Lyrical and landscape imagery in the songs by S.V. Rachmaninoff

In the artistic heritage of the great Russian composer Sergei Vladimirovich Rachmaninoff special place belongs to chamber vocal music. As the direct heir of the romance culture of the 19th century, the composer could not ignore important motives for its love poetry. The main of them are metaphorically designated by such terms as a declaration of love, ecstasy of love and torments of love. In the earliest samples of songs-confession, "Ya tebe nichego ne skazhu..." (I will not say anything, 1890), based on poems by Fet the situation has been referred to the option of a secret confession which revealed the extreme excitement, eagerness and surprising candor, almost a confessional tone. A clearly lyrical mood permeated such songs as "Ty pomnish' li vecher..." (Do you remember the night, 1891), ''Smerkalos'.'' (It was getting dark, 1891) on the lyrics by Tolstoy, ''Ya byl u ney..." (I was with her, 1896) with lyrics by A. Koltsov, "Ya zhdu tebya..." (I'm waiting for you, 1894) on the lyrics by M. Davidova. Romances-confessions often contain a lot of what can be described by a metaphorical term "ecstasy of love''. The oldest among them is "V molchan'i nochi taynoy.'' (In the silence of the secret night, 1890), in which the strength of an impressive lyrical confession begins with a truly inspired piano introduction. B. Asafev connected the flourishing of the Russian landscape in painting with the same aspirations of landscape lyrics in music at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries: "There was a time when the Russian painting felt not only the external appearance of the Russian nature, but also its melody, landscape of the soul. And then, in parallel, Russian sound texture was born, the music of landscapes and moods, the music of the singing forces of the nature". Landscape poetry by S.V. Rachmaninoff is very diverse. Perhaps the most precious, and probably the most "Rachmaninoff" camera angle is the one that in general can be described as lyrical and contemplative, associated with the state of peace, calm dreamy, spiritual consolation. These romances are "Ostrovok'' (Small Island) on the lyrics by P. Shelley translated by Balmont (1896), "Siren''' (Lilac), "Zdes' khorosho.'' (It is good here) on the lyrics by G. Galina, etc. The first turn to other horizons of landscape lyrics is outlined in Op. 21 - ''Twilight' on the lyrics by M. Guillot translated by M. Tkhorzhevsky. The transparent choral texture complemented by "light and air" vibration of the figurative movement is an example of fine sound fixation and captures the image of the "cold beauty", which over time almost becomes dominant in the vocal works of the composer. The late landscape lyrics by Rachmaninoff found their ultimate expression in songs like "Margaritka'' (Daisies, 1916) on the lyrics by I. Severyanin. The vocal works of the composer have a remarkable sincerity. The composer's vocal music invariably has such a property as the beauty of artistic expression determined by the concept "Rachmaninoff s Impressionism", which has always been associated with the refraction of sensations coming from the lyrical perception of landscapes.

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