Von Weber biography. Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born on November 18, 1786 in Eutin. The father dreamed of a musical career for his son and encouraged him to study music in every possible way. The family moved a lot, but in every new city they always found teachers for Karl. He wrote his first work in Salzburg under the direction of Michael Haydn, it was published and received positive reviews in the press. Weber's mother died in 1798. The family moves again, this time to Munich. Here Karl wrote his first opera, The Power of Love and Wine. Two years later, the opera “The Forest Girl” premiered in Freiburg. The father tried to apprentice his son to Joseph Haydn, but he refused.

Thanks to his success in conducting, in 1804 Weber headed the theater orchestra in the city of Breslau. Under his leadership, the orchestra undergoes some reformation: Karl seats the orchestra players in a new way, assigns separate rehearsals for ensembles to learn new parts, intervenes in productions, and also introduces dress rehearsals. These changes were received ambiguously by musicians and the public. Soon after Weber's acid poisoning accident, opponents of his reform returned everything to its original place.

On September 16, 1810, the premiere of his opera Silvana was successfully held in Frankfurt. Inspired, he writes “Abu Hasan”, and six months later he goes on a concert tour. In April 1812, while in Berlin, Weber learned of his father's death. Here he writes keyboard music and reworks Silvana. Next year, during a visit to Prague, he is offered to head the city theater. Without much hesitation, he agrees; for him, this was an excellent opportunity to realize his ideas and pay off his debts. On November 19, 1816, Weber announces his engagement to Caroline Brandt. Inspired by this event, he writes two piano sonatas, a concerto for clarinet and piano, and several songs.

In 1817, Weber was invited to the post of musical director of the Dresden German opera. On November 4 he married Caroline Brandt. In Dresden he wrote his best work - “Free Shooter”. However, work on the opera continued for a long period. It was overshadowed by the death of the composer's little daughter and the illness of his wife. In addition, Weber had many orders that he could barely cope with. The premiere of "Free Shooter" took place on June 18, 1821 in Berlin. Weber was waiting for success. Beethoven, delighted with the music, said that Weber should henceforth write only operas.

At this time, the composer's lung disease progressed. In 1823, he completed the opera “Euryanthe,” which was also very successfully received by the audience, and then, during a persistent struggle with his illness, he wrote “Oberon.” The premiere took place in London with unprecedented success. This was the first time in the history of the capital’s stage that the composer was asked to appear on stage.

“The world is where the composer creates!” - this is how K. M. Weber, an outstanding German musician, outlined the field of activity of the artist: composer, critic, performer, writer, publicist, public figure of the early 19th century. And indeed, we find Czech, French, Spanish, and oriental themes in his musical and dramatic works, and in his instrumental compositions we find stylistic features of Gypsy, Chinese, Norwegian, Russian, and Hungarian folklore. But the main work of his life was the German national opera. In the unfinished novel “The Life of a Musician,” which has tangible biographical features, Weber brilliantly characterizes, through the lips of one of the characters, the state of this genre in Germany:

To be honest, things are very bad for the German opera; it suffers from convulsions and cannot stand firmly on its feet. A crowd of assistants is busy around her. And yet she, having barely recovered from one fainting spell, falls again into another. Moreover, by making all kinds of demands on her, she was so inflated that not a single dress fits her anymore. It is in vain that gentlemen remodelers, in the hope of decorating it, put on it either a French or an Italian caftan. It doesn't suit her, either front or back. And the more you sew new sleeves onto it and shorten the flaps and tails, the worse it will hold up. In the end, several romantic tailors came up with the happy idea of choosing domestic material for it and, if possible, weaving into it everything that fantasy, faith, contrasts and feelings had ever created among other nations.

Weber was born into a musician's family - his father was an opera conductor and played many instruments. The future musician was shaped by the environment in which he found himself from early childhood. Franz Anton Weber (uncle of Constance Weber, wife of W. A. Mozart) encouraged his son’s passion for music and painting, and introduced him to the intricacies of performing arts. Classes with famous teachers - Michael Haydn, brother of the world famous composer Joseph Haydn, and Abbot Vogler - had a noticeable influence on the young musician. The first attempts at composing date back to that time. On Vogler's recommendation, Weber entered the Breslau Opera House as conductor (1804). His independent life in art begins, tastes and beliefs are formed, and major works are conceived.

Since 1804, Weber has worked in various theaters in Germany and Switzerland, and has served as director of the opera house in Prague (since 1813). During the same period, Weber's connections were established with the largest representatives artistic life Germany, which largely influenced his aesthetic principles(I. W. Goethe, K. Wieland, K. Zelter, T. A. Hoffman, L. Tieck, C. Brentano, L. Spohr). Weber gains fame not only as an outstanding pianist and conductor, but also as an organizer and bold reformer musical theater, who approved new principles for placing musicians in an opera orchestra (according to groups of instruments), and a new system of rehearsal work in the theater. Thanks to his activities, the status of the conductor changes - Weber, taking on the role of director, head of the production, participated in all stages of preparation opera performance. An important feature of the repertoire policy of the theaters he headed was the preference for German and French operas, in contrast to the more usual predominance of Italian ones. In the works of the first period of creativity, style features crystallized that later became defining - song and dance thematics, originality and colorful harmony, freshness of orchestral color and interpretation of individual instruments. Here is what G. Berlioz wrote, for example:

And what an orchestra that accompanies these noble vocal melodies! What inventions! What ingenious research! What treasures such inspiration reveals to us!

Among the most significant works of this time are the romantic opera "Silvana" (1810), the singspiel "Abu Hasan" (1811), 9 cantatas, 2 symphonies, overtures, 4 piano sonatas and concertos, "Invitation to the Dance", numerous chamber instrumental and vocal ensembles, songs (over 90).

The final, Dresden period of Weber's life (1817-26) was marked by the appearance of his famous operas, and its real culmination was the triumphant premiere of “The Magic Shooter” (1821, Berlin). This opera is not only a brilliant work of composition. Here, as if in focus, the ideals of the new German opera art, affirmed by Weber and then becoming the basis for the subsequent development of this genre, are concentrated.

Musical and social activities required solving not only creative problems. Weber, during his work in Dresden, managed to carry out a large-scale reform of the entire musical and theatrical business in Germany, which included both a targeted repertoire policy and the preparation of a theatrical ensemble of like-minded people. The implementation of the reform was ensured by the musical and critical activity of the composer. The few articles he wrote contain, in essence, a detailed program of romanticism, which established itself in Germany with the advent of The Magic Shooter. But in addition to its purely practical orientation, the composer’s statements are also special, original, clothed in brilliant art form musical literature, foreshadowing the articles of R. Schumann and R. Wagner. Here is one of the fragments of his “Marginal Notes”:

The apparent incoherence of the fantastic, reminiscent not so much of an ordinary musical play written according to the rules, but of a fantastic play, can be created... only by the most outstanding genius, the one who creates his own world. The imaginary disorder of this world actually contains an internal connection, permeated with the most sincere feeling, and you just need to be able to perceive it with your feelings. However, the expressiveness of music already contains a lot of uncertainty, individual feeling has to invest a lot into it, and therefore only individual souls tuned to literally the same tone will be able to keep up with the development of feeling, which occurs this way and not otherwise, which presupposes this such and not other necessary contrasts, for which only this one opinion is true. Therefore, the task of a true master is to reign supreme over both his own and other people’s feelings, and to reproduce the feeling that he conveys as permanent and endowed only those flowers and nuances that immediately create a certain holistic image in the listener’s soul.

After “The Magic Marksman,” Weber turned to the genre of comic opera (“Three Pintos,” libretto by T. Hell, 1820, unfinished), and wrote music for P. Wolf’s play “Preciosa” (1821). The main works of this period are the heroic-romantic opera “Euryanthe” (1823), intended for Vienna, based on the plot of the French knightly legend, and the fairy-tale-fantastic opera “Oberon”, created by order of the London Covent Garden Theater (1826). The last score was being completed by the already seriously ill composer right up to the very day of the premiere. The success was unheard of in London. Still, Weber considered some alterations and changes necessary. He didn't have time to do them anymore...

The main work of the composer's life was opera. He knew what he was trying to achieve; he had achieved the ideal image of her:

...I'm talking about the opera that a German craves, but this is self-contained artistic creation, in which the shares and parts of related and generally all used arts, soldered completely into one whole, disappear as such and to a certain extent are even destroyed, but they build a new world!

Weber managed to build this new - and for himself - world...

V. Barsky

The ninth son of an infantry officer who devoted himself to music after his niece Constanze married Mozart, Weber received his first music lessons from his half-brother Friedrich, then studied in Salzburg with Michael Haydn and in Munich with Kalcher and Valesi (composition and singing). At the age of thirteen he composed his first opera (which has not come down to us). A short period of work with his father in musical lithography followed, then he improved his knowledge with Abbot Vogler in Vienna and Darmstadt. Moves from place to place, working as a pianist and conductor; in 1817 he married the singer Caroline Brand and organized a German opera theater in Dresden, as opposed to the Italian opera theater under the direction of Morlacchi. Exhausted by extensive organizational work and terminally ill, after a period of treatment in Marienbad (1824), he staged the opera Oberon (1826) in London, which was received with enthusiasm.

Weber was still a son of the 18th century: sixteen years younger than Beethoven, he died almost a year before him, but he seems to be a more modern musician than the classics or Schubert... Weber was not only a creative musician, a brilliant, virtuoso pianist, conductor famous orchestra, but also a great organizer. In this he was like Gluck; only he had more difficult task, because he worked in the squalid conditions of Prague and Dresden and had no strong character, nor the undeniable glory of Gluck...

In the field of opera, he turned out to be a rare phenomenon in Germany - one of the few natural-born opera composers. His vocation was determined without difficulty: from the age of fifteen he knew what the stage required... His life was so active, so eventful that it seems much longer than Mozart’s life, but in reality it was only four years” (Einstein).

When Weber premiered Les Fusiliers in 1821, he significantly anticipated the Romanticism of composers such as Bellini and Donizetti, who would emerge ten years later, or Rossini, who produced William Tell in 1829. In general, 1821 was significant for the preparation of romanticism in music: at this time Beethoven composed the Thirty-first Sonata op. 110 for piano, Schubert introduces the song “The King of the Forest” and begins the Eighth Symphony, “Unfinished.” Already in the overture of "Free Shooter" Weber moves towards the future and frees himself from the influence of the theater of the recent past, Spohr's Faust or Hoffmann's Ondine, or the French opera that influenced these two of his predecessors. When Weber approached Euryante, Einstein writes, “his sharpest antipode, Spontini, had in a sense already cleared the way for him; at the same time, Spontini only gave the classical opera seria colossal, monumental proportions thanks to crowd scenes and emotional tension. In “Euryanthe” a new, more romantic tone appears, and if the public did not immediately appreciate this opera, then it was deeply appreciated by the composers of subsequent generations.” The work of Weber, who laid the foundations of the German national opera (along with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”), determined the double meaning of his operatic heritage, which Giulio Confalonieri writes well about: “As a true romantic, Weber found in legends and folk legends a source of music devoid of notes, but ready to sound... Along with these elements, he also wanted to freely express his own temperament: unexpected transitions from one tone to the opposite, a daring convergence of extremes that coexist with each other in accordance with the new laws of romantic Franco-German music , were pushed to the limit by the composer, state of mind who, due to consumption, was constantly restless and feverish.” This duality, which seems to contradict stylistic unity and actually violates it, gave rise to a painful desire to escape, by virtue of the very choice of life, from the last meaning of existence: from reality - with it, perhaps, only in the magical “Oberon” is reconciliation supposed, and even then partial and incomplete.

The famous German composer, conductor, pianist and public figure, who contributed to raising the level of musical life in Germany and the growth of the authority and importance of national art, Carl Maria von Weber was born on December 18, 1786 in the Holstein town of Eytin in the family of a provincial entrepreneur, music lover and theater.

Coming from craft circles by origin, the composer’s father loved to flaunt to the public a non-existent title of nobility, a family coat of arms and the prefix “von” to the name Weber.

Karl Maria's mother, who came from a family of wood carvers, inherited excellent vocal abilities from her parents; for some time she even worked in the theater as a professional singer.

Together with traveling artists, the Weber family moved from place to place, so even in early childhood Karl Maria got used to the atmosphere of the theater and became acquainted with the customs of the nomadic troupes. The result of such a life was the necessary knowledge of the theater and the laws of the stage for an opera composer, as well as rich musical experience.

Little Karl Maria had two hobbies - music and painting. The boy painted in oils, painted miniatures, he was also good at engraving compositions, and in addition, he knew how to play some musical instruments, including the piano.

In 1798, twelve-year-old Weber was lucky enough to become a student of Michael Haydn, the younger brother of the famous Joseph Haydn, in Salzburg. Lessons in theory and composition ended with the writing, under the guidance of the teacher, of six fuguettes, which, thanks to the efforts of his father, were published in the Universal Musical Newspaper.

The departure of the Weber family from Salzburg caused a change in music teachers. Disorganization and diversity music education compensated by the versatile talent of young Karl Maria. By the age of 14, he had written quite a lot of works, including several sonatas and variations for piano, a number of chamber works, a mass, and the opera “The Power of Love and Hate,” which became Weber’s first such work.

Nevertheless, in those years the talented young man gained great fame as a performer and writer of popular songs. Moving from one city to another, he performed his own and other people's works to the accompaniment of a piano or guitar. Like his mother, Carl Maria Weber had a unique voice, significantly weakened by acid poisoning.

Neither the difficult financial situation nor constant travel could seriously affect the creative productivity of the gifted composer. The opera "The Maiden of the Forest" and the Singschpiel "Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors", written in 1800, received favorable reviews former teacher Weber, Michael Haydn. This was followed by numerous waltzes, ecosaises, four-hand piano pieces and songs.

Already in Weber’s early, immature operatic works, a certain creative line can be traced - an appeal to the national democratic genre theatrical arts(all operas are written in the form of a singspiel - an everyday performance in which musical episodes and spoken dialogue coexist) and a tendency towards fantasy.

Among Weber's many teachers, the collector of folk melodies, Abbot Vogler, the most popular scientific theorist and composer of his time, deserves special attention. Throughout 1803, the young man, under the guidance of Vogler, studied the work of outstanding composers, made a detailed analysis of their works and gained experience to write his great works. In addition, Vogler's school contributed to Weber's growing interest in folk art.

In 1804, the young composer moved to Breslavl, where he received a position as conductor and began updating the opera repertoire of the local theater. His active work in this direction met resistance from singers and orchestral players, and Weber resigned.

However, a difficult financial situation forced him to agree to any offers: for several years he was a bandmaster in Karlsruhe, then - the personal secretary of the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart. But Weber could not say goodbye to music: he continued to compose instrumental works and experimented in the genre of opera (“Silvana”).

In 1810, the young man was arrested on suspicion of participation in court scams and expelled from Stuttgart. Weber again became a traveling musician, traveling with concerts to numerous German and Swiss cities.

It was this talented composer who initiated the creation of the “Harmonious Society” in Darmstadt, designed to support and promote the works of its members through propaganda and criticism in the press. The society's charter was drawn up, and the creation of a “musical topography of Germany” was also planned, allowing artists to correctly navigate in a particular city.

During this period, Weber's passion for folk music intensified. In his free time, the composer went to the surrounding villages to “collect melodies.” Sometimes, impressed by what he heard, he immediately composed songs and performed them to the accompaniment of a guitar, causing exclamations of approval from the listeners.

During the same period of creative activity, the composer’s literary talent developed. Numerous articles, reviews and letters characterized Weber as an intelligent, thoughtful person, an opponent of routine, and at the forefront.

Being a champion of national music, Weber paid tribute and foreign art. He especially highly valued the work of such French composers of the revolutionary period as Cherubini, Megul, Grétry and others. Special articles and essays were dedicated to them, and their works were performed. Of particular interest in the literary heritage of Carl Maria von Weber is the autobiographical novel “The Life of a Musician,” which tells the story of the difficult fate of a vagabond composer.

The composer did not forget about music. His works of 1810 – 1812 are distinguished by greater independence and skill. An important step on the path to creative maturity was the comic opera “Abu Hassan,” which traces the images of the master’s most significant works.

Weber spent the period from 1813 to 1816 in Prague as the head of the opera house, the following years he worked in Dresden, and everywhere his reform plans met stubborn resistance among theater bureaucrats.

The growth of patriotic sentiment in Germany in the early 1820s proved to be a saving grace for the work of Carl Maria von Weber. Writing music for the romantic-patriotic poems of Theodor Kerner, who participated in the 1813 war of liberation against Napoleon, brought the composer the laurels of a national artist.

Another patriotic work by Weber was the cantata “Battle and Victory,” written and performed in 1815 in Prague. Attached to it summary content that contributes to a better understanding of the work by the public. Subsequently, similar explanations were compiled for larger works.

The Prague period marked the beginning of the period of creative maturity of the talented German composer. Particularly noteworthy are the works of piano music he wrote at this time, into which new elements of musical speech and style texture were introduced.

Weber's move to Dresden in 1817 marked the beginning of a settled family life (by that time the composer had already married the woman he loved, former Prague opera singer Caroline Brandt). The active work of the advanced composer here, too, found few like-minded people among influential persons of the state.

In those years, preference was given to traditional Italian opera in the Saxon capital. Created at the Beginning XIX century German national opera was deprived of the support of the royal court and aristocratic patrons.

Weber had to do a lot to establish the priority of national art over Italian. He managed to assemble a good team, achieve its artistic coherence and stage production of Mozart’s opera “Fidelio”, as well as works by French composers Megul (“Joseph in Egypt”), Cherubini (“Lodoisku”) and others.

The Dresden period became the pinnacle of Carl Maria Weber's creative activity and the final decade of his life. During this time, the best piano and operatic works were written: numerous sonatas for piano, “Invitation to the Dance”, “Concert Stück” for piano and orchestra, as well as the operas “Freischutz”, “The Magic Shooter”, “Euryanthe” and “Oberon” ", indicating the path and directions for the further development of opera in Germany.

The production of The Magic Shooter brought Weber worldwide fame and fame. The idea of writing an opera based on the plot folk tale about the “black hunter” was conceived by the composer back in 1810, but vigorous social activity prevented the implementation of this plan. Only in Dresden did Weber again turn to several fairy tale plot"The Magic Shooter", at his request, the libretto of the opera was written by the poet F. Kind.

Events take place in the Czech region of Bohemia. Main actors The works are the hunter Max, the daughter of the count's forester Agatha, the reveler and gambler Kaspar, Agatha's father, Kuno, and Prince Ottokar.

The first act begins with the joyful greetings of the winner of the shooting competition, Kilian, and the sad lamentations of the young hunter who was defeated in the preliminary tournament. A similar fate at the end of the competition disrupts all of Max’s plans: according to an ancient hunting custom, his marriage to the beautiful Agatha will become impossible. The girl's father and several hunters console the unfortunate man.

Soon the fun stops, everyone leaves, and Max is left alone. His solitude is violated by the reveler Kaspar, who sold his soul to the devil. Pretending to be a friend, he promises to help the young hunter and tells him about magic bullets that should be cast at night in the Wolf Valley - a cursed place visited by evil spirits.

Max doubts, however, cleverly playing on feelings young man to Agatha, Kaspar persuades him to go to the valley. Max leaves the stage, and the clever gambler triumphs in advance of his deliverance from the approaching hour of reckoning.

The second act takes place in the forester's house and in the gloomy Wolf Valley. Agatha is sad in her room; even the cheerful chatter of her carefree, flirtatious friend Ankhen cannot distract her from her sad thoughts.

Agatha is waiting for Max. Seized with gloomy forebodings, she goes out onto the balcony and calls on the heavens to dispel her worries. Max enters, trying not to scare his lover, and tells her the reason for his sadness. Agata and Ankhen persuade him not to go to the terrible place, but Max, who made a promise to Kaspar, leaves.

At the end of the second act, a gloomy valley opens to the eyes of the audience, the silence of which is interrupted by the ominous cries of invisible spirits. At midnight, the black hunter Samiel, the messenger of death, appears in front of Kaspar, who is preparing to cast witchcraft spells. Kaspar's soul must go to hell, but he asks for a reprieve, sacrificing Max to the devil instead, who tomorrow will kill Agatha with a magic bullet. Samiel agrees to this sacrifice and disappears with a clap of thunder.

Soon Max descends from the top of the cliff into the valley. The forces of good are trying to save him by sending images of his mother and Agatha, but it’s too late - Max sells his soul to the devil. The finale of the second act is the scene of casting the magic bullets.

The third and final act of the opera is dedicated to the last day of the competition, which should end with the wedding of Max and Agatha. The girl, who had a prophetic dream at night, is sad again. Ankhen’s efforts to cheer up her friend are in vain; her concern for her beloved does not go away. The girls soon appear and present Agatha with flowers. She opens the box and instead of a wedding wreath, she finds a funeral dress.

There is a change of scenery, marking the finale of the third act and the entire opera. In front of Prince Ottokar, his courtiers and the forester Kuno, the hunters demonstrate their skills, among them Max. The young man must make the last shot; the target becomes a dove flying from bush to bush. Max takes aim, and at that moment Agatha appears behind the bushes. Magic force moves the muzzle of the gun to the side, and the bullet hits Kaspar, who was hiding in a tree. Mortally wounded, he falls to the ground, his soul going to hell, accompanied by Samiel.

Prince Ottokar demands an explanation for what happened. Max talks about the events of the past night, the angry prince sentences him to exile, the young hunter must forever forget about his marriage to Agatha. The intercession of those present cannot mitigate the punishment.

Only the appearance of a bearer of wisdom and justice changes the situation. The hermit pronounces his verdict: to postpone the wedding of Max and Agatha for a year. Such a magnanimous decision becomes the cause of general joy and rejoicing, all those gathered praise God and his mercy.

The successful conclusion of the opera corresponds to the moral idea, presented in the form of the struggle between good and evil and victory good forces. A certain amount of abstraction and idealization of real life can be traced here, at the same time, the work contains moments that satisfy the requirements of progressive art: a display of folk life and the uniqueness of its way of life, an appeal to the characters of the peasant-burgher environment. Fiction driven by commitment to folk beliefs and legends, devoid of any mysticism; in addition, the poetic depiction of nature brings a fresh spirit to the composition.

The dramatic line in “The Magic Shooter” develops sequentially: Act I is the beginning of the drama, the desire of evil forces to take possession of the wavering soul; Act II – the struggle between light and darkness; Act III is the climax, ending with the triumph of virtue.

Dramatic action here it unfolds on musical material coming in large layers. For disclosure ideological meaning work and combining it with the help of musical and thematic connections, Weber uses the principle of leitmotif: a short leitmotif, constantly accompanying the character, concretizes one or another image (for example, the image of Samiel, personifying dark, mysterious forces).

A new, purely romantic means of expression is the mood common to the entire opera, subordinated to the “sound of the forest” with which all the events taking place are connected.

The life of nature in The Magic Shooter has two sides: one of them, associated with the idyllically depicted patriarchal life of hunters, is revealed in folk songs and melodies, as well as in the sound of horns; the second side, associated with ideas about demonic, dark forces forests, manifests itself in a unique combination of orchestral timbres and an alarming syncopated rhythm.

The overture to The Magic Shooter, written in sonata form, reveals the ideological concept of the entire work, its content and course of events. Here, in contrasting comparison, the main themes of the opera appear, which are at the same time musical characteristics main characters who are developed in portrait arias.

The orchestra is rightfully considered the strongest source of romantic expressiveness in The Magic Shooter. Weber was able to identify and use certain features and expressive properties of individual instruments. In some scenes the orchestra plays an independent role and is the main means of musical development of the opera (scene in the Wolf Valley, etc.).

The success of The Magic Shooter was stunning: the opera was staged on the stages of many cities, and arias from this work were sung on the city streets. Thus, Weber was rewarded handsomely for all the humiliations and trials that befell him in Dresden.

In 1822, the entrepreneur of the Viennese court opera house F. Barbaia invited Weber to compose a grand opera. A few months later, Evritana, written in the genre of a knightly romantic opera, was sent to the Austrian capital.

A legendary plot with some mystical mystery, a desire for heroism and Special attention to the psychological characteristics of the characters, the predominance of feelings and reflections on the development of action - these features, outlined by the composer in this work, become later characteristic features German romantic opera.

In the fall of 1823, the premiere of “Eurytana” took place in Vienna, which was attended by Weber himself. Although it caused a storm of delight among adherents of the national art, the opera did not receive as wide recognition as The Magic Shooter.

This circumstance had a rather depressing effect on the composer; in addition, the severe lung disease inherited from his mother made itself felt. The increasingly frequent attacks caused long breaks in Weber's work. Thus, between the writing of “Eurytana” and the start of work on “Oberon”, about 18 months passed.

The last opera was written by Weber at the request of Covent Garden, one of the largest opera houses in London. Realizing the proximity of death, the composer strove to finish his last work as soon as possible, so that after his death the family would not be left without a means of subsistence. The same reason forced him to go to London to direct the production of the fairy tale opera Oberon.

IN this work, consisting of several separate paintings, fantastic events and real life are intertwined with great artistic freedom; everyday German music coexists with “oriental exoticism”.

When writing Oberon, the composer did not set himself any special dramatic goals; he wanted to write a cheerful extravaganza opera filled with a relaxed, fresh melody. The colorfulness and lightness of the orchestral color used in the writing of this work had a significant impact on the improvement of romantic orchestral writing and left a special imprint on the scores of such romantic composers as Berlioz, Mendelssohn and others.

The musical merits of Weber's last operas found their most vivid expression in the overtures, which were also recognized as independent program symphonic works. At the same time, certain shortcomings in the libretto and dramaturgy limited the number of productions of Eurytana and Oberon on the stages of opera houses.

Hard work in London, coupled with frequent overloads, completely undermined the health of the famous composer; July 5, 1826 was the last day of his life: Carl Maria von Weber died of consumption before reaching the age of forty.

In 1841, on the initiative of advanced public figures In Germany, the question of transferring the ashes of the talented composer to his homeland was raised, and three years later his remains returned to Dresden.

In February 1815, Count Karl von Brühl, director of the Royal Theater of Berlin, introducing Karl Maria von Weber to the Prussian Chancellor Karl August Prince of Hardenburg as conductor Berlin Opera, gave him the following recommendation: this man stands out not only as a brilliant “passionate composer, he has a full and extensive knowledge of art, poetry and literature, and this distinguishes him from most musicians.” There is no better way to describe Weber's many gifts.

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born on November 18, 1786 in Eutin. He was the ninth child of ten children from his father's two marriages. Father - Franz Anton von Weber, without a doubt, had musical abilities. He began his career as a lieutenant, but even on the battlefield he carried a violin with him.

WITH early years Karl was getting used to a constant nomadic life. From childhood he grew up as a sickly, weak boy. He started walking only at the age of four. Due to his physical disabilities, he was more thoughtful and withdrawn than his peers. He learned, in his words, “to live in his own world, a world of fantasy, and find occupation and happiness in it.”

His father had long cherished the dream of making at least one of his children an outstanding musician. Mozart's example haunted him. Thus, from an early age, Karl began to study music with his father and with his half-brother Fridolin. The irony of fate is that one day Fridolin exclaimed in despair: “Karl, it seems you can become anything you want, but you will never become a musician.”

Karl Maria was apprenticed to the young bandmaster and composer Johann Peter Heischkel. From then on, training progressed rapidly. A year later, the family went to Salzburg, and Karl became a student of Michael Haydn. At the same time he composed his first work, which his father published, and received positive feedback in one of the newspapers.

In 1798, his mother died. Father's sister Adelaide took care of Karl. From Austria the Webers moved to Munich. Here the young man began taking singing lessons from Johann Evangelist Wallishausz and studying composition from the local organist Johann Nepomuk Kalcher.

Here in Munich, Karl wrote his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. Unfortunately, it was subsequently lost.

However, the restless nature of the father did not allow the Weber family to stay in one place for a long time. In 1799 they come to the Saxon city of Freiburg. A year later, in November, the first youth opera “The Forest Girl” premiered here. In November 1801, father and son arrived in Salzburg. Karl began studying with Michael Haydn again. Soon Weber wrote his third opera - “Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors”. However, the premiere of the opera in Augsburg did not take place, and Karl Maria went on a concert tour with his father. Even then, thanks to his thin and long fingers, the young man achieved a technique that was available to only a few at that time.

An attempt to send Karl to study with Joseph Haydn nevertheless failed due to the maestro’s refusal. Therefore, the young man continued his studies with Georg Joseph Vogler. Abbot Vogler maintained the young talent's interest in folk song and music, primarily to oriental motifs popular at that time, which was later reflected in Weber’s work “Abu Hasan”.

More important, however, was learning to conduct. This allowed Karl to lead the orchestra in the theater of Breslau in 1804. Having not yet reached the age of eighteen, the conductor seated the orchestra members in a new way, intervened in the productions, and introduced separate ensemble rehearsals, as well as dress rehearsals, for learning new parts. Weber's reforms were received ambiguously even by the public.

Here Karl had many affairs in the theater, among other things, with the prima donna Dietzel. A beautiful life required more and more money, and the young man fell into debt.

His son's debts prompted his father to search for a source of food, and he began to try his hand at copper engraving. Unfortunately, this has become a source of unhappiness. One evening, feeling cold, Karl took a sip from a wine bottle, not suspecting that his father kept nitric acid there. He was saved by his friend Wilhelm Berner, who urgently called a doctor. A fatal outcome was avoided, but the young man lost his beautiful voice. His absence was taken advantage of by opponents who quickly eliminated all his reforms. Without money, pursued by creditors, the young pianist went on tour. He was lucky here. The maid of honor Brelonde, lady-in-waiting of the Duchess of Württemberg, facilitated his introduction to Eugen Friedrich von Württemberg-Els. Karl Maria took the place of music director at Karlsruhe Castle, built in the forests of upper Silesia. Now he has a lot of time to write. During the autumn of 1806 and winter of 1807, the twenty-year-old composer wrote a concertina for trumpet, as well as two symphonies. But the offensive of Napoleonic army confused all the cards. Soon Karl was to take the place of private secretary of Duke Ludwig, one of Eugene's three sons. This service turned out to be difficult for Weber from the very beginning. The duke, experiencing financial difficulties, more than once made Charles a scapegoat. Three years of wild life, when Karl Maria often took part in his master’s revels, ended quite unexpectedly. In 1810, Karl's father arrived in Stuttgart and brought with him new and considerable debts. It all ended with the fact that, trying to get out of both his own and his father’s debts, the composer ended up behind bars, though only for sixteen days. On February 26, 1810, Karl and his father were expelled from Württemberg, but they made him promise to repay his debts.

This event was of great importance to Karl. In his diary he will write: “Born again.”

Behind a short time Weber first visited Mannheim, then Heidelberg and finally moved to Darmdstadt. Here Karl became interested in writing. His greatest achievement was the novel A Musician's Life, in which he hilariously and brilliantly described the composer's spiritual life while composing music. The book was largely autobiographical in nature.

On September 16, 1810, the premiere of his opera Silvana took place in Frankfurt. The composer was prevented from enjoying his triumph by a sensational flight on hot-air balloon Madame Blanchard over Frankfurt, eclipsing all other events. The title role in the opera was sung by the young singer Caroline Brandt, who later became his wife. Inspired by success and recognition, Karl Maria began the composition “Abu Hasan” in late autumn. He completed his largest instrumental work at that time, C-Dur, opus 11.

In February 1811, the composer went on a concert tour. On March 14 it ended in Munich. Karl stayed there cultural environment He liked the Bavarian city. Already on April 5, Heinrich Joseph Berman performed a hastily composed concertino for clarinet especially for him. “The whole orchestra has gone crazy and wants concerts from me,” wrote Weber. Even King Max Joseph of Bavaria commissioned two concertos for clarinet and concerto.

Unfortunately, the matter did not come to other works, because Weber was occupied with other hobbies, and mainly love ones.

In January 1812, while in the city of Gotha, Karl Maria felt severe pain in the chest. From that time on, Weber's battle with a fatal disease began.

In April, in Berlin, Weber received sad news - his father died at the age of 78. Now he was left completely alone. However, his stay in Berlin did him good. Along with classes with male choirs, correction and reworking of the opera Silvana, he also wrote keyboard music. With the Grand Sonata in C-Dur he stepped onto new ground. Was born new way virtuoso playing, which influenced musical art throughout the 19th century. The same applies to his second keyboard concerto.

Going on a new tour early next year, Karl recalled with sadness: “Everything seems like a dream to me: that I left Berlin and left everything that had become dear and close to me.”

But Weber's tour was unexpectedly interrupted as soon as it began. As soon as Karl arrived in Prague, he was dumbfounded by the offer to head the local theater. After some hesitation, Weber agreed. He had a rare opportunity to realize his musical ideas, since he received unlimited authority from the director of the Liebig Theater to form an orchestra. On the other hand, he had real chance get rid of your debts.

Unfortunately, Karl soon became seriously ill, so much so that he did not leave the apartment for a long time. Having recovered a little, he plunged into work. His working day lasted from six in the morning until midnight.

But the Prague crisis was not limited to illness and hard work. The composer could not resist attempts to bring flirtatious theater ladies together. “It’s my misfortune that an eternally young heart beats in my chest,” he sometimes complained.

After new attacks of illness, Weber left for spa treatment and from Bad Liebwerdn often wrote to Caroline Brandt, who became his guardian angel. After numerous quarrels, the lovers finally found mutual agreement.

The liberation of Berlin after Napoleon's defeat in Leipzig unexpectedly awakened patriotic feelings in the composer. He composes music for “Lützow’s Wild Hunt” and “Sword Song” from Theodor Kerner’s collection of poems “Lyre and Sword”.

However, he soon fell into depression, caused not only by new attacks of illness, but also by serious disagreements with Brandt. Weber was inclined to leave Prague, and only the serious illness of the theater director Liebig kept him in the Czech Republic.

On November 19, 1816, a big event occurred in the composer’s life - he announced his engagement to Caroline Brandt. Inspired, in a short time he writes two sonatas for piano, a large concert duet for claret and piano, and several songs.

At the end of 1817, Weber took up the post of musical director of the German opera in Dresden. He finally settled down and not only began to lead a sedentary life, but also forever put an end to his increasingly debilitating love affairs. On November 4, 1817, he married Caroline Brandt.

In Dresden, Weber wrote his best work - the opera Free Shooter. He first mentioned this opera in a letter to his then-fiancée Caroline: “The plot is appropriate, creepy and interesting.” However, the year 1818 was already ending, and work on “Free Shooter” almost did not begin, which is not surprising, because he had 19 orders from his employer, the king.

Caroline was expecting a child and was not entirely healthy in the last month of pregnancy. After much suffering, she gave birth to a girl, and Karl barely had time to fulfill orders. He had barely finished the mass for the day of honoring the royal couple when a new order arrived - an opera on the theme of the Arabian Nights fairy tales.

In mid-March, Weber fell ill, and a month later his daughter died. Caroline tried to hide her misfortune from her husband.

Soon she herself became seriously ill. Nevertheless, Caroline recovered much faster than her husband, who fell into such deep depression that he couldn't write music. Surprisingly, the summer turned out to be productive. In July and August, Weber composed a lot. But work on “Free Shooter” was not moving forward at all. The New Year 1820 began again with misfortune - Caroline had a miscarriage. Thanks to his friends, the composer managed to overcome the crisis and on February 22 began completing “Free Shooter.” On May 3, Weber was able to proudly declare: “The Overture of The Hunter's Bride is completed, and with it the entire opera. Honor and praise be to the Lord."

The opera premiered on June 18, 1821 in Berlin. A triumphant success awaited her. Beethoven said with admiration about the composer: “In general, a gentle person, I never expected this from him! Now Weber must write operas, only operas, one after another.” Meanwhile, Weber's health deteriorated. For the first time his throat began to bleed.

In 1823, the composer completed work on a new opera, Euryanta. He was worried about the low level of the libretto. Nevertheless, the premiere of the opera was generally successful. The hall enthusiastically accepted new job Weber. But the success of “Free Shooter” could not be repeated. The disease is rapidly progressing. The composer is plagued by an incessant, debilitating cough. In unbearable conditions, he finds the strength to work on the opera Oberon.

On April 1, the premiere of Oberon took place in London's Covent Garden. It was an unprecedented triumph for Carl Maria von Weber. The audience even forced him to go on stage - an event that had never happened before in the English capital. He died in London on June 5, 1826. Death mask accurately conveys Weber's facial features in some unearthly enlightenment, as if he last breath saw paradise.

1. heavenly sign

At the age of twelve, Weber composed his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. The opera score was kept in a closet. Soon, in the most incomprehensible way, this cabinet burned down with all its contents. Moreover, except for the closet, nothing in the room was damaged. Weber took this incident as a “sign from above” and decided to abandon music forever, devoting himself to lithography.
However, despite heavenly warnings, the passion for music did not pass and at the age of fourteen Weber wrote new opera"Mute Forest Girl" The opera was first staged in 1800. Then it was staged quite often in Vienna, Prague and even St. Petersburg. After such a very successful start to his musical career, Weber stopped believing in omens and various “signs from above.”

2. envious person No. 1

Weber's dislike for other people's fame was truly boundless. He was especially uncompromising towards Rossini: Weber constantly told everyone that Rossini was completely mediocre, that his music was just a fashion that would be forgotten in a couple of years...
- This upstart Rossini doesn’t even deserve to be talked about! - Weber once said.
“Tell him that this would suit me very much,” Rossinni responded to this.

3. motto

The motto of Weber's work was famous words, which the composer asked to place as his own autograph on the published engraving with his portrait: “Weber expresses the will of God, Beethoven - the will of Beethoven, and Rossini ... the will of the Viennese”

4. Salieri to himself

In Breslau, Weber had a tragic incident that almost cost him his life. Weber invited a friend to dinner and sat down to work while waiting for him. Having frozen while working, he decided to warm up with a sip of wine, but in the semi-darkness he took a sip from the wine flask in which Weber's father kept sulfuric acid for engraving work. The composer fell lifeless. Weber's friend, meanwhile, was late and arrived only after nightfall. The composer's window was lit, but no one answered the knock. The friend pushed open the unlocked door and saw Weber's body lying lifeless on the floor. A broken flask lay nearby, giving off a pungent odor. Weber’s father ran out of the next room in response to cries for help, and together they took the composer to the hospital. Weber was brought back to life, but his mouth and throat were terribly burned, and his vocal cords were ineffective. Thus Weber lost his beautiful voice. For the rest of his life he was forced to speak in a whisper.
He once said in a whisper to one of his friends:
- They say that Mozart was ruined by Salieri, but I managed without him...

5. Unfortunately, birthdays only come once a year...

Weber loved animals very much. His house resembled a zoo: the hunting dog Ali, the gray cat Maune, the capuchin monkey Shnouf and many birds surrounded the musician’s family. The big Indian raven was a favorite - every morning he said solemnly to the composer: “Good evening.”
One day, his wife Caroline gave him a truly wonderful gift. Costumes for the animals were made especially for Weber’s birthday, and the next morning a funny procession went to the birthday boy’s room to congratulate him!.. Ali was turned into an elephant with a long trunk and large ears, his nopon was replaced by silk handkerchiefs. Behind him was a cat dressed as a donkey, with a pair of slippers instead of bags on its back. Next came the monkey. fluffy dress, a hat with a huge feather bounced coquettishly on her head...
Weber jumped for joy like a child, and then something unimaginable began: he forgot about his illnesses, failures, and even about his competing composers... The animals and happy Weber rushed around the chairs and tables, and the serious raven said to everyone an infinite number of times:
- Good evening!
It's a pity that Rossini didn't see this...

6. ugly angel

When The Magic Shooter was staged in Prague, the leading female part was sung by Henrietta Sontag, a very small, charming and extremely timid singer. She was a girl of angelic beauty, but Weber did not like her too much because of her timidity and uncertainty.
“She’s a pretty girl, but still quite thin,” the composer shrugged.

7. subtleties of criticism

From time to time, enthusiastic praise of the greatest of the greatest maestros of all times, Weber, appeared in Parisian newspapers. Moreover, laudatory articles unknown author were written with knowledge of all the subtleties of the composer’s music. And it is not surprising, since these praises of Weber were sung... by Weber himself.

8. maestro and his children

Weber was so in love with himself that, with the consent of his wife, three of his four children were named after their father-composer: Carl Maria, Maria Carolina and Caroline Maria.

One of the first romantic composers, creator of the German romantic style. opera, organizer of the national musical theater. Musical ability Weber inherited his father, an opera conductor and entrepreneur, who played many instruments. ((Source: Musical Encyclopedia. Moscow. 1873 (editor-in-chief Yu. V. Keldysh).) His childhood and youth were spent wandering around the cities of Germany. It cannot be said that he went through a systematic and strict music school in his youth.

Almost the first piano teacher with whom Weber studied for a more or less long time was Johann Peter Heuschkel, then, according to theory, Michael Haydn, and he also took lessons from G. Vogler.

Max Weber, his son, wrote a biography of his famous father.

Essays

"Hinterlassene Schriften", ed. Hellem (Dresden, 1828);
"Karl Maria von Weber Ein Lebensbild", Max Maria von W. (1864);
Kohut's "Webergedenkbuch" (1887);
"Reisebriefe von Karl Maria von Weber an seine Gattin" (Leipzig, 1886);
"Chronol. thematischer Katalog der Werke von Karl Maria von Weber" (Berlin, 1871).

Among Weber's works, in addition to the above mentioned, we point out the concertos for piano and orchestra, op. 11, op. 32; "Concert-stück", op. 79; string quartet, string trio, six sonatas for piano and violin, op. 10; large concert duet for clarinet and piano, op. 48; sonatas op. 24, 49, 70; polonaises, rondos, variations for piano, 2 concertos for clarinet and orchestra, Variations for clarinet and piano, Concertino for clarinet and orchestra; andante and rondo for bassoon and orchestra, concerto for bassoon, “Aufforderung zum Tanz” (“Invitation à la danse”), etc.

Piano works

Variations of "Schion Minka" (German) Schöne Minka), op. 40 J. 179 (1815) on the topic of Ukrainian folk song"Having the Cossacks for the Danube"

Operas

"Forest Girl" (German) Das Waldmädchen), 1800 - some fragments have survived
"Peter Schmoll and his neighbors" (German) Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn ), 1802
"Rübezahl" (German) Rubezahl), 1805 - some fragments have survived
"Silvana" (German) Silvana), 1810
"Abu Hasan" (German) Abu Hassan), 1811
"Free shooter" (German) Der Freischütz), 1821
"Three Pintos" (German) Die drei Pintos) - not finished; completed by Gustav Mahler in 1888.
"Euryanthe" (German) Euryanthe), 1823
"Oberon" (German) Oberon), 1826

In astronomy

In honor of main character Karl Weber's opera "Euryanthe" is named after the asteroid (527) Euryanthe, discovered in 1904.
The asteroid (528) Recia, discovered in 1904, is named after the heroine of Carl Weber's opera Oberon.
The asteroid (529) Preciosa, discovered in 1904, is named after the heroine of Carl Weber's opera Preciosa.
Asteroids (865) Zubaida are named after the heroines of Carl Weber's opera Abu Hasan (English)Russian and (866) Fatme (English)Russian, opened in 1917.

Bibliography

Ferman V. Opera theatre. - M., 1961.
Khokhlovkina A. Western European opera. - M., 1962.
Koenigsberg A. Karl-Maria Weber. - M.; L., 1965.
Byalik M. G. Weber's operatic work in Russia // F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and the traditions of musical professionalism: Collection of scientific works / Comp. G. I. Ganzburg. - Kharkov, 1995. - pp. 90 - 103.
Laux K. S. M. von Weber. - Leipzig, 1966.
Moser H.J. S. M. von Weber: Leben und Werk. - 2. Aufl. - Leipzig, 1955.

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Excerpt characterizing Weber, Carl Maria von

- Here. What lightning! - they were talking.

In the abandoned tavern, in front of which stood the doctor’s tent, there were already about five officers. Marya Genrikhovna, a plump, fair-haired German woman in a blouse and nightcap, was sitting in the front corner on a wide bench. Her husband, a doctor, was sleeping behind her. Rostov and Ilyin, greeted with cheerful exclamations and laughter, entered the room.
- AND! “What fun you are having,” Rostov said, laughing.
- Why are you yawning?
- Good! That's how it flows from them! Don't wet our living room.
“You can’t dirty Marya Genrikhovna’s dress,” the voices answered.
Rostov and Ilyin hurried to find a corner where they could change their wet dress without disturbing Marya Genrikhovna’s modesty. They went behind the partition to change clothes; but in a small closet, filling it completely, with one candle on an empty box, three officers were sitting, playing cards, and did not want to give up their place for anything. Marya Genrikhovna gave up her skirt for a while to use it instead of a curtain, and behind this curtain Rostov and Ilyin, with the help of Lavrushka, who brought packs, took off the wet dress and put on a dry dress.
A fire was lit in the broken stove. They took out a board and, having supported it on two saddles, covered it with a blanket, took out a samovar, a cellar and half a bottle of rum, and, asking Marya Genrikhovna to be the hostess, everyone crowded around her. Some offered her a clean handkerchief to wipe her lovely hands, some put a Hungarian coat under her feet so that it would not be damp, some curtained the window with a cloak so that it wouldn’t blow, some brushed the flies off her husband’s face so that he would not wake up.
“Leave him alone,” said Marya Genrikhovna, smiling timidly and happily, “he’s already sleeping well after a sleepless night.”
“You can’t, Marya Genrikhovna,” the officer answered, “you have to serve the doctor.” That’s it, maybe he’ll feel sorry for me when he starts cutting my leg or arm.
There were only three glasses; the water was so dirty that it was impossible to decide whether the tea was strong or weak, and there was only enough water in the samovar for six glasses, but it was all the more pleasant, in turn and by seniority, to receive your glass from Marya Genrikhovna’s plump hands with short, not entirely clean, nails . All the officers seemed to really be in love with Marya Genrikhovna that evening. Even those officers who were playing cards behind the partition soon gave up the game and went to the samovar, obeying general mood courtship of Marya Genrikhovna. Marya Genrikhovna, seeing herself surrounded by such brilliant and courteous youth, beamed with happiness, no matter how hard she tried to hide it and no matter how obviously shy she was at every sleepy movement of her husband, who was sleeping behind her.
There was only one spoon, there was most of the sugar, but there was no time to stir it, and therefore it was decided that she would stir the sugar for everyone in turn. Rostov, having received his glass and poured rum into it, asked Marya Genrikhovna to stir it.
- But you don’t have sugar? - she said, all smiling, as if everything that she said, and everything that others said, was very funny and had another meaning.
- Yes, I don’t need sugar, I just want you to stir it with your pen.
Marya Genrikhovna agreed and began to look for a spoon, which someone had already grabbed.
“You finger, Marya Genrikhovna,” said Rostov, “it will be even more pleasant.”
- It's hot! - said Marya Genrikhovna, blushing with pleasure.
Ilyin took a bucket of water and, dripping some rum into it, came to Marya Genrikhovna, asking him to stir it with his finger.
“This is my cup,” he said. - Just put your finger in, I’ll drink it all.
When the samovar was all drunk, Rostov took the cards and offered to play kings with Marya Genrikhovna. They cast lots to decide who would be Marya Genrikhovna's party. The rules of the game, according to Rostov’s proposal, were that the one who would be king would have the right to kiss Marya Genrikhovna’s hand, and that the one who would remain a scoundrel would go and put a new samovar for the doctor when he woke up.
- Well, what if Marya Genrikhovna becomes king? – Ilyin asked.
- She’s already a queen! And her orders are law.
The game had just begun when the doctor’s confused head suddenly rose from behind Marya Genrikhovna. He had not slept for a long time and listened to what was said, and, apparently, did not find anything cheerful, funny or amusing in everything that was said and done. His face was sad and despondent. He did not greet the officers, scratched himself and asked permission to leave, as his way was blocked. As soon as he came out, all the officers burst into loud laughter, and Marya Genrikhovna blushed to tears and thereby became even more attractive in the eyes of all the officers. Returning from the yard, the doctor told his wife (who had stopped smiling so happily and was looking at him, fearfully awaiting the verdict) that the rain had passed and that she had to go spend the night in the tent, otherwise everything would be stolen.
- Yes, I’ll send a messenger... two! - said Rostov. - Come on, doctor.
– I’ll watch the clock myself! - said Ilyin.
“No, gentlemen, you slept well, but I didn’t sleep for two nights,” said the doctor and gloomily sat down next to his wife, waiting for the end of the game.
Looking at the gloomy face of the doctor, looking askance at his wife, the officers became even more cheerful, and many could not help laughing, for which they hastily tried to find plausible excuses. When the doctor left, taking his wife away, and settled into the tent with her, the officers lay down in the tavern, covered with wet overcoats; but they didn’t sleep for a long time, either talking, remembering the doctor’s fright and the doctor’s amusement, or running out onto the porch and reporting what was happening in the tent. Several times Rostov, turning over his head, wanted to fall asleep; but again someone’s remark entertained him, a conversation began again, and again causeless, cheerful, childish laughter was heard.

At three o'clock no one had yet fallen asleep when the sergeant appeared with the order to march to the town of Ostrovne.
With the same chatter and laughter, the officers hastily began to get ready; put the samovar on again dirty water. But Rostov, without waiting for tea, went to the squadron. It was already dawn; the rain stopped, the clouds dispersed. It was damp and cold, especially in a wet dress. Coming out of the tavern, Rostov and Ilyin, both in the twilight of dawn, looked into the doctor’s leather tent, shiny from the rain, from under the apron of which the doctor’s legs stuck out and in the middle of which the doctor’s cap was visible on the pillow and sleepy breathing could be heard.
- Really, she’s very nice! - Rostov said to Ilyin, who was leaving with him.
- What a beauty this woman is! – Ilyin answered with sixteen-year-old seriousness.
Half an hour later the lined up squadron stood on the road. The command was heard: “Sit down! – the soldiers crossed themselves and began to sit down. Rostov, riding forward, commanded: “March! - and, stretching out into four people, the hussars, sounding the slap of hooves on the wet road, the clanking of sabers and quiet talking, set off along the large road lined with birches, following the infantry and battery walking ahead.
Torn blue-purple clouds, turning red at sunrise, were quickly driven by the wind. It became lighter and lighter. The curly grass that always grows along country roads, still wet from yesterday’s rain, was clearly visible; The hanging branches of the birches, also wet, swayed in the wind and dropped light drops to their sides. The faces of the soldiers became clearer and clearer. Rostov rode with Ilyin, who did not lag behind him, on the side of the road, between double row birch
During the campaign, Rostov took the liberty of riding not on a front-line horse, but on a Cossack horse. Both an expert and a hunter, he recently got himself a dashing Don, a large and kind game horse, on which no one had jumped him. Riding this horse was a pleasure for Rostov. He thought about the horse, about the morning, about the doctor, and never thought about the upcoming danger.
Before, Rostov, going into business, was afraid; Now he did not feel the slightest sense of fear. It was not because he was not afraid that he was accustomed to fire (you cannot get used to danger), but because he had learned to control his soul in the face of danger. He was accustomed, when going into business, to think about everything, except for what seemed to be more interesting than anything else - about the upcoming danger. No matter how hard he tried or reproached himself for cowardice during the first period of his service, he could not achieve this; but over the years it has now become natural. He now rode next to Ilyin between the birches, occasionally tearing leaves from branches that came to hand, sometimes touching the horse’s groin with his foot, sometimes, without turning around, giving his finished pipe to the hussar riding behind, with such a calm and carefree look, as if he was riding ride. He felt sorry to look at Ilyin’s agitated face, who spoke a lot and restlessly; he knew from experience the painful state of waiting for fear and death in which the cornet was, and knew that nothing except time would help him.
The sun had just appeared on a clear streak from under the clouds when the wind died down, as if it did not dare spoil this lovely summer morning after the thunderstorm; the drops were still falling, but vertically, and everything became quiet. The sun came out completely, appeared on the horizon and disappeared into a narrow and long cloud standing above it. A few minutes later the sun appeared even brighter on the upper edge of the cloud, breaking its edges. Everything lit up and sparkled. And along with this light, as if answering it, gun shots were heard ahead.