Ru
EnL. Yadlovskaya
Fables by I. Krylov in A. Grechaninov’s chamber vocal and choral work
The article is devoted to the literary heritage of the outstanding Russian poet and dramatist Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), which found a very wide implementation in Russian music. The researcher notes that the composers of the last quarter of the 18th – early 19th centuries (E. Fomin, C. Cavos) were attracted by the dramatic works and opera librettos of I. Krylov, while the romantic era opened up his fables for various musical incarnations. Currently, more than thirty works are known based on I. Krylov’s fable texts and plots belonging to various genres (song, romance, choral and ensemble miniature, vocal cycle for voice accompanied by piano or orchestra, children’s and “adult” opera). A prominent place in this series is occupied by the works of A. Grechaninov, dating from 1902 to 1904. The article points out that it was precisely the vocal opuses on the verses of I. Krylov that were the first “tests of the pen” by A. Grechaninov in the field of musical humor and satire, which predetermined the style of his later comic operas. The most significant creative experiences of the predecessor composers who influenced “Krylov’s” opuses by A. Grechaninov (“Fables in faces” by V. Rebikov, “comic” choirs and vocal ensembles by S. Taneev to words from Kozma Prutkov) are revealed. The specificity of the individual embodiment of I. Krylov’s fable texts which is characteristic of A. Grechaninov’s chamber-vocal and ensemble-choir creative work and defined by the Russian musicologist Yu. Paisov as a “musical allegory” is considered. The most important principles of organizing the “musical-allegorical” texts of the composer in terms of the duet “voice – piano” and the mixed quartet (choir) a cappella are indicated.
Key words
I. Krylov, fable heritage, A. Grechaninov, “Four Fables by I. Krylov” Op. 33 for voice and piano, “Two Fables by I. Krylov” Op. 36 for vocal quartet, «musical allegory».
For citation
Yadlovskaya L. Fables by I. Krylov in A. Grechaninov’s chamber vocal and choral work // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2022. No. 2. Pp. 138-143.
