Nikolai Semenovich (01/9/1891, Moscow - 08/28/1953, Nikolina Gora village, Moscow region), Russian. conductor, regent, composer and pianist-accompanist. G.'s parents come from peasant backgrounds. In 1900-1909 G. studied at the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing (among the teachers were A. D. Kastalsky, V. S. Orlov, N. M. Danilin, V. S. Kalinnikov, P. G. Chesnokov). In 1909-1914 student of the Moscow Conservatory in the class of composition (S. N. Vasilenko) and special theory (A. A. Ilyinsky). In 1909-1911 choir director at the Church of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy. In 1910-1918 assistant director of the Synodal Choir and teacher of the Synodal School (student orchestra and choir classes, statutory singing and other subjects); successfully performed with the choir in spiritual concerts in Moscow, Warsaw and Berlin (the choir director Danilin intended to transfer the leadership of the choir to G. in 1917). In 1917-1943 permanent accompanist of singer A.V. Nezhdanova (who became his wife). In 1919-1936. (with a forced break in 1928-1930) was a conductor, and in 1948-1953 - chief conductor Bolshoi Theater. In 1919-1925 and 1937-1948. music head of the opera studio organized by K. S. Stanislavsky. In 1937-1953 chief conductor and artistic director of the Great Symphony Orchestra of the All-Union Radio Committee. In the first years of the Great Patriotic War G. created a symphony orchestra from the musicians who remained in Moscow. At the same time, I edited and performed songs that were not heard in Soviet time the overture “1812” and the cantata “Moscow” by P. I. Tchaikovsky and other works of patriotic themes, and also for the first time in the USSR performed the Third Symphony and “Symphonic Dances” by S. V. Rachmaninov. G. - 1st performer of a number of significant works by Soviet composers N. Ya. Myaskovsky, S. S. Prokofiev, A. I. Khachaturyan and others.
Despite the fact that G. held significant positions in Soviet times, he not only remained faithful to Orthodoxy (including during the years of persecution of the Church), but also confirmed it to many others. affairs: the archbishop helped financially. Trifon (Turkestan), who was familiar with the Crimea since childhood, took part in the fate of Danilin, Chesnokov, and preserved part of the Synodal choir. books, some archival rarities (for example, the autograph of “Liturgy” by A. A. Alyabyev), approx. 200 icons and church items.
Sacred music, in terms of volume and significance, is an important part of G.’s work. He is the author of 64 spiritual compositions (from 1907 to 1952), making up 8 opuses, of which 33 chants and 8 adaptations of early compositions date back to Soviet times.
Of all the 46 opuses he created, most were vocal: 2 one-act operas, romances, song arrangements different nations and other works.
G. wrote all of his sacred works for an a cappella choir (op. 1 for a male choir, all the rest for a mixed, mostly large choir). G. did not create complete liturgical cycles, but composed individual hymns for the liturgy and all-night vigil in the 10s. Or. 36 includes mainly hymns for the Nativity of Christ, op. 37 - Great Lent and Holy Week, op. 38 has the author’s title “From Youth Notebooks” and consists of works from the 1900s. in a later edition. Or. 39, written mainly during the Great Patriotic War, contains hymns addressed to the Mother of God (the first 6 numbers are called the suite “Joy of All Who Sorrow”), to St. Nicholas, to St. Seraphim of Sarov; The last numbers of the opus were written in connection with specific events - the anniversary of Nezhdanova (Great Many Years), the death of V. A. Semyonov ("Peace, Our Savior") or in honor of people especially revered by him - Rachmaninoff ("Quiet Light"), Met. Tryphon (Prayer to St. Martyr Tryphon).
G. developed that trend of sacred music of the New Direction, which led to a significant expansion of the muses. techniques (Rachmaninov, A. T. Grechaninov, Chesnokov, etc.). His chants contain extreme levels of dynamics, a wide pitch range, multi-level polyphony (but, as a rule, without written polyphonic forms), a special complexity of texture (characterized by the frequent division of voices into 2, 3 parts) and harmony (sept and non-chords), expanded tonality. Modern G.’s techniques were combined with techniques coming from ancient layers of Russian. music - church and folk. G.'s compositions are characterized by a bright range of feelings, conveying reverent admiration for the beauty of the world and the music itself, listening to the sound of harmonies.
G.'s works, as a rule, are intended for large and highly professional groups. The author was guided by the sound of the Moscow Synodal Choir, which is why the dedication of many is connected. hymns to the luminaries of the Synodal School and choir - Smolensky, Kastalsky, Orlov, Danilin, Chesnokov. G.'s spiritual works are mainly performed in concerts; they were used in church life until the present day. essay time for husband choir from op. 1 and “Trisagion” (in the 2nd author’s edition - op. 36, no. 1). In the 10s - early. 20s G.'s chants were heard in concerts of the Synodal Choir and the Bolshoi Theater Choir under the direction of. G., I. I. Yukhov’s choir and Chesnokov’s chapel. After a long break since the 80s. G.'s works were performed by the choir of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate under the direction of. hierome Ambrose (Nosov), choir of the Patriarchal Metochion under the direction of. S. V. Krivobokova, Moscow Academic Region. state choir under direction A. D. Kozhevnikov and A. M. Rudnevsky, choir of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra monastery under the direction of. V. A. Gorbika and others.
G.'s secular works also reveal connections with Orthodoxy. culture, as can be seen in Ch. arr. in poetic texts and their religions. images Particularly notable are the cycle of romances based on the poems of F. I. Tyutchev (op. 40) and the cycle of a cappella choirs “The Censer of the Golden-jet Censers” (op. 8) based on the poems of other Russian. poets (“A girl sang in the church choir” by A. A. Blok, “On Trinity Day” by Vyach. I. Ivanov, “Assuage my sorrows” by A. B. Kusikov, “I am a poor wanderer” by S. A. Yesenin, etc. ).
There is no doubt the influence of the Orthodox Church. culture and the main area of G.'s creativity - conducting. The nature of G.'s performance was distinguished by its scale, conceptuality, priority of the melodic beginning, and vocal interpretation. G.'s contemporaries noted in his conducting style features characteristic of the sound of the Synodal Choir, general vocal expression and such specific technical details as the addition of deep bass notes, similar to the singing of the choir's octavist basses. ABOUT . AND . N. S. Golovanov: foundations of creativity and life: [Introduction. Art.] // Spiritual works. for mixed choir a cappella. M., 2004. P. 8-14; Gulyanitskaya N. WITH . N. S. Golovanov: spiritual composer: [Intro. Art.] // Ibid. pp. 3-7.
O. I. Zakharova
GOLOVANOV NIKOLAY SEMYONOVICH - Russian conductor, regent, composer and pianist-accompanist.
Golovanov's parents come from peasant backgrounds. In 1900-1909, Golovanov studied at the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing (teachers included A.D. Kastalsky, V.S. Orlov, N.M. Danilin, V.S. Kalinnikov, P.G. Chesnokov). In 1909-1914, a student at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of composition (S.N. Vasilenko) and special theory (A.A. Ilyinsky). In 1909-1911, choir director at the Church of the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy. In 1910-1918, assistant regent of the Synodal Choir and teacher of the Synodal School (student orchestra and choir classes, statutory singing and other subjects); successfully performed with the choir in spiritual concerts in Moscow, Warsaw and Berlin (the choir director Danilin intended to transfer the leadership of the choir to Golovanov in 1917). In 1917-1943, the permanent accompanist of singer A.V. Nezhdanova (who became his wife). In 1919-1936 (with a forced break in 1928-1930) he was a conductor, and in 1948-1953 - chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theater. In 1919-1925 and 1937-1948, he was the musical director of the opera studio organized by K.S. Stanislavsky. In 1937-1953, chief conductor and artistic director of the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of the All-Union Radio Committee. In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, Golovanov created a symphony orchestra from the musicians who remained in Moscow. At the same time, he edited and performed the overture “1812” and the cantata “Moscow” by P.I., which were not heard in Soviet times. Tchaikovsky and other works of patriotic themes, and also for the first time in the USSR performed the Third Symphony and “Symphonic Dances” by S.V. Rachmaninov. Golovanov is the first performer of a number of significant works by Soviet composers N.Ya. Myaskovsky, S.S. Prokofieva, A.I. Khachaturyan and others.
Despite the fact that Golovanov held significant positions in Soviet times, he not only remained faithful to Orthodoxy (including during the years of persecution of the Church), but also confirmed it with many deeds: he helped financially Archbishop Tryphon (Turkestanov), with whom he was familiar since childhood, he took part in the fate of Danilin, Chesnokov, preserved part of the Synodal singing library, some archival rarities (for example, the autograph of “Liturgy” by A.A. Alyabiev), about 200 icons and church items.
Sacred music, in terms of volume and significance, is an important part of Golovanov’s work. He is the author of 64 spiritual works (from 1907 to 1952), constituting 8 opuses, of which 33 chants and 8 adaptations of early works date back to Soviet times.
Of all the 46 opuses he created, most were vocal: 2 one-act operas, romances, arrangements of songs of different peoples and other compositions.
Golovanov wrote all his sacred works for an a cappella choir (op. 1 for a male choir, all the rest for a mixed, mostly large choir). Golovanov did not create complete liturgical cycles, but composed individual hymns for the liturgy and all-night vigil in the 10s. Or. 36 includes mainly hymns for the Nativity of Christ, op. 37 - Great Lent and Holy Week, op. 38 has the author’s title “From Youth Notebooks” and consists of works from the 1900s in a later edition. Or. 39, written mainly during the Great Patriotic War, contains chants addressed to the Mother of God (the first 6 numbers are called by Golovanov the suite “Joy of All Who Sorrow”), to St. Nicholas, to St. Seraphim Sarovsky; The last issues of the opus were written in connection with specific events - Nezhdanova’s anniversary (Great Many Years), the death of V.A. Semenov (“Peace, Our Savior”) or in honor of people especially revered by him - Rachmaninov (“Quiet Light”), Metropolitan Tryphon (Prayer to the Holy Martyr Tryphon).
Golovanov developed that trend of sacred music of the New Direction, which led to a significant expansion of musical techniques (Rachmaninov, A.T. Grechaninov, Chesnokov, etc.). His chants contain extreme levels of dynamics, a wide range of pitches, multi-level polyphony (but, as a rule, without Western polyphonic forms), a special complexity of texture (characterized by the frequent division of voices into 2, 3 parts) and harmony (sept and non-chords), extended key. Golovanov combined modern techniques with techniques coming from ancient layers of Russian music - church and folk. Golovanov’s compositions are characterized by a bright range of feelings, conveying reverent admiration for the beauty of the world and the music itself, listening to the sound of harmonies.
Golovanov’s works, as a rule, are intended for large and highly professional groups. The author was guided by the sound of the Moscow Synodal Choir, which is why many of the chants were dedicated to the luminaries of the Synodal School and Choir - Smolensky, Kastalsky, Orlov, Danilin, Chesnokov. Golovanov’s spiritual works are mainly performed in concerts; works for male choir from op. 1 and “Trisagion” (in the 2nd author’s edition - op. 36, no. 1). In the 10s - early 20s, Golovanov’s chants were heard in concerts of the Synodal Choir and the Bolshoi Theater Choir under the direction of Golovanov, the choir of I.I. Yukhov and Chesnokov chapels. After a long break since the 80s, Golovanov’s works were performed by the choir of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate under the direction of Hieromonk Ambrose (Nosov), the choir of the Patriarchal Metochion under the direction of S.V. Krivobokova, Moscow Regional Academic state choir under the direction of A.D. Kozhevnikov and A.M. Rudnevsky, choir of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra metochion under the direction of V.A. Gorbika and others.
Golovanov’s secular works also reveal connections with Orthodox culture, as can be seen in Chap. equal cut in poetic texts, their religious images. Particularly noteworthy is the cycle of romances based on poems by F.I. Tyutchev (op. 40) and the cycle of a cappella choirs “The Censer of the Golden-Jeted Ceremonies” (op. 8) based on poems by other Russian poets (“A girl sang in the church choir” by A.A. Blok, “On Trinity Day” by Vyach. I. Ivanov , “Quench my sorrows” by A.B. Kusikov, “I am a poor wanderer” by S.A. Yesenin, etc.).
There is no doubt that Orthodox culture has influenced the main area of Golovanov’s creativity - conducting. The nature of Golovanov’s performance was distinguished by its scale, conceptuality, priority of the melodic beginning, and vocal interpretation. Golovanov's contemporaries noted in his conducting style features characteristic of the sound of the Synodal Choir, general vocal expression and such specific technical details as the addition of deep bass notes, similar to the singing of the choir's octavist basses.
NIKOLAY GOLOVANOV born in Moscow on January 9 (21), 1891. His father, Semyon Yakovlevich (1859 - 1914), originally from the peasants of the Syzran district of the Simbirsk province, worked as a tailor at home. In the last years of his life, he was seriously ill, and the worries of supporting the family fell on the shoulders of his mother, Elizaveta Timofeevna (1864 - 1947). In 1900, Nikolai’s parents enrolled him in the Synodal School of Church Singing. Here Golovanov was lucky enough to find S.V. Smolensky - an outstanding medievalist and teacher. Among his mentors were such luminaries of sacred music as V.S. Kalinnikov, A.D. Kastalsky, P.G. Chesnokov. In the development of Golovanov as a conductor, the role of the regents of the famous Synodal Choir - V.S. Orlova and N.M. Danilina. It is remarkable that in all his subsequent performing activities Golovanov was largely guided by the foundations that were laid in the school.
“The Synodal School gave me everything: moral principles, principles of life, iron discipline, the ability to work hard and systematically, instilled in me a sacred love of work.”(N. Golovanov “The Experience of Autobiography”).
After graduating from the school, Golovanov was included in its staff as an assistant choir director and teacher. At the same time Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna invited the eighteen-year-old musician to the position of choir director of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy.
The musician combined intensive work in the choir and school with studies at the Moscow Conservatory (1909 – 1914) in music theory and composition classes. His teachers were A.A. Ilyinsky and S.N. Vasilenko. Subsequently, he recalled them with gratitude, just like S.I. Taneyev, to whom he showed his works, and M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, whose lessons I attended “on my own initiative.” Thesis work Golovanov’s opera “Princess Jurata”, evaluated by S.N. Vasilenko as “a thing of exceptional beauty and strength.” The Artistic Council of the Conservatory awarded Golovanov a gold medal with his name inscribed on a marble plaque in the foyer of the Small Hall of the Conservatory and a cash prize of 1,000 rubles. It was also decided to perform the opera in concert. Subsequently (from 1925 to 1948 with interruptions) he was a professor of orchestral and opera classes at the Moscow Conservatory.
In 1915, Golovanov began collaborating with the Bolshoi Theater during the summer concerts of the orchestra and theater soloists in Sokolniki Park. The young musician was invited to participate in these concerts as a conductor. From the 1915/16 season Golovanov was already on the theater staff, first as an assistant choirmaster, and from October 1919 as an opera conductor. His debut was “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov. Conducting gradually replaced composer plans. Having entered the Bolshoi Theater for a while in order to practically get acquainted with the specifics of the opera genre, he remained there, in fact, forever, although there were three breaks in his work (in 1928–1930, 1936–1948, from May 1953).
In the second half of the 1920s, a campaign of political persecution, the so-called “Golovanovism,” was launched against Nikolai Golovanov. According to the conductor’s opponents, Golovanov sought to “transfer old, bourgeois morals and methods of work into the Soviet theater,” was too “conservative,” refused to promote young artists, and supported “unfairly high” fees for leading musicians. The campaign received a great response in the media mass media and even attracted the attention of I.V. Stalin. Articles in the press were “accusatory” in nature:
“We need to open the windows and doors of the Bolshoi Theater, otherwise we will suffocate in the atmosphere of Golovanovism. The theater must become ours, the workers' theater, not in words, but in deeds. Without our control over production there will be no Soviet theater. We are accused of waging a campaign against one person. But we know that if you need to destroy something, you should hit where it is most sensitive. Cut off the head, and only then will the disgusting phenomenon be swept away from the face of the earth. The leader, the ideological leader of intrigue and sycophancy is one person - Golovanov.”(“Komsomolskaya Pravda” No. 127 (912), June 2, 1928).
The measures taken were successful: in 1928 Golovanov was fired. In 1930 he was reinstated, in 1936 he was dismissed again, and in 1948 he was reinstated. Not the least role in the forced “resignations” was played by the conductor’s uncompromising exactingness, harshness of statements, and hot, explosive temperament.
“The worst thing about a conductor is indifference and coldness. An artist must always be a passionate prophet of his faith and a fully convinced artist.”(N. Golovanov. “Conductor’s Notes”).
The first years of work at the Bolshoi Theater were also the beginning of a long-term union - family and creative - of Nikolai Golovanov and the outstanding singer Antonina Nezhdanova. Golovanov was the artist’s pianist-accompanist for more than thirty years.
The collaboration with the main artist of the theater F.F. was of great importance for Golovanov. Fedorovsky. The sweeping style and inexhaustible imagination of this master corresponded to the aspirations of Golovanov himself - his work at the Bolshoi Theater was associated almost exclusively with Russian classical operas. The climax of it creative path– the last three productions of 1948 – 1950: “Boris Godunov”, “Sadko” and “Khovanshchina”.
The ideas of Stanislavsky and personal communication with Konstantin Sergeevich had a huge influence on Golovanov’s activities. In turn, the great director, back in 1919, saw a like-minded person in the young musician. Stanislavsky invited Golovanov to head musical part his Opera Studio. The conductor agreed and worked both in the studio and in the one created on its basis Musical theater in 1919 - 1925 and 1937 - 1948.
A special page in Golovanov’s life is connected with the Great Symphony Orchestra of the All-Union Radio Committee. Nikolai Semenovich was one of the first conductors to perform with this ensemble, and from 1937 until the end of his life he headed this orchestra. During the Great Patriotic War, when the orchestra was evacuated to the rear, from the musicians remaining in Moscow, the conductor created new team, and already on November 5, 1941, live radio broadcasts resumed. The repertoire included not only popular works, but also premieres that had not been performed for many years. At the beginning of 1942, Golovanov revived in his edition Tchaikovsky’s “1812” overture, which had not been performed in Soviet times due to the quotation of the anthem “God Save the Tsar” in the finale. Golovanov replaced it with the melody of the choir “Glory!” Glinka from the opera “Ivan Susanin”. Numerous performances of the orchestra under the direction of Golovanov during the war played a huge role in strengthening the spirit of the people and their faith in victory. It is no coincidence that among the conductor’s many awards there are medals “For the Defense of Moscow” and “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.”
Nikolai Golovanov died in Moscow on August 28, 1953. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. People's Artist of the USSR, N. Golovanov was awarded many honorary awards, including four Stalin Prizes of the first degree.
Russian Soviet conductor, pianist and composer.
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1943).
People's Artist of the USSR (1948).
Born on January 9 (21), 1891 in Moscow, in a poor middle-class family.
In 1900-1909 he studied at the Moscow Synodal School, where his mentors were famous choral conductors V.S. Orlov and A.D. Kastalsky. In 1914 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory in composition class with Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov and Sergei Vasilenko.
In 1915 he became an orchestra conductor and assistant choirmaster of the Bolshoi Theater, from 1919 to 1928 he was chief conductor, and in 1926-1929 he also headed the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1937, he was appointed artistic director and chief conductor of the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and Opera Radio Theater of the All-Union Radio Committee.
In 1948-1953 he again headed the Bolshoi Theater.
In 1925-1929 and 1943-1944 he taught at the Moscow Conservatory.
prizes and awards
Stalin Prize (1946)
Stalin Prize, first degree (1949, for opera performance"Boris Godunov" M.P. Mussorgsky)
Stalin Prize, first degree (1950, for the opera performance “Sadko” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Stalin Prize (1951)
The order of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner of Labor
Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"
In the spring and summer of 2010, two remarkable events took place in Moscow: in April, as part of the Easter festival, a choir concert, consisting exclusively of sacred works by Nikolai Golovanov, and at the end of June at the Museum of Musical Culture named after M.I. Glinka opened the exhibition “Images of Russia”, the visual range of which consisted mainly of paintings from the collection of this composer. If we add that in recent years in concert halls his symphonic and chamber music, that discs with his opera and symphonic recordings are now released under a wide variety of “labels,” it seems that we can talk about the “resurrection of Golovanov” - as a conductor, as a composer, as a person. On such a scale, such phenomena rarely occur - apparently, there is something in the figure of Nikolai Semenovich Golovanov, who passed away more than half a century ago, necessary for people Today.
His biography is outwardly simple and seems to be an example of a boy’s successful path from the “bottom” to the heights of glory. Born in 1891 into a family from the peasant class, at the age of nine he was accepted into the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing. Thanks to his wonderful boyish treble and remarkable musicality, Kolya Golovanov immediately became one of the trio of “performers” soloists (boys who perform chants in Greek during bishop services). And thanks to the exceptional performance and strong character immediately moved to the forefront of students and in the last years of school, at the age of 17-18, he was already the choir director of the Martha and Mary Convent, and in 1910, that is, at the age of 19, he became a teacher at the Synodal School and assistant director of the Synodal Choir for services in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1911, at the anniversary (dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the reformed Synodal School) concert of the Synodal Choir, two of Golovanov’s chants were performed - the exapostilaria “Flesh Asleep” and “Apostles from the End of the World”. In 1913, Golovanov replaced the famous regent N.M. Danilina at the concerts of the Synodal Choir in Berlin; in 1918, Jurgenson's music publishing house published four opuses of Golovanov's spiritual and musical works for male and mixed choirs (23 numbers in total).
The musician’s “secular” career developed no less rapidly: in 1914 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory as a composer, and in 1915 he began working at the Bolshoi Theater as a conductor; performed a lot as a pianist-accompanist with his wife - famous singer Antonina Nezhdanova (by the way, Antonina Vasilievna was the only woman who sometimes took part in spiritual concerts of the Synodal Choir; in particular, a solo was written for her in Pavel Chesnokov’s song “Angel Crying”, which is so often performed today). Subsequently, after 1917, Golovanov, along with work at the Bolshoi Theater and the Moscow Conservatory, was musical director Opera studio K.S. Stanislavsky, one of the founders and leader Symphony Orchestra All-Union Radio Committee and Opera Radio Theater. He was a People's Artist of the USSR, a laureate of several state (then Stalin) prizes.
However, not everything worked out in the biography talented musician as smooth as it looks in encyclopedia articles. Already in his early youth, Nikolai turned out to be so obstinate and independent that, although he was the best student of the Synodal School of his graduating class, he was still not included in the honorary “Golden Plaque”. As they would say now, because of an unsatisfactory assessment for behavior (which did not prevent him, as we saw, from becoming the regent of the Synodal Choir immediately after graduating from college). From the Bolshoi Theater, already at Soviet power, Golovanov was fired three times: at the end of the 20s, at the end of the 30s and in 1953. I recently came across a text on the Internet entitled “Golovanov is Stalin’s favorite conductor.” This is not true; Nikolai Semenovich was not the favorite conductor of the leader, who closely monitored the situation in the “court” theater. Both the authorities and colleagues wrote complaints about Golovanov: he was uncompromising in his attitude to the case and often “did not look at faces.” Nikolai Semenovich died after being dismissed from the Bolshoi.
A staunch patriot and by no means a dissident, Golovanov did not advertise, but did not hide his views, including religious ones. He helped the Moscow clergy financially, collected iconography and religious paintings (including from closed and destroyed churches); in his house, the poet Nikolai Klyuev read the “forbidden” poem “Pogorelshchina” (for which he soon paid with a lifelong exile to distant lands, where the wonderful Russian singer and friend of Golovanov, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Nadezhda Obukhova sent him material assistance from Moscow artists). When, after the notorious Decree of 1948 (“On V.I. Muradeli’s opera “The Great Friendship””), the great Sergei Prokofiev found himself in a very difficult situation - his music was no longer performed, government orders stopped - Golovanov organized an orchestral performance of fragments of the new film at the Bolshoi Theater Prokofiev’s ballet “The Stone Flower” and invited Sergei Sergeevich there; After the performance, the conductor and orchestra gave Prokofiev a grand ovation. By the way, Golovanov, who loved and performed Prokofiev’s music from his youth, has a remarkable biographical coincidence with the composer: they were born in the same year - in 1891 - and also died in the same year - in 1953. Prokofiev in March, Golovanov in August, on the Assumption. (And now, every year, on this holiday, the inhabitants of the Moscow Metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra serve a memorial service at the grave of Nikolai Semenovich at the Novodevichy Cemetery.)
It has always been believed that the most important thing in Golovanov’s legacy is his numerous recordings of Russian classics, opera and symphony, and in our time he is often called “the great Russian conductor.” Indeed, there is a repertoire in which Golovanov hardly has any equal to this day: for example, the operas of Rimsky-Korsakov, the symphonic works of Scriabin. But relatively recently, a German company released a disc with Golovanov’s recordings of symphonic fragments from Wagner’s operas. Starting to listen to it with trepidation (after all, so many years have passed, tastes have changed so much!), the author of these lines quickly became convinced that time was powerless here too. Yes, Golovanov is a great conductor. At the same time, in recent years, other aspects of the musician’s activity, his appearance as a whole, have begun to attract more and more attention.
A decade and a half after Golovanov’s death, a memorial museum. The atmosphere of this apartment remained completely unique - not too large, but still spacious, down to the smallest detail (door handles, moldings on the ceiling and walls) decorated by Golovanov himself and filled to the brim with paintings, sculpture, books, and sheet music. Musicians-conductors came here and the last “synodals” who lived in Moscow began to gather here on certain days, that is, employees of the Synodal School and singers of the Synodal Choir: they all sacredly honored the memory of their teachers and comrades. Golovanov himself collected everything related to the Synodal School: photographs, lithographed notes of the Synodal Choir, programs of its performances, manuscripts. As a result, a rich archive was formed, from which unique values are already being brought to the light of God in our time. For example, it was in Golovanov’s house that the complete manuscript of the now published most interesting memoirs of the director of the Synodal School Stepan Vasilyevich Smolensky was kept (which got there through unknown means). When spiritual works by New Direction composers are published these days, researchers always look through the lithographs of the Synodal Choir, because they often capture various details that reflect the manner in which the famous choir performed these works. Golovanov’s collection also contains very valuable, often illustrated (“front”) church books.
But Nikolai Semenovich especially loved painting, mainly (though not necessarily) Russian artists: his collection includes Polenov, Nesterov, the Vasnetsov brothers, Levitan, Korovin, Yuon, Malyavin, Malyutin, Vereshchagin, and Aivazovsky , and Golovin, and Alexander Benois, and many others. A list of the authors of the works he collected would take up too much space, but even from a short list it is clear that Golovanov preferred the works of his contemporaries. Of course, conducting long years at the Bolshoi, he met with talented artists who collaborated with the theater. Nikolai Semenovich also knew M.V. Nesterov: the musician presided over the choir of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in the same years when the artist painted its temple. Golovanov bought works from V.M. Vasnetsov, a very successful portrait of the conductor was written by S.V. Malyutin.
Golovanov began collecting a collection in the mid-1910s, and by the end of the musician’s life, judging by the handwritten catalogs of Nikolai Semenovich himself, there were up to a thousand works. A significant part of the collection (approximately 120 items) was iconography - starting from the 15th century. It is known that in a Moscow apartment all the icons were concentrated in the bedroom, where only the closest people could see them (who called this bedroom the “prayer room”). Other church relics were also kept there (for example, the Royal Doors from the destroyed iconostasis), as well as items of church utensils.
Of course, the entire collection could not fit in the apartment, and much (including icons) was located at the dacha of Golovanov and Nezhdanova on Nikolina Gora near Moscow. After the death of the conductor, his sister lived in the apartment, who, out of necessity, sold a relatively small amount paintings to an antique store. Enormous damage to the collection was caused by the robbery of the dacha in the 1960s, when paintings (and, apparently, icons) disappeared from there. In 1969, when the museum was established, the most valuable part of the remaining collection was sent to the Tretyakov Gallery - 60 icons and 19 paintings, including magnificent large canvases by Levitan; then the so-called All-Union Art and Production Plant took another 107 paintings and “distributed” them to various art museums, colleges and schools. When in 2007 the publishing house White City"In the series "Treasures of Russian Art" decided to publish an album dedicated to the Golovanov collection, employees of the Glinka Museum (which includes the Golovanov Memorial Apartment as a branch) A.A. Naumov and O.I. Zakharov compiled a catalog of all currently known works from Golovanov’s collection. At the same time, it turned out that the current location of a number of works distributed by the plant and others is unknown, that some of them ended up in museums in Moldova and Ukraine, etc. Now the memorial apartment contains 236 works of painting, and there is also a very good sculpture.
Apartment in Bryusov Lane last decade was in a state of major renovation, and even before that the circle of its visitors was very limited, so it turned out that before the release of the album, even professionals knew little about Golovanov the collector and about his collection. The exhibition “Images of Russia” is essentially the first extensive display of the treasures of the apartment in Bryusov. (True, several years earlier the museum presented two restored most valuable paintings from Golovanov’s collection: “Taj Mahal Mausoleum” by V.V. Vereshchagin and “Venice” by V.D. Polenov.)
The current exhibition includes high examples of Russian religious art late XIX and the beginning of the twentieth century. First of all, “Angel of Sorrow” (a sketch for the mosaic above the crypt of the Church of Peter the Metropolitan in the Volyn province), “Saint Barbara” (a sketch for the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv), belonging to the brush of Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov, his own canvas, entitled with a line from a poem by A. WITH. Pushkin “Desert Fathers and Immaculate Wives.” In this picture, Nesterov, at the request of Golovanov, repeated the motives of his famous works: “Hermit” and “Great tonsure”.
The historical Russian theme is represented, for example, by an excellent painting by P.I. Petrovichev “Interior of the Church of the Savior on Senya in Rostov the Great”, as well as works “Ivan the Terrible in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda” and “Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich and the Falconer” by the famous master historical painting Klavdia Lebedeva, “Sagittarius on the Kremlin tower in moonlit night» N.S. Matveeva.
The undoubted coloristic dominant of the exhibition was Konstantin Yuon’s large festive canvas “In Sergiev Posad” (work of 1911, the author’s version of a painting on the same theme, located in Tretyakov Gallery). According to the painter himself, here the “decorative and eloquent colors of the forms of bygone centuries” are combined with “living life in living light.” There are landscape canvases on the walls around outstanding masters from the constellation of the Union of Russian Artists: S.V. Malyutina, S.Yu. Zhukovsky, K.A. Korovina, S.A. Vinogradova.
And also a magnificent portrait of the famous Russian ballerina Olga Spesivtseva by S.A. Sorina, lyrical narrative about Russia in sketches by A.S. Stepanova, I.I. Levitan, V.D. Polenov, the image of the unsurpassed creator of the lyrical musical landscape S.V. Rachmaninov (portrait by L.O. Pasternak), folk images in the paintings of A.E. Arkhipov (canvas “Youth” and sketch for the painting “In spring holiday"), L.V. Popova (sketch “On a pilgrimage”), V.D. Orlovsky (study “Approaching a Thunderstorm”) and V.V. Vereshchagina (“Trinity Day”)…
Thinking about a worthy “escort” for Golovanov’s collection within the walls of a music museum, the authors of the exhibition decided to accompany the painting with a special documentary series. Along with the paintings, ancient Russian and later singing books, the most valuable autographs of spiritual and musical works from the museum’s collection (for example, manuscripts “ All-night vigil» S.V. Rachmaninov and “Cherubim Song” by P.I. Tchaikovsky), rare photographs famous musicians and famous Russian choirs. The “secular” line of Russian art was represented by autographs and photographs of classical composers, artistically decorated concert programs late XIX - early XX centuries, luxurious editions of opera and symphonic works Russian classics. The decoration of the exhibition was the antique-style costume of the Synodal Choir, made in 1908 according to a drawing by V.M. Vasnetsova.
Everything taken together is truly “images of Russia”, a poem about Russia as Nikolai Semenovich Golovanov knew and loved it.
At the exhibition “Images of Russia”, Golovanov’s spiritual works were constantly played in recordings from a concert at the Easter festival in 2010, and these were not works of the composer’s youth, published in 1918, but those choirs that he wrote after 1918 - right up to recent years own life. He wrote, of course, “for himself,” “for the table,” and, starting from the mid-1920s, without any hope of being heard. “To the table” in this case can be understood literally, since it was in Golovanov’s table in an apartment in Bryusov that the autographs of four dozen choirs were discovered, combined into four opuses (36-39): Hymns of the Nativity of Christ and the Liturgy, Hymns of Great Lent, Passion week and Easter, “From Youth Notebooks,” the suite “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (6 numbers) and other chants of the late period.
Published in 2004 by the publishing house " Life-Giving Spring", these works waited in the wings for several more years. Although individual numbers were sometimes sung by different choirs, only an extensive monographic performance, which included chants from all later opuses, was able to give true concept about Golovanov as a modern spiritual composer. Most of his works are technically difficult: the composer’s inner ear was always guided by those powerful choirs with which he worked, that is, the Synodal Choir, the Bolshoi Theater Choir. This time, for the Golovanov concert, a large group was assembled under the direction of the famous choirmaster Alexei Puzakov (regent of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Church on Ordynka and St. Nicholas Church in Tolmachi at the Tretyakov Gallery). The choirmaster received the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch for the revival historical name Synodal Choir, and under this name the choir led by him performed in the historical hall of the Synodal School - now the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The right to such a name will have to be “earned” for a long time, but the complex program was sung very well.
What prompted Nikolai Semenovich to compose spiritual works?
As a very knowledgeable memoirist writes, in Moscow they always knew perfectly well that Golovanov and Nezhdanova were church people. Artists close to Golovanov also knew that the artists’ confessor was Archpriest Nikolai Pavlovich Bazhanov, the long-term rector of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word in Bryusov Lane. And they buried Golovanov in a church manner, albeit “secretly.”
“When the coffin with the body of Nikolai Semenovich was carried out of the doors of the Bolshoi Theater, Father Nikolai Bazhanov walked in front of the coffin, although “without vestments.” Few knew that under the priest’s gabardine cloak were hidden a caftan, braces, and an epitrachelion. Father Nikolai got into the car in the front seat next to the driver, and it moved ahead of the bus on which the coffin with Golovanov’s body was being transported. Thus, the funeral procession Novodevichy Cemetery headed, as expected, by an Orthodox priest. And when the coffin was lowered into the grave and they sounded parting words from the party organization of the Bolshoi Theater, the local committee and other public, Father Nikolai, of course, performed a funeral litany for the wonderful musician. We, believing artists (and there were many of them), silently echoed Father Nikolai...”
Judging by the dates on the autographs, new choirs often appeared on church holidays, and especially many chants were created in the first period of the Patriotic War: Golovanov and Nezhdanova refused to evacuate and remained in Moscow, resuming, as soon as possible, concert activities, primarily on the radio. Many works have remarkable dedications to the living and those who have already passed away - S.V. Smolensky, P.G. Chesnokov, A.D. Kastalsky, N.M. Danilin, the famous bass and church singer V.R. Petrov. Perhaps the most beautiful chant in Golovanov’s spiritual heritage - “Quiet Light” from opus 39 - was written twenty days before the death of S.V. Rachmaninov (1943) and then dedicated to his “ of blessed memory».
Of particular importance is the dedication to “Saint Tryphon” of Golovanov’s chronologically last spiritual work - a heartfelt prayer to the holy martyr Tryphon on a text from the akathist (1952). It's about about the famous (and then deceased) hierarch - Metropolitan Tryfon (Turkestanov), whom Golovanov knew from the days of his apprenticeship and whom he helped in the most difficult years. Among Golovanov’s albums, into which Nikolai Semenovich pasted documents that were important to him - letters, photographs, reviews, not so long ago there were photographs of Bishop Tryphon and his poems sent to Nikolai Semenovich in 1930. This was the period when the musician was forced to leave the Conservatory and the Bolshoi Theater, when his position on the radio and in the Philharmonic became precarious. Of course, Vladyka Tryphon, the beloved confessor of the Moscow artistic fraternity, knew all this, and his poems were intended to support the one whom he remembered as a boy “perpetrator” in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral:
...But here are three youths in shining clothes
They sang a song of love, and faith, and hope.
One was different from them in everything -
It seemed that he saw the Lord with a pure soul,
And it seemed like those prayers were flowing
To the throne of God, to heaven, to the heights...
And I was not mistaken about it. Years passed...
In work and labor, sometimes enduring adversity,
He grew with brilliant talent
And he delighted Europe with music.
Although heads bowed before his genius,
He did not become proud in spirit. In the blaze of noisy glory
He retained all the faith of his childhood years,
And, regardless of what the light says,
In every change of fleeting moments
He remembers everything the tunes of ancient chants
And the early youth of my friends,
Trying to lift the burden of their sorrows from them.
Long ago I united with him in prayer,
And now in the difficult battle of life
He, remembering the days of his distant native,
I haven’t forgotten the sick old man.
And with gratitude for your help and participation
I pray to the Lord that He will give him happiness,
So as not to fall in the fight against evil fate,
The saint is protected by his faith.
The four opuses of Golovanov’s late spiritual works included works different years. Opus 38 is entitled “From Youth’s Notebooks”: it consists of works, the first entries of which date back to the period of the Synodal School; then, in the early 1940s, they were substantially reworked by the hand of an experienced musician. In opus 36, “Chants of Christmas and Liturgy,” the chronological run-up is from the beautiful “We Sing to You” with a solo soprano in 1918 (the chant was performed in a concert with the participation of the choir of I.I. Yukhov and A.V. Nezhdanova in April 1918 ) before the Christmas kontakion “Virgin Today”, written in memory of A.D. Kastalsky, who died in December 1926, and further to the Christmas troparion and irmos of the Christmas canon, created at the beginning of 1941. The chants of opuses 37 and 39 date mainly to the 1940s, and perhaps they are the ones that most reveal Golovanov’s hearing of the Russian church singing tradition. In opus 39, the last, the first six choirs - the hymns of the Virgin Mary - are especially highlighted; they have the author’s title: the suite “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” and the first three choirs have a very telling date: the mournful days of November 1941. This opus also includes two hymns to Golovanov’s heavenly patron - St. Nicholas - December 1941 (and precisely on December 19, St. Nicholas Day) and a troparion to St. Seraphim of Sarov, composed at the same time. In addition to the aforementioned “Quiet Light” in memory of Rachmaninov and “Prayer to the Holy Martyr Tryphon,” the opus contains two choruses written for specific occasions (and, of course, performed only at home at the piano): The Great Many Years, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of A. IN. Nezhdanova (May 1943), and the sedal “Peace, Our Savior” in memory of a deceased friend (1944).
Retelling music unknown to the reader in words is a thankless task. There is no clear answer to the question to what extent “what is written on the table” can enter into modern church use. Probably, maybe in separate chants, and, of course, only where there are singers capable of conveying Golovanov’s choral texture. At the same time, Golovanov’s work does not raise the slightest doubt about churchliness: at every moment the composer firmly hears and implements the Russian singing tradition, hears the liturgical meaning of words and chants in general. Golovanov’s native New Direction, the “school of the Synodal School”, has a stylistic advantage, and in all the variety of options: Kastalsky, and Rachmaninov, and Chesnokov, and Grechaninov. There are chants that, while not being transcriptions in the strict sense of the word, seem to “rehash” traditional chants in their own way, but always, in the freest compositions, the principle of chant lies at the heart of everything. However, above the school, above the memories of the past, in this music the voice of an artist of another time sounds, an artist with a very deep spiritual and actually artistic experience. Hence the marvelous long (and so difficult to perform) melodic lines, like “endless breath”, hence the rich and complex (not fictitious, natural) harmonic writing. Church creativity Golovanova is her own way, not “nostalgic” (although sadness for the departed is also heard), not “stylizing” (this is not the case at all). For him, nothing is gone, everything is alive.
When you listen to Golovanov’s chants in a row, in large numbers (you can - starting from the first, pre-revolutionary opuses), the assumption arises that the author is building some kind of his own “singing routine”. The point is not even that Golovanov has cycles of chants united by themes church year or belonging to one or another service (if desired, you can build a singing solution for the Liturgy and the All-Night Vigil from Golovanov’s opuses taken together). The point, rather, is the internal unity of everything he created, the emergence of his own system of singing words and images.
...Golovanov’s return is not yet complete. Thus, in various editions of the Museum of Musical Culture some letters of Nikolai Semenovich were published, fragments of his diary entries- very interesting and colorful. The entire volume is currently being prepared for publication. literary heritage musician, which will include diaries, letters, and other documents. There is still a need to record audio discs with the church-musical and secular heritage of Golovanov the composer; restoration and high-quality re-release of many of his conducting works is awaiting. And then the definition of “great”, now increasingly applied to Golovanov, will reveal its true meaning.
Marina Rakhmanova
Journal "Orthodoxy and Modernity" No. 17 (33)
Sventsitsky A. Invisible threads. M., 2009. P. 26
