Top 10 interesting facts from the life of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Mikhail Glinka is one of the famous Russian composers. Many works had a huge impact on such famous people as Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky and others. Glinka was born in May 1804 in the Smolensk province. In the village of Novospasskoye was the estate of his father.

The mother was a second cousin of the father. After the Commonwealth finally lost power, the composer converted to Orthodoxy. Mikhail is known to many as the author of the operas “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “Waltz-Fantasy”, “Kamarinskaya” and other works.

His work is admired to this day. There is something unusual, alluring in it. In this article, we will consider 10 interesting facts from the life of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka – briefly about the composer’s biography.

10 Noble origin

Not many people know that Michael was of noble origin. His family had Polish and Russian roots. Almost the entire family of Glinka was rich in talented people. Only poets, wrote, composers had such a surname.

The Glinkok family has Polish roots because of the estate in Poland. It is with him that the origin of the surname is associated. The first of the Glinkas was Viktorin-Vladislav. This is a man who in 1654 joined the Russian army and received land near Smolensk.

9. Raised by a domineering grandmother

When Misha Glinka was born, everyone was very worried about whether he would survive. After birth, he was very weak. A grandmother named Thekla all the time blamed her eldest grandson for the fact that the boy was born earlier.

That is why after the birth of Michael, the grandmother decided that she would take the boy to her upbringing. She was a domineering woman, she herself chose wet nurses and nannies. I tried not to take my eyes off him..

It is worth noting that the boy was brought up according to ancient customs and prejudices. Fekla was very worried that Misha would get sick, which is why she very rarely let him out of the heavily heated room. Regardless of the season, she made him weak and pampered.

The rooms in the grandmother’s house had their own boundaries and laws. Everything can be done only with her permission. Therefore, the boy’s parents did not interfere in his upbringing, they left Misha completely in the care of his beloved grandmother.

8. Was an amazing singer

Many noted that Mikhail was an excellent singer. He could easily perfectly perform his own romances. His voice had such a beautiful timbre that he was even called “a vocal genius”.

The lyrical romances that the composer himself wrote told about the state of his soul. He could convey it with his voice. Many famous people, such as Serov, Dostoevsky, said that Mikhail had incredible inspiration, with the help of which he could perform romances so skillfully.

7. Close friends with Odoevsky

In Russian music, the names of Mikhail Glinka and Odoevsky can be said to be inseparable from each other.. Odoevsky was lucky enough to be an eyewitness to the deeds of Mikhail Ivanovich. He was a devoted friend and always defended his creative ideas.

Odoevsky is a well-known writer, as well as a musicologist. He was one of the most educated people of a noble family. No one except him managed to reveal the world significance of Mikhail’s work so deeply.

6. The idea of ​​the opera “A Life for the Tsar” was suggested by Zhukovsky

The opera entitled “Life for the Tsar” tells the listener about the events of 1613. It is connected with the campaign of Polish troops against Moscow.

It was this work that became significant for the composer in the political, historical and artistic sense. The idea of ​​creation came to Mikhail in 1830. At that moment, the composer went on a short trip abroad, during which it was very difficult for him, as he yearned for his homeland, his home.

After he returned home, he decided to take up writing. When I found out about his plans Zhukovsky, then advised him to take the story of the peasant Ivan Susanin as a basis.

That is why it is very common to come across the fact that Zhukovsky himself helped Glinka in writing the opera. After all, the idea is the foundation.

5. Recognized only the work of Chopin and Gluck

Among all the composers of that time, Glinka recognized only Chopin and Gluck.. He perfectly performed the works of these wonderful composers.

Mikhail also said that he also really liked Beethoven’s music, but he would not perform it. There is an interesting story connected with this. Once, after a concert at which Beethoven’s works were performed, Glinka’s wife saw that something was wrong with him. Michael could not utter a word, but only cried. The music of the great composer touched me so much.

Once Glinka spoke about the terrible appearance of the composer F. Liszt. Having said that after its execution, many women feel bad.

4. Was familiar with Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Glinka were born five years apart in age. It is worth noting that they were quite close friends. Many note their joint contribution to music. Very often their names are even next to each other.

Once Serov wrote that these two people are the founders of the new Russian creativity. One created it in music, and the other in poetry. But, nevertheless, both made a great contribution.

Glinka and Pushkin first met in 1828. Misha was then only 24 years old, he considered Alexander the most famous poet. After meeting them became permanent. They were in the same creative circles in St. Petersburg.

3. Traveled a lot and knew 6 foreign languages

It is worth noting that Mikhail knew 6 foreign languages, thanks to which he could easily communicate with various musicians of the world.

He knew German, French, English, Spanish, Persian and Italian. Almost everything was given to him very easily. For example, he was able to learn German in just six months. This greatly surprised his teacher. Many contemporaries were surprised at the composer’s education.

Glinka traveled quite a lot in his life. Once he went to Italy, but along the way he stopped by various countries and cities for more acquaintance. But even being constantly on the road could not make him forget about music. During stops, he often composed.

2. He was demanding of himself, hard to take criticism

Mikhail Glinka has always been very demanding of himself.. He was a musician who knew six languages. At the same time, he felt the specifics of the sound well, therefore he demanded from himself that poetic speech merge with music.

It is worth noting that Glinka took criticism very hard. For example, once, after this, he went on a long journey, and only then was he able to return to his offspring. He was sure that his works were not appreciated.

He could have been depressed for a very long time. I didn’t write anything for about a year. Also, acquaintance with new composers helped him to renew his desire to work.

1. His work inspired Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Mussorgsky

The Mighty Handful included such composers as Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Mussorgsky. Balakirev became the founder.

Very often, the work of various composers inspired the writing of compositions and works. For example, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Mussorgsky were very much inspired by the works of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. This helped them to tune in the right way, get inspiration and a successfully completed work.