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From 27 April to 27 July, the Musical and Audiovisual Documents reading room (No 305) hosts the anniversary exhibition “White Nights Melodies”, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Russian composer Isaac Schwartz (1923–2009).
People's Artist of Russia Isaac Schwartz left a great creative legacy: music for 35 performances, ballets, symphonic and chamber compositions, and a performance for the orchestra "Yellow Stars". However, his most famous work was in the cinema. Isaak had written music for more than 120 films, among which there were recognized masterpieces of Russian and world cinema: "Star of Captivating Happiness", "Melodies of the White Night", "White Sun of the Desert", "Dersu Uzala", "One Hundred Days after Childhood", "Straw Hat", "Zhenya, Zhenechka and "Katyusha"", "Wild dog Dingo".
His relationship and productive collaboration with the poet Bulat Okudzhava, to whose verses he produced 32 songs, played a special significance in the composer's life. Okudzhava highly appreciated the rare gift of Schwartz "to extract music from the verses, the very one that only exists for each line".
Schwartz was a kind of musical playwright, with a unique gift for plot construction through music. With his compositions, he did not illustrate events on the screen, but lyrically interpreted them, created characters, filling the lives of the film's characters with sensations and feelings. All of the composer's music, whether it be for theatre, film, symphony, or ballet, walks a thin line between banal and moving nobility. His works stand out for their intense thematic content, emotionality, alluring immediacy, and perceptibility.
The exhibition features sheet music editions of works by Isaac Schwartz, including songs from movies, as well as pieces for symphony orchestra: symphony, Youth Overture, suite from the ballet "On the Eve". Audio documents provide an opportunity to listen to instrumental and vocal works from various films: "A Walk through the Night City" from the film "Melodies of the White Night", "Love and Separation" and "Song of the Cavalry Guard" to the verses of B. Okudzhava, "I went to You" and "Don't ask, Why..." to the verses of A. Pushkin and others.
The exhibition is complemented by O. Zavadovskaia's book "Besedy s Isaakom Shvartsem" (Conversations with Isaac Schwartz), as well as articles from periodicals about the composer's life and work.
The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 52.
The article is provided by the Special Collections Service Department.
