Metamorphoses of A. T. Gretchaninov’s musical language in the 1910s. The cycle of piano pieces “Pastels” Op. 61

The research aims to shed light on the metamorphoses of the musical language of the famous Russian composer A. T. Gretchaninov, active in the late XIX century – the first half of the XX century, which occurred in the 1910s. The paper pays special attention to the identification of the stylistic singularity of “Pastels” Op. 61 (1912-1913), a cycle of piano pieces. The scientific originality of the research is connected with the fact that A. T. Gretchaninov’s creative work has not been previously considered in the context of the changes that took place in the composer’s musical style in the 1910s. As a result, it has been revealed that the novelty of Gretchaninov’s musical language in the period under consideration was due to both changes in Russian art in general (in particular, the influence of impressionism on the composer’s work turned out to be significant) and crises in Alexander Tikhonovich’s personal and creative life. In particular, this trend can be traced in the history of creation of the cycle “Pastels”: during a difficult, critical period, Gretchaninov turned to composing music for children, in which he would find solace, but the piano pieces in the cycle turned out to be generally sad in an unchildlike way and psychologically saturated with deeply “adult” feelings and experiences.