«Сестра музыки — это поэзия»: стихи русских поэтов в романсах С.В. Рахманинова

Abstract

The article examines six of S.V. Rachmaninov’s 83 romances based on poems by famous poets of the Silver Age: “Dream” by F. Sologub, “The Pied Piper” by V. Bryusov, “To Her” A. Bely, “Au” by K. Balmont, “At Night in my Garden” by A. Isaakian (translated by A. Blok), “Daisies” by Igor Severyanin. These romances, written in the summer of 1916 in Ivanovka, turned out to be Rachmaninov’s last appeal to the poetic word. Attention is paid to the history of their creation and performance associated with the writer M.S. Shaginyan and the wonderful singer N.P. Koshits. Genre specifics, peculiarities of the fusion of poetry, music and vocal art are analyzed. It is shown that Russian lyrics inspired the musician to create new techniques of musical imagery, enriching the sound palette. In the musical drawing of Rachmaninov’s romances, along with a smooth rhythmic dominant, noticeable pauses, figures of “birdsong”, watercolor and graphic sketches of flowers appeared. Special attention is paid to the little-known history of Rachmaninov’s long-term communication with the author of the words to the romance “Daisies”, which is recognized as the best in the work under consideration. For this purpose, the letters of the Northerner to Rachmaninoff are given, as well as the text and circumstances of the creation of the poem “They all talk about one thing …” (1927) with a dedication to “Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff”.