Schwartz, Isaac Iosifovich

Childhood and the Beginning of a Creative Path

Isaac Schwartz was born on May 13, 1923 in Romny (now Sumy region of Ukraine ) into an intelligent Jewish family, where he and his older sisters Sophia and Mary instilled a love of reading and music from childhood. My paternal grandfather had a spiritual rank; at the beginning of the 20th century he moved to the Poltava province from the Baltic . In 1930, the Schwartz family moved to Leningrad , where she lived in the city center, near Nevsky Prospekt . The boy, whom the family did not consider particularly gifted in comparison with Sophia and especially Mary, began to study at the A. S. Zamkov's piano art school. A little later I took lessons from Professor Leonid Nikolaev . In 1935, at the age of 12, Schwartz won the competition for young talents in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic . However, as Schwarz noted, he did not receive elementary academic music education ^[14] .

In the spring of 1936, the 13-year-old Isaac starred in the movie, in the film “ Beethoven 's Concert ” he participated in the scene of a friend's farewell to the music competition at the Moscow Station in Leningrad; mentioned in credits ^[15] .

The clouds over the Schwartz family began to thicken after the assassination of Kirov , which became the signal for the beginning of the repressions in Leningrad. In December 1936, the father whom Isaac loved very much, Arab philologist, professor of the philological faculty of Leningrad University, Joseph Evseevich Schwartz (1889-1938), who had a beautiful, strong baritone, was arrested by the NKVD of the USSR . As Schwartz recalled in his declining years, he wept for many months every night from grief ^[16] . Then Joseph Evseevich was convicted under article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR and exiled to the camps, where on April 4, 1938 he was again sentenced by the troika at the UNKVD for Dalstroy and on April 11 he was shot in Magadan . All his life, Schwartz remembered his last meeting with his father before being transported to the Leningrad transit prison ^{[14] [17] [18] [19]} .

In the summer of 1937, the Schwartz family, having lost all property, including the piano and library, was expelled from Leningrad to Kyrgyzstan . There she settled in a house with an adobe roof. Isaac’s mother, Rakhil Solomonovna Berger (1891-1970), a graduate of the Kiev Commercial Institute , who taught mathematics, literature and Russian at school, got a job at a sewing factory in Frunze . Fourteen-year-old Isaac began giving private piano lessons to the children of local officials. The elder sister Sophia, a student at the conservatory, being a capable pianist, introduced Isaac to the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bizet and other classics. Since childhood, Schwartz appreciated the melody in a piece of music - beautiful, bright and memorable ^[14] .

In 1938, Schwartz in the capital of Kyrgyzstan began taking lessons in composition from the teacher Vladimir Fere . In the summer cinema of the pre-war Frunze, Isaac, as a tapper, provided improvisational musical accompaniment to silent films . There after the demonstration of the film “ Forty-first ”, the musically gifted young man drew attention and predicted a great future for him film actor Ivan Koval-Samborsky . Researchers subsequently associated with the youthful work of a tapper a special sense of the nature of cinema, which manifested itself in the work of Schwartz in his mature years. Before the war, Schwartz worked as accompanist at the Kyrgyz State Theater ^{[11] [20]} .

During the Great Patriotic War

At the beginning of World War II, Schwartz led the choir and orchestra of the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble of the Frunze Military District ^{[6] [14]} .

Once at the front, he was a sapper ^[21] . In the spring of 1942 he was shell-shocked as a result of shelling near Kharkov . He was recovering after a concussion in a hospital in Alma-Ata . In 1943, the 20-year-old Schwartz married a friend of childhood and adolescence, pianist Sonya Polonskaya; soon his only daughter Galina was born ^[15] .

Leningrad Conservatory and Professional Development

In 1945, the 22-year-old Schwartz, having been discharged from the army, returned to Leningrad and, with the assistance of Dmitry Shostakovich, entered the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov . The dean, listening to the beginning writer on the recommendation of Shostakovich, thought for a moment and said: “But you know, this is not as bad as it seems!” ^[22] Schwartz got into Boris Arapov’s class, but he attended Shostakovich’s classes, one of the first to appreciate his composing gift. In those years, studying at the conservatory was paid, but a talented student, burdened with his family and a child, was released from the fee for reasons unknown to him. Only in 1960, at the premiere of the Schwartzian ballet “The Eve”, rector Pavel Serebryakov testified that Shostakovich had privately paid for Schwartz's studies. During his student years, Schwartz, like Shostakovich, was accused by party authorities of “formalism in music”, but flatly refused, as demanded, to publicly condemn the mentor ^[10] .

During his studies, Schwartz wrote the Sonata in G Minor for violin and piano, string quartet , romances on poems by Pushkin , Tyutchev , Fet , Polonsky , Heine , as well as variations for piano, an aria for violin and piano. Schwartz’s work first attracted the attention of musicologists: the young author noted the juicy contrasts of lyrical and genre musical images, the natural freshness of melody and harmonious language. Schwartz’s romances, written in his student years, were performed at concerts by famous Leningrad singers Sergei Shaposhnikov , Nadezhda Velter and others. The last two years of his stay at the conservatory, Schwartz studied with Orest Yevlakhov . Under his guidance, Schwartz wrote the cantata “The Duma of the Homeland” to verses by A. Chepurov for bass, choir and symphony orchestra in three parts, ballad for baritone and orchestra “Soldier and Blizzard” to verses by M. Svetlov , romances to verses by V. Orlov, S. Schipachev ^[20] .

In the summer of 1946, Schwartz mastered the accordion and after completing the first year of the conservatory began to go on vacation and work every year to the picturesque summer residence Siverskaya on the banks of Oredezh in the far southern suburb of Leningrad ^[23] . There he played in rest homes, children's camps and dance floors, and also taught children music. However, Schwartz subsequently did not become a music teacher, did not create his own school of composition, experts did not rank anyone as his pupils, and the peculiar melodic gift of the film composer, by definition of Sergey Solovyov , remained unique, one of a kind ^{[15] [24]} .

In 1954, Schwartz wrote his first major work - Symphony in F Minor , a lyric-epic narrative of a young contemporary in four parts. The symphony brought the budding composer the first notable success. The melody of the symphony is organically connected with the pathos of Soviet mass songs and with folk music. The premiere took place on November 6, 1954, since then the work has been sounded many times in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic. In 1955, the symphony was performed at the VIII All-Union Plenary Session of the Union of Composers of the USSR , at which Schwartz was accepted into its ranks ^[14] .

Performances and ballets

In 1956, George Tovstonogov invited Schwartz to write music for the play "The Idiot ." The composer faced the task of linking music into an organic whole with the dramaturgy of Dostoevsky . After the first successful experiment, Schwartz wrote the music for the play “ Woe from Wit ” based on Griboedov’s comedy, and he designed six performances at the Bolshoi Drama Theater , including “Without Bowing Their Heads” and “For Any Wise Man of Pretty Simplicity,” staged by Tovstonogov, “ Profitable place ”directed by R. Suslovich. The composer especially noted the good school and the impact on his work, which he felt from the theater directors Georgy Tovstonogov and Leonid Yakobson . In total, he wrote music for 35 performances ^{[9] [25]} .

In the 1950s, Schwartz wrote a youthful overture for a symphony orchestra for a symphony orchestra, two ballets , “On the Eve” (1960) and “In Wonderland” (1967), directed by L. Jacobson at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater ^{[6] [9 ] ]} .

Movie

In 1958, Schwarz began a fruitful activity in the cinema, which became the main one in his work. The first paintings with his music were Unpaid Debt , Our Correspondent, Baltic Sky . The composer has successfully collaborated with filmmakers from different schools, styles and generations: Ivan Pyryev , Mikhail Romm , Joseph Heifits , Vladimir Vengerov , Mikhail Schweitzer , Yuli Karasik , Vladimir Motyl , Sergey Solovyov , Nikolai Gubenko , Grigory Aronov , Alexei Todoromansky , Alexei Todoromansky , Alexei Todoromansky , Alexei Tododyan German , , Sergei Bodrov Sr. , Pavel Lungin , Vladimir Bortko , Eugene Tatarsky and others. Possessing diverse types of composer technique, Schwartz knew how to pick up the treble clef for any of the most intricate scenarios, and most of all he valued melodic naturalness, simplicity and sincerity in music. According to critics, his music for the movie is full of compassion, a rare gift to empathize with both screen characters and viewers, with kindness and philanthropy. Schwartz himself called the distinctive qualities of his music and compositional activity increased sensitivity and sentimentality - these properties he considered necessary in art, but to the best, "within the limits of taste" ^[14] .

Schwartz is the author of music for more than 125 films, among which there are recognized masterpieces of Russian and world cinema. The greatest success was accompanied by the composer in the films of Motyl and Solovyov. Schwartz's favorite genre was romantic melodramas ^[15] .

According to Boris Kushner , the talents of Schwartz and Bulat Okudzhava turned out to be very consonant. The masters were brought together not only by a similar artistic taste, but also by a common fate: almost the same age, both Schwartz and Okudzhava were the sons of “ enemies of the people ”, their fathers were repressed and executed in 1937-1938; both were forced to live away from their native places, then fought, were wounded at the front; at the beginning of the creative path, they both were reproached for “formalism”. Before Schwartz, Matvei Blanter made attempts to musically process the texts of Okudzhava, but his undertakings failed: the classic of the Soviet song did not feel the “nerve of poetry” of the bard . The fruitful union of Schwartz and Okudzhava brought 32 songs and romances, the most famous of which are Vereshchagin’s song “Your Honor ...” (“The White Sun of the Desert ”), “Cavalier Guard Song” (“ Star of Captivating Happiness ”), and romances “This Woman in the Window” ”(“ Legal marriage ”),“ Love and separation ”(“ We were not crowned at church ”), as well as songs from the movie“ The Straw Hat ” ^[10] . Close cooperation sometimes led to an invisible infiltration of Schwartz music into the fabric of the parable works of Okudzhava. In the documentary film by Valery Balayan (2002), the composer mentioned that the melody of Okudzhava’s romance “After the rain is wider heaven ...”, which Bulat sincerely considered his own, is actually a variation of the lyrical theme of the Schwartz suite from the film “ Melodies of the White Night ” ^{[16] [26]} .

Of the filmmakers, Schwarz worked most with director Sergei Solovyov . The composer wrote the music for his films “There's nothing to do”, “Proposal”, “ Egor Bulychov ”, “ Station caretaker ”, “ One hundred days after childhood ”, “ Melodies of the white night ”, “Rescuer”, “ Heiress in a straight line ”, “ The Chosen ”, to the play“ Uncle Vanya ”at the Maly Theater ^[24] .

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Film (1976) was awarded to the Soviet-Japanese film Dersu Uzala (dir. Akira Kurosawa ), the music of which was written by Schwartz. Arriving in the USSR, the Japanese filmmaker studied fragments of films with the music of various Soviet composers, and he delighted in the candidacy of Schwartz Kurosawa made the elegy from the "Station Warden" that delighted him ^[9] .

Widely known and popular films, recognizable, among other things, thanks to Schwartz’s lyrical music, - “Station Caretaker”, “ Legal Marriage ” (the best Soviet film of 1985), “ Green Chains ”, “ One Hundred Days After Childhood ”, “ The Brothers Karamazov ” , “ Wild Dingo Dog ” (1962), “ Family Happiness ”, “ Mr. McKinley 's Escape ”, “ Yegor Bulychov ”, “ Living Corpse ”, “ Carousel ”, “ From the Life of Vacationers ”, “ We Were Crowned Not in the Church ” , “Cliff”, “ Blonde around the corner ”, “ Check on the roads ”, “ Krosh ’s vacation ”, “ Do not shoot at white swans ”, “ Last victim wa . " Music for these films was recorded by orchestras conducted by conductors Yuri Temirkanov , Emin Khachaturian , Alexander Lazarev , Vladimir Ponkin , Evgeny Kolobov , Mark Ermler , Vakhtang Zhordania ^[20] .

The family drama of Schwartz, whose father died in the Kolyma camps, is due to his participation in the film “ Sentenced ” directed by Arkady Cordon . For this tragic picture, released in 1988, in the midst of perestroika and a new understanding of the crimes of Stalinism , the composer created a powerful layer of symphonic music. In the mystical overflows of the Schwartz symphony, director A. Cordon noted, the image of the cold mainland of Kolyma was reflected, the groans of millions tortured in captivity - in their "chaos of sounds organized by the composer they heard their fading breath." In the early 1990s, this theme was continued by the documentary “Damn You, Kolyma!”, Where Schwartz developed the old music by virtuoso improvisation on a synthesizer ^[11] .

Three times, Schwartz was awarded the film award of the Russian Film Academy Nika . The first time the composer received it in 1993 for the music for the films “The White King, the Red Queen ” and “ Luna Park ”. The second time - in 2001, for romantic music and a romance to verses by Timur Zulfikarov to the arthouse melodrama “Listen, is it not raining”. The third time - in 2002, for the music for the film " Savage " - an adaptation of the play by A. N. Ostrovsky ^[6] .

Schwartz did not like television series and he usually did not watch them. Nevertheless, ironically, his final work turned out to be connected with this fashionable cinema format — the composer wrote the music for the 12-episode television movie “Chess Player” (2004) and the 4-episode saga “House on the Embankment” based on Yuri Trifonov 's prose (2007) ^[6] .

Schwartz himself in the final film career as his favorite work called the music for the films "Station Warden" and "Star of captivating happiness" ^[9] .

Yellow Stars Concert

The composer's last major symphonic program piece is “Concert for an orchestra in seven parts. “ Yellow Stars ” ( “Purim Spire in the Ghetto” ). In memory of Raoul Wallenberg . " The idea of ​​a large-scale work was inspired by Schwartz's documentary notes by prisoners of the Kaunas ghetto , who struck the composer with a description of the celebration of Purim , a fun Jewish holiday held in a death camp on the eve of execution. “Yellow Stars” are named in the reviews as a lyrical anthem to courage, wisdom, self-esteem and unity of doomed people who overcame the horror of imminent death. The Moscow premiere took place on September 29, 2000 at the Concert Hall. Tchaikovsky was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the composer's creative work ( Russian National Orchestra , conductor Pavel Sorokin ), there is a television version of the evening ( TVC , director Olga Tregubova). In 2002, the concert was recorded by the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov and released in 2005 by Capriccio Records on CD and DVD ^{[10] [27]} .

Siversky Hermit

Композитор с 1964 года до конца своих дней, более 45 лет, жил и работал в собственном доме в дачном микрорайоне Кезево посёлка Сиверский (железнодорожная станция Сиверская , в 70 км от Санкт-Петербурга) Гатчинского района Ленинградской области. Здесь Шварца (которого ещё при жизни называли «сиверским отшельником») ^[27] посещали Владимир Высоцкий , Андрей Миронов , Акира Куросава , Зиновий Гердт , Иннокентий Смоктуновский , Сергей Соловьёв , Иосиф Бродский , Булат Окуджава , Владимир Мотыль , Алексей Баталов , Олег Басилашвили и многие другие творческие деятели и друзья. В 1964 году Шварц хлопотал о трудоустройстве на « Ленфильме » только что вернувшегося из ссылки безработного поэта, в будущем Нобелевского лауреата Бродского ^{[20] [28]} . К числу кинокомпозиторов, которых Шварц называл « блистательными » и высоко ценил за мелодическую щедрость и творческую индивидуальность, относились Родион Щедрин , Андрей Эшпай , Андрей Петров , Микаэл Таривердиев , Надежда Симонян , Геннадий Гладков ^[20] .

В Ленинград (затем Санкт-Петербург), где у него была квартира, Шварц выбирался редко, творческие вечера обычно устраивал в сиверской библиотеке им. А. Майкова ^[29] . В 1979 году 56-летний композитор женился на 20-летней поклоннице своего таланта Антонине Нагорной, с которой счастливо прожил 30 лет ^[15] .

Помимо северной столицы из Сиверского Шварц изредка выезжал к родственникам в Киев , Одессу , а также регулярно по делам в Москву , где он не только работал с кинематографистами, но и отдыхал и лечился в Доме ветеранов кино, располагавшемся по соседству с « ближней дачей » Сталина в Кунцеве . По свидетельству литератора Б. Горзева, вид на лесное «поместье» некогда всесильного вождя наводил Шварца на грустные воспоминания и размышления ^{[9] [14]} .

Исаак Шварц скончался во сне 27 декабря 2009 года в половине восьмого вечера, когда прилёг вздремнуть после работы за роялем ^{[11] [12] [30]} . Похоронили его 30 декабря 2009 года на Литераторских мостках Волковского кладбища в Санкт-Петербурге ^[31] . Согласно воле композитора, его похороны прошли в соответствии с еврейским погребальным ритуалом . Поминальную молитву ( кадиш ) над гробом Шварца прочитал один из раввинов Санкт-Петербургской еврейской религиозной общины ^{[27] [32]} .