2022-04-29
Despite the current situation in Ukraine we should not forget the profound cultural and philosophical contributions to humanity of Russian people
By Beverley Dight, Green Issue Co-editor
While reflecting that it is a great shame that the Russian people are being vilified due to the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, over which they had no control, and which horrified many, having friends and relatives in Ukraine, it occurred to me that my life has been greatly enriched by the sparkling Russian culture.
The Russian people are said to feel helpless and ashamed by the tragic decision of their President to invade Ukraine. Many have left Russia and thousands have been arrested at anti-war protests, as reported by France 24 and other media.
I will be discussing those aspects of Russian culture that have touched and enhanced my life to show that there is so much more to the Russian people and their culture than this cruel invasion would suggest.
I first became aware of the beauty and brilliance of Russian culture as a child, when I became fascinated by the great prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, after reading a book about her life. She inspired in me a lifelong love of dancing.
Russia has had an enormous and unique impact on the development of ballet around the world. Although ballet originated in France and Italy it was refined in Russia.
French dancers greatly influenced early Russian ballet. Then a uniquely Russian style of ballet emerged, a blend of classical ballet and Russian folk dancing, bringing a piece of Russian soul to the dance, making it utterly captivating to watch.
It has great technical skill, using the upper body as much as the lower. It also uses drama and intensity, and it is considered that this Russian art form is unlike anything you will see in the ballet theatres of Europe.
After the Russian revolution the new Soviet Union dictated a strict socialist realism style. Many Russian dancers such as Mickhail Baryshnokov and Rudolf Nureyev fled to the West in the 1960s in search of creative freedom, and began spreading the distinct Russian style to the world.
Anna Pavlova was born in 1881. She is said to be one of the greatest and most influential ballerinas in the history of the world. Her success was partly due to her tireless work ethic. She pointed out that "God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius."
She had a very active imagination and love of fantasy. It enabled her in her most famous performance, dancing the leading role in The Dying Swan, to convey to the audience the ballet's message about the fragility and preciousness of life.
Pavlova formed her own company and performed throughout the world, a very daring and enterprising act at that time. She travelled everywhere that travel was possible. Australians were so impressed by her after she toured Australia in 1926 that one of our favourite desserts was named after her.
She died at age 50. Her legacy lives on through dance schools, societies and companies established in her honour, and in the future generations of dancers she inspired.
Shortly after discovering Anna Pavlova I was enthralled by the profundity of Leo Tolstoy's epic novel, "War and Peace".
Tolstoy is considered to be one of the greatest novelists in the world. However, few people are aware that he was also one of the most radical social and political thinkers.
During a long life from 1828 to 1910 Tolstoy gradually rejected the beliefs of his aristocratic background and embraced a startlingly unconventional world view. He was a strong critic of the State, Church and Law.
This led to his excommunication from the Orthodox Church of Russia. It is believed that if not for his fame he would have been arrested. Tolstoy received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1909, and the fact that he never won is a major controversy.
Tolstoy's life seems to be one of constant transformation. Born to the Russian nobility, as a young Count he led a life of debauchery. He was also influenced by a growing movement across Russia which extolled the work of the peasantry. He worked alongside labourers, ploughed the fields and repaired their homes.
Tolstoy joined the army in 1851. His experiences in the army and during two trips around Europe, where he saw a public execution, converted him from being a dissolute and privileged society author to a non-violent and spiritual anarchist.
Leo Tolstoy's two masterpieces, "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina” were believed to be pinnacles of realistic fiction. His humanitarian nature was evident when in 1873 he stopped writing "Anna Karenina" after a crop failure to organise aid for the starving.
After studying the works of the German philosopher Schopenhauer, Buddhist texts and the Bible, Tolstoy adopted a revolutionary brand of Christianity and rejected all organized religion. Tolstoy's version of Christianity was based on Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount' and his message of loving your neighbour and God, and turning the other cheek. He rejected violence of any kind.
"The Kingdom of God", Tolstoy's book based on these ideas, inspired Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. When Gandhi corresponded with Tolstoy, asking for his advice, Tolstoy sent him "A Letter to a Hindu", which outlined his belief in non-violence as a means for India to gain its independence from colonial rule.
Tolstoy was also a political reformer. He denounced the intervention of the Eight Nation Alliance in the Boxer Rebellion of China, the Filipino American War and the Second Boer War.
Leo Tolstoy's legacy is monumental. Due to his influence on Gandhi India achieved its freedom from the British Empire through non-violent action.
"War and Peace" is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest novels ever written. It examines events leading up to Napoleon's invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families.
One of the sources of its popular appeal and literary greatness is considered to be that it is a huge mirror of life, in fact a celebration of life, in the era of realism. Life is depicted in all of its aspects; happiness and sadness, love and hate. The novel is said to make you laugh and make you cry.
Tolstoy's emerging philosophy is evident in "War and Peace". His views on history, free will and destiny are seen in the following passage: "The King is the slave of history. Every action that seems to them to be an act of their own free will is in a historical sense not free will at all, but in bondage to the whole course of previous history and predestined from all eternity."
His view of the primacy of love is revealed in "Anything at all I understand I understand only because of love." Tolstoy's realization of the sheer horror and futility of war is illustrated by "War is the vilest thing in the world, and we must understand that and not play at war."
Reading Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at a vulnerable age ignited my lifelong abhorrence of war and longing for peace to prevail in the world.
A friend and I read a humorous novel by Russian author Nabokov about an eccentric chess player, which led us to learn chess, and for several years happily, though badly, play chess with each other.
There is a strong heritage of playing chess, and playing chess well in Russia. In the last hundred or so years Russia seemed almost synonymous with chess. It has produced more grandmasters and world champions than any other country.
Born in Leningrad in 1932 Boris Spassky is the most famous Russian chess player. He was the world champion from 1969 to 1972, when he lost to Bobby Fischer from America. They were rivals at the height of the Cold War, so their match was the most widely covered in history, with mainstream media covering it throughout the world.
Recently, while listening to music on You-Tube, my soul was touched by the haunting melody of "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paginini, Variation 18, by Sergei Rachmaninov, and I delighted in "The Second Waltz" by Dmitri Shostakovich.
It is said that the unique gift of Russian music is that it grabs the heart of the listener at the deepest level.
Dyofr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born in 1840, is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time and the most popular Russian composer.
He had an unparalleled genius of speaking from the heart, with a profound melodic gift, exuberant orchestral imagination, and an extraordinary ability to strike at the core of human emotion.
Music was not his only passion. He was multilingual, had a library consisting of 1,200 books, and had a short career in the Ministry of Justice.
Tchaikovsky regularly toured, conducting orchestral performances of his works. This allowed him to establish friendships with contemporary composers. such as Dvorak, Greig, Mahler and Saint-Saens.
Tchaikovsky's music continues to thrill audiences even when the popularity of classical music is in decline.
Sergei Rachmaninov was another brilliant Russian composer, as well as a virtuoso pianist and composer. He was considered the finest pianist of his day. He was born into a musical family in 1873. He took up the piano at age 4, and was mentored by Tchaikovsky.
His music is said to be rich, with wonderful melodies and luscious orchestration. The piano is featured prominently in his compositions. After the Russian Revolution in 1917 he left Russia with his family, and in 1941 became an American citizen.
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto number 3 in D minor has been said to have one of the most sublime melodies of any piano concerto ever, while his popular Piano Concerto no 2 is considered the greatest piano concerto ever written.
The lyrical, heart wrenching melodies in his Sonata for Cello and Piano seem to be weeping for the people of Ukraine.
While gathering information for this article it became evident that Russia and Europe were closely connected. Let us hope that eventually, with a world at peace, they will find their way to each other again.
"You can love a person dear to you with human love,
but an enemy can only be loved with divine love."
Leo Tolstoy
Header photo: Anna Pavlova dancing Giselle, 1906. Source: Elegancepedia
[Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens WA]