The curse of gambling

 　　He has composed nearly 500 pieces of music in his life, and its range of genres is amazing, including lyrical romantics, unrestrained gypsy songs, patriotic battle songs, ensembles, chorus, ballet, opera and drama music and so on. His romantic song "Nightingale" has captivated audiences all over the world with its charming melody. The Italian opera master Rossini used the music of "The Nightingale" in the soundtrack of the third act of his opera "The Barber of Seville". The composer was Alexander Alexander Aryabiyev. But such a composer, who was famous in the world music circle and brought beautiful artistic enjoyment to the world, spent a quarter of his 64-year life in imprisonment and exile. When he died in 1851, he The injustice of the case has not yet been completely cleared.

　　In August 1787, Aryabiyev was born in a noble family in Tobolsk, Russia, at the confluence of the Irtysh and Tobol rivers, and was an officer of the Akhtersky Regiment in his youth. Retired in 1823 with the rank of lieutenant colonel of hussars.

　　One day in February 1825, Aryabiyev was drinking champagne and mineral water with a few friends at his home in Moscow, and gleefully gambled. At this time, a Voronezh landlord named Fremev won a large amount of cash - 380 gold rubles. After a while, he had 40,000 rubles in debt on his account, and the red-eyed Flemev decided to go all out and bet another 40,000 rubles.

　　Aryabiyev advised him not to take the risk, but Flemev resisted and insisted on gambling. As a result, he lost again. The gambler who was desperate to lose wiped the debt number recorded on the table. He thought he had fallen into a scam.

　　When Aliabiyev heard his accusation, he was very angry and gave him a slap in the face. The matter was almost a duel. Later, everyone calmed down, reconciled and dispersed peacefully.

　　But unexpectedly, news came three days later that Flemev died suddenly in a hotel in the village of Chertanovo outside Moscow. After preliminary investigation, the cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. But half a month after the body was buried, Aryabiyev was arrested at home on the charge of murdering Fremenv.

　　Tsar Alexander I immediately ordered the case to be transferred to the Council of Ministers, the highest prosecutorial body of the Empire, after receiving the report on the case. The edict wrote: "The culprit must be identified, and such demented gamblers must be severely punished to set an example."

　　Under the pressure of the tsar's decree, the police went all out to investigate, and the prosecutors interrogated and confronted several times a day. Officials even use unscrupulous means to create public opinion, lest the world will not be in chaos. Gossip is everywhere in Moscow, and even the official accounts are unbelievably absurd. One version says that two high-society elites, Aryabiyev, and his brother-in-law Shatilov killed a hapless gambler on the avenue because he tried to flee the capital after losing a lot of money . … As for the saying that the city is full of troubles and emerges in an endless stream, a meaningful sentence from Duke Vyazemsky (1792-1878), a famous poet and academician of the Academy of Sciences at that time, circulated in the capital: "Recently there has been a kind of in Moscow. New game - kill time" ("kill" in Russian is the same word as "murder", and the pronunciation of "time" "Flemian" is very similar to the deceased Flemev in this article . Victorinox cleverly uses homonyms to ridicule those who are as keen as a game to spread rumors).

　　Regrettably, the official account persists to this day, even by Mikhail Peryaev, a respected scholar of Moscow life, in his book "Old Moscow".

　　The trial of the Aryabiyev case lasted three years. During this period, he was imprisoned. The cell was damp and cold, and he lived a hard life. His health was severely damaged. In particular, his eyesight was fatally injured. He had to endure the endless torture of interrogation, confrontation, and finding faults. The only thing he could console himself when he was in a desperate situation was a piano licensed to him in his cell so that he could continue composing in prison. A composer charged with murder has written an astonishing piece of melody that is bright, peaceful, and joyous to life. This fully demonstrates the composer's innocence and clear conscience, and the composer is convinced that the lawsuit will be resolved justly.

　　During his imprisonment, Aryabiyev not only suffered physical damage, but also suffered more unbearable mental blows. Perhaps he deliberately delayed the trial, and his friend Nikita Davydov died in prison. In late 1826, his beloved lover Katya Rimskaya-Korsakova was forced to marry Colonel Ofrosimov.

　　In January 1828, the verdict was read out in the hall of the Moscow Criminal Court. Many of the many onlookers in the hall were so angry that they wept, but the defendant was very calm.

　　The verdict stated: Lieutenant Colonel (ranked when he retired in 1823) Aryabiyev, Major Glepov, and Ninth Civilian Shatilov were deprived of their medals, rank, and title of nobility and exiled to Siberia for committing crimes against society.

　　It is clearly an unjust case, but there is a reason for such an unjust verdict under the personal intervention of the Tsar. Aliabiyev was unrestrained by nature and made many friends, including many outstanding people at that time, such as Decembrists, poets and writers. Griboyedov (1795-1829), the author of the famous poetic play "Wise and Wrong", and Alexey Verstovsky (1799-1862), the composer and representative of romanticism, who endangered the tsarist regime. The characters are very close to him. It is self-evident that the Tsar had a grudge against it.

　　In mid-February 1828, Aryabiyev and others were escorted to Siberia, a long journey for more than a month. On the way, the vicissitudes of life are unbearable to look back on: on June 12, 1812, the day Napoleon's army invaded Russia, Aryabiyev was enjoying his family in his home in Moscow. Music creation, writing from Cong Rong. In September of the same year, the French army was defeated by Borodino, and Ariabiev failed to participate in the war, but in the famous Battle of Leipzig from October 16 to 19 of the following year, he personally participated in the four-day battle and performed very well. protrude. In this battle, the coalition forces composed of Russia, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal and Sweden jointly dealt with the French army, causing the French army to suffer a fatal blow. The Akhtersky Regiment of Aryabiyev captured 5 cannons and 500 prisoners of war under the command of Denis Davydov (1784-1839), a hero of the Great Patriotic War, poet and Hussar regiment commander. After the battle he was awarded two medals and one medal.

　　In the days of Petersburg, Ariabiev, a hussar, appeared in the theater in a tuxedo, which was already a violation of military discipline. The hussar was recognized immediately, for which he was placed in confinement for a month in the Petropavlovsky fortress.

　　During this period, his first opera "Moonlit Night" (or "Family God", written in 1822) was preparing for its premiere at the Bolshoi Theater, but the protagonist, coloratura soprano Alexandra Ivanova, that day "Drinking Discomfort" and dropped out of the show, and was able to perform it a year later.

　　Retired officers inevitably misbehave and waste their time. Drinking, gambling consuming most of their time, and even hanging out with suspicious characters. Aryabiyev can be said to be "the best" in this regard, and is good at winning the favor of women. He once said, mockingly, that he was "a victim of gambling and love."

　　There are also ironic events in the past: once he had an argument with someone during a game of cards, and finally had to duel with the opponent. The following is the dialogue between the two sides before the duel:

　　"What kind of guy do you want to fight with?" the other party asked.

　　"Sabers, of course," Ariabiyev replied.

　　"no".

　　"Why not? I am the victim and I have the right to choose weapons."

　　"As you wish, not anyway."

　　"Then use a long sword."

　　"No, absolutely not! I'm not born to see guys out of their sheaths."

　　The other party's words caused a lot of laughter, and Aryabiyev couldn't help laughing. The two sides finally held high champagne and reconciled. Unexpectedly, after more than ten years, the result of arguing with poker friends is completely different from "turning the war into jade and silk".

　　In early 1825, shortly before the Aryabiyev incident, to commemorate the completion of the Bolshoi Theater, he composed the overture "The Blessing of the Muses". Two weeks earlier, he had participated in a benefit show held by the Moscow Noble Club for the relief of victims of the Petersburg floods.

　　Although Aryabiev was rather cynical and playful, he was already a well-known composer in Moscow by this time, and some of his operettas were comparable to those of French masters.

　　In mid-March, Ariabiyev and his party walked the muddy road in spring with difficulty and came to the Irtysh River. On the other side was the famous White Stone Castle Tobolsk, which was a place of exile for political prisoners in the Tsarist era. It was in this city that the future composer of the Governor's family was born. He spent his childhood before the age of 9 here, and when he returned to his hometown after 30 years, he was a distressed exile. There is nothing here, no relatives, the only consolation is music. Fortunately, there is an excellent local Cossack military band consisting of 100 musicians and 3 choruses, which provides favorable conditions for his creative activities. In the summer of 1829, when the famous German physicist and traveler Alexander Humboldt (1769-1859) visited, Ariabiev wrote a chorus with accompaniment, whose score was titled "In acknowledgment of Alexander Humboldt. The hymn of His Excellency the visit to the Siberian Cossack Standing Army School". Humboldt liked the piece so much that he asked to send him a score. After his return to Berlin, he organized a performance of the piece, which was highly praised by the public and musicians.

　　In 1832, the composer was transferred to the Caucasus for health reasons. The following year, due to his repeated requests to return to Moscow, he was changed to Orenburg. Therefore, he had to sneak to Moscow a few times.

　　On August 13, 1840, the most important event in the composer's life happened: he brought Ekaterina Ofrosimova (the aforementioned Katya Rimes), who had been widowed for a year. Kaya-Korsakova) came to the village of Ryazancha, and the couple that Lao Yan had been flying for 14 years finally became dependents.

　　In the more than ten years of life in exile, Ariabiev's affection for Yekaterina has never changed, and many works are made for her. Some researchers believe that the lyrics are taken from the famous song "The Nightingale" from the poem "The Nightingale" by the poet Anton Gerwig (1798-1831, a friend of Pushkin), which the composer wrote when he was thinking of Katya in prison.

　　During the 13 years of living with Ofrosimov, Katya has always been in love with Aryabiyev. A year after her husband's death, that is, after serving the prescribed mourning period, she remarried Ariabiev. After marriage, she cared deeply for her victimized husband and became his most loyal friend in his later years, giving him the greatest comfort. After much effort, talk, and intercession, in 1843 the Tsar finally allowed him to "settled in Moscow under police surveillance, but not in contact with the public." The exile was over...but the words "forgiveness" or "pardon" are not to be found in the decree of Nicholas I (who succeeded him in 1825). The titles of nobility, official positions and medals deprived 15 years ago will also not be returned.

　　At this time, Aryabiyev was far from the fierce hussars depicted in the portraits. The mustache is gone, the head is bald, and there are traces of his rough life on his face. Only his eyes are still different. The short-sighted and bulging eyes flash with kindness, reminiscent of the old Ariabiev. .

　　In the last years, the composer's health deteriorated, his eyesight deteriorated, one leg was so sore that he could barely walk, and his wife was ill, and they lived on hardships. Yet music has always been the backbone of his life. He enjoys participating in benefit performances and various charity fundraisers. He also cares deeply about young musicians.

　　On February 22, 1851, Aryabiyev died in his wife's hut on Novinsky Boulevard and was buried in the Simonov Monastery. His wife died three years later and was buried next to her husband's tomb. Incredibly, not far away is the tomb of Fremev, who brought him disaster.

　　The death of the composer was ignored by his contemporaries, there was no eulogy, not a single tribute. In the second half of the 19th century, articles about his life were nothing more than game articles about anecdotes and scandals of a misbehaving, bohemian.

　　The main part of his archive was handed over to the Moscow Conservatory by one of his close relatives, and it was here that it was regarded as worthless without being registered, organized, and kept in the basement. His musical and literary manuscripts in private hands have not received the attention they deserve.

　　At the end of the 19th century, it became fashionable to denigrate the wildly popular romances "The Nightingale" and "Twilight Crimson". Only the great composer Tchaikovsky refuted it: "Sometimes there is an imperceptible and uncompromising objection in the music that is moving, and when I listen to "The Nightingale", I can't help but burst into tears. !!! But some 'authorities' think it's vulgar and vulgar."

　　Deprecation and slander can't stop "Nightingale" from flying around the world. When the composer was alive, the world's best singers sang his works, including the German coloratura soprano Henrietta Zontag (1806-1854), the Italian coloratura soprano Adri Na Patty (1843-1919, sang on stage at the age of 7), etc. Especially when the French mezzo-soprano singer and composer Polina Viardo-Garcia (1821-1910, a close friend of the Russian writer Turgenev) sang this piece in Petersburg, the whole city fell for it. In the mid-19th century, the famous Russian girl Vanya also sang this piece of music everywhere.

　　Today, "Nightingale" is still the favorite piece of music by coloratura sopranos from all over the world. In addition, there are numerous arrangements of instrumental music that continue the melody of The Nightingale. It is also worth mentioning that the song "Nightingale" is always included in the first few pages of various textbooks for introductory music today.

　　It has been more than 100 years since Aryabiyev left this world, and he has left many works to the world, all of which are treasures that will never tire of listening to them. This was unexpected by the "authorities" and even the composer himself. People will miss this lovely, respectable and unfortunate composer when they appreciate his beautiful and beautiful music.