I. Skvortsova, A. Gorshkova

“Genuine Sincerity of Music, Clarity of Thoughts and Keen Understanding of Beauty”. Phenomenon of Anton S. Arensky

The article is dedicated to the art and personality of Anton Arensky (1861–1906) who was one of the most famous composers in Russia at the turn of the 20th century and also a professor of Moscow conservatory who made a considerable contribution to Russian musical science. Though presently he is mostly known as a professor who had taught many outstanding musicians, during his life his works had great success and were praised by such famous critics as Larosh, Ossovsky, Kashkin. This situation had crucially changed in 1910s when Arensky’s works was almost forgotten (except several of his chamber compositions). While analyzing the biography and works of Arensky the authors make an attempt to perceive why his great popularity during lifetime declined steeply after his death; and to find out to what art period his works belongs: to romanticism or to fin de siecle epoch. Notwithstanding the fact that interest toward Arensky has been growing in the last few years, his life and works are still not studied enough and analyzing them enriches modern understanding of Russian music of the second half of 19th – the beginning of the 20th century.

Key words

Arensky, Russian music at the turn of the century, romanticism, fin de siecle, Moscow conservatory.

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