Alexander Dargomyzhsky - 200 Years

"If there had been no female singers, it wasn’t worth to become a composer." - Alexander Dargomyzhsky ⁽¹⁾

Virtually all of the musical geniuses of the 19th century were of the opinion, and voiced it on numerous occasions, that Russian music would have been quite different, and nobody can tell what their own routes in music would have been like, if it had not been for a composer by the name of Alexander Dargomyzhsky. ... The world was thirsting for one thing: the emergence of the musical drama. The new gurus of the opera were Verdi and Wagner. And in Russian art such a composer was Alexander Dargomyzhsky.⁽²⁾

"Dargomyzhsky is my great teacher of musical Truth." - Modest Mussorgsky ⁽²⁾

Dargomizhsky's main musical legacy, therefore, is his songs, along with a few orchestral and instrumental pieces. It is his ideas about musical drama that give him an important position in Russian music, and his finding and setting folk tunes. This directly influenced Mussorgsky, who used natural Russian declamation in his operas, and through him later Russian composers, especially Shostakovich and Britten (whose operatic career was given inspiration by Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District) and Janácek. Outside of Russia, where he is regarded as an important composer in his own right, he is mainly valued for these influences.⁽³⁾

Alexander Dargomyzhsky (Dargomiski, Dargomishki, 1813 - 1869) was a Russian composer of operas and songs and orchestral fantasias, singing teacher and organiser of musical life. He was a great influence on the Russian Five with whom he regularly gathered in musical soirées, and on Tchaikovsky who was a bit more ambivalent about this composer. ⁽⁴⁾

Let's first sample Dargomyzhsky's operas and then turn to the beautiful songs.

Rusalka (1856) was composed with the composer's own libretto based on an unfinished story by Pushkin.

It's prevailing use of the number system and ensemble shows that Russian opera of the day was still heavily influenced by the Italian model. Even so, it's distinctive subject matter and portrayal of Russian village life using much local color in the score helped set Russian opera on a nationalistic course. The role of the Miller is a bravura Russian bass role, created by the great Osip Petrov. It has been red meat to all the great Russian/Ukrainian basses ever since, many of whom have recorded the Miller's aria and Mad Scene, almost as a matter of duty.⁽⁵⁾

.. fairly conventional in musical form and style, its singular innovation for the history of Russian music in particular is the application of "melodic recitative" at certain points in the drama. This type of recitative consists of lyrical utterances which change continuously according to the dramatic situation, with likewise varied accompaniment in the orchestra. Dargomyzhsky was to apply this technique of vocal composition on a small scale in his songs and on a large scale in his final opera, The Stone Guest.⁽⁶⁾

Such feelings as narrated in the opera -- the sufferings of a father, maddened with grief; the pain of a rejected woman; the belated repentance of the Prince -- were inherent to the literary works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the paintings of Alexander Ivanov of that time, and Dargomyzhsky's heartfelt drama, touching in its simplicity, is most keenly felt in the improvisational style of the work's musical language -- particularly in its pioneering application of the musical recitative, later developed by composers such as Mussorgsky.
The libretto is based on a poem by Pushkin. It's all about the love between a Prince and a Miller's daughter, which in the class system of the time could not be. The Prince marries another more suited to his station, regrets it and in the end drowns in his attempt to find his beloved who has turned to a mermaid.⁽⁷⁾

The music of the opera is in no way nationalistic in timbre as found in the works of ‘the Five’ or even the ‘internationalised’ Tchaikovsky. It is distinctly more lyrical and less heavily orchestrated, more akin to Smetana than his compatriots.⁽⁸⁾

The entire opera can be watched here.  Following are a few attractive arias and scenes: The Miller's aria from Act I and the Miller's mad scene from Act III, a very dramatic and virtuoso aria probably sung by the Princess looking at the singer's attire, Natasha's and Olga's songs, a spirited, orchestral Gypsy Dance, and conclude a Slavonic Dance, convincingly interpreted on balalaika and organ. Enjoy!















The Stone Guest (1869), based on Pushkin's drama of the Don Juan story, was unfinished and completed by César Cui and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov, both members of The Five and Dargomyzhsky's Circle.

This work directly influenced the Mighty Handful, and especially Mussorgsky. Its style was further developed in the masterpieces of Wagner and in Debussy's operatic masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande, which is also through-composed. ⁽⁹⁾

Dargomïzhsky's style in this work sounds more cosmopolitan than specifically Russian, and because it's a setting of the Don Juan story, its color is frequently Spanish. It was considered a revolutionary piece in its time, though, because of the composer's astute and idiomatic setting of the Russian language, using a kind of lyrical, declamatory arioso rather than recitatives and arias, which proved to be particularly influential for later Russian composers. It's an attractive piece but not one with enough spectacular merits to propel it into the repertoire. The composer might be considered audacious for choosing a topic already used for one of the greatest operas ever written, but the Pushkin drama on which this opera is based has a decidedly different perspective on the story from Mozart's opera, one in which Don Juan and Donna Anna genuinely fall in love before he is dragged into the abyss by the Stone Guest. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Musically, "The Stone Guest" was considered foreward-looking for its day. It has no vocal set pieces, except for a couple of brief songs and dances by Laura. Otherwise, voices carry on a continuous arioso, something between accompanied recitative and actual aria, while the orchestra supports them self-effacingly. ... The action takes place, it would seem, in Madrid on the Volga, where - to judge from the costumes and the characters' predeliction for lecturing one another philosophically at peculiar times - everyone is Russian, though they bear such names as Don Carlos or Donna Anna.⁽¹¹⁾

In ‘The Stone Guest’ the composer talked about declamatory ‘mezzo-recitative’, with music at times written without key signatures in tonal schemes that move to emphasise dramatic tension.⁽⁸⁾

Listen to a 1946 production here.  Following are a dramatic live scene and Laura's songs:





As for this composer's songs and romances, they are what sets him apart. Even if one does not understand a word of the lyrics, they convey much feeling, and one cannot escape their beauty. Composed for Dargomyzhsky's singing students and musical soirées, this heartfelt music continues to give audiences a good time to this day. The piano accompaniments support the text throughout.

Dargomyzhsky composed about one hundred romances.  Their quality varies substantially.  The earlier works don’t differ significantly from the popular romances of the time.  They are elegant, yet not overly original examples of Russian bel canto.  His later works, however exhibit the skill and sophistication of a mature composer.  His lyric romances such as Ты и вы, Влюблён я дева красота, В крови горит огонь желанья are examples of elegance, excellent taste and prosody.  Dargomyzhsky was interested in the dramatic possibilities of the romance. The songs Мельник, Червяк, Титулярный советник are miniatures that illustrate the situation and the psychological condition of the characters.⁽¹²⁾

Listen to an extensive selection here and here.  A few samples:

I love him still (1851).



At the Ball.



I loved you, set to a Pushkin poem.



I am in love, fair maiden.



I am sad, set to a Lermontov poem.



Titular Counselor.



Cherviak (The Worm).



Night Zephir.



God help you! Bogpomoch vam!



My darling girls.



Vineyard.



Three Romances: Ballad (Timofeev), I Loved You (Pushkin), and I'm Sad (Lermontov) sung by Yevgeny Nesterenko.



Nochevala tuchka zolotaya (The Golden Cloud passed the night), a vocal trio.



To conclude the Melancholic Waltz and the Snuffbox Waltz for piano.





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⁽¹⁾"Dargomyzhsky Alexander biography." Biography, RussiansAbroad.com. (http://music.russiansabroad.com/detail.aspx?id=classical&detail=dargomyzhsky (12/28/2013))
⁽²⁾"Alexander Dargomyzhsky." The Voice of Russia, 03/23/2006. (http://voiceofrussia.com/radio_broadcast/2249227/2317502/ (12/28/2013))
⁽³⁾ Joseph Stevenson, "Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomizhsky." Artist biography, AllMusic.com. (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alexander-sergeyevich-dargomizhsky-mn0001168109/biography (12/28/2013))
⁽⁴⁾"Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky." Composer page at Tchaikovsky Research. (http://wiki.tchaikovsky-research.net/wiki/Aleksandr_Dargomyzhsky (12/28/2013))

Dargomyzhsky's vividly dramatic Rusalka, on the other hand, would always be listed by Tchaikovsky amongst the best Russian operas, together with A Life for the Tsar, Ruslan and Lyudmila, and Serov's Judith (see e.g. TH 283).

An opera [The Stone Guest] whose vocal line, apart from two interpolated songs for Laura (one based on Glinka's brilliant Jota aragonesa) involved "a continuous, one might say unrelieved, quasi recitative, constantly hovering on the brink of arioso", as Richard Taruskin describes it [11], and which only showed a few flashes of inspiration in the orchestral accompaniment, was simply not an opera in Tchaikovsky's view!

⁽⁵⁾ Natty Preme, "Dargomyzhsky - Rusalka - Complete Opera." Notes to YouTube video, 09/04/2013. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOaaKljCZ-w (12/28/2013))
⁽⁶⁾"Rusalka (Dargomyzhsky)." Wikipedia entry. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka_(Dargomyzhsky) (12/28/2013))
⁽⁷⁾"Dargomyzhsky: Rusalka." Release information, Brilliant Classics. (http://www.brilliantclassics.com/release.aspx?id=FM00080277# (12/28/2013))
⁽⁸⁾ Robert J. Farr, "Alexander DARGOMYZHSKY (1813-1869), Russalka - opera in four Acts (1848-1855)." CD review, MusicWeb International. (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Jan04/Dargomyzhsky_Rusalka.htm (12/28/2013))
⁽⁹⁾ The youthful Debussy spent three summers in Russia in the early 1980s in the employ of Nadezhda von Meck. The 1889 and 1900 World Expositions in Paris further exposed him to Russian music.
⁽¹⁰⁾ Stephen Eddins, "Alexander Dargomïzhsky: The Stone Guest.