Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein is a famous Russian virtuoso pianist, teacher, composer and founder of the Moscow Conservatory. Nikolai Grigorievich often unfairly remained in the shadow of his older brother, the famous musician and composer Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein, their achievements are even confused. This article presents a brief biography of Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein. How did his life and creative path develop, and what great musicians were his students?

Biography

Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein was born on June 14, 1835 in Moscow into a family of we althy Jews. Nikolai grew up in a musical family - his mother had a piano education, his older brother Anton became a composer, pianist and conductor, and his younger sister Sophia became a chamber singer. The mother taught her children to play the keys, like Anton, Nikolaishowed success in this matter, having mastered the basics at the age of four.

When the boy was nine years old, the family temporarily moved to Berlin, where Nikolai studied piano and music theory under the guidance of the great German composer Theodor Kullak and musicologist Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn. During these studies, composers Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer showed interest in the talent of Nikolai and Anton. They gave them a letter of recommendation to the composer Alexander Villuan, who taught the boys when the Rubinstein family returned to Moscow in 1846. In the photo below, brothers Nikolai and Anton Rubinstein.

In 1851, at the age of 16, Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinshtein entered the medical faculty of Moscow University to avoid being drafted into the army, and graduated in 1855. During his studies, he took part in the performances and tours of Anton Rubinstein and Alexander Villuan, establishing himself as an outstanding virtuoso pianist. Nikolai Grigorievich was received in all the fashion salons and aristocratic houses of Moscow.

In 1859, together with Prince Nikolai Petrovich Trubetskoy, Nikolai Grigoryevich established the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society, and then in 1866, again in collaboration with Trubetskoy, became the founder of the Moscow Conservatory. Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein remained the director of this educational institution until the end of his life. Today the conservatory bears the name of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. A photo of the Rubinstein conservatory is presented below.

As one of the first teachers in the composition class, Nikolai Rubinstein hired Tchaikovsky, a former student of his brother, playing a big role in the future career of Pyotr Ilyich. Rubinstein also often performed works by Tchaikovsky. In 1879, under the patronage of Nikolai Grigorievich, the premiere of Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin" took place.

Nikolai Rubinstein died on March 11, 1881 in Paris (France) at the age of 45. The cause of death was the last stage of tuberculosis. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky dedicated a piano trio composed in 1882 to the memory of the pianist.

Music style

Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein was considered one of the greatest pianists of his time, but today his merits are in the shadow of the creative achievements of Anton Grigorievich. In contrast to the fiery, innovative manner of his older brother, Nikolai Grigorievich preferred strict and restrained classicism. Contemporary critics said that Nikolai Rubinstein, like no one else, was able to reveal the main essence of the play and emphasize important details.

Famous students

An adherent of the classical piano education, Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinshtein, brought up a whole galaxy of famous musicians, being a teacher. Among them are the Russian pianist and composer Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, the German pianist and composer Emil von Sauer, the Russian pianist and conductor Alexander Ilyich Ziloti, the Russian-German pianist and teacher Ernest Aloizovich Edlichka andPolish-Russian pianist, teacher and composer Heinrich Albertovich Pachulsky.

Author's essays

Despite the rare mention of this, Nikolai Grigorievich Rubinstein was engaged in composing music, writing several works. His music was dismissed as unimportant by his contemporaries. Among the most famous works are "Tarantella in E Minor" and "Fantasy on a Theme of Schumann" as a piano solo. At one time, Nikolai Grigorievich often joked that he had no need to compose, since his brother Anton Grigorievich composes for three people.