Anatoly Lyadov is a musician, composer, teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Over a long creative career, he managed to create an impressive number of symphonic works. Under the influence of Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov compiled a collection of musical works.
He is called the genius of miniatures. The maestro's repertoire is devoid of operas. Despite this, the composer's creations are real masterpieces, in which he delicately honed every note.
Childhood and youth
The composer's date of birth is May 12, 1855. His childhood passed in St. Petersburg. Anatoly Konstantinovich had every chance of becoming a famous person. He was brought up in an intelligent family, whose members were directly related to creativity.
Grandfather Lyadov spent most of his life in the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The head of the family held the position of conductor of the Imperial Opera. Father often appeared on the big stage and was a member of an elite society.
Anatoly Konstantinovich was educated by his mother and governess. Having received basic knowledge, at the age of seven he was imprisoned for the first musical instrument - the piano. In 1870, the young man became a student at the conservatory. Since that time, he often visits local theaters.
He was lucky to get into the class of Rimsky-Korsakov. Under the supervision of the composer, Anatoly Konstantinovich composes debut compositions. Lyadov's talent was obvious. After some time, he became a member of the Belyaevsky Circle association.
Having become a part of the "Belyaevsky Circle" - study faded into the background. Anatoly Konstantinovich increasingly allowed himself liberties. He skipped classes, and devoted his free time not to study, but to rehearsals. In the end, he was expelled from the conservatory. The pleas of an influential father and grandfather did not help to rectify the situation. After some time, he still managed to recover in an educational institution.
In 1878, in the hands of Lyadov, there was a diploma of graduation from the conservatory. By the patronage of patron Mitrofan Belyaev, Anatoly Konstantinovich got the opportunity to teach at an educational institution. He specialized in instrumentation, harmony and theory. He managed to release composers who became famous all over the world. Lyadov's student was the talented Sergei Prokofiev.
The creative path of the composer Anatoly Lyadov
Lyadov combined teaching activities with writing short pieces of music. Alas, natural slowness and laziness hindered the process of writing compositions.
During this period of time, Anatoly Konstantinovich presents to the public works: “About antiquity”, “Arabesques” and “Spillikins”. His works are warmly received by critics and admirers of classical music. The good-natured reception inspires Lyadov to write a couple of miniature plays.
The maestro's works were performed at Belyaevsky Fridays. Modest Mussorgsky expressed his opinion on the work of Lyadov. He called him a promising composer. There were also those who frankly did not like the works of Anatoly. Publications appeared in the newspapers, the authors of which criticized Lyadov's work.
The composer was sensitive to criticism. He decided to improve his composing skills. Lyadov experiments with impromptu and sketches, as well as with the pastoral genre.
Pastoral is a genre in literature, painting, music and theater that celebrates the rural and simple life.
He released collections of songs and turned to church works. But the real popularity of the maestro was brought by the composition "Musical Snuffbox", as well as the symphonic poems "Sorrowful Song" and "Magic Lake".
The theater figure Sergei Diaghilev, popular at that time, drew attention to him. He expressed a desire to personally meet Lyadov. After meeting him, he ordered the composer to rework the numbers for the Parisian institution Chatelet.
The Russian Seasons troupe presented Russian Fairy Tales and Sylphides, which were set to the works of Anatoly Konstantinovich. It was a significant success.
Details of the personal life of Anatoly Konstantinovich
He never liked to discuss his personal life. For a long time, he kept his relationship with the landowner Nadezhda Tolkacheva a secret, but when they got married, he had to reveal the secret.
After he became the owner of the Polynovka estate, he continued to engage in creativity. The woman gave birth to several sons from the composer. Rumor has it that he did not like to deal with children, and this process was trusted by his wife and her relatives.
Interesting facts about the composer Anatoly Lyadov
- He had a talent for fine arts and poetry.
- Almost every one of his works he dedicated to relatives, friends or good acquaintances.
- When asked why he composes short pieces of music, the maestro joked that he could not stand music for more than 5 minutes.
- He loved to read and tried to buy novelties that were published in the world of literature.
- Before his death, he burned all the works that he could not finish due to poor health.
The last years of the life of the maestro
In the 1910s, Anatoly Konstantinovich could no longer boast of good health. Together with his family, he was forced to leave the noisy St. Petersburg for his estate.
He died of a heart attack. Shortly before his death, he experienced the loss of a close friend and parting with his son, who was taken into the army. Most likely, due to stress, his condition worsened.
The body of Anatoly Konstantinovich in August 1914 was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. After some time, a reburial took place. Today he rests on the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
