Mikhail Glinka in the memoirs of his contemporaries

On the 1st of June 2024, the Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka will celebrate his 220th birthday. Glinka is the creator of the Russian national opera and the founder of the Russian music school. He was born in Smolensk in a noble family, and his childhood experiences, including the songs and stories of his nanny, as well as the sound of church bells, influenced his music.

To commemorate Glinka's life and work, the Presidential Library has published a collection of digital materials Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857). This includes books, brochures, archive documents, and visual materials related to Glinka. The essay M.I. Glinka: A Biographical Sketch by literary critic Alexey Gruzinsky provides more information about his life and background.

In 1817, Mikhail, who was thirteen years old at the time, was sent to St. Petersburg to attend the newly opened Noble Boarding School at the Pedagogical Institute. He stayed there for five years, and Gruzinsky wrote that Glinka did well in his studies. After completing the course, he "had to enter the service, according to tradition; his father intended for him to pursue a career in diplomacy."

Vladimir Kashperov describes Mikhail Glinka as a person: "Those who knew him noted that the dominant traits of his personality were tenderness, childlike naivety, good-natured cheerfulness, coupled with a hint of humor." The author stresses that the composer did not try to adapt to society in order to impress or appear impressive.

In 1830, Glinka traveled abroad - through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy - to study European culture. After meeting with Bellini, Donizetti, and Berlioz, he began to develop as a composer. Alexander Strugovshchikov adds that upon Glinka's arrival in Milan, passers-by would stop and talk to each other in the lively manner of Italians, saying "Look, look! Here is the Russian master!".

In early 1834, Glinka returned to Moscow. His first task upon arrival was to test himself against Moscow's artists and music enthusiasts, to give them a report on his efforts and achievements, in short, to prove that he had not wasted four years under the musical skies of Italy and Germany. And it is impossible not to add that the delight that Glinka brought to Moscow with his compositions, performances, and singing was well-deserved. Instead of the amateur we used to revered him as, we found upon his return a true artist who had dedicated himself to his beloved art.

M.I. Glinka left a rich musical legacy behind, including the world-famous operas "A Life for the Tsar" (also known as "Ivan Susanin") and "Ruslan and Ludmila", symphonic works, chamber instrumental compositions, and plays and romances for piano. According to Alexey Gruzinsky, "In all of Glinka's music, as in Pushkin's poetry, there is a subtle breath of humanity and the depth and sincerity of feeling is given in a restrained and elegant drawing".

The great composer passed away in Berlin, but at the request of his sister, Lyudmila Shestakova, his body was reburied in the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Her memories of her brother are available in one of the journals Russkaya Starina, which is included in the collection of documents dedicated to the composer. A completed project for the tombstone monument of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is also available.