Pushkin is Mozart

 …in my perception 🙂

Seriously, when I listen to Mozart, I get the same state and same type of vibrations like when I read or recite Pushkin. Absolutely the same!

 Mozart         Pushkin

You surely know Mozart, that most popular musician ever. But who is Pushkin and why can I feel it this way?

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was Russian 19th century country’s greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin (1799-1837) blended Old Slavonic with vernacular Russian into a rich, melodic language. In fact, he created the language Russians speak today and defined the literary baseline for all great Russian writers, among them Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.  Pushkin wrote some 800 lyrics with a dozen narrative poems. His personal life was made difficult by his conflicts with the authorities who disapproved of his liberal views. Twice-banished by the Czar, Pushkin’s great historical work Boris Godunov emphasizes “the judgement of the people” as the powerful antidote to the excesses of autocratic rule. In it he avowed that the poet-as-prophet should “fire the hearts of men with his words.” 

Pushkin`s poetry is a must and the love of every Russian: everyone can recite at least one poem of Puskin by heart. Truly, Alexander Pushkin was a poet of genius. His ability to express general truths in short, clever sentences has no parallel. Many of his expressions have become part of the speech even of people who may not have read his poetry carefully. They have become part of everyday language, absorbed by every generation almost in the cradle. Pushkin wrote for all ages – fairy tales for children, love poems for teenagers, philosophical dramas for adults. And in all he wrote he had something significant to say.

The music of Mozart is full of sunshine and pure joy, not emotional and not thoughtful, just in the middle, very balanced and blissful. And exactly the same impact on me has the Pushkin’s poetry – amazingly, just the very same! Was it one and the same creative spirit? How not to believe in reincarnation in that case? -Pushkin was born 8 years after Mozart died… Who knows?

Some Russian famous person said “Pushkin is our everything”. When you visit Austria, you understand same about Mozart, because he is literary onmipresent…I am not aware of two other people of art that are so much adored and known by their peoples.

Now let me give you the taste of their genius creations.

My absolute favourite of all Pushkin is Winter Morning that describes the true beauty of winter, so dear to every Russian heart…(plese note that any translation in case of Pushkin is almost hopeless)

WINTER MORNING

Cold frost and sunshine: day of wonder!
But you, my friend, are still in slumber –
Wake up, my beauty, time belies:
You dormant eyes, I beg you, broaden
Toward the northerly Aurora,
As though a northern star arise!

Recall last night, the snow was whirling,
Across the sky, the haze was twirling,
The moon, as though a pale dye,
Emerged with yellow through faint clouds.
And there you sat, immersed in doubts,
And now, – just take a look outside:

The snow below the bluish skies,
Like a majestic carpet lies,
And in the light of day it shimmers.
The woods are dusky. Through the frost
The greenish fir-trees are exposed;
And under ice, a river glitters.

The room is lit with amber light.
And bursting, popping in delight
Hot stove still rattles in a fray.
While it is nice to hear its clatter,
Perhaps, we should command to saddle
A fervent mare into the sleight?

And sliding on the morning snow
Dear friend, we’ll let our worries go,
And with the zealous mare we’ll flee.
We’ll visit empty ranges, thence,
The woods, which used to be so dense
And then the shore, so dear to me.

For you to compare:  Mozart, the 41th Symphony

ENJOY!

axinia