moriscos, Gypsies and Negroes lived in Spain - and all of them in Orientalist discourse are united by the term "people of the East". Already in the XVII century. several ideas were formed that were oriental for Europeans: a harem, a bathhouse, an abduction from a seraglio (suffice it to recall the opera by W. A. ​​Mozart). Europe created the Oriental concert after the French Revolution, when it was preoccupied with the search for an identity. There was a need for something distant, different, Other - in order to establish their own traditions. However, Europe did not seek to study other cultures, but only fabricated a prototype that met its needs. Andalusia, and in particular Granada, was for European romantics (the term of A. Canibano - but it is known that Orientalism was one of the main ideas in romanticism, therefore there are no contradictions with our concept here) the gateway to the Oriental world. The East was a dream, a myth, remote and (therefore) desirable, a place of earthly paradise, where one can calmly break all the taboos of the “Western” person. However, this dream had another side: the East is also something evil, mystical, cruel. And in defining the East in this way, the Western European met with his own values. Europe invented the East for its own purposes. This fashion for the oriental was also expressed in music - however, here too Western Europe followed the path of invention, imitation. Eastern rhythms and melodies were adapted to the standards of Western European music (= corrupted), as a result, musical means(“Eastern scale”, chromatism, extended seconds, certain rhythms, etc.), which indicated the oriental nature of the composition. Works about Spain have been created by Western European composers since the 17th century. (Cacibano, 1996, 20-21).

Everything that has been said about the East applies to Spain. M. I. Glinka arrived in already orientalized Spain - and was inspired precisely by this very image of her. To confirm this thesis, let us turn to the "Notes" of the composer and commentaries to them. Attention should be paid to what M. I. Glinka saw and heard in Spain, how he interpreted it and what explanation is given in the comments to his notes. The Russian composer's first impression of Spanish music was disappointment: the musicians sought to reproduce the Italian and French traditions, the most advanced traditions at the beginning of the 19th century. - but M. I. Glinka, like other travelers who visited Spain, expected to find exotic things, and not Italy and France already known to everyone. The main thing here is that the Spaniards acted quite consciously. They could not be satisfied with the fact that in the eyes of Europeans Spain was a backward, wild country, so they wanted to represent themselves as part of (developed) Europe and create the kind of music that (as it seemed to them) corresponded to the leading European trends. However, this only irritated the Europeans themselves. As a result, M. I. Glinka concluded that genuine, folk, authentic Spanish music should be sought not in the theaters of large cities, but somewhere else (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 125 - 127). If we describe this situation in terms of orientalist discourse, we get the following: the Spaniards somehow realized that their country was orientalized by Europeans - and tried to fight it. Orientation is not just a one-way process, it can be resisted.

So, the goal of M. I. Glinka was the search for "real" Spanish music. And he succeeded: on June 22, 1845, in Valladolid, the composer began to write down in a special notebook Spanish melodies that he heard performed by local residents (not always professional musicians, but who had talent and, of course, knew national music). These melodies became the basis for the first works in the Spanish style. So, M. I. Glinka recorded the Aragonese jota (here - without quotes!), which Felix Castilla played the guitar with him, and subsequently - in the fall of 1845 - created the play "Capriccio brillante" from the melody with variations. Prince Odoevsky advised to call it "Spanish Overture", and we know the play under the name "Jota of Aragon". M. I. Glinka also recorded other jotas: Valladolid (to the melody of which the romance “Milochka” was written), Asturian (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 160, 164 - 165). Regarding the "Jota of Aragon", S. V. Tyshko and G. V. Kukol note one important point: in February 1845, F. Liszt, at the end of his own trip to Spain, wrote the "Great Concert Fantasy", where he used the theme of jota, which was fixed only a few months later by M. I. Glinka. F. Liszt was the first - but "Jota of Aragon" was created completely independently, without external influences (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 214 - 215). The development of the "Spanish" style in Western European music is a topic for a separate study, but we this moment we want to note only that the "Spanish" style is not only a Russian "invention".

When recording Spanish melodies, M.I. Glinka faced a difficulty - the music was unusual for him, different from what he knew, in general, it was difficult to write music, and therefore he identified the nature of this music as ... Arabic (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011 , 217). On the one hand, the Russian composer was right - in the comments to the "Notes" it is repeatedly stated that Spanish music (jotas, seguidillas, fandango, flamenco - according to researchers, symbols of the Spanish culture of that time) has Arabic (and not only) roots. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that M. I. Glinka thought like an Orientalist composer: he was not in the countries of the Arab world, he did not hear Arab national music, but this did not prevent him from giving a similar definition to Spanish music. Moreover, the composer heard “Arabic” music more than once (in Madrid, in the autumn of 1845; in Granada, in January 1846) (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 326). And in the winter of 1846-17847. he attended dance evenings where national singers, according to him, “filled themselves in an oriental way” - this wording allows us to assert with confidence that Spain, in the view of the Russian composer, was an oriental country (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 472 - 473). M. I. Glinka wrote to N. Kukolnik: “The national music of the Spanish provinces, which were under the rule of the Moors, is the main subject of my study ...” (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 326) - that is, firstly, he understood and recognized that Spain is orientalized, and secondly (hence) had certain - orientalist - expectations (music will be "Arabic"). Expectations were confirmed.

In Granada, M.I. Glinka met a gypsy and, having learned that she could sing and dance, invited her and her comrades to the evening. According to the composer, the old gypsy danced too obscenely at the evening. The obscene dances of the gypsies are another important element in the image of Oriental Spain. S. V. Tyshko and G. V. Kukol note that the gypsy culture has become an integral part of life in Andalusia, and the Spanish gypsy - the gitana - has become a recognizable symbol of the art of the 19th century, including Russian. But then the text contains a rhetorical exclamation: “What can we say about the world symbol embodied in Carmen…” (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 366). This exclamation is not the only one, but they all cause bewilderment. Carmen is mentioned in a fairly large passage dedicated to Andalusian women. S. V. Tyshko and G. V. Kukol indicate that at the beginning of the 19th century. there were legends about the attractiveness of Andalusians. Literary critic V.P. Botkin wrote about the bewitching brilliance of the eyes, the bronze color of the skin, the delicate whiteness of the face, the naivety and audacity of the Andalusians, whose only need was the need to love; A. S. Pushkin admired the legs of Andalusian women (and the poet, unlike V. P. Botkin, was not in Spain either). Researchers note in the character of Andalusians such traits as ignorance, willfulness, indomitability - and the proof for them is the words of the hero of the short story "Carmen" Jose that he was afraid of Andalusians (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 355 - 360). Such a position can at least cause surprise - after all, here an appeal is made to the work of a French writer (and then to a work by a French composer), where the Spanish gypsy Carmen is shown as the French wanted to see her - but this does not mean that the gypsies actually were like that! In our opinion, one cannot judge gypsies according to Carmen, one cannot base one's conclusions on an orientalist work, where one can only find the ideas of the authors, from which it does not follow that everything was so in reality. If the researcher acts in this way, then there is reason to call him an Orientalist.

But back to our topic. Gypsy culture was indeed an important part of Spanish culture - and part of the oriental image of Spain. A. Piotrowska points out that the image of Spanish gypsies is, first of all, the image of attractive and obscene gypsy dancers (Piotrowska, 2013). The same was the opinion of M. I. Glinka. However, he was really interested in the gypsies and even, most likely, was in El Malecón - the place where the gypsies gathered. In addition, he met Antonio Fernandez "El Planeta" - a gypsy blacksmith, "national singer", keeper of the oldest authentic traditions, from whom the first recorded flamenco music was received (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 424, 483).

S. V. Tyshko and G. V. Kukol pay attention to the origin and characteristics of flamenco - and from their descriptions one can easily conclude that flamenco was also part of the Oriental Spanish culture. The origins of flamenco are found in Arabic, Gypsy, Spanish (Andalusian) and Greco-Byzantine cultures. The first professional performers in the style of cante hondo (the first style of flamenco) appeared in Spanish patios, pubs, taverns at the end of the 18th century, when the public's interest in oriental dances and songs increased, and the more they contained gypsy or Moorish, the more exotic they were ( Tyshko and Kukol, 2011, 478). Accordingly, in Spain at the end of the 18th century. there was exactly the same situation that took place in Europe in the 17th century, when Turkish music became relevant (Rice, 1999). The "Spanish" style was formed in the same logic as other Orientalist styles. Flamenco music is free-improvisational and subtly virtuoso. Melodies ("in the oriental style") contain intervals of less than a semitone, a lot of embellishments. Their modal structure is complex - there is a combination of Phrygian, Dorian, as well as the Arabic “maqam hijazi” modes. Flamenco rhythms are also complex, besides, there is a lot of polyrhythm in music (Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 479 - 480). All this was completely unusual for M.I. Glinka (as for a European musician), which is why he experienced difficulties in recording and understanding flamenco music.

Finally, let us turn to the gypsy dances that the Russian composer saw. Regarding them, he wrote the following: “But it is remarkable - and in our northern and western regions it is difficult to believe in such things - that all these strange, unfamiliar, unprecedented movements for us are voluptuous, but they do not feel the slightest unbridledness ... "(Tyshko, Kukol, 2011, 477 - 478). M. I. Glinka draws an imaginary border, dividing "his" "northern and western lands" and unfamiliar Spain, obviously located in the "south and east" - that is, being part of the Oriental world. It was this - oriental (and orientalized), with Arabic music and dances of beautiful gypsies - that Spain appeared before M. I. Glinka, one of the founders of the "Spanish" style in Russian musical orientalism.

TOPIC: Spanish music in the work of Glinka.

(Literary and musical living room.) Grade 6

"It feeds my restless imagination."

Leading. Today the doors of our literary and musical drawing room are open to all those who value Russian art, the creativity of our compatriots. True, Spanish music will be played at our evening, but this music was written by the Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. We will make a trip to the Spanish addresses of the great Russian maestro.

Sounds the 1st part of the overture "Night in Madrid".

1 dude.“Visiting Spain is a dream of my youth. My imagination will not stop disturbing me until I visit this curious land for me "..." I entered Spain on May 20 - the very day of my birth, and was completely delighted ... ".

These lines are like milestones that mark the path from a dream to its realization, are given in the book “Spanish diaries of M.I. Glinka 1845-1847. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Glinka's travels in Spain, published in Madrid. The luxurious edition, which was immediately appreciated by fans of the great Russian, includes the composer's travel notes, the so-called "Spanish Album", which contains recordings of folk songs, autographs and drawings of people with whom the composer spoke. And the letters about Spain are a subtle story about the country that inspired the musician's work, imbued with accurate observations.

Leading. Throughout Spain, there are hardly a dozen monuments erected in honor of foreign writers, artists, composers. It is all the more gratifying that both in the Spanish capital and in the south of the country, in Grenada, memorial plaques in honor of M.I. Glinka have been erected. This is a reminder of the touching and respectful attitude of the Spaniards to the composer, who, more than anyone else, did to bring our peoples closer together.

II reader. Glinka arrived in Spain in May 1845 and, captivated by her, spent almost 2 years here. He knew about this beautiful country before, which, however, is not surprising: Spain in those years was a kind of fashion in Russia. The revolutionary upheavals that engulfed Spain in the 1920s were still fresh in my memory. and found a response and support among Russian liberals. Sympathy for this country was experienced by the Decembrists, A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.V. Gogol. Performances based on plays by Calderon, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina were performed on the theater stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg, ballets based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes were staged, and the novel about the “knight of a sad image” was well known and revered in circles of the Russian intelligentsia.

1 dude. Glinka, of course, was most fascinated by the music of Spain, the rhythms of which he used in his compositions.

In 1832, for example, while in Italy, he wrote the romance "The Winner" in the spirit of the Spanish bolero. Two years later, he set to music the drama of A.S. Pushkin "The Stone Guest" and the poems "I'm here, Inezilla ...". It is noteworthy that for the first time these poems saw the light in the form of a song, and only then were published as an independent literary work. After the death of the poet, Glinka created another romance based on Pushkin's poems - "Night Air", and also in the style of a Spanish serenade. You can also add a musical cycle to the words of the poet Nestor Kukolnik "Farewell to Petersburg", which includes two Spanish bolero pieces "Oh, my charming maid! .." and the fantasy "Stop your run, unstoppable horse ...".

Leading. Let's listen to Glinka's romance to Pushkin's poems "I'm here, Inezilla ...", written in the style of a Spanish serenade.

The romance "I'm here, Inezilla ..." sounds.

II reader. Spanish motives stirred the soul of the composer, and while in Italy, he was going to come to Spain again and even began to learn Spanish. But then the trip did not take place. Almost a decade and a half passed before his dream came true. Oddly enough, family troubles contributed to this: life with Maria Petrovna Ivanova, with whom Glinka became engaged on May 8, 1834, clearly failed. A grueling divorce process began. The existence was brightened up by love for Ekaterina Kern - the daughter of Anna Petrovna Kern. Ekaterina Ermolaevna, born in 1818, graduated from the St. Petersburg Smolny Institute in 1836 and remained there as a class lady. Then she met Glinka's sister and met the composer in her house.

1 dude.“My gaze involuntarily rested on her. Clear, expressive eyes ... An unusually strict camp and a special kind of charm and dignity are poured into her whole person, - M. Glinka notes in his Notes. - Soon my feelings were shared with Ekaterina Ermolaevna. Our dates became more and more pleasurable ... ".

Leading. He dreamed of getting married, but could not, since the previous marriage had not yet been dissolved, although his wife, almost without hiding, lived in a civil marriage with a young officer. In 1839, M.I. Glinka wrote for Ekaterina Kern a romance to the verses of A.S. Pushkin “Where is our rose ...”, and a little later set to music “I remember wonderful moment...". So thanks to two geniuses - a poet and a composer - mother and daughter gained immortality.

1 dude. And Glinka was looking for peace of mind. Where?..

II reader.“... It is necessary for me to stay in a new country, which, satisfying the artistic requirements of my imagination, would distract my thoughts from those memories, which are main reason my current suffering,” he writes to his friend A. Bartenyeva, and in a letter to his mother he admits that only Spain “is able to heal the wounds of my heart. And she really healed them: thanks to the journey and my stay in this blessed country, I begin to forget all my past sorrows and sorrows.

Leading. It seemed symbolic to the composer that he came to Spain on his birthday. He is 41 years old.

I reader.“... I lived at the sight of this delightful southern nature. Almost all the way I admired the charming and delightful views. Oak and chestnut groves... Poplar alleys... Fruit trees all in bloom... Huts surrounded by huge rose bushes... It all looked more like an English garden than simple countryside. Finally, the Pyrenees, with their snow-covered peaks, struck me with their majestic appearance.”

Leading. Mikhail Ivanovich carefully prepared for the trip, resumed his studies in Spanish and, according to eyewitnesses, by the end of his stay in this country he was well versed in it. He determined in advance the range of his interests, putting the folk music of Spain in the first place:

through its prism, Glinka studied the life and customs of ordinary Spaniards, although he enthusiastically visited palaces and museums, tried not to miss premieres in the capital's theater, and met famous musicians.

Sounds Spanish tarantella in the performance of the guitar.

II reader. Mikhail Glinka came to Spain in a halo of glory - the author of the first Russian operas "Life for the Tsar" and "Ruslan and Lyudmila". But, unlike other eminent Europeans who traveled around Spain at the same time, he communicated only with friends, avoided any noise around his person and any honors, as was the case, for example, with Franz Liszt or Alexander Dumas père. He even refused to perform his "Jota of Aragon" in one of the capital's theaters - it was enough for him that it sounded for the Spaniards very close to him.

1 reader. Glinka's Spanish life was very different from the recent Italian life, connected mainly with professional musicians. Now the circle of his acquaintances were muleteers, artisans, merchants, gypsies. He visits at home ordinary people listening to guitarists and singers.

I reader.“The national music of the Spanish provinces, which were under the rule of the Moors, is the main subject of my passion,” M. Glinka wrote in January 1846 to N. Kukolnik. But this study is fraught with great difficulties. A Spanish and foreign maestro living in Spain understands nothing in this matter, and if he sometimes performs folk melodies, he immediately disfigures them, giving them a European character. To achieve my own goal, one must resort to sources, artisans, ordinary people and listen to their tunes with great attention.

And in a letter to his mother, he notes that “musically, there are many curious things, but it is not easy to find these folk songs, it is even more difficult to catch their Spanish national character. All this feeds my restless imagination. And the more difficult it is to achieve the goal, the more persistently and constantly I strive for it, as always.

Leading. The composer reflected his first Spanish impressions in the famous "Jota of Aragon", or "Brilliant Capriccio", as the author himself called this play. Connoisseurs rank it among the best and most original works of Glinka. The melody that served as its basis, he recorded in the summer of 1845. The rhythm of the dance, which served Glinka so many times for his best instrumental works, did him a favor in this case too.

1 reader. “And from the dance melody a magnificent fantastic tree has grown, expressing in its wonderful forms both the charm of the Spanish nationality and all the beauty of Glinka's fantasy,” noted the famous critic Vladimir Stasov.

I reader. And the writer Vladimir Odoevsky, after the first performance of the Jota of Aragon in 1850, wrote: “A miracle day involuntarily takes you to a warm southern night, surrounds you with all its ghosts. You hear the rattling of a guitar, the cheerful sound of castanets, a black-browed beauty is dancing before your eyes, and the characteristic melody is now lost in the distance, then again appears in full swing.

Leading. By the way, it was on the advice of V. Odoevsky that Glinka called his "Jota of Aragon" a Spanish overture.

Sounds like Aragonese jota.

The fate of "Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid" is also interesting. The composer conceived it in 1846 in Warsaw and even wrote a potpourri of 4 Spanish melodies "Memories of Castile". But they are, alas! - not saved. And on April 2, 1852, the edition of "Memoirs ...", known as "Night in Madrid", was first performed in St. Petersburg.

1 reader. “There was not a single listener who was not carried away to the last degree of delight by the dazzling flashes of the mighty genius of Glinka, shining so brightly in his second “Spanish Overture,” wrote Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Leading. It is difficult to convey the music in words, but P.I. Tchaikovsky succeeded, and after him, in Glinka’s composition, the listeners saw the transparent southern twilight and passionately captivating dance, heard the mysterious babble, hugs and again silence, and the darkness of the fragrant southern night.

A fragment of the overture "Night in Madrid" sounds.

I reader. With the assistance of Glinka, Spanish boleros, Andalusian dances came to the work of Russian musicians. He presents Spanish themes to the then young Mily Alekseevich Balakirev. The themes of Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky were scooped from the "Spanish Album", dotted with recordings of folk melodies. “I want to compose something similar to Glinka's Spanish Fantasies,” Pyotr Ilyich wrote to his friend Nadezhda von Meck.

Leading. Unfortunately, a lot of what was born in Spain was lost: some musical works, several letters and a diary that Mikhail Ivanovich kept on the trip were lost.

And now let's listen to the "Andalusian dance" compositions of 1855.

A recording of a dance performed on the piano sounds.

Leading. Looking for folk songs and melodies, Glinka thereby stimulates the development of Spanish classical music. From now on, not a single Spanish composer could pass by what was created by this Russian; moreover, here he is considered a teacher.

Philippe Pedrin, who led the movement for the revival of national music in the 2nd half of the 19th century, in a study called "Glinka in Grenada", simply recommends that his colleagues "learn from Glinka the symphonic treatment of folk themes and follow him in creating a national musical school."

1 reader. Federico Garcia Lorca paid tribute to Glinka. On February 19, 1922, the outstanding poet, speaking before the opening of the Spanish song festival in Grenada, said: “The circumstances of life in our city of the father of Russian music, the founder of the East Slavic school, are extremely interesting. Here he became friends with the famous guitarist Francisco Murciano. Glinka listened to our songs and Murciano's variations on their themes for hours, studied them and even introduced them into his compositions, here the true source of inspiration was opened to the composer. His friends and students also turned to folk music, and not only Russian. The music of southern Spain formed the basis of their works. So the gloomy oriental flavor and the dreary modulations of our songs echoed in distant Moscow. And sadness has eaten into the bell towers of Grenada, woven into the mysterious ringing of the Kremlin bells.

II reader. Federico Garcia Lorca was the first to speak about a memorial plaque in memory of M.I. Glinka's stay in Spain: “How happy I would be if, finally, this wonderful intention came true! That would be fair,” he wrote to the composer de Falla in August 1922.

1 dude. And this board was installed on one of the houses in Grenada, where M.I. Glinka lived in the winter of 1846-1847. But for the first time in the years of the fascist coup, in July 1936, the board was torn down and disappeared without a trace.

2 reader. Only 60 years later, she appeared on the house down Carmen de San Miguel Tourel Vermiha. This plaque informs that “the Russian composer M.I. Glinka lived in this place and here he studied the folk music of that era. The city of Grenada in memory of the 150th anniversary of his travels in Spain. June 27, 1996".

1 reader. A memorial plaque in the center of Madrid, the capital of Spain, on Montero Street 14, where “in 1846 the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, the father of Russian music, stayed, also reminds of the Spanish journey of the Russian maestro.”

True, some researchers claim that this is a mistake and give other addresses, not far from Montero, where Glinka lived or stayed.

Leading. In 1852, while in Paris, MI. Glinka wanted to visit Spain again. He even went to Toulouse - a city in the south of France, but his health did not allow him to go further. Today, the living memory of the Russian composer is kept by the Glinka Trio, a musical group in Madrid, which is widely known in the country and abroad. He plays the works of the great Russian and, of course, his compositions, born on the beautiful Spanish soil.

Sounds the 2nd part of the overture "Night in Madrid".

Jota Aragonese (Brilliant Capriccio on Aragonese Jota)

Spanish Overture No. 1 (1845)

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, ophicleide (tuba), timpani, castanets, cymbals, bass drum, harp, strings.

"A Night in Madrid" (Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid)

Spanish Overture No. 2 (1848-1851)

Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, timpani, triangle, castanets, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, strings.

History of creation

In 1840, Glinka spent several months in Paris. In his Notes, he recalled: “... I found out that Liszt went to Spain. This circumstance aroused my long-standing desire to visit Spain so strongly that, without delay, I wrote about this to my mother, who did not suddenly and not even soon agree to this undertaking of mine, fearing for me. Wasting no time, I set to work.

The "case" was a hasty mastering of the Spanish language and went very well. When the composer went to Spain in May 1845, he already spoke Spanish almost fluently. He visited Burgos, Valladolid. He got a horse and made trips around the neighborhood. “In the evenings, neighbors, neighbors and acquaintances gathered at our place, sang, danced and talked,” Glinka continues her memoirs in Notes. - Between acquaintances, the son of a local merchant ... smartly played the guitar, especially the Aragonese jota, which I kept in my memory with its variations and then in Madrid, in September or October of the same year, made a play out of them under the name "Capriccio brilliante" , which later, on the advice of Prince Odoevsky, he called the Spanish Overture. Even later, the composition became known as the Spanish Overture No. 1, but it received the greatest fame as the Aragonese Jota. The first performance took place on March 15, 1850. Odoevsky’s response to this concert has been preserved: “The miracle worker involuntarily takes us to a warm southern night, surrounds us with all its ghosts, you hear the rattling of a guitar, the cheerful sound of castanets, a black-browed beauty is dancing in front of your eyes, and the characteristic melody is either lost in the distance, or again appears in all its glory."

From Valladolid Glinka went to Madrid. “Shortly after arriving in Madrid, I set to work on the Jota. Then, having finished it, he carefully studied Spanish music, namely the melodies of commoners. One zagal (a stagecoach mule driver) came to me and sang folk songs, which I tried to catch and put on notes. Two Seguedillas manchegas (airs de la Mancha) I especially liked and subsequently served me for the second Spanish Overture.

It was created later, in Warsaw, where the composer lived in 1848-1851. Glinka originally called his work "Memories of Castile". It was performed in St. Petersburg on March 15, 1850, in the same concert as the Aragonese Jota. Not completely satisfied with the result, in August 1851 the composer worked on the second edition. It was she who began to be called "Night in Madrid", or "Memories of a Summer Night in Madrid", was dedicated to the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society and was first performed in St. Petersburg under the direction of K. Schubert on April 2, 1852 in a concert of this Society; the concert program was entirely composed of Glinka's compositions. This edition was later published, and remained as the only true one.

Music

« Aragonese jota” opens with a slow introduction, full of restrained power and grandeur, with solemn fanfare, with an alternation of fortissimo and secretly quiet sounds. In the main section (allegro), first in the light pizzicato of the strings and plucking of the harp, and then the bright, cheerful theme of the jota sounds more and more saturated and full. It is replaced by an expressive melodic melody for woodwinds. Both themes alternate in a bright bloom of orchestral colors, preparing the appearance of another theme - an elegant and graceful melody with a touch of playfulness, reminiscent of a mandolin tune. In the future, all topics become more excited, tense. Their development brings drama, even severity, to the music. One of the jota motifs is repeated in a low register against the backdrop of the fanfare of the introduction, which acquires a formidable character. Expectation kicks in. With the roar of the timpani, fragments of the dance appear, gradually the theme of jota takes on more and more clear outlines, and now it sparkles again in full splendor. A stormy, unrestrained dance absorbs everything in its whirlwind. All the themes, intonation approaching, sweep in a jubilant stream. The majestic, triumphant tutti completes the picture of folk fun.

« Night in Madrid” begins, as it were, gradually, as if the future melody is being groped in separate motifs, interrupted by pauses. Gradually, the theme of jota is born, it becomes more and more distinct, and now, flexible, graceful, it sounds in a brilliant orchestral outfit. The second theme is close to the first in character and seems to be its continuation. Both melodies are repeated, varying, intricately intertwined in a subtle and colorful orchestral sound, creating an almost visible picture of a warm southern night saturated with aromas.

Jota is a Spanish folk dance, the beauty of which inspired the great Russian composer Glinka to create the uniquely colorful orchestral piece Jota of Aragon. But before starting to create his masterpiece, the composer carefully studied the history of the emergence and development of this dance. A visit to Spain gave Glinka great inspiration. What can be judged by listening to his creation.

Emergence

This old Spanish folk dance dates back to the last decades of the eighteenth century. But there is an opinion that it arose much earlier.

The birthplace of this dance is considered to be the province of Aragon in northern Spain. The popularity of the dance quickly began to gain momentum. Today, hota can be found in the cultures of many peoples. Also, the melody of this dance adorns the lists of works by many European composers.

The name "hota" (in translation - "jump") fully justifies itself. This movement is the main one.

essence

Jota is performed at all festivities dedicated to significant events in the life of every Spaniard. The dance unfolds to colorful singing. The lyrics of the songs tell stories of patriotism, love, passion, loyalty, betrayal, sexual conquest. The interweaving of voice, melody and movement reflects the unity of the people and pride in the nation.

The dance floor is full of bright colors of national costumes. The mesmerizing atmosphere is fueled by the emotional movements of the couples. The rhythmic size of the jota is 7/8, and the steps themselves resemble waltzes, but presented with Spanish ardor, passion and self-forgetfulness.

Varieties

Like all Spanish folk dances, jota has rhythm, grace and is filled with special energy. The predominant part of the inhabitants of Aragon is of Iberian origin. Despite this, Moorish traditions have made a significant impact on the culture of the region. But each of the regions has imposed its own special shade on the overall picture of the dance.

Jota Alcaniz is a combination of a fast tempo and a traditional set of dance moves performed in sequence. These movements include:

• horse racing,
• jumping,
• batudas,
• greetings,
• kicking the ground while jumping.

The Albalate hota has a smaller set of moves and less dynamism.

The Calandian and Andorran jota are distinguished by their majestic character. Valencian - develops its pace from slow to fast.

Jota from Zaragoza has a large set of figures, steps and a significant selection of tempos. http://finsekrret.ru

Jota from Huesca has some original, unique steps and figures. She to some extent inherits the traditions of French dance.

Jota de la vendimia is dedicated to the festival of the wine harvest. It is often accompanied by a game percussion instruments, guitar strumming and sensual melodies played on the bandurria.

Folk Spanish dance is one of the greatest prides of this good-natured people, with an ardent disposition.

"Aragonese jota"

One of the greatest Russian composers, Glinka, traveled around the cities of Spain in the middle of the nineteenth century. His leisure time consisted of walking along the historical streets, horseback riding around the outskirts of cities. Glinka enthusiastically studied the culture, customs, traditions and mores of this sunny country. Folk art The Spaniards were deeply impressed by the composer. art, songs, poems, music - all this filled him inner world special light and peace.

And when Glinka first heard the jota, which was performed on his guitar by one of the merchants, the depth of his impressions knew no bounds. He tried to memorize every shade of the melody in order to recreate it later in his creation, which was called Capriccio brilliante. Later, Glinka, having listened to the advice of a friend, renamed the play to "Spanish Capriccio". But nevertheless, the work achieved world fame and recognition under the third version of the name - “Jota of Aragon”.

Music of the Jota of Aragon

The work opens before the listener a dynamic, majestic picture, with solemn notes in the sound. The main section acquires expressiveness and brightness. Cheerful, cheerful pizzicato of harp and strings gives way to a more expressive and serious theme of woodwind instruments. The melodies follow each other and then give all the attention to the theme, which is very reminiscent of the playful, gentle and graceful playing of the mandolin.