Mussorgsky & Repin: a New Dawn

19 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in American Civil War, Russia, Russian Art, Russian Music

Tags

Agrarian Society, Bloody Sunday, February and October Revolutions, Ilya Repin, Industrial Revolution, Modest Mussorgsky

They did not expect him by Ilya Repin, 1884 – 1888 (Wikiart.org)

“It is generally believed that by depicting various reaction of young man’s household Repin tried to show diverse but mostly positive attitude of society toward revolutionary movements of that time. Actually, under strict censorship of Czarist Russia, it was a political declaration disguised as an everyday genre scene.” (Wikiart.org.)

The Russian Revolution

In the second half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, Russia changed dramatically. The Emancipation of serfdom, in 1861, led to a major social upheaval. Ironically, several former serfs had to pay for the piece of land they had been cultivating for centuries, but more importantly, an agrarian society was industrialized. (See Industrialisation of Russia, Wiki2.org.) Many Serfs became factory workers whose working conditions were unacceptable.

Matters culminated in a massacre known as Bloody Sunday, 22 January 1905. From 3,000 to 50,000 factory workers marched towards Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace to deliver a petition (←text) to Tsar Nicholas II. Some 4,000 demonstrators, an approximate number, were gunned down or injured by the Imperial Guard. Others were arrested.

By the end of Word War I, there would no longer be a Russian Empire. Two revolutions occurred in 1917: the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks, under Vladimir Lenin, took over during the October Revolution, sometimes called the Bolshevik Coup.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) had abdicated on 2 March 1917. He and his family were executed during the night of 17 – 18 July 1918.

The painting above is immensely foreboding.

But let us listen to another part of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, its introduction.

—ooo—

Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moskva-River
Introduction to Khovanshchina

Barge Haulers on the Volga by Ilya Repin, 1873 (Wikiart.org.)

Mussorgky’s Old Castle

17 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Russian Art, Russian Music

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Ilya Repin, Isaac Levitan, Modest Mussorgsky, The Five, The Old Castle, Une larme

Modest Mussorgsky by Ilya Repin, 2 – 5 March 1881 (Wikiart.org.)

I eliminated my post on the Emancipation Reform of 1861. Although the Emancipation Reform of 1861 had deleterious effects on many Russians, Mussorgsky (21 March 1839 – 28 March 1881) became an alcoholic because extreme behaviour was fashionable in his days. (See Modest Mussorgsky, Wiki2.org.)

However, those who turned to the “worship of Bacchus” did not necessarily become alcoholics. Mussorgsky did, and it led to his death.

Repin‘s portrait of Mussorgsky, the eyes in particular, is one of his finest paintings.

Love to everyone 💕

—ooo—

The Old Castle

Une larme (A Tear)

Above the Eternal Tranquillity by Isaac Levitan, 1894 (Wikiart.org.)

Remembering, Varia & the News

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Sharing

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Gazette, Handel, Harmonious Blacksmith, Ilya Repin, Le Devoir, Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, National Post, Sviatoslav Richter, The New York Times, the saddest day, United States, WordPress

Apples and Leaves (1879), by Ilya Repin (State Russian Museum)

Photo credit: Wikipedia

9/11

It was the saddest of days. I was in my office, but was told to come and see what was happening in New York. We were crying. All flights to the United States were redirected to Canada and in localities where there were no hotels, motels, inns, such as Gander, Newfoundland, local families took in bewildered passengers.

I worried. If they needed medication, did they have enough? Did they have their nightgowns or pyjamas. Little things. I think my concerns were of a motherly kind.

However, later that day, I received a telephone call from a person of considerable influence in Ottawa, Allan J. MacEachen. We discussed the attacks. He wanted to know what I would do under such circumstances. I answered that, personally, if I were the President of the United States, I would not do anything. I explained that, in my opinion, the terrorists had to be tracked down, but that the United States should not engage in a war.

And what would you do as a Canadian, he asked. I answered that, in my opinion, we were doing what we could and should do. Planes headed for the United States were landing in Canada. We had to be compassionate, hospitable, generous. We had to be good neighbours.

President Obama’s Campaign

As a Canadian, I cannot even imagine life without the social programs put into place about 50 years ago. The person I mentioned above, had lost his elections and was coming back to Antigonish, Nova Scotia. However, Lester B. Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972), an extraordinary Canadian, asked him to stay in Ottawa and design social programs: universal health care, students loans, the Canada Pension Plan, which he did. We are very fortunate. I have written a blog about this person, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen.

The pictures : I will let it be

Regarding yesterday’s posts, I have decided to feel flattered and let things be. I am not engaging in hostilities as it could harm some of my colleagues at WordPress. They could lose a sponsor.

The News

English

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/

The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

The National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/index.html

Le Monde diplomatique: http://mondediplo.com/ EN

CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/

CTV News: http://www.ctvnews.ca/

French

Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/

Le Monde diplomatique: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/

Le Devoir: http://www.ledevoir.com/

La Presse: http://www.lapresse.ca/

German

Die Welt: http://www.welt.de/

September 11, 2012

WordPress

composer: Händel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)

piece: The Harmonious Blacksmith

performer: Wilhelm Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991)

Handel by Philip Mercier

September 11, 2012

The Art of Ivan Bilibin, Rimsky-Korsakov & the News

24 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Literature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Alexander Pushkin, folklore, Ilya Repin, Léon Bakst, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sergei Diaghilev, Tale of the Golden Cockerel, Tale of Tsar Saltan

The Golden Cockerell, illustrated by Yvan Bilibin

The Golden Cockerell (finished in 1907 and premièred in 1909, is a fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837)
The Golden Cockerell 🎶

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin

Yvan Bilibin (16 August 1876 – 7 February 1942) was born in Saint Petersburgh and was trained at the Anton Ažbe Art School in Munich. He then studied under Ilya Repin in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of Mir iskusstva, founded in November 1898, by a group of artists who wanted to break away from the constraints of academic art.

The Ballets Russes

Bilibin was associated with Sergei Diaghilev‘s Paris–based but itinerant Ballets Russes, performing work related to Léon Bakst‘s functions. However, he was inspired by Slavic Folklore, as were many artists, musicians, painters, illustrators and writers in various countries. Interest in folklore grew exponentially after the Congress of Vienna (1814-15).

Fairy Tales & Pushkin

So, although Bilibin worked for the Ballets Russes, he owes his fame to an 1899 set of illustrations of Russian fairy tales. He is remembered in particular for his illustrations of fairy tales re-told by Alexander Pushkin (6 June, 1799 – 10 February 1837) who, despite his early death in a duel, was a productive writer and remains a widely–read Russian author.

Yvan Bilibin illustrated Pushkin’s The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d’or), with music by Nikolai Rimsky–Korsakov (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908). In 1905, he also illustrated Pushkin’s Tale of Tsar Saltan. He dedicated his book to Rimsky-Korsakov who had written an Opera on the Tale of Tsar Saltan, first performed in 1900, in Moscow.

Yvan Bilibin was interested not only in Russian folklore, but also in Russian architecture. He published his findings in a monograph entitled Folk Arts of the Russian North in 1904. Moreover, Bilibin was influenced by traditional Japanese prints, as were many artists in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The October Revolution

The October Revolution (1917) led Bilibin to settle in Paris in 1925. In Paris, he earned a living as a decorator of mansions and Orthodox churches. However, he was homesick. After decorating the Soviet Embassy in Paris, in 1936, he therefore returned to Russia and delivered lectures at the Soviet Academy of Arts until 1941.

Bilibin died of starvation during the Siege of Leningrad.

The Gallery

-Tsar Dadon meets the Shemakha Queen

The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, 1906 (above)

–Sadko (below)

From The Tale of Tsar Saltan

-The Island of Buyan 1905 (below right)

–The Merchants visit Tsar Saltan (The Museum Syndicate)

–The Tsaritsa and Her Son Afloat in the Barrel (bottom)

(please click on the pictures to enlarge them)