Интонационные модели Н.А. Римского-Корсакова в музыке С.В. Рахманинова

Abstract

Using intonation models of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in Rakhmaninov’s music was deeply motivated by his special attitude to the older contemporary: N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov – along with P.I. Tchaikovsky – was one of the most considered and beloved Rakhmaninov’s composers. The nature of Rakhmaninov’s appeal to the musical patterns of the Petersburg master is determined by the specifics of the personal and creative contacts of the two musicians, which are briefly covered in the article. Cases of particular interest are when a tense semantic conjugation of his own text and borrowings from Rimsky-Korsakov’s music – clear allusions and quotations – occurs in the Rakhmaninov’s works. These particular cases are considered in the article. The article attempts to correlate the described cases with the “influence theory” of Harold Bloom. They form two groups. In the first one, clear allusions to the themes and individual intonations of the senior colleague provide additional depth to own artistic concepts, as in the vocal symphonic poem “The Bells”. In the outro of the first movement, there is a reference to the episode from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia” – “Walking in the Invisible City” (introduction to the second pattern of the fourth act). The main theme of the second movement evoke associations with the Queen of Shemakha theme from “The Golden Cockerel” of Rimsky-Korsakov. In the second group of Rakhmaninov’s works, such borrowings polemically transform the meanings of the borrowed models. In the “Russian Rhapsody” for two pianos, deliberate rethought of theme from the third movement of “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov is obvious. There is a reference to the leitmotif of Bomelius from the “Tsar’s Bride” in the second theme of the first movement of the Second sonata. The intonations of the song of the Indian guest from “Sadko” are distinctly showed in the outro of the Prelude in B Minor op. 32 № 10. In both cases, the signs of romantic exoticism grow into the subjective lyrics, introducing into it the painfully broken note of the Art Nouveau style of the early twentieth century.