Young slave girls in picturesque oriental attire play near the pool. And nearby in the window is Maria with her gaze downcast. She is like a creature from another world. There is still no tragedy in the depicted scene - the denouement is ahead. But there is a certain mystery that refers to the poem itself and the history of its creation. This is not surprising. There are still heated debates about the origins of the plot and the meaning hidden in the text.
Romantic reality
It is likely that the legend was told to Pushkin by Sofya Stanislavovna Pototskaya (married to Kiselev). It was associated with the name of her distant relative Maria, who was allegedly captured by the Crimean Khan Kerim-Girey and died within the walls of the harem. Pushkin heard this story in St. Petersburg. Later I visited Bakhchisarai. The poet did not hide his disappointment with the deplorable state in which the palace was then. However, the atmosphere of mystery made a strong impression.
Sofya Stanislavovna Pototskaya (1801-1875) muse of A.S. Pushkin.
Sofia Pototskaya's mother was a Greek woman who experienced many adventures in her youth. They became the beginning of a number of family legends. It was not possible to verify their accuracy. The story of the captive Mary could also be fiction. Pushkin learned about this with bitterness - especially since the poem had already been written. There were even doubts whether it was worth publishing.
Pyotr Vyazemsky came to the rescue. He wrote a preface that said: “This legend is the property of poetry.” A work of art does not embody a specific biography, but creates its own reality. “History should not be gullible; poetry is the opposite.” The preface was needed in order to prevent possible accusations that the plot does not correspond to reality.
Among the secrets
"Khan Giray". Illustration by V. Surenyants, 1897
The text of the poem is mysterious. This is a romantic fresco with a number of omissions. The emphasized uncertainty of the heroes' fates enhances the drama. In the center are three characters - the Polish princess Maria, the Georgian slave Zarema and Khan Giray. The latter appears not just as a despot, before whom those close to him tremble. This is a feeling and thinking hero. Unrequited love for Mary became the beginning of his internal rebirth.
The climax is the meeting of the two heroines. At first, Zarema experiences only jealousy, but gradually her feelings become deeper and more tragic:
Georgian! Everything is in your soul
The dear one awakened something,
All with the sounds of forgotten days
Suddenly he spoke indistinctly.
Seeing the cross and lamp in Mary’s room, Zarema remembers her past, homeland and the faith of her ancestors. Much was dormant in the soul, as if under the cover of the silk curtains of a harem. Now I had to feel the pain of what was lost with renewed vigor. And even if Giray had returned Zarema’s affection, then perhaps she would not have been able to become the same.
"Zarema and Maria". Illustration by V. Surenyants, 1897
Maria remains faithful to everything that is dear to her. But the meeting with Zarema made me acutely feel the irreversibility of what happened. Maria now clearly saw the future that awaits her:
What awaits her? Could she really
The remnant of bitter young days
Spend with a despicable concubine?
There is a premonition of an imminent departure from life, in which deliverance is seen:
What should she do in the desert of the world?
It's time for her, they're waiting for Maria
And into the heavens into the bosom of the world
They call it a native smile.
The poet is silent about why Maria dies. Nothing is said about the fact that Zarema was to blame for this. But they talk about the terrible execution of the latter. Zarema was thrown into the sea, but why exactly is also unknown. The eunuch, who imagined betrayal everywhere, could play his role. It was not difficult for him to overhear the speech addressed to Mary and interpret everything in accordance with his suspicions. Each reader may have his own understanding.
New angles
It is natural that the romantic poem interested the musical theater. A curious fact is known: in the 50s of the 19th century, the outstanding ballerina Elena Andreyanova toured the cities of Russia. And in Voronezh she herself staged a two-act ballet based on the poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”. It was a considerable success, but, unfortunately, detailed information about the performance has not been preserved. Even the name of the author of the music is unknown.
In 1899, composer Anton Arensky addressed the poem. He wrote a number of numbers. Zarema’s monologue for mezzo-soprano based on Pushkin’s text was a masterpiece. This is a vocal portrait that combines lyricism and passion, elegance and expression. He entered the repertoire of many singers. Irina Arkhipova performed it unsurpassedly.
Irina Arkhipova sings Zarema's monologue from the music to the poem "The Bakhchisarai Fountain" by A. Arensky. Symphony Orchestra of the Academic Bolshoi Theater, conductor A. Melik-Pashayev.
Choreographic poem
In 1934, the premiere of Boris Asafiev’s ballet “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” took place in Leningrad. This performance became the pinnacle of the work of choreographer Rostislav Zakharov. The genre itself was defined as a choreographic poem. The libretto was dramatic and new characters appeared. Among them is Maria's fiancé Vaclav, who dies defending his beloved.
Maria - Galina Ulanova, Vaclav - Vladimir Preobrazhensky
The brilliant art of Galina Ulanova contributed greatly to the success of the performance. She became the creator of the image of Mary. The ballerina was able to raise the heroine to incredible moral heights. Mary’s spiritual purity was felt in every movement and glance. In contrast, Zarema became overwhelmed by passions. It was danced by many outstanding artists, including Tatyana Vecheslova, Alla Shelest, Maya Plisetskaya.
The choreographic canvas can evoke associations with masterpieces of fine art. It will not be surprising if the ballet reminds one of Karl Bryullov’s painting. Attempts to see and hear the poetic word have repeatedly allowed new works to be born. Each of them reflects the bright facets of a romantic poem. It can appear in different genres - each time in a different way, through the prism of creative perception.
Maya Plisetskaya. Scene from Boris Asafiev's ballet "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai"
"Bakhchisarai Fountain"
Act one
In the castle of Polish Prince Adam, all the windows are brightly lit. Many guests arrived at the ball. Maria and her fiancé Vaclav run out of the castle into the park. They are happy, love each other, dream of a wedding and a near radiant future. Meanwhile, a Tatar spy is wandering around the park and is being pursued by Polish guards.
Dancing couples proudly march to the sounds of the polonaise. The first to speak are Maria and her brave father. The solemn polonaise is followed by an elegant mazurka. Other dances are no less magnificent. The guests are in an excellent mood.
Suddenly the chief of the guard runs in. He is horrified: hordes of Tatars surrounded the park on all sides. The men grab their weapons, but foreigners have already filled everything around. A fierce battle breaks out. The Polish prince also dies in an unequal battle. Maria and Vaclav flee from the burning castle. Suddenly, the leader of the Tatars, Khan Girey, blocks their way. Struck by Mary's beauty, the khan stops for a moment, then rushes towards her. Vaclav tries to protect his beloved, but falls dead, struck by Giray's blade. Maria, by order of the khan, is sent to the harem.
Act two
In Girey's harem, his wives are having fun and dancing. Among them, Zarema is the most beloved of the khan’s wives. The sounds of martial music can be heard. This army of Khan Giray is returning from a campaign. The wives meet their ruler. Zarema rushes towards Girey, but the khan’s thoughts are occupied with the beautiful captive. Zarema's fiery dance leaves the khan indifferent, which leads her to despair.
Maria spends her days homesick. Giray's arrival neither pleases nor frightens her. She is indifferent to everything. Giray begs Maria to love him and tells her about his passion. Only with Maria is he kind and patient. But she cannot love Giray, because he is the killer of all the people close to her. Not daring to insist, the khan leaves. Maria plays her favorite melody on the lute. She remembers the lost happiness. Night falls, but the girl cannot sleep. Zarema slips into her room and begs him to return Girey’s love to her. Maria assures the jealous woman that she does not love and will never love the Khan. Zarema believes her, but suddenly her gaze notices the skullcap forgotten by Giray. The flame of jealousy flares up again. The awakened maid calls for help. Girey runs in, but Zarema manages to plunge a dagger into her rival. Girey orders the guards to take Zarema away.
In the courtyard of the Bakhchisarai Palace, Girey yearns for Mary. The military leader Nurali, who returned with an army from a successful campaign, shows him new captives, but the khan is indifferent. And even the execution of Zarema did not satisfy Giray’s mental anguish. The servants try to entertain him with dancing, Nurali and the warriors call on the khan for new raids, but this does not console him. He orders the fountain that he built in memory of Mary, the “Fountain of Tears,” to be activated. Visions of the past appear before him. The singer's voice can be heard from afar:
Fountain of love, living fountain!
I brought you two roses as a gift.
I love your silent conversation
And poetic tears.
Your silver dust
Sprinkles me with cold dew:
Oh, pour in, pour in, the joyful key!
Murmur, hum your story to me...
Characters
Prince Adam Potocki, Polish tycoon. Maria, his daughter. Vaclav, Maria's fiancé. Girey, Crimean Khan. Zarema, Girey's beloved wife. Nurali, military leader. Castle manager. Chief of the guard. Polish gentlemen, panenki, abbot, Tatar spy. Giray's second wife. Maid, eunuchs, Tatars, Poles.
Act one
Bright moonlit night. Castle of Prince Potocki. A park decorated with ancient bronze statues. In the center of the scene is the main entrance to the castle. The windows are brightly lit, shadows of dancers flicker through them.
With the first bars of the introduction to the waltz, Vaclav runs onto the stage. He was already overtaking Maria, who was running away from him, but suddenly she disappeared. It seemed to him that her dress flashed in the alley. He ran there, but Maria was not there either.
At this moment (second phrase of the waltz) Maria appears from behind the castle - from a completely different direction. She is surprised to see Vaclav here. Stealthily approaches him from behind and playfully covers the young man’s eyes with his hands. Vaclav recognizes her immediately. They shake hands and, happy, continue the serene dance-game.
But then it seemed to Maria that someone was walking along the alley of the park. She was embarrassed: her playful and loving treatment of Vaclav could be seen by strangers. The young people quietly walk around the stage and, seeing no one, resume the dance-game. Vaclav is so carried away by Maria that in a fit of delight he kisses her.
Maria was confused. She is offended, embarrassed. Full of remorse, Vaclav asks for forgiveness. Maria believes him. Their dance-game resumes again. Chu! Someone is actually walking down the alley. "Let's run!" - the lovers say to each other and quickly disappear.
They left on time. The castle manager comes out onto the platform and calls the servants. They bring vessels of wine, goblets, vases of fruit and quickly place them on the tables.
Flashing between the trees, a Tatar spy sneaks. He runs across the stage, climbs onto the castle balcony and looks out the window... Something scared him. A moment - and he disappears among the trees.
The chief of security and two guards run out: they are looking for an enemy spy. By order of the boss, everyone disperses in different directions.
For a moment the stage is empty. But Maria runs out from behind the castle, followed by Vaclav. Continuing their game, excited, joyful, they hide in the castle.
The front doors swing open and the servants line up. Pototsky and his daughter open the procession of guests to the park.
The polonaise is over. Guests are located in the park. Krakowiak. Two young men are eager to show their prowess and fencing skills. They are joined by two experienced old swordsmen. War dance with sabers.
Two girls approach the boys and, taking their sabers in their hands, dance a variation, imitating the fencers.
The owner of the house asks his daughter to dance for the guests. Maria agrees. The young men help her take off her cape. Vaclav takes the lute and plays.
Variation of Maria. Following it is the Vaclav variation. Admired by his dance, the girls surround Vaclav and take him to the park, where, at the invitation of the owner of the house, the guests also retire.
Maria looks for Vaclav in the park, but does not find him and wants to leave. At this moment, Vaclav appears. They run up to each other. A duet begins, full of confessions and chaste_tender caresses. Suddenly the sounds of a dashing mazurka burst in. The guests scared the lovers, and they run away in embarrassment.
A mazurka is being performed. The owner of the house dances first with one lady, then with another, and finally with Maria. This causes general delight. A general dance again... And suddenly there was confusion. The bleeding chief of the castle guard is looking for his master. “Tatars!” he manages to say, falling dead.
Pototsky calls the guests to arms. The men draw their sabers and rush into the park, led by the prince. The women run away.
The Tatar military leader Nurali jumps onto the stage like a wild animal. He gives the order: “Attack!” The Poles, pressed by the Tatars, appear from all sides.
Here Nurali easily defeats two Polish youths. Several Tatars and Poles roll across the stage in hand-to-hand combat. The priest runs, trying to protect the woman clinging to him with a cross, but falls under the blow of the Tatar. So the young man jumps up on the table and fights off the Tatars attacking him. A deftly thrown lasso pulls him to the floor, and the huge Tatar strangles the Pole. A strong old man grabbed a forged jug and pounded it on the heads of the Tatar warriors surrounding him, but fell from the blow of a dagger. In a heated duel with a Polish youth, Nurali easily emerges victorious.
New detachments of Tatars are rushing to the burning castle. The ranks of his defenders are thinning. Potocki appears. “Poland, come to me!” - his call is heard. The remnants of Polish soldiers are running towards him from all sides. They are surrounded and pressed by the Tatars. Nurali enters into a duel with Pototsky and kills him. The Tatars destroy every last one of the Poles. On Nurali's orders, the Tatars rush after him, leaving the scene strewn with the corpses of the castle's defenders.
The door of the burning castle opens, Vaclav with a saber in his hand and Maria with her lute make their way through the smoke and flames; Maria's face is covered with a scarf.
Vaclav sees the Tatar, leaves Maria on the steps of the castle and enters into battle with the Tatar. A moment - and the enemy falls. The way is clear! Maria runs up to Vaclav, but they are attacked by another Tatar. Vaclav knocks this one down too... Another one... and this one is killed... Having hugged Maria, Vaclav runs towards the exit, but suddenly stops as if spellbound at the sight of Giray with his retinue. Giray also stops when he sees Maria and Vaclav clinging to each other.
Nurali makes a dash towards Vaclav, but Giray stops him and slowly goes to the middle of the stage. He raises his hand and with a majestic, slightly mocking gesture invites the young man to come to him.
Vaclav attacks Giray with a raised saber. Giray makes a short, barely noticeable movement, and Vaclav falls at Giray’s feet, pierced by his dagger. Giray calmly steps over the corpse, approaches Maria and with a sharp movement rips off the blanket from her.
Seeing the beauty, he almost screams with delight and wants to rush to her, but some force in her gaze stops him, and he suddenly bows before her in a deep bow. Following Giray, Nurali and the warriors slowly bow before Maria.
Act two
Harem in the Girey Palace in Bakhchisarai. In the foreground and background of the scene, three curtains - carpets - are lowered from above.
Morning. There are two eunuchs standing - the keeper of the harem and his assistant. Giray's wives, yawning and stretching, walk between the carpets and past the eunuchs. Those, observing the order, count them and make various comments.
So, breaking the lazy languor of the harem, three frisky gossips ran. The eunuch had to shout at them. Two women started a scandal over a jug. The eunuchs took the jug from them and drove them both away. Here is one of the wives boasting about her jewelry, and the other three are jealous of her and ask her to let her try them on for a moment. Some beauty walks proudly by, considering herself Zarema’s rival. A sycophant hovers around her, showering her with compliments. Here are two women, with the air of conspirators, hiding by the carpet and mysteriously whispering about something. A eunuch creeps up to them, wants to eavesdrop, but gets scared - the conspirators run away.
Girey’s beloved wife, Zarema, comes out surrounded by servants. The eunuchs smile ingratiatingly and bow low to her. Zarema wants to know what the coming day promises her. One of the servants predicts by her hand: “Love awaits you.” Zarema is happy. She looks with pleasure in the mirror, which is helpfully held by two slaves.
The curtains-carpets rise, and Zarema and her servants enter the harem. There is a fountain in the middle. There are wide ottomans all around and two special beds under canopies - for Girey and Zarema. There are pillows, carpets, jugs, vases of fruit everywhere. Zarema approaches the fountain, admires its streams, and then leaves, accompanied by her maids.
Quietly, sideways, clinging to the walls, Giray's old wives appear. Their faces are hidden, their clothes are dark.
The eunuchs wanted to drive them away, but they regretted it. In groups, young wives gradually enter the harem (in the same order as they walked in the previous picture, between the carpets).
Zarema appears again. She is accompanied by obsequious bows, envious glances and gossip from her rivals. Zarema sits down on her bed. He sorts through the jewelry in the casket and laughs at the fun of the other wives.
One of the women gathered a circle around her and, while dancing, said something. The other is also surrounded by her friends, begging her to dance; she has no time for that - Zarema, her rival, is here.
A group of beauties rushed onto Giray's bed and started fussing there. The eunuchs drive them away. Another group chases the butterfly, but the butterfly flies away, and again it becomes sad in the gilded cage.
The assistant caretaker of the harem brings Zarema a dish with selected fruits. Having conspired with other wives, one of them trips him. The eunuch falls, the fruit scatters, the women are delighted. They pick up fruits and start a fun game. Some throw apples to each other, some try to hit the eunuchs with them, some dance with fruits, and three even managed to hang on the harem caretaker and spin him around. Having become naughty, the wives, at a sign from one of them, suddenly throw off their light dresses and, throwing them up, spin around the stage.
The eunuchs rush to restore order. They grab anyone and throw them on the floor. The caretaker of the harem had already swung his whip at one of the most frisky, but remained with his hand raised. Everyone froze when they heard the growing noise - it was Giray’s troops returning.
Wives and eunuchs rush headlong towards the huge grating, through which the street of Bakhchisarai and galloping warriors are visible. Following the other wives, Zarema jumps up from her bed: “Girey! Hurry up, hurry up, mirror, jewelry!” She is helped by maids and eunuchs. Excited Zarema takes off her luxurious robe - she is ready to meet Giray.
The carpet curtain comes down. A group of Girey’s warriors runs along the proscenium, followed by a second one. Nura-li passes, and with him two bodyguards. The commanding tone of the military leader - and the bodyguards take their places. Nurali's shout - everyone falls on their faces.
Girey runs in. Following him, four soldiers carry a stretcher with the captive Mary. She is half hidden by a light blanket. The stretcher stops. Girey's gesture - and Nurali is at his feet. Giray's order - and Nurali sends the soldiers with a stretcher further, entrusting Maria to her future servant.
Giray does not take his eyes off Mary, his hands reach out to her. Maria meets his eyes, shudders and turns away. They take her away. Nurali's order - the warriors and bodyguards run away. Finally, Nurali himself leaves.
The carpet curtain rises, Girey enters the harem. Everyone is waiting for him, falling on their faces. Only Zarema cannot restrain her impulse, runs to Giray, clings to him for a moment, dances in front of him, happy, trembling. But Giray sees nothing. He looks to where Maria was taken. He does not notice how the eunuchs take off his cloak, helmet, chain mail and put on a robe and a precious skullcap, and he does not notice Zarema caressing him.
Zarema is confused and does not understand what is happening with Giray. She looks around herself - maybe she’s not dressed the way he likes? She stretches out her hands to him pleadingly, calling him... Finally, Girey saw her. His cold, alien gaze completely killed Zarema. She shrank and, not understanding what happened, interrupted the dance.
Giray lowers himself onto his bed, but immediately jumps up. The maid brings Maria in. The wives saw her. They fussed and whispered. Zarema suddenly ran into her. She pulled back. I got worried.
Giray tries to restrain his impulse, but cannot; runs up to Mary and bows before her in a respectful, deep bow.
It was as if all the wives had been blown away by the wind. Frightened, they hid in all directions and looked out, watching what was happening - they had never seen Giray like this.
And Girey, with a broad gesture, shows Maria: everything that she sees around him, he places at her feet. Maria shuddered and turned away. Zarema staggered, ran to her bed, grabbed a mirror, looked at herself, compared herself with Maria.
Giray does not want to bother Maria. Let her maid take her to her chambers. Maria slowly leaves. Giray reaches out to her. She turns around and makes a pleading gesture to Giray, but... he is scary, his gaze is blazing... hurry, hurry, leave! The maid takes Maria away.
Girey finds it difficult to come to his senses. The eunuchs make him sit down and, trying to entertain him, order their wives to dance.
The wives dance with dishes with fruits on them and present them to Giray. A girl - a child of a harem - dances a dance with bells. Young women with jugs and vases of fruit dance, trying to attract Giray's attention. But he does not see what is happening around him. Then the eunuchs bring out Zarema, who dances for Giray to the accompaniment of other wives.
Zarema puts all the power of feeling into her dance. But. Girey does not look at her... Zarema’s movements take on a nervous, impetuous character, she rushes about, suffers, rushes to Girey... but he turns away with displeasure.
Gathering her last strength, Zarema tries to resume her dance. But Girey gets up, absorbed in the thought of Maria, walks past Zarema and, turning sharply away, rushes to the doors that closed behind Maria. With a huge effort of will, he manages to restrain himself and lower himself onto the bed.
At the same time, the exhausted Zarema falls exhausted onto her bed.
The second wife takes advantage of this moment; She begins her dance, with which she tries to attract Girey's attention. Emboldened, he approaches Giray and even hugs him! knees.
Giray jumps up and rushes to the door. The eunuchs run after him. In despair, Zarema rushes after Girey, but other wives block her path, mock her, imitate her, depicting how Girey greeted Maria. Now Zarema is rejected - she is not scary to them.
But then Zarema breaks out of their circle and looks around. Jump after Giray. Stop: I remembered how he loved her braids, her hands... No, no, she won’t let him go! Zarema rushes to the door through which Maria went, followed by Girey, but... she doesn’t dare! ,
The wives became worried. Someone sympathizes with her, someone is happy about Zarema’s grief, but everyone is alarmed.
Zarema dances, remembering Girey’s caresses, talks about her grief, asks for sympathy and help. And suddenly... Girey returns. He did not dare to enter Mary, but he saw her, and therefore he was happy and exhausted...
Frightened wives run away. Only Zarema dared to shout: “Girey!”
The Khan shuddered... He turned, looked at Zarema and immediately became calm and cold. Slowly, carefully, Zarema approaches Girey. Hugs him. Girey sternly and coldly removes Zarema’s hands. Her hands fell... And the dance of despair and grief begins. Zarema is rushing about. Either she reminds Giray of their love, then she begs him to at least look at her, then she screams about her grief and asks him to save her... Giray does not hear. He thinks about Maria and wants to leave the harem.
Zarema rushes to him and wraps her arms around him. They stand for a long time, looking into each other's eyes. Girey slowly removes Zarema’s hands from his shoulders, turns away and leaves.
Zarema seemed to freeze with her arms dangling.
Giray passed by... He stopped... Perhaps a feeling of pity delayed him for a moment... No, no! It's over. Giray impulsively and decisively strides towards the door. He turns around sharply and looks at Zarema... No! Leaves. Zarema swayed. Only now did she come to her senses. He rushes after Giray... and falls unconscious.
Act three
Mary's room in the Giray Palace. In the corner, under the canopy, is a luxurious bed. Maria sits, plays the lute, remembers her native Poland.
Maria sighed heavily. I put down the lute. She got up, walked around, and looked around her luxurious prison again. How cold, how alien it is here!.. She shuddered, ran and fell on her bed.
Girey enters quietly. He is afraid to disturb Maria, but wants to explain to her. Girey respectfully bows before her and again says that everything around him, and he himself, his heart and mind, belong to her.
Maria doesn't understand him. She's scared. The blood of Vaclav and her father is on it!
Girey takes her hand. He came to calm her down and tell her of his love. Maria does not understand him and asks him to leave.
And it seemed to Giray that she called him... He rushes to her, and this impulse completely deprives Maria of strength; helpless, she ends up in the hands of Giray. No, he won't touch her! Maria is the deity of Giray!
Girey slowly kneels down, wants to touch Maria, but does not dare. By an effort of will, he forces himself to leave her. With a deep bow, he leaves as carefully as he entered.
Only now did Maria wake up. Giray!.. No! The girl is crying.
Happy days appear in memory again, dear images of father, Vaclav, homeland come to life... Dance. Alas, she is in captivity... She is scared. The only thing left from the past is the lute. Kneeling down, Maria hugs the lute and freezes.
The maid enters. He touches Maria on the shoulder. The captive shudders... “Don’t be afraid!” - the maid calms down, leads Maria to the bed, puts her to bed. She takes her rug and lies down by the door... She falls asleep... Silence.
Zarema sneaks up, stumbles upon a sleeping maid... With an inaudible, deft cat-like leap, she jumps over the maid... Looks around... sees Maria... Carefully approaches her, wakes her up and lifts her from the bed: “Hush!.. For God’s sake, hush!..” Zarema approaches the lying maid and, making sure that she is sleeping, turns to Maria: “I love Girey; I beg you, I beg you on my knees, leave him!”
Maria does not understand Zarema. She hopes that Zarema will help her leave here, and asks her about it... But Zarema does not believe her. Leave Giray?! Zarema cannot understand this, Maria is lying. She tells Maria how Girey caressed her, how he loved her... “Give me my Girey!” - she shouts.
Maria wants to calm Zarema down, but she doesn’t understand her... Hatred and anger engulf Zarema.
Zarema has a dagger in her hands, she runs up to Maria, raises her hand... Maria does not run away, she is ready to die... and this submission stops Zarema. Zarema falls down, sobbing.
And suddenly she sees Girey’s skullcap, forgotten by him here. Grabbing the skullcap, Zarema shouts to Maria: “You are lying, Giray was here with you!” Having exhausted her strength, she throws the skullcap at Maria’s feet and falls herself.
The maid woke up a long time ago and ran away for help. Girey runs in. A eunuch and a maid hurry after him.
Zarema saw Giray, raised her dagger and ran up to Maria. Girey barely manages to catch Zarema's hand. A short struggle - and Zarema, like a snake, slips out of Girey's hands... A moment - and she stabs Maria in the back with a dagger...
Maria leans on the column... slowly turns around and sees Giray frozen in horror. "For what?" - she seems to ask. Quietly, quietly it falls... The head fell, the hand... it's all over!
Giray shuddered. With a broad gesture, he seems to remove the veil from his eyes. He saw Zarema, pulled out a dagger, rushed towards her, swung... but Zarema opened her arms and exposed her chest to the attack... “To die by your hand is happiness!”
Giray realized this... retreats, thinking. No, he will come up with another, terrible execution for Zarema. The order - and Zarema is captured by the eunuch.
Girey slowly sheathes the dagger...
Act four
Courtyard of the Bakhchisarai Palace. Giray sits on the throne in deep oblivion. Around him, advisers are talking among themselves.
Giray is motionless.
There is excitement behind the scenes: Nurali and a detachment of warriors are returning from the raid.
Nurali appears at the gate, respectfully approaches the khan and reports...
One group of selected warriors enters, having just returned from a campaign... another, a third...
Giray is motionless.
Nurali orders the introduction of a large group of beautiful female captives. The warriors show the captives to Giray, laying rich booty at his feet...
Giray is motionless.
One of Giray’s captives asks to be released... A blow from the whip, and she is thrown back... All the captives fall...
Immovable Giray.
By order of Nurali, Giray's bodyguards bring Zarema...
Giray is motionless!
Zarema is brought to Giray. Khan ordered the execution of Za-rema.
Maybe he changed his mind and forgave? In vain Nurali waits for at least some sign from Girey... The bodyguards take Zarema away, then lift her to a high wall... The wind flutters Zarema's clothes... From here she will be thrown down onto the stones... Zarema turns to Girey for the last time. -
But Giray is motionless.
At a sign from Nurali, the bodyguards throw Zarema off. - Everyone froze... They turned to Giray...
Suddenly the khan came out of his stupor. He jumped up, and immediately a frenzied Tatar dance broke out! Sweeping away everything in its path, the horde rushes, jubilant warriors gallop, led by the brave and strong Nurali! Everything for Giray! And he| froze again.
The warriors stopped, raising Nurali high in their arms.
Giray woke up. He looked around and with a tired gesture dismissed everyone.
Only Nurali crawls to Giray, begs him to return to his former life, to military campaigns.
No, Girey wants to be left alone! On his orders, Nurali also leaves.
Giray alone at the Fountain of tears. Memories pass before him in a string.
Here Girey stopped, as he did then... when he first saw Maria back in Poland... So he takes her hand and, as in a harem, shows that everything around belongs to her... So he tries to caress her. Here Zarema kills her... He rushes to Zarema... But his strength fails him... His hands fall... And Girey bows low before the Fountain of Tears, as he once bowed before Maria...
Artist V. Khodasevich, conductor E. Mravinsky.
The premiere took place on September 28, 1934 at the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
Characters:
- Prince Adam, Polish tycoon
- Maria, his daughter
- Vaclav, Maria's fiance
- Girey, Crimean Khan
- Zarema, Girey's beloved wife
- Nurali, military leader
Castle manager, chief of the guard, Polish lords and panenki, abbot, spy, Girey's second wife, maid, eunuchs, Tatars, Poles
The action takes place in Poland and Bakhchisarai at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries.
At the Fountain of Tears- monument to Mary - Khan Girey sits in deep thought.
1. Polish Castle Park, in which the birthday of Maria, the daughter of the owner of the estate Adam Potocki, is celebrated. In the garden she meets Vaclav. Their brief duet, full of tenderness and happiness, is interrupted by the guards. A Tatar spy was captured not far from the castle. The head of the guard and the manager decide that this is not worth spoiling the holiday. The prisoner is taken away. The castle doors swing open, and the park is filled with a magnificent procession of guests. The first couple is the gray-haired Prince Adam and the beautiful Maria. In a solemn polonaise, and then in an elegant mazurka, the old people compete in dexterity with the young. Everyone is having fun courting their ladies. The male variation of the four gentlemen is based on a competition between ages. In the female variation, four panenki evaluate the courage of the elders and the courage of the young. In the big duet of Maria and Vaclav there is a declaration of love. The old father watches the young couple with tenderness. With enthusiasm, he begins to dance the Krakowiak, which is picked up by all the guests.
A wounded warrior runs in, reporting the appearance of the Tatars. The ladies are taken to the castle, the men draw their swords. A battle scene in which the defenders of the castle die one after another. The castle is on fire. Maria runs out of it with her favorite little harp in her hands. Vaclav tries to pave the way for his beloved with a saber. Suddenly Giray appears on their way. Vaclav rushes to meet him, but falls struck in the chest with a dagger. Maria bends over the fallen young man. Giray freezes, amazed by her beauty.
2. Harem of Khan Giray.
Same every day
And slowly the hours pass,
In a harem, life is ruled by laziness;
Pleasure rarely flashes.
The wives dress up, on a richly decorated bed - the beloved wife of the khan, “the star of love, the beauty of the harem” Zarema. Girey returns from a hike. Zarema dances for him, but the khan’s thoughts are full of Maria and he is indifferent to the Georgian woman’s dances. This indifference becomes clear to everyone when Maria passes at the back of the stage. Girey leaves. The wives mock Zarema. In a passionate dance, she tries to regain her former confidence and love of her master. When Khan returns, Zarema passionately rushes to him and wraps her arms around his neck. Girey takes the woman’s hands off his shoulders and, without looking at her, leaves. In despair, Zarema falls.
3. Mary's bedchamber in the harem of the Bakhchisaray Palace.
Fading in quiet captivity,
Maria is crying and sad.
Maria thoughtfully plays a Polish melody on her favorite harp. Giray's appearance frightens her. Khan timidly bows before Maria, offers her his humble love, but she avoids even the approach of the killer of all her loved ones. Distressed Khan leaves. Maria remembers Poland, other happy days and dances a lyrical and sad elegy. The old servant puts her to bed, but the captive cannot sleep. Zarema enters stealthily, holding a lamp in her hands and clutching a dagger to her chest. Stepping over the sleeping maid, she approaches Mary's bed. She is confused and wonders what this beauty needs from her. In a long monologue, Zarema talks about her fate, about her crazy love for Giray. And now he has lost interest in her!
Incomprehensible to an innocent maiden
The language of tormenting passions,
But their voice is vaguely intelligible to her,
He is strange, he is terrible to her.
The awakened maid runs away for help. Suddenly Zarema notices a skullcap forgotten by the khan. In a rage, she grabs the dagger. Maria hides behind a column in fear. Girey runs in and tries to disarm Zarema, but she manages to escape and stab Maria in the back. The innocent Polish woman dies quietly. Zarema begs the Khan to kill her with his own hand, but the Khan gives her into the hands of the eunuchs.
4. Bakhchisarai Palace.
Giray sat with his eyes downcast,
The amber in his mouth smoked,
Silently servile yard
He crowded around the terrible khan.
Nothing entertains Khan: neither the return of the Tatars with rich booty, nor a dozen new slaves. Only for a moment does he perk up when Zarema is thrown off the cliff. The beloved military leader Nyr-Ali starts a wild warlike Tatar dance. Interrupting it, the khan orders the Italian architect to commission the “Fountain of Tears,” built “in memory of the sorrowful Mary.” Looking at him, he remembers the captivating image of Mary.
And again, lonely and inconsolable Giray at the “Fountain of Tears”.
Water gurgles in marble
And sheds cold tears.
The music, choreography, and painting of “The Bakhchisarai Fountain,” each individually, cannot be recognized as the pinnacle in their field. But, having united, they formed a unique alloy that gave this performance the quality of a masterpiece. Such harmony of parts is not often achieved in ballet. “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” is one of the first performances of a new direction in Soviet ballet, the “choreodrama” direction. But it did not arise out of nowhere. Fyodor Lopukhov, recalling The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, directly points out: “The idea of the new ballet seems to me to have been suggested by Fokin. Or maybe the authors designed the performance, looking back at the best Fokine ballets. I saw Fokine’s penchant for the lyrical poem, Fokine’s desire to solve the action without trifles, Fokine’s interest in stormy dramatic clashes, Fokine’s desire to penetrate into the human soul.”
The initiator of the staging of Pushkin's poem on the ballet stage was the experienced playwright Nikolai Volkov. The poet's lyrical lines contained more drama than exposition of the course of action. Giray’s “Rebirth of the Wild Soul” required the ballet to show other characters and other situations before the event that caused the changes. The screenwriter boldly completed the first act, introducing into the play the Polish castle, its owner, and young Vaclav, the antipode of Giray. Moreover, all the events of this act were, as it were, read between Pushkin’s lines, taken from the atmosphere of the poem, from brief but clear hints. Therefore, it is organically combined in the performance with subsequent “Pushkin” events.
Volkov infected composer Boris Asafiev with his idea of Pushkin’s ballet. Initially, the composer was going to build the score of “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” on the same basis that brought him the recent success “Flames of Paris”. However, then he abandoned quoting and editing the music of Glinka and pre-Glinka eras. Of all the selected material, only Alexander Gurilev’s romance “Fountain of the Bakhchisarai Palace” (“Fountain of Love, Living Fountain”) was included in the ballet, the melody of which frames the performance. Asafiev's music is professional ballet music. The composer feels the specifics of the dance, unmistakably determines the nature and duration of each episode, sensing the dancing artist. All images are depicted in many ways and presented in development. And most importantly, the music was composed based on Pushkin’s idea of the events and characters of the ballet.
Usually in the professional press, Rostislav Zakharov is criticized for his lack of ballet “eloquence,” the poverty of his dance vocabulary, and the predominance of director’s techniques over the ability and desire to think about action in dance. In “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” - the first-born of the choreographer - all this was overshadowed by the excellent direction of the performance and brilliant acting. The main character of the poem and ballet, Girey, does not dance in the ballet; his role is performed in pantomime. However, for Khan, the director found a gait that distinguishes him not only from other characters, but also from the “villains” in old ballets. Zakharov's dramatic pantomime breaks with the conventional pantomime of Petipa's ballets. The choreographer creates a special kind of expressiveness, combining elements of dance and pantomime, but with a clear predominance of the latter. Giray's movements and poses are balletic in the best sense of the word. One cannot forget Giray's spectacular entrance at the end of the first act. Seeing Maria and Vaclav, Khan slowly goes to the middle and with a majestic gesture calls the young man to a duel. Vaclav, like a romantic hero, flies at Giray with a raised saber and immediately falls, cut down by the elusive blow of the Khan's dagger. Giray calmly steps over the corpse, approaches Maria and abruptly rips off the bedspread. The beauty of the girl amazes Giray, and he unexpectedly bows before Maria. The choreographer often made up for the lack of imagination with research work. Thus, having found an ancient dish with galloping warriors in the museum, he used their plasticity as the basis for the solution of the raid scene in the first act and the Tatar dance in the fourth. Zakharov brought a lot to ballet from his experience in the dramatic theater. When staging The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, a table period of working with the artists was used. For each image there was a through line. The performer, moving from pantomime to dance, had to be in character the entire time. Dancing in character became a new stage in ballet performance, which now largely depended not on sophisticated dance technique, but on acting skill and talent.
In many ways, the success of the premiere of “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” was ensured by the excellent performing ensemble. Girey - Mikhail Dudko, Vaclav - Konstantin Sergeev, Zarema - Olga Jordan, and the main success of the play Maria - Galina Ulanova. “For me personally, the new choreography began with the “Bakhchisarai Fountain,” the artist later wrote. “I continued to work on the image of Maria for many years. It seems to me that at first it was painted with only one main color - sadness. Over the years, my Maria seems to The drawing of the role became more complex, the character of the heroine became more complex. And if previously my Maria, with some nervous, impetuous movements, pushed Zarema or Giray away from her, then later I tried to convey the feeling of her “quiet captivity” with sad calm. I can safely say that after “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” I had to reconsider my previous works. Having come into contact with Pushkin’s work, I could no longer simply dance as I danced before: I always want to breathe a living soul into the human images that appear on the ballet stage.” I think , that for the artist’s contemporaries, “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” was consecrated not only by the genius of Pushkin, but also by the genius of Ulanova. In the difficult 1930s and 40s, the image of a resigned but unconquered soul she created gave new strength for life to many whose home was ruined. loved ones died at the hands of others.
They say that in the USSR there was no musical theater where “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” was not performed. It was performed abroad in the countries of the so-called “people's democracy”, and in Finland, Japan, Mongolia, Egypt... But “earthly glory passes”, and “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” in its original production is performed only where it was created. Now this theater is called the Mariinsky, and a new generation of St. Petersburg ballerinas and dancers is finding their own understanding of the images of Pushkin’s ballet.
A. Degen, I. Stupnikov
History of creation
Since the beginning of the 1930s, Asafiev actively worked in the genre of baaleta. After the successful premiere of “The Flames of Paris”, first in Leningrad and then in Moscow, he turned to Pushkin’s plot for the first time.
The idea of creating a ballet based on Pushkin’s poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” (1821-1823) belonged to the playwright, art historian and theater critic N. Volkov (1894-1965), who first independently developed the script, and then attracted Asafiev to work on it. As a result, the lyrical poem turned into a dramatic libretto with a scene in a Polish castle, the scene of Zarema's execution; new characters also appeared - Maria’s fiancé Vaclav (in Pushkin, “she had not yet known love”), the military leader Nurali; Mary's father, unnamed in the poem, became Prince Adam.
Initially, Asafiev, following the example of “The Flame of Paris,” thought to use the music of composers from the era of the events described. However, during the work it became clear that this was unrealistic. Of the previously selected material, only Gurilev’s romance “The Fountain of the Bakhchisarai Palace” was useful (thus, Pushkin’s poem, written in 1824, was also used in the ballet), which sounds in the prologue and epilogue of the ballet, like a frame framing it, and one of the nocturnes of Chopin’s predecessor in this genre by J. Field, characterizing Mary.
The music was created quickly. The composer, in his words, sought “at all costs to preserve melodically... the era of Pushkin,” and in addition to convey “the romantic that characterizes Russian advanced society on the approaches to Decembrism, and that, in turn, associated with Poland flaming with national revolutionary ideals. All this was clearly reflected in the poetry of Pushkin, Mickiewicz, Shelley and Byron... This is not a restoration of romanticism, but an attempt to hear the era through Pushkin’s poem and convey the emotions that worried the poet through their free retelling.”
“The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” became the choreographer’s debut of R. Zakharov (1907-1984). Rostislav Zakharov, who graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School in 1926, and in 1932 as an external student from the directing department of the Leningrad Theater College in the class of S. Radlov, danced on the stage of the Kyiv Theater for seven years, and in 1934 he began working as a choreographer at the Theater. Kirov (Mariinsky) in Leningrad. “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” became the beginning not only of Zakharov’s choreographic activity, but also of the ballet “Pushkiniana” on the domestic stage. Zakharov introduced a new method of working on a ballet performance, based on the Stanislavsky system. The ballet's choreography contrasts classical dance with colorful oriental dances full of elemental power. There are no impersonal characters in the play. Both the soloists, the corps de ballet, and mimes are involved in the action, become participants in the drama being played out, and embody living images. The dances incorporate elements of pantomime and are constructed as monologues and dialogues in which the actor speaks not with conventional gestures, which have long been accepted in ballet pantomime, but with dance movements that become carriers of feelings and thoughts.
Premiere on September 28, 1934 at the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. Kirova (Mariinsky) was a great success. To this day, ballet remains in the repertoire.
Music
“The Bakhchisarai Fountain” is a lyrical ballet-poem. Its composition is based on a contrasting comparison of two different cultures - Slavic and Eastern. The music is distinguished by lyricism, subtle sound recording, and drama. The ballet score uses a system of leitmotifs - musical characteristics of the characters.
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FACULTY:choreographic,correspondencedepartment
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Ontopic:"BalletsB.V.Asafieva"FlameParis"And"Bakhchisaraifountain"
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Checked by: Aleksenko N.V.
Introduction
Chapter I. Ballet B.V. Asafiev “Flame of Paris”
1.1 Brief history of the creation of the ballet
1.2 Folk musical material in ballet
1.3 Musical characteristics of court scenes
Chapter II. Ballet "Bakhchisarai Fountain"
2.1 History of creation. Musical material of ballet
2.2 Maria - the main romantic image of the ballet
2.3 Musical characteristics of Zarema’s image
2.4 Musical characteristics of Giray’s image
Conclusion
List of sources used
Introduction
Academician Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev played a vital role in the history of Soviet ballet. A musician with a broad scientific horizon and deep thought, he influenced the development of Soviet music with his numerous musicological works and compositional works. Being an extremely prolific composer who composed in different genres: musical and theatrical (ballet, opera, music for dramatic performances, films), symphonic (program symphonies, instrumental concerts), chamber (romances, songs, works for various musical instruments, ensembles ), Asafiev focused his interests on theater music and, above all, ballet. His work in this genre began in the 1910s and continued through the 40s inclusive.
Asafiev's first work, written in the Soviet era, was a ballet on a revolutionary theme, Carmagnola. In the same 1918, he worked on the fabulously romantic ballet “Solveig” to the music of Grieg, and in 1922 - on the children’s extravaganza ballet “Forever Living Flowers”. Over the next ten years, Asafiev did not write ballets and returned to ballet creativity only at the end of 1931 (ballet “Triumph of the Republic”, or “Flames of Paris”).
Large group of ballets B.V. Asafiev’s work is characterized by the composer’s appeal to classical, predominantly Russian, literature and folk poetry. These are ballets based on Pushkin's stories: “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” (1932-1934), “Prisoner of the Caucasus” (1936-1937), “Count Nulin” (1940-1941), “The Stone Guest” (1943-1946), “The Young Lady-Peasant "(1945-1946). Based on Lermontov's stories: “Ashik-Kerib” (1939); Gogol - “The Night Before Christmas” (1937); Kuprina - “Sulamith” (1940); Balzac - “Lost Illusions” (1934-1935); Dante - Francesca da Rimini (1943-1946). Ballets based on folk tales - “The Snow Maiden” (1941), “Lada” (1943), “Spring Tale” (1946).
Asafiev strove to create ballets that were diverse in plot and genre: tragic and everyday, romantic-legendary, lyrical-psychological, fairy-tale and comedic. One gets the impression that the composer proceeded from the belief in the exceptionally broad possibilities of the ballet genre and the applicability of almost any plot in this area.
Asafiev's ballets are constructed as holistic, organically developing symphonies. Each episode of the performance is inextricably linked with the form of the whole and performs a specific function of the overall conceptual design. Therefore, it is impossible to exclude or rearrange individual numbers in the composer’s ballets without risking disrupting the harmony of the work’s form.
Asafiev is characterized by the desire to apply the principles and stylistic techniques of classical art, mainly Russian, in his works. At the same time, Asafiev was guided by the achievements of not only Russian classical ballet, but also Russian classical opera. Widely using the forms and means of the ballet genre, the composer in his best works achieves the harmony of musical and dramatic unity of the composition of ballets, introduces into them features of symphonic development, elements of cantata.
Among the extensive ballet heritage of B.V. Asafiev, two works clearly stand out - “The Flame of Paris” and “The Bakhchisarai Fountain”. They serve as examples of Asafiev’s different and in both cases interesting solutions to the problem of the ballet genre. A more detailed examination of these works makes it possible to identify the most important stylistic features of the composer’s ballet work.
ChapterI. Ballet"FlameParis"
1.1 Briefstorycreationballet
The ballet “Flames of Paris”, staged in 1932 on the stage of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov, remained in the repertoire of the capital’s theaters for a long time. In 1947, Asafiev created a new edition of the ballet, in which he made some cuts to the score and rearranged some numbers. But the musical dramaturgy of the ballet as a whole remained unchanged. Its genre can be defined as folk-heroic drama.
Playwright N. Volkov, artist V. Dmitriev and the composer himself participated in the creation of the script and libretto of the ballet. The authors chose the historical and social aspect of the interpretation of the plot, which determined a number of essential features of the work as a whole. The content is based on events from the history of the French Revolution in the early 90s of the 18th century: the capture of the Tuileries, participation in the revolutionary actions of Marseille sailors, revolutionary actions of peasants against their feudal rulers. Individual plot motifs were also used, as well as images of some characters from the historical novel by F. Gras “The Marseillais” (peasant Jeanne, commander of the Marseille battalion).
While composing the ballet, Asafiev, in his words, worked “not only as a playwright-composer, but also as a musicologist, historian and theorist, and as a writer, not disdaining the methods of the modern historical novel.” The results of this method affected, in particular, the historical accuracy of a number of characters. “The Flames of Paris” features King Louis XVI, the daughter of a cooper, Barbara Paran (in the ballet, the peasant Jeanne), and the court actress Mirelle de Poitiers (in the ballet, she received the name Diana Mirel).
In accordance with the libretto, the musical dramaturgy of “The Flames of Paris” is based on the opposition of two musical spheres: the musical characteristics of the people and the aristocracy. The people are given the main place in the ballet. Three acts are devoted to his image - the first, third and fourth, and partly also the second act (its finale). The people are represented in a variety of different social groups that make up them. French peasants meet here - Jeanne's family; soldiers of revolutionary France and among them the commander of the Marseilles battalion - Philippe; actors of the court theater who act on the side of the people during events are Diana Mirel and Antoine Mistral. At the head of the camp of aristocrats, courtiers, and reactionary officers stood Louis XVI and the Marquis de Beauregard, the owner of vast estates.
The attention of the libretto authors is focused on the depiction of historical events, due to which “The Flames of Paris” has almost no individual musical characteristics at all. The personal fates of individual heroes occupy a subordinate place in it in the broader picture of the history of revolutionary France. Musical portraits of the characters seem to be replaced by their generalized characteristics as representatives of one or another socio-political force. The main opposition in ballet is the people and the aristocracy. The people are characterized in dance scenes of an effective type (revolutionary actions of the people, their struggle) and a genre character (cheerful festive scenes at the end of the first act, the beginning of the third and in the second scene of the last act). Taken together, the composer creates a multifaceted musical characterization of the people as the collective hero of the work. Revolutionary song and dance themes play a major role in depicting the people. They sound at the most important moments of the action, and some of them run through the entire ballet and, to a certain extent, can be called leitmotifs that characterize the image of the revolutionary people. The same applies to depictions of the aristocratic world. And here the composer limits himself to a generalized musical description of the royal court, aristocracy, and officers. In depicting feudal-aristocratic France, Asafiev uses intonations and stylistic means of musical genres that became widespread in the aristocratic court life of royal France.
1.2 OndearmusicalmaterialVballet"FlameParis"
In the ballet “Flames of Paris,” Asafiev’s desire to write a work of a monumental synthetic type was clearly manifested. The choreographic action is supported by the introduction of a vocal-choral element. The idea of creating this kind of synthetic musical-choreographic-vocal dramas became quite widespread in the 20s.
The composer included three songs of the French Revolution in his ballet: “Marseillaise”, “Carmagnola”, “Ca ira”, and used these songs in accordance with the character of each of them. Thus, “Marseillaise,” with its features of a heroic march-hymn, always appears only in choral sound in episodes of heroic-revolutionary upsurge. The dance nature of “Carmagnola” allowed the composer to use it in both song-choral and dance scenes. As for the third song - “Ca ira” - its marching rhythm made it most suitable for dramatic scenes depicting the revolutionary struggle of the insurgent people.
Revolutionary themes are introduced by the composer at the most important, turning points of the action. “La Marseillaise” sounds at the end of the first act, when the peasants join the Marseillais and go with them to revolutionary Paris. “La Marseillaise” plays a dramatically important role in the finale of the second act, where its melody encourages Diana Mirel, frozen in despair near Antoine’s corpse, to complete the work begun by her dead friend.
At the end of the third act, the people's indignation at the traitor king results in the angry, mocking “Carmagnole.” The theme of “Carmagnola” is used here by the composer as the basis for the large first section of the finale, where the music conveys the revolutionary enthusiasm of the people. The song's choral stanzas alternate with orchestral versions. In general, a form is formed that is close to a rondo, in which the refrain is the choral sound of “Carmagnola”, and its orchestral versions serve as episodes.
The theme of the song “Ca ira” is used to build the second section of the finale of the third act - the beginning of the storming of the royal palace - as well as the first scene of the fourth act, where the revolutionary people break into the palace and attack the royal stronghold. The last time revolutionary themes appear is at the end of the entire ballet. “Carmagnola” is used here as a swift, life-affirming dance (Presto), unfolding in a chain of colorful variations, and “Ca ira” passes with solemn elation (Maestoso) in a powerful orchestral sound.
The composer created colorful everyday pictures of folk life in the ballet. The dances are grouped here into suites and turned into large genre scenes. The music of these scenes is distinguished by liveliness and energy, expressing the feelings of the joyful upsurge of the people.
In folk dance scenes, the composer strives to reproduce the stylistic features of various folk song and instrumental melodies, mostly French. In the dance suites of the ballet, the predominance of the genre-characteristic principle over the classical one is noticeable. Using folklore material, Asafiev either subject it to free processing, or limit himself to intonation or rhythmic turns characteristic of French folk music. It is worth pointing out the predominance of the rondo form in the dance scenes of the ballet, which is undoubtedly closest to folk music and convenient for creating a multifaceted portrait of the people. In the construction and planning of dance genre scenes, one can notice a certain dramatic, compositional intent. They are arranged by Asafiev so that each subsequent one turns out to be larger, more ambitious than the previous one. This expansion of the composition of folk scenes and their consistent monumentalization are determined by the principle of dramatic growth, the merging of the actions of individuals and individual groups of the revolutionary people into a single heroic liberation impulse.
The dances of the first act, located at the end of the second scene, express the joyful, cheerful mood of the people united on the occasion of their first victory (the liberation of Gaspard). The finale of the film is a large dance suite of several numbers. The entire finale is framed by the farandole, the most popular French folk dance. Repeated implementation of the farandola theme affirms the state of elation and energy possessing the people.
The farandole is initially set out as a miniature rondo, in which the first of three episodes contrasts with the energetic theme of the refrain. in the final construction of the scene, the farandole is enriched by the introduction of thematic material from other dances. in general, the dance situ of the first act forms a three-part composition; At the same time, the repetition of the farandole theme introduces ronda-like features into it.
The dance sieve of the third act has an abundance of bright themes and a great breadth of composition. It includes Auvergne, Marseille and Basque dances. The Auvergne dance, the most common of them, has the character of a peasant minuet; it is based on a courageous and simple melody. The music expresses casual fun and at times takes on humorous tones. The folk flavor of the dance is given by consistent fifths in the accompaniment, discrepancies in accents in the melody and accompaniment, which occur due to the combination of different meters (two and three beats).
In the Marseilles dance, heroic features are already appearing, especially clearly in the main theme, directed upward along the sounds of the tonic triad.
The dance suite ends with the temperamental Basque Dance, containing many different melodies. They are united by the bolero rhythm, which is repeated throughout all the episodes of the extreme movements (a complex three-part form). The main theme is built on a simple, but very prominent and courageously decisive downward movement of the melody. The leisurely sad theme of the middle section, composed in the Sicilian genre, contrasts with the melodies of the outer sections and highlights the dominant strong-willed character of the dance.
The entire third act is a monumental folk scene, where decisive, heroic dances are especially highlighted; their sequence forms a single line of increasing heroism (the dance of the Marseilles and Basques, “Carmagnola” and “Ca ira”). The integrity of the act is emphasized by the tonal frame - the tonic value of G major at the beginning and end of the act.
Dramatic scenes of ballet play an important role in depicting the revolutionary people. The music of these scenes is mostly very tense and has a pathetically excited character. Hence the numerous contrasts of rhythms and tempos (mostly fast). Frequent change of texture. At the same time, the composer in most cases refuses to use integral song and dance numbers and gives the music of dramatic scenes the character of continuous dynamic development.
Dramatic scenes appear, as a rule, at key moments of action, combining individual episodes of each picture into a single coherent whole. Such a dramatic node in the first scene of the ballet is the scene of the attack of the Marquis’s servants on Gaspard’s family. The scene of the people’s attack on the Marquis’s castle and the liberation of Gaspard in the second scene has a similar dramatic function. The music of this scene is designed in a heroic-dramatic style, close to the style of Gossec, Megul, and also Beethoven.
Particularly impressive in the ballet is the central episode of the first scene of the fourth act - the invasion of the people into the Tuileries and the battle scene with the royal guards. In terms of music and drama, this scene was done superbly by Asafiev. At the beginning of the action, the sound of the song “Ca ira” is heard as if from afar - these are the people going to attack the royal castle. Listening to the sound of the song, the crowd of courtiers freezes in confusion and anxiety. The music characterizing their state becomes confused and dramatic - the impression of the inevitability of the death of the old world is created.
But then the revolutionary people burst into the palace. The fight scene begins. There is a lot of illustrative stuff in it - weapon strikes, shots, noise effects, but in general Asafiev is by no means limited to such external illustrativeness, he strives to recreate the atmosphere of the revolutionary struggle, and here, too, he uses musical material of the heroic-pathetic Beethoven style for this purpose. Heroic pathos is especially clearly felt at the moment of the people’s victory, when fragments from Beethoven’s “victory symphony” (“Egmont”) sound invitingly and jubilantly.
The line of heroics finds its completion in the last scene of the ballet, in the center of which stands the solemn Adagio (Es-dur) - a kind of procession hymn. Its majestic, courageous and broad melody of an anthemic nature is set off by the firm and decisive tread of the accompanying bass.
In the final scene of the ballet, other lines of characterization of the people are completed: the suite of dances (counterdance, pas de deux, variations and coda) serves as a natural continuation of the genre scenes of the previous acts, and the sound of the songs “Carmagnola” and “Ca ira” concludes the development of revolutionary heroic images
1.3 Musicalcharacteristiccourtiersscenes
In Asafiev’s ballets, as mentioned above, two worlds of images turned out to be opposed to each other - the world of the revolutionary people, full of energy, enthusiasm and heroic pathos, and the world of the aristocracy. Each of these worlds is musically characterized by its own range of intonations, most of which were not composed by the composer, but borrowed from the corresponding sources of folk and professional creativity. To characterize the people, as we have already seen, revolutionary songs of that era were chosen, material from the work of composers close to the revolution (Megul, Gossec) or who reflected its heroics (Beethoven). The same is done in relation to the world of the aristocracy, where the main source of musical characteristics is the music of court life in pre-revolutionary France and the work of composers who in one way or another reflected this life (Lully, Gluck and others). Asafiev supplements the borrowed examples with his own, written in the same style.
In scenes depicting court life, Asafiev also used ancient decorous, ponderously solemn dances such as sarabandes, chaconnes and graceful, gallant dances of the 17th-18th centuries (Lully’s gavotte).
The music of the second act as a whole is distinguished by its leisurely, important movement, at times offset by light, graceful numbers of gallant dances. The musical numbers of the second act can be divided into three groups: one of them is represented by an intermission and sarabande and recreates the atmosphere of the courtly world, the second by an anthem and chaconne, which are associated with the development of dramatic action (the dramatic conspiracy scene takes place to the sounds of the anthem). Between the two indicated groups of numbers there is a third group - an interlude - a performance by artists of the court theater. The music of the interlude is noteworthy in that it outlines the characteristics of the central images of the actors - Diana Mirel and Antoine. Strictly speaking, they also do not have individual characteristics, but Asafiev skillfully highlights the main features of their images - the lyricism of Diana’s appearance, the masculinity of Antoine’s image. Diana is initially depicted by a fragile, tenderly graceful motif of Lully's popular gavotte, while Antoine is depicted by a major, even somewhat heroic variation.
The development of the action leads to the tragic death of the actor, after which the soulful, mournful Adagio of the solo viola begins to sound, the sad and expressive melody of which is reminiscent of Bach’s cantilena.
Adagio should be ranked among the best act numbers. In meaning, it represents a kind of requiem for Antoine, but at the same time it reflects Diana’s experiences, the depth of her grief. Thus, the image of Diana appears in two planes: both as an actress of the court theater (Lully’s gavotte) and as a suffering woman (Adagio).
While working on the ballet, Asafiev strove to create a compositionally harmonious musical form. In his own words, he wanted “the ballet as a whole as a musical work to take the form of a monumental symphony, realized through the means of musical theater.” However, this idea did not receive a sufficiently vivid embodiment due to the fact that the musical dramaturgy of the ballet in general turned out to be insufficiently symphonic. The composer interpreted the first act of the ballet as “an exposition of the revolutionary sentiments of France,” the second act as a symphonic andante; the third is a "dramatic scherzo", and the fourth is like the "finale of a heroic symphony".
The symphonic nature of the music of “The Flames of Paris” is manifested only in certain features: in the constant use of certain song themes that have received the meaning of leitmotifs (themes of revolutionary songs), in the tonal, intonation, genre kinship of various actors, in the large constructions of individual paintings and scenes. We can point out the unifying role of some keys: B-dur for the first act and G-dur for the third.
In musical dramaturgy, means of other genres are used: the principle of succession of parts and their contrasting comparison is taken from the symphony; from opera - the use of a choir.
Ballet music attracts with its great simplicity, melodiousness, and abundance of folk melodies, very convenient for dancing. The strength of ballet music lies in the composer's selection and use of material related to the era depicted. Asafiev noted that “The Flame of Paris” is a kind of “visual musical anthology,” since the ballet “presents in quotes and retellings everything that is most characteristic of the music ... of the third estate.”
ChapterII. Ballet"Bakhchisaraifountain"
2.1 Storycreation. Musicalmaterialballet
Among Asafiev’s best works, undoubtedly, his two Pushkin ballets should be included: “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” and “Prisoner of the Caucasus”. Both of them belong to the romantic genre of “choreographic poems”. The composition of both ballets is based on comparisons of two different national spheres (cultures) - Slavic (Russian, Polish) and Eastern (Caucasus, Crimea). In both cases, the composer strives for a truthful depiction of the era and the entire setting of the action, and makes extensive use of musical genres and other means typical of the musical life of the depicted time and place of action. Asafiev composer ballet creativity
“The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” was the first Soviet ballet on the Pushkin theme. The idea of creating a ballet belonged to the playwright and art critic N.D. Volkov, who outlined the script and involved Asafiev in its development. Pushkin's poem was largely developed, supplemented and turned into a dramatically effective ballet libretto. A scene appeared in the Polish castle, episodes of the Tatar raid, the capture and death of Maria, and the scene of Zarema’s execution were developed. The content of the poem formed the basis of a four-beat ballet performance, framed by a prologue and epilogue.
The dramaturgy of ballet is multifaceted. The contrasting construction of the action gives it harmony and relief. The music creates bright, expressive contrasts between Polish and Oriental scenes, genre episodes and lyrical-dramatic scenes, in which characters of different characters are compared. Already in the first act there is a comparison of two national cultures: Polish and Tatar. The lyrical image of Marie stands out against the background of lush, brilliant scenes of the holiday. In the second act, a new strong contrast arises: between everyday dance scenes and Zarema’s spiritual drama. The third act is especially rich in contrasts. It is based on the collision of three individual images: the elegiac-sad Maria, the passionate-dramatic Zarema and the soulfully noble Giray. Finally, in the fourth act, the wild dance of the Tatar riders is contrasted with the harsh drama of the execution of Zarema and the sublime lyricism of the romantic image of Giray. Thus, throughout the ballet, the method of contrasting comparisons was used as the basis for the musical and dramatic composition of the work.
The score of “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” harmoniously reflected the best features of Asafiev’s creative personality - an artist and an erudite scientist. The composer sought, in his words, “at all costs to preserve methodically... the era of Pushkin” and, more broadly, to convey in ballet music, in its general artistic structure, “that romantic that characterizes Russian advanced society on the approaches to Decembrism, and that which in turn is connected with Poland, flaming with national revolutionary ideals. All this was clearly reflected in the poetry of Pushkin, Mickiewicz, Shelley and Byron.”
In search of the typical melodic music of Pushkin’s time, Asafiev could not ignore the work of M.I. Glinka, since the spirit of the music of Pushkin’s era found its highest and typical expression in the work of the great musician and contemporary of the poet. But Asafiev used in his ballet not Glinka’s themes, but melodies of other composers of that era, marked by the same general stylistic features as Glinka’s melody - nobility, classical balance, plasticity of design.
The music of “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” (prologue and epilogue) includes Gurilev’s romance “The Fountain of the Bakhchisarai Palace”, which surprisingly well expresses the enlightened and elegiac mood of Pushkin’s poems. The second “quote” from Russian musical life of the 20-30s was J. Field’s piano nocturne, which was close in its melodic structure to Gurilev’s romance. The theme of the nocturne characterizes Maria in the ballet. Interesting. that this “quote” reminds us of Glinka. The Field nocturne chosen by Asafiev is stylistically akin to the piano works of Glinka himself and organically fits into the general Pushkin-Glinka structure of music. These quotes are in many ways typical of the lyrical thematics of the ballet as a whole. In the same intonation plan, Asafiev composed many of his own themes. Thus, a whole series of episodes appear in the ballet, the melody of which is of a romance nature and, therefore, is close to the romance genre, so widespread in the musical culture of the Pushkin-Glinka era. The features of romance are felt in the episode “Mary’s Exit” (second act) and in other numbers of the ballet dedicated to the lyrical appearance of the main character of the work.
The ballet's score also contains other musical and stylistic features reminiscent of Russian music of Pushkin's era. An example is the overture (Adagio, Allegro molto D-dur). It has no thematic connections with ballet. With its carefree, cheerful, lively character, the overture rather contrasts with the dramatic content of the action. But such a contrast is typical of ballet overtures of the 20s of the 19th century.
Asafiev widely used the waltz genre in his ballet, raised by Glinka to a high degree of artistry and poetry, and then developed in the works of Tchaikovsky and Glazunov. In “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” the waltz receives a variety of interpretations. In the waltz-duet of Mary and the young man (first act), the poetic side of the image of Mary is revealed. And in the Slave Waltz (act four) an oriental flavor appears.
The musical image of the era is also conveyed through instrumentation. In many episodes of the ballet score, Asafiev puts forward the part of the harp, an instrument widely used in home musical life of those times. In the prologue, the melody of Gurilev's romance is played by the violin and cello (to the accompaniment of the harp). The harp performs a variation of the mari song style.
2.2 Maria-mainromanticimageballet
In “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” - a lyrical-psychological ballet, the composer’s main attention, in contrast to “The Flames of Paris”, is drawn to the heroes of the drama, to their individual musical and psychological characteristics, which consistently unfold in the richness and diversity of feelings and experiences of the characters. The main participants in the action are depicted through their typical intonations and leitmotifs.
The romantically beautiful, sublime appearance of the princess occupies a central place in the ballet. The musical characteristics of Maria are naturally dominated by elements of the Polish national color, but, in addition, there are Russian-Slavic features. The musical characterization of Maria is given a significant place in the first and third acts of the ballet. The image of Mary is purely lyrical.
The central lyrical number of the first act is “Nocturne of Mary and the Youth,” for which Asafiev used the melody of Field’s famous nocturne. In “Nocturne” the composer reveals the romantically enthusiastic feelings of lovers, and therefore it can be called the “theme of love”. Asafiev also introduces an oboe leitmotif into this scene and creates a broad symphonic development in which the original contemplative themes are transformed, turning into melodies of a passionate nature.
If in the first act several numbers were devoted to the musical characterization of Mary, then in the third act the music of almost the entire action is associated with her image. The composer's attention is focused on the drama of the heroine. Maria, having lost her homeland and loved ones, finding herself in a foreign land in the palace of Khan Girey, lives only with memories of the past. Only they distract Mary’s thoughts from the sad reality. The beginning of the third act is a scene of the heroine's memories. Part of the material from the first act is found here. This is a variation on the theme of the song character and the main leitmotif of Marie, which henceforth becomes a musical image of the tragic fate of the heroine. The scene consists of several contrasting musical episodes. The light song theme from the first act is replaced by an episode of a plaintive-elegiac nature, reminiscent of a sentimental romance. In the final section of the scene, the leitmotif of fate and short, restless phrases of the woodwinds, characterizing Maria's anxiety at the appearance of Giray, are briefly carried out.
The scene of Maria with Giray naturally follows from the previous one. It should be noted the novelty of musical means in the characterization of Mary in this scene. Maria's music is characterized by melodiousness and breadth of melodic breathing, but here Asafiev switches to spare, short melodic phrases with unstable harmonies, pauses, changes in tonality and tempo. One of the characteristic phrases runs in triplets in parallel movement of fourths against the background of a sustained chord. This phrase can be called the "Mary's fright" motif.
Elegy - memories of the ball. There is a sad and pensive melody here, reminiscent of a waltz, and two mazurkas are heard. All dances sound muffled, which creates a feeling of unreality. Gradually. Inspired, Maria accepts the past as reality. The colors become lighter (the minor mazurka passes through the major key), and the sonority increases. But the return of the main theme (the elegy is written in a complex three-part form) creates a feeling of hopelessness of Mary’s grief.
In the scene between Marie and Zarema, the composer provides a direct comparison of two opposing female images and, using contrasting material, builds a large dramatic episode with a vivid symphonic development. The heroine's clash with Zarema ends fatally. However, death comes to Mary as deliverance. Only now the major key in which the leitmotif sounded is replaced by an enharmonically equal minor key. A special impression of fragility and brokenness is created by the orchestral presentation: the theme is carried out by the solo violin against the background of the muted figuration of the violas. The theme is overshadowed by the timbres of the clarinet, sounding a tenth lower, the harp playing harmonics, as well as the quiet hum of the timpani. The orchestral coloring of this episode is undoubtedly inspired by the “melting scene” of the Snow Maiden. The theme fading in the upper register is replaced by gloomy chords of the low register, as if stopping the movement. A vivid juxtaposition of minor keys, changing registers, replacing movement with a stop - these are the means by which the composer paints the image of death. One can note the closeness of the image of Mary with the touching lyrical female characters of Rimsky-Korsakov: the Snow Maiden, Marfa, Volkhova.
Of all the leitmotifs of Marie, the composer singles out the main one, as the most characteristic of her, but appearing in various refractions: as a playful and graceful oboe strumming, as a theme of passionate feeling, sad parting with life. Passing through the entire ballet, this leitmotif gives the musical characteristics of Mari thematic integrity and unity.
2.3 MusicalcharacteristicimageZaremy
The image of Zarema, an oriental beauty, amazes with the brightness of the heroine’s emotional state. Zarema's ardent, passionate, determined nature, violently experiencing her humiliation as an abandoned woman, is contrasted with the fragile appearance of Maria. The contrast of the two female images is clearly reflected in Zarema’s music, endowed with dramatic features. Initially, Zarema’s appearance appears before the viewer. In her first dance, the extended second moves in the melody and the ostinato rhythm with the participation of percussion instruments in the accompaniment emphasize the oriental character of her image. The leisurely movement of the melody, free rhythmic structure, richness of harmonic colors and tonal comparisons give dance music a touch of languid lyricism.
However, not all of Zarema’s part is in the Eastern spirit. Asafiev only once again makes one feel the national flavor - in the scene of Zarema with Giray. But with the onset of a dramatic situation, the composer transfers Zarema’s musical characterization into the dramatic sphere and no longer returns to oriental intonations.
The beginning of Zarema’s drama lies in her dance (Allegrretto elegiaco, d-moll), in which only a feeling of bewilderment and secret anxiety appears. The theme of the dance (second among the slave dances) is Zarema's leitmotif. It also serves as the melodic basis for other episodes of the third act that characterize Zarema’s drama, and can be called the motive of suffering. It is interesting to note the intonation similarity of this leitmotif with the main leitmotif of Mari. Both leitmotifs are used by the author to reveal the internal drama experienced by the heroines. But nevertheless, Maria’s leitmotif is distinguished by greater sophistication, while Zarema’s theme sounds simpler. Zarema’s theme is characterized by an active, strong-willed character. Asafiev gives the music of Zarema’s dance a complaint, her doubt, her anxiety.
In the scene with Giray (finale of the third act), the image of Zarema and her leitmotif take on leading importance. It frames the scene like a dramatic introduction (Adagio, d-moll) and conclusion (Allegro, d-moll), where the declamatory beginning predominates. The introduction is a long, pathetic monologue of the solo violin, and in the conclusion the same theme is heard in a wide and rich unison of strings, trumpets and horns. The same leitmotif takes on dance features in the episode. By slightly changing the theme, the composer conveys the heroine's growing despair. Zarema's leitmotif runs through the entire scene and holds its episodes together. The complex construction of the scene reflects the shades of the heroine’s state of mind and conveys its tension and drama.
Suffering caused by jealousy forces Zarema to approach her rival. Maria's date with Zarema is the most powerful dramatic episode of the ballet in terms of stage and music. A large cello solo opens this scene. It is written in the spirit of dramatic recitative, free improvisation, conveys the mystery of the situation and, with its restrained character, highlights the drama of the situation. The melodic turns of the introduction then turn into an expressive background against which Zarema’s theme emerges - her story. The basis for the musical development of the scene is the contrasting comparison of the themes of Mari and Zarema, as well as the end-to-end dynamic growth in five performances of Zarema’s theme-story. Orchestration plays a huge role here. The first conduct of the theme and story is entrusted to the cello, accompanied by restless figurations of the piano. In the second conduction, the cello melody gradually moves away from the theme pattern, turning into free declamatory phrases covering a wide range (over two octaves). In the third conduction, Zarema's theme appears in the rich sound of violins, flutes, oboes and clarinets. Further, the general tension is intensified by the introduction of pathetic accompanying chords of brass, and, finally, in the last conduction, the orchestral development reaches its climax: the theme sounds in chord presentation in all strings, wood and harp, supported by the powerful sonority of the brass group, timpani and the introduction of a bass drum at the moment of the highest voltage.
Maria's death plunges Zarema into numbness. The character of the music changes dramatically. The slow movement of the chords and their bizarre harmonic sequence create an ominous mood. This move is repeated in the fourth act. The scene of Zarema’s execution is built on it.
As we can see, the image of Zarema is also given in a broad and dramatically intense development. The composer shows Zarema as a romantic heroine, endowed with great human passions. The role of dramatic development in the depiction of Zarema is so significant that quite often Asafiev turns her numbers into large construction scenes, where danceability is permeated with elements of symphonic development.
2.4 MusicalcharacteristicimageGireya
The ballet's characterization of Giray as an eastern barbarian, leader, warrior and Giray as a romantic hero is complex and multifaceted. The composer identifies the characterization of Girey, the Tatar khan, with the wild appearance of the Tatar horde. Therefore, the entire scene of the “Invasion of the Tatars” (first act) and the music of “March of Girey” (second act) equally give an idea of the formidable power of the conquering Tatars and the unbridled passions of their leader, his cruelty. These episodes have a bright national flavor, and they belong to the best “oriental” pages of ballet music.
The “Invasion” scene is magnificent in ballet in its theatricality and imagery. It is written in a march rhythm. Each section of it is marked by a long repetition of laconic motifs based either on chromatic movement, or on the intonation of the tritone, or on the sounds of the diminished seventh chord. Melodic turns are distinguished by sharpness and severity of sound. But the rhythm gives this scene its special character. He plays a leading role here. Even strings, brass and harp are often used in a purely rhythmic sense.
The “Girey March” is very colorful, in which interesting and characteristic melodic content is combined with active and expressive rhythms. The quarter passages that open the march sound like trumpet signals in various registers and are reminiscent of the Polovtsian trumpets in Borodin’s “Prince Igor”.
The lyrical side of Giray's musical appearance is distinguished by nobility and restraint of expression, breadth and melodiousness of melodies. Such features clearly appear in the scene between Girey and Maria. Girey is characterized here by a melodious theme, appearing in the courageous, noble sound of the horn. After the first subdued sound, the theme progresses through the warm singing of the strings, in a higher register and with brighter harmonization and dynamics. Giray's enthusiasm increases. The onset of climax is marked by a passionate “breakthrough” of feelings. However, then the tension subsides, and everything ends in a restrained mood (Girey’s motif in unison presentation, at the tempo of Largo, As-major).
The leitmotif of the Tatars from the first act plays an important role in Girey’s characterization. In the fourth act of the ballet, it takes on a completely different flavor. Here he characterizes Giray, who was reborn under the influence of a feeling of deep love. The short motive loses its sharp outlines and turns into a broad and intensely developing melody. The theme sounds calm and leisurely from the English horn against the backdrop of sustained fifths of the bassoons and a fancy drum rhythm (snare drum and tambourine). With the help of such means, the oriental flavor is invariably preserved; the composer paints the image of the Tatar Khan in softened lyrical tones.
The long process of development of Giray’s image ends with the affirmation of a romantically sublime beginning. Nothing can dislodge the beautiful appearance of Mary from Girey’s memory. He is indifferent to Zarema’s death and does not pay attention to the wild dance of the riders. By the way, it reproduces the entire material of the scenes “Invasion” and “Girey’s March”. In the last scene of the fourth act, Giray appears immersed in thoughts about Mary. The music here is entirely lyrical. The composer again resorts to the dramatic device of “memory” and builds Giray’s scene on the alternation of the main leitmotif of Maria and Giray’s lyrical motif.
The music of the ballet “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” is built on the principle of symphonic development. This mainly concerns the musical characteristics of the main characters. Symphony manifests itself in development - a change in leitmotifs and themes that are of great importance in a particular scene. Symphony is also manifested in the author’s desire to combine numbers into scenes, which is revealed in dramatic situations of action. Thus, the music of the third act is a chain of continuously developing scenes. In the second act of the ballet, a number of numbers follow without interruption, forming a dramatic suite in which Zarema’s anxious premonitions are expressed. In the first act, the menacing music of “Invasion” unexpectedly invades the ball scene and transitions into the tense dramatic episode of “The Flight of Mary and the Youth.” The moving melody, rapid tempo, and disturbed nature of the music convey the despair of the characters. The third act is distinguished by the greatest drama of action and music in the scenes of Maria with Zarema and Giray. In terms of musical dramaturgy, this act is reminiscent of dramatic scenes in such operas by Tchaikovsky as, for example, “Mazepa”, “The Enchantress”.
All these features indicate the fruitfulness of Asafiev’s efforts to enrich the ballet genre with the stylistic and dramatic achievements of Russian opera classics. Asafiev’s search in this direction allowed him to contribute a lot of essentially new and valuable things to the development of Soviet ballet in the early 30s.
Conclusion
Soviet ballet embodied a number of themes that deeply reveal various aspects of the intellectual culture of the people; the development of new qualities of choreography and, mainly, the deepening of the expressive capabilities of ballet music made it possible to expand the artistic and figurative boundaries of Soviet ballet. The fruitful activity of Asafiev played a major role in the enrichment and establishment of this genre. His passionate work in this area, wide knowledge of the theoretical and historical processes occurring in music, made it possible to reveal the essence of Soviet ballet in a new way. Asafiev did not just write music for ballets. Each of his opuses is the result of searches and generalizations. Asafiev’s creative method in the field of ballet can be defined as a specific scientific and artistic generalization of observations of the phenomena of social life of different times and peoples. Asafiev approached composing ballets as a practical musicologist, summarizing his knowledge not only in the field of music, but also in general culture. Therefore, with great power of impressiveness, he embodied the most seemingly non-ballet artistic images. Asafiev's ballets are distinguished by acutely conflictual dramaturgy, consistently carried out through all elements of the musical form.
Often Asafiev's ballets are built on the contrasting juxtaposition of two worlds. The main expositional conflict in the ballet “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” is based on the collision of the peaceful Polish way of life with the wild, impetuous Tatar horde, sweeping away everything in its path. If the Polish world is revealed with the help of rounded, classical, slender forms, then the invasion of the Tatars is depicted by a “wild symphony” of elemental rhythm and structure. Having decided to show two contrasting worlds in the ballet “Flames of Paris” - the absolutist monarchy and the emerging force of the popular movement - Asafiev presented two fundamentally different plans in music. The atmosphere of the Tuileries is characterized by the intonations of court dance music (like a strict palace sarabande); music of the people - free revolutionary song intonations, through which the breath of the people is felt.
Listusedsources
1. Music of Soviet ballet. Collection of articles. - State Music Publishing House, Moscow 1962.
2. Music and choreography of modern ballet. Collection of articles. - Publishing house "Music", Leningrad branch 1974.
3. Asafiev B.V. Musical form as a process. - Publishing house "Music", Leningrad branch 1971.
4. Katonova S.V. Music in ballet. - State Musical Publishing House, Leningrad 1961.
5. Bezuglaya G.A. Analysis of ballet and dance music. Study guide. - Publishing House of the Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg 2009.
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