Tolstoy first appeared in front of a phonograph horn in February 1895. At least there is no information about earlier records.

Sessions, as they said then, took place in the Moscow house of Yuli Ivanovich Blok, an interesting person, a pioneer of Russian sound recording, who created in the 1890s a unique phonographic collection, part of which is now kept in the Pushkin House.

It was there, in the phonogram archive of the Pushkin House, that the earliest known recording of Tolstoy was found - three rolls with a small parable “The Penitent Sinner. (For the first time, LF Volkov-Lannit spoke about this in his book "The Art of the Imprinted Sound").

Why did Tolstoy choose this particular story? Maybe because he was warned that it should not be too long (the eternal dictatorship of the format), or maybe because he thought that this short work in the most intelligible form expresses the main idea that has deeply worried Tolstoy lately: they will never repent it is not too late - work on "Resurrection" was already underway.

How many “sessions” did the writer give then and when did they take place?Part of the answer comes from the recording itself. At the end of it, Tolstoy says: “I spoke in Moscow on February 14, 1895. I, Leo Tolstoy, and his wife "... This not-so-folding phrase, which conveys the natural excitement familiar to anyone who has ever spoken into a microphone without experience and preparation, is very informative. She gives the exact date and indicates that Sofia Andreevna was present during the recording, apparently also interested in the fashionable novelty of the era - “ phonograph a vom". And we are also surprised to learn that Lev Nikolayevich himself called himself somewhat in the German manner: "Lyov". Yes, it was "Lyov", through "e", and also, by the way, was called by his home: Lyov Nikolaevich, Lyovushka ...

So, we know that the recording took place on February 14, 1895. But the composer Taneyev wrote in his diary that on February 17, Yu. I. Blok, invited him to come in on the 20th, and said that "there should be Tolstoy." Did that “session” take place, or was it canceled for some reason? If it did take place, and Tolstoy was recorded again - did that roller die, or is he waiting in the wings in some "strange" case? And was the meeting on February 14 the very first?To understand all this, you still need to carry out a comparison of letters, diaries, memoirs and documents - an interesting research work.

*
The apparatus on which the writer's voice was recorded then was extremely imperfect - it was one of the very first models. On February 14, 1895, Tolstoy had to read his story twice, apparently because the first entry came out badly; and now these rollers require meticulous restoration. Perhaps it was precisely because of the imperfection of that first recording that Tolstoy did not show much interest in the phonograph for many years: he tried and was disappointed. And what could Lev Nikolaevich see then in this box with a horn and levers? A clever trinket, a "little thing" that distracts from the main, another toy of progress. But, at about the same time (April 25, 1895), he wrote down in his diary his conversation with his daughter Sasha (Alesandra Lvovna) and her friend Nadya Martynova: “They began to talk about how soon material progress would be, like electricity, etc. And I felt sorry for them, and I began to tell them that I was waiting and dreaming, and not only dreaming, but also trying, about something else the only important progress is not electricity and flying through the air, but about the progress of brotherhood, unity, love ... " No, the phonograph, in Tolstoy's understanding, could not contribute to the "only important progress" in any way. And although the writer already then predicted a great future for the phonograph, many more years will pass before Lev Nikolaevich's attention will again be drawn to the sound recording device.

*
On May 20, 1907, Stefan Bonsal, the editor of the New York Times, came to Yasnaya Polyana. He took a long political interview with Tolstoy and, saying goodbye, offered to send Lev Nikolayevich a phonograph for dictation as a gift. Tolstoy agreed: at the age of 79 it was already difficult for him to work on manuscripts and respond to extensive correspondence - a mechanical assistant would be very useful.

In the summer of 1907, business correspondence was conducted between Yasnaya and New York on this matter, and soon Tolstoy received a notification that a phonograph was being sent to him, and that Edison, upon learning that this apparatus was intended for Tolstoy, refuses any payment. According to the memoirs of A.P. Sergeenko, everyone in Tolstoy's house regarded the imminent arrival of the phonograph as a significant event, and Lev Nikolaevich was waiting for it with interest and even showed some impatience, wrote P.I. Biryukov: "The phonograph invoice has been received, but it is not yet available."(December 28, 1907).

There were even specific creative plans: Tolstoy wanted to continue his "Memories of Childhood", begun at the request of Biryukov, but abandoned three years earlier. Now the idea came to dictate memories into a phonograph, and D.P. Makovitsky then wrote in his diary: “In the morning, Lev Nikolaevich asked me to what place his memoirs were brought in in Biryukov's biography. He wants to continue them when he gets the phonograph given to him by Edison. ". But when the phonograph arrived (January 17, 1908), it became clear that the need to change the rollers every 10-12 minutes and their limited number would not technically allow for lengthy dictations. Therefore, it was decided to use the phonograph for the preparation of letters and a number of small articles in the book "Reading Circle".

According to the testimony of relatives, Lev Nikolaevich was very interested in the apparatus and aroused the desire to speak (Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya wrote about her father to A.B. Goldenveiser on February 9, 1908: "The phonograph makes his work very easy"), but were and objective obstacles. It quickly became clear that dictation into a phonograph requires special concentration. The spoken phrase turned out to be awkward, the thought was torn (and this is in Tolstoy's case!), I had to think over each word in advance and stop the recording so that there were no pauses. In addition, Lev Nikolayevich was very worried, he tried to talk only about the most important things, and all this was not easy for him. In some of the surviving recordings, we hear words of apology: “I am writing this letter to you, speaking into the phonograph, and from this, forgive me, if it is stupid and stupid ...” or, as in a letter to Tayana Lvovna Sukhotina-Tolstaya, "... I am writing this letter, speaking into a phonograph, so forgive for its awkwardness, I am not used to it yet ..." and then after a long pause: "I continue to dictate, but I must admit that it is very difficult, I will hardly use this phonograph."

Lev Nikolaevich usually dictated his letters in the morning, and then the secretaries translated them from the sounding version to the written one. Often, Tolstoy corrected what was dictated or added, as he himself put it, "in a human way."

Interest in the phonograph did not fade throughout 1908, but the phonograph was dictated to the beginning of his famous article "I Can't Be Silent."

*
In addition to stenography, Tolstoy also used a sound recording device for pedagogical purposes, as a kind of teaching aid (a prototype of future school "phono-chrestomats"). He wrote down several short instructions for children, children's stories and fairy tales, including the famous "Address to the boys of the Yasnaya Polyana school":

“Thank you guys for coming to me. I am glad when you study well. Just please don't be naughty. And that is, those who do not listen, but only play pranks themselves. And what I tell you will be necessary for you. You will remember, when I’m gone, that the old man said good things to us. Farewell. Will."

On April 17, 1908, D.P. Makovitsky wrote in his diary: “L. N. said that he wanted to write a fairy tale for children and tell it to the phonograph for his students in different voices, and ask Tatyana Lvovna as well. A funny tale, for example, about a flea, which Tula masters forged ”.

And here is the testimony of N. N. Gusev: “ Four boys from Tula came to buy books. LN fed them, turned on a phonograph for them, put on Leskov's story, “On the occasion of the holiday, offended”, which he had transcribed for the children and told into the phonograph by himself.(May 18, 1908), and two days later again: “ At five o'clock in the afternoon there were 120 children from Tula, students of the railway school with six teachers. L. N. distributed books to everyone. I started a phonograph for them, putting on an arrangement of Leskov's story" (May 20).

Curious memories of how this happened.

*
In the summer of the same year, a letter was received from Edison himself:

July 2, 1908
Your Majesty.

May I ask you to give us one or two phonograph sessions in French or English, best of all in both. It is advisable that you read a short address to the peoples of the whole world, in which some idea was expressed that moves humanity forward morally and socially. My phonographs are now common in all cultural countries, in the United States alone there are over a million. You are world-famous, and I am sure that your words will be listened to with eager attention by millions of people who will not be able to disobey the direct action of your own words, and thanks to such an intermediary as a phonograph, they will remain forever.

Of course, these sessions should be furnished with as little anxiety as possible. The entire session will take no more than one hour. If you agree, I will send two of my assistants to you with the necessary equipment at the time specified by you.

Please accept the assurance of my deepest respect for you and your work. T. A. Edison, deeply devoted to you.

Permission to travel was given immediately. Tolstoy was expecting the guests with some excitement, since he believed that recording his voice was an unseemly honor. On the day he received the letter from Edison's staff, he entered into his diary: “ I want to prepare for the phonograph a real one, close to my heart"(December 19, 1908). And after a few daysD.P. Makovitsky wrote:

December 23, 1908: “... Two Englishmen came from Edison with a good phonograph - to record and then reproduce the voice of Lev Nikolaevich».

December 24: " Lev Nikolaevich was worried a few days before the arrival of the British; today, before speaking into the phonograph, I practiced, especially in the English text. He translated and wrote down what he wanted to say into French. He spoke well in Russian and French, in English (from "The Kingdom of God") did not come out well, he stammered on two words. Tomorrow he will speak again. "

December 25: “Today Lev Nikolaevich spoke English text into the phonograph. Edison's Americans were very pleased with the reception».

Surprisingly, one of the rollers, probably recorded during that visit, was discovered relatively recently in the Edison archives. This roller has long been considered dead in a big fire, but by a lucky coincidence, contrary to instructions, one of the employees took it home. The roller has survived, but the recording still requires restoration.

*
In addition to the phonograph, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was also recorded on records.

In October 1909, the Gramophone firm, at the initiative of the Society of Periodicals, recorded small fragments read by Tolstoy in Russian, English, German and French from Thoughts for Every Day. In 1910, these recordings were published and their popularity was so great that even public paid auditions were arranged in the former Vulkan cinema on Taganka. There is a legend that the disc “The Confessions of Leo Tolstoy, read by himself” was also recorded, but no one has yet managed to find this record.

According to the estimates of L.A. Shilov, who put a lot of effort into the search, restoration and systematization of Tolstoy's recordings and, in fact, who returned them to the audience, about forty fragments of Tolstoy's voice have survived to this day. Only his phonographic recordings (not counting the gramophone) sound, more than an hour. Of these, for the Tolstoy Museum and for the “Melodia” company L.A. Shilov compiled two records at one time: “Lev Tolstoy. At the Old Phonograph ”and“ Leo Tolstoy Speaks ”.

Tolstoy's phonograph is still kept in the writer's office in Yasnaya Polyana, but, unfortunately, no longer works.

About Yu.I. Blok (1858-1934) and his notes should be discussed separately, and I hope to return to this topic.

Volkov-Lannit L. F. The Art of the Imprinted Sound: Essays on the History of the Gramophone. - M .: 1964.

Taneyev S. Diaries. Book one. 1894-1898. M., 1981, p. 68.

About the work on the search and restoration of Tolstoy rollers, L.A. Shilov. Cm. .

The corresponding handwritten record of Tolstoy, according to L.A. Shilov, is available in the so-called. "Edison's Album" - YI Blok's collection of reviews of different people about the phonograph.

[ 6] See: At Tolstoy. Yasnopolyanskie notes of D.P. Makovitsky. M. 1979.

See: N. Gusev. Two years with Leo Tolstoy. M 1973.

Sergeenko P. In Yasnaya Polyana (Evening courses). / Russkiye vedomosti, 1908, April 2, No. 77.

Tolstoy's correspondence with T. Edison / Publ. A. Sergeenko // L.N. Tolstoy / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Inst rus. lit. (Pushkin. House). - M .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1939. - Book. II. - S. 330-338. - (Lit. inheritance; T. 37/38).

Anastasia Elaeva, RIA Novosti

One hundred years have passed since the day of mutual exchange, as we would now say, "intellectual products" between two geniuses of mankind: the famous American inventor and the great Russian writer. However, much in this story is still a mystery.

The names of these people are Thomas Alva Edison, who improved and patented more than a thousand inventions, and Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, the great Russian writer and philosopher.

One of Edison's favorite inventions, by the way, very deaf by nature, was the "talking machine" - a phonograph, patented by him in 1878. It made it possible to record and reproduce sound on wax rollers.

The first time Tolstoy tried to record on a phonograph was in 1895. Then, while visiting the ethnographer YI Blok, who received a batch of new "talking" typewriters from America, Tolstoy read the story "The Penitent Sinner."

A few years later, in May 1907, the editor of the New York Times, Stephen Bonsal, came to Yasnaya Polyana to visit Lev Nikolaevich. As a token of gratitude for the warm welcome, he promised the writer to send him a new phonograph from across the ocean, which American journalists actively used in their work.

The promised package reached Russia almost a year later - in January 1908, Bonsal entrusted the delivery to his friend, a journalist from the New York Evening Journal, Arthur Brisbane, who in turn turned to Edison's Edison Business Phonograph.

When the inventor found out to whom the phonograph was intended, he refused the payment and sent his apparatus to Yasnaya Polyana with the inscription engraved on it - "A gift to Count Leo Tolstoy from Thomas Alva Edison." This phonograph is still kept in the writer's museum in Yasnaya Polyana.

In the summer of 1908, Edison asked the creator of War and Peace to make some recordings for him in English and French.

“... It is desirable that you appeal to the peoples of the whole world, - wrote the American, - expressing any idea that could help humanity move forward morally and socially. My phonograms are now distributed in all civilized countries, and in the USA there are already about a million of them. Your glory is worldwide, and I am sure that your appeal will be listened to with eager attention by millions of people who cannot but be impressed by the depth and sincerity of your words, and thanks to such a “mediator” these words will be preserved forever ... "

The Russian classic agreed, and later, in December 1908, Tolstoy's family doctor D. Makovitsky made a record “about the arrival of two Englishmen with a good phonograph”, who recorded and then reproduced the voice of Lev Nikolaevich.

From the doctor's personal notes, we learn that Tolstoy "practiced before speaking into the phonograph, especially in the English text." He prepared for the recording very carefully, was nervous, thought for a long time about what exactly should be addressed to millions of listeners "in all civilized countries of the world."

Tolstoy's friend and assistant, V. Chertkov, advised him to read in English an excerpt from the treatise "On Life", written back in 1887. If the writer successfully uttered the text in Russian and French the first time, then how personal doctor, in the English text he hesitated in a few words and decided to rewrite the next day.

However, in the end, the recordings turned out to be very good, they safely survived the voyage across the ocean and were received by Edison, who confirmed their high quality.

Edison's gift and Tolstoy's reciprocal gesture did not pass unnoticed by the press, although the journalists in this episode either confused something, or vice versa, historians confused something.

On February 20, 1908, the reputable publication Russkoe Slovo reported that Leo Tolstoy "uttered" several of his interpretations of the Gospel text. Tolstoy delivered his speech to the phonograph in English, which he knows perfectly. " It is logical to assume that these were the famous rollers. Moreover, a day later, on February 21 of the same year, the American "New York Times" came out with an article "Tolstoy's gift to Edison: he will send a recording of his voice to the inventor who gave him a phonograph." However, the fate of these rollers is unknown to Russian "fat scientists", moreover, everyone doubts their existence, and the facts set forth in the publications of the beginning of 1908, and the obvious inconsistencies in the dates of the recording, are declared to be fiction or distortion of the accounts of eyewitnesses of this event.

In January 1909, the inconspicuous Moscow newspaper Rul wrote about the visit of Edison's closest associates (in fact, sound recording directors) to Tolstoy: “L.N. told four passages: in Russian, English and German. The voice transmission with these rollers is amazingly clear. As we have heard, these rollers will not be distributed. "

In 1911, after the death of Lev Nikolaevich, the New York Times provided material that his son, Count Lev Lvovich Tolstoy visited Edison, who made an exception for the descendant of the great Russian writer and opened room 12, where he kept everything necessary for their experiences. The sign on the room said it was "closed to all visitors regardless of the circumstances."

Edison's album, which included the responses of famous people to his inventions, preserved a note by Tolstoy the father, in which he wrote: "The most powerful force in the world is thought. The more forms it finds for its expression, the more this force can manifest itself. The invention of printing was an era in the history of mankind. Another such era will be the emergence of the telephone and especially the phonograph, which is the most effective and impressive way to capture and preserve not only the words, but also the nuances of the voice that utters it. " And the signature: "Leo Tolstoy".

However, in his book “The Voices of Writers. Notes of a sound archivist ”, a historian, a sound archivist, Lev Shilov claims that one record has survived. To clarify this in the late 80s. The famous American writer Bel Kaufman, an employee of the New York Public Library Edward Kazinets and curator of the Edison Museum Mary B. Bowling contributed to the last century.

In a letter to the State Literary Museum in Moscow, archivist Mary B. Bowling wrote: “In the past, the question of what happened to the rollers that Tolstoy recorded for Edison, especially with two recordings in English, has been raised more than once ... searches have revealed a lot of related correspondence and documentation, but not the rollers themselves. However, in response to your email, we have again undertaken a thorough examination of some of our unmarked rollers. I am happy to inform you that we have found a roller with Tolstoy's recording in English. "

Bel Kaufman then came to Moscow, where she met and allegedly showed this roller to Lev Shilov. Unfortunately, L. Shilov soon died, and there rolled the "roaring nineties" and the authenticity of the finding is still in question.

Even before receiving the apparatus, Tolstoy was going to dictate his memories to it. But, the test of the phonograph in action showed that its technical features exclude the possibility of long-term continuous dictation: the wax rolls in the apparatus had to be changed every 10-12 minutes. Therefore, Tolstoy decided to use the phonograph, first of all, to slander the texts of small parables, fairy tales and letters. Phonographic recordings have preserved for us not only the voice of the writer, but also the waltz he composed.

Most of the rollers with recordings of the writer's voice, which, by the way, were later published on CDs, are now in the Leo Tolstoy State Museum. What happened to the legendary recording, addressed to the civilized peoples of the world and sent to America, remains to be seen.

"Wolf", a fairy tale

There was one boy. And he was very fond of eating chickens and was very afraid of wolves.

And once this boy went to bed and fell asleep. And in a dream he saw that he was walking through the forest, looking for mushrooms ... And suddenly a wolf jumped out of a bush ... a wolf jumped out and rushed at the boy. The boy got scared: “Ay-yay-yay! He will eat me! "

The wolf says: "Wait, I won't eat you yet, but I'll talk to you."

And he says to the boy: “You are afraid that I will eat you, but what are you doing yourself? Do you like chickens? "

Why are you eating them? After all, they, these chickens, are as lively as you! Every morning - go and see how they are caught, how the cook carries them to the kitchen, how their heads are cut off, how their womb clucks and cries about how you saw this? - says the wolf.

The boy says: "I have not seen!"

But I have not seen it, so go and see. But then ... Now I will eat you. You are the same chicken, I will eat you.

And the wolf rushed at the boy, and the boy was so frightened, shouted: "Ay, yay, yay!" And he screamed and woke up. And since then, the boy stopped eating meat. And he did not eat beef, veal, lamb, or chickens.

Once a jury was held in the district town ... There was a merchant Ivan Akimovich Belov. A respectable, wealthy man. He was chosen by the jury ... as the foreman of the jury. That's when they swore as they should, they gathered to judge. They brought a thief, a horse thief. Just wanted to start judging him, suddenly old man Nikolai Akimovich says: “I cannot judge, Mr. Judge. Dismiss! " The judge was surprised and said: "Why?" "I can't tell you." And suddenly the old man began to cry. Everyone was surprised, began to ask, and he said: “I cannot say, I will say one thing, that according to Christianity it is impossible” for us to judge each other. I myself am worse than that, and my father is much worse than this horse thief ... ”They thought, tried, and released Ivan Akimovich. Here's how it was.

... There is a pantry and in the pantry doors are strong and locks, you cannot get through. And there is a window, so it will be a fathom from the ground. And a big man can't get into the window, but a boy can get in. So we think: “Take your own boy, he is clever, he will fit in there, we will hook him up and tie him with a rope, we will lower them into the pantry. He will pick up what he needs, and he will serve us. We'll pull it along the rope. And then, when he takes everything away, he will tie himself up again, and we will pull him back. We will do it, and we will make a lot of good. " Akim came home and said to the boy: "Can you get in there, where do I tell you to?"

"I can do anything, I am good at climbing." "OK". And the wife heard, she said: "What are you doing this," he says, "started?" And he shouted at his wife. The wife knows that there is nothing to talk to him about with a drunk. Frightened by him, she left. He took the boy, dressed him, took him with him. They came as agreed. They went ... waited for the night, went at night to the merchant's storeroom. They came there and did everything as it was decided. The boy was clever. They put him there, climbed in, went down into the pantry and began to take away there. What fur coats, what better things, as they ordered him, he selected and tied, and they pulled out. Then they pulled out so much that before ... enough. And it was night. They say, shout to the boy: "Now tie yourself up, we will pull you out." The boy tied himself around his belt, they pulled, and the rope ... that they were dragging, and broke off. Break off, and the boy is there and thumped back. It’s good that it’s soft, I don’t hurt myself. And then the janitor heard a voice and left. He began to ask: "What kind of people?" As they saw, they ran and ran away. And the boy stayed. He stayed, shouting: "Mom-mom, mom-mom!" So the thieves did not catch up. And they went to the pantry, they opened it, they saw the boy screaming, crying, lying down and calling his mother all the time.

They called the owner. The owner was a kind person. I saw the boy, he felt sorry for him. And he hears that the janitors say: “Well, now, they say, they will not get rid of us, the robbers. We'll know where they are from the boy. " And the owner says:

“Oh, you say it’s wrong! According to Christianity, is it possible to force a child to show his father? Let's leave this business. Lost, so lost. And you need to feel sorry for the boy. " Brought him home, fed him, put him to bed.

They took the boy. The merchant's wife took pity on him. The boy is cute, kind, everything is crying. She began to caress him, give him presents, the boy consoled himself. The next morning he began ... he says ... everything asks to his mother. They began to console him. Little by little, little by little, I got used to it. I got used to it and so began to live with the merchant. He lived and lived, and so the merchant began to entrust him with business, and the boy became a clerk. He grew up big, it's time to get married, and the merchant has a daughter ...

... And there was this same Vanka, who was caught in the barn, and there was the same merchant who was the foreman of the jury and refused to judge other people. That's all.

"Unhappy man", parable

There was one man who was rich and then he became poor. All sorts of misfortunes attacked him: first his house burned down, then his cattle died. He went to work in the house and there he got to the unkind owner. He worked, worked, and when the time came for the calculation, the owner, it turned out, had no money, nothing to pay. And he left there without money and lived everything that he had on himself. I lived so hard that there was nothing to buy bast shoes with, and walked home barefoot. And he sat down on the road and began to complain to God. “Why,” he says, “I have such misfortunes! There is no person in the world more miserable than me! " And suddenly he sees a man walking past him on the road without legs, on only knees. And he thought: “I have nothing to dress, nothing to put on shoes, nothing… but I have legs. And this one has no legs. Therefore, more unfortunate than me. " And he stopped complaining, and went home, and began to try to live better.

The Power of Childhood. According to Victor Hugo outlined by Leo Tolstoy

Kill! ... Hang! ... Shoot him! - shouted in the crowd. A terrible, ruthless, cruel crowd of men and women surrounded the man. A man walked among her, tall, calm ... He seemed as ruthless as the crowd itself.

He was one of those who are fighting for the government against the people. They seized him in his own house and dragged him without knowing where.

Death! ... Death! ... Kill the scoundrel! The woman jumped up to him and grabbed him by the collar.

On your knees, you bastard! she shouted. - This is the policeman! He shot at us.

Yes, it is true, - answered the man.

Kill! Hang up! Now shoot! - shouted around him. - Here! No! Farther! Take him out of town, we'll kill him there! Well, go!

I'm going wherever you want, - answered the prisoner. Everyone around him ... crowded closer and closer, loading their guns.

Death to the scoundrel! Death of a policeman! Let's kill him like a wolf!

Okay, I'm a wolf, you dogs!

How else does he swear ?! Death to the scoundrel!

People, pale with anger, jumped up to him and shook their fists under his very nose.

He walked, and there was a trace of anger in his face. He walked, surrounded by this noise, calm, as if bored. Several dead were lying on the street along which they were walking. It may have been those who were killed by this same man. But the man did not seem to be embarrassed by this and raised his head even higher. There was nothing to do. He hated, he hated them as much as they hated him. If he were the winner, he would shoot them all.

To death! ... To death! ... He was yesterday, yesterday still ... this morning he was still shooting at us! ... Kill the spy, the accursed traitor! Kill, kill, he's a robber!

And suddenly they heard a voice that spoke ... Not a voice, but a voice. A voice said: "This is my father!" They looked back at the voice, it was a child, a six-year-old child. Raising both hands, he begged people, and asked them and ... threatened them. But everyone shouted: “Kill them, shoot the villain! There is nothing to wait! "

But the child reached his father, fell at his feet and shouted: "Dad, I don't want anyone to do anything bad to you!"

But people did not hear, did not notice and continued to shout in the same way: “Kill, kill! We must end this killer! Hurry! " The whole street was full of scary people. Everyone shouted: “Down with the kings! Down with the priests! Down with the ministers! Down with the spies! We'll beat everyone! These are all scoundrels! "

And the child shouted: "Yes, I tell you that this is my father!"

What a cute baby! the woman said. - What a cute baby. The child was crying. Pale, he was not badly dressed. Another woman said, "Boy, how old are you?" The boy replied: "Don't kill my father!" Several people thought about it and stopped. One of the angry, especially angry, shouted at the child:

"Where can I go?"

“Go to your place! "

"Go to your mother!"

His mother is dead, said his father.

So he has no one but you?

Well, all the same, kill me, - answered the father. And he held the boy and warmed his hands and said to the child: "Do you know Katya?"

A neighbor? - Yes.

Go to her.

With you? I will come after.

I won't go without you.

Because they want to do something bad to you.

Then the father quietly said to the boss. To the person who was leading this crowd: “Let me go. Take my hand slowly, I will tell the child that I will come to him tomorrow. Anyway, when we go around the corner, then you will shoot me. Or wherever you want ",

All right, - said the chief and let the prisoner in. Half released it. Then the father said to his son:

You see, we are friends, I walk with these gentlemen. And you be smart, come back home.

And the child reached out to his father and then walked away from him reassured and contented, without fear. When he left, the father said:

We're alone now. Kill me. Where do you want me to go? And suddenly, in this crowd, which was so terrible, some ... some force ran through this crowd, and the people shouted:

Go home!

Gedanken aus dem Buche "Für alle Tage"

Nichts ist so wahr, als dass der Gedanke an die Nähe des Todes alle unsere Handlungen dem Grade ihrer wirklichen Bedeutung gemäß für unser Leben einteilt. Einer, der zum sofortigen Tode verurteilt ist, wird sich nicht um die Vermehrung oder Erhaltung seines Vermögens, auch nicht um seinen guten Ruf, auch nicht um den Triumph seines Volkes über andere Völker. Wird aber eine Minute vor der Hinrichtung den Betrübten zu trösten trachten, dem fallenden Greise auf die Beine helfen, die Wunde verbinden, dem Kinde ein Spielzeug ausbessern, und Ähnliches tun.

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Music section publications

Voices for memory. Age of phonograph records

Some attempts were made to record sounds with the help of mechanical instruments as early as the 16th century. Music boxes, snuff boxes, tower chimes and other devices could only play a limited set of melodies. But the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison changed the musical world: recordings began to be distributed and replicated, they were used by notaries, doctors and ethnographers. But the main purpose of the recording media was to preserve voices that personified the era.

First Russian records

The first phonograph was brought to Russia by the pioneer of Russian sound recording Julius Blok in 1890. He invited the pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein to play something for the recording, but the musician refused - then the company gathered in Blok's house began to simply play with the apparatus. So on the recording, the voices of the soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Elizaveta Lavrovskaya, director of the Moscow Conservatory Vasily Safonov and Pyotr Tchaikovsky were preserved.

In 1895, the first recording of Leo Tolstoy's voice was made in the house of Yuli Blok: the writer read the parable "The Penitent Sinner". And thirteen years later, the writer received a gift from Thomas Edison himself: the inventor sent Tolstoy a personal phonograph with a request to record an appeal to the peoples of the world:

"Your Majesty! Dare I ask you to give one or two phonograph sessions in French or English, best of all in both. It is advisable that you read a short address to the peoples of the whole world, in which some idea was expressed that moves humanity forward morally and socially ... "

Tolstoy not only fulfilled Edison's request, but also later enjoyed using the novelty in his work: he wrote down letters and articles in the book "Reading Circle", small instructions and fairy tales. This phonograph is still kept in the writer's office in Yasnaya Polyana. True, he himself does not work, but you can listen to the recordings made by Tolstoy.

In 1909, the Gramophone company recorded the poems of Ivan Bunin "Loneliness", "Christ" "Song" performed by the author himself - and laid the foundation for the tradition of recording writers and poets. The voices of Alexander Kuprin, Valery Bryusov, Alexander Blok, Sergei Yesenin, Anna Akhmatova, Vladimir Mayakovsky remained on the cylinders and records. Korney Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak read their works under the record.

Roots Chukovsky. Children's tale in verse "Cockroach". Performed by the author

Samuel Marshak. The poem "Bus number twenty six". Performed by the author

In 1959, the literary critic and writer Irakli Andronikov prepared the disc "The Writers Speak", collecting on it practically all the surviving voices of the classics of Russian and Soviet literature.

Songs from records

One of the first artists whose voice sounded from the gramophone was Fyodor Chaliapin. The ballad “How the King Went to War”, an aria from the opera “Faust” and two novels by Tchaikovsky were recorded in 1902 in an improvised studio - a room at the Continental Hotel - by the specialists of the Gramophone company.

“To fix the voice of F.I. Chaliapin on gramophone records, the gramophone manufacturers organized a commission, which in its entirety arrived in Moscow ", - wrote the newspaper "Kurier" about these legendary records.

Initially, the singer was wary of new technologies, but then he recorded a lot and willingly, setting, however, a condition: only those materials that he personally approved could go into circulation. So, out of 450 recordings made by Chaliapin, "Gramophone" released only 185. Among the favorite records of Chaliapin himself were his "Ellegia" and Russian folk songs.

"I love gramophone records ... I am excited and creatively excited by the idea that the microphone does not symbolize any specific audience, but millions of listeners."

Fyodor Chaliapin

The famous performer of the role of Lensky Leonid Sobinov made as many as five recordings of arias from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The first of them dates back to 1901, when the soloist of the Imperial Bolshoi Theater first appeared before the St. Petersburg public in this image. For ten years, the famous tenor recorded 77 discs, after which he became disillusioned with the recordings due to the imperfection of the technologies of that time. In his opinion, they could not convey all the beauty and richness of the performers' voice.

Leonid Sobinov. "Where, where have you gone?" Lensky's aria from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the records of the opera singer Antonina Nezhdanova were popular. One of the most successful is the aria she recorded in 1908 from the opera The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov, accompanied by an orchestra. Parts from this opera also appeared in the discography of another famous chamber singer of the 20th century - Lydia Lipkovskaya. Also often recorded were the singers Maria Emskaya and Varvara Panina, the owner of a low contralto, which Anton Chekhov and Alexander Blok admired. Thanks to the phonograph, the romance "Burn, burn, my star" by Pyotr Bulakhov, recorded in 1915 by the famous singer Vladimir Sabinin in his own arrangement, received a second life thanks to the phonograph.

Varvara Panina. "Eyes"

Agitation plates

In 1919, the production of records was nationalized and put into the service of state propaganda - which was an unprecedented case in world practice. The recordings of the speeches of Alexandra Kollontai, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Leon Trotsky and, of course, Vladimir Lenin were actively disseminated. From 1919 to 1921 alone, 13 appeals of the leader of the world proletariat were recorded.

Vladimir Lenin. Appeal to the Red Army

Soon the mass production of such audio books was suspended: the lack of shellac, from which records were made at that time, affected. It was possible to resume production only many years later, when a system for collecting recyclable materials was established. During the Great Patriotic War, they released records with patriotic stories, poems and songs. For example, in the summer of 1941, the Aprelevsky plant recorded "The Holy War" performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble.

Alexandra Kollontai. "To workers!"

Anatoly Lunacharsky. "On public education"

In the 1960s, the assortment produced by the newly opened Melodiya company was sold in millions of copies. These were recordings of symphonic, pop and folk music, lectures, collections of poetry and prose. The recorded performers and their repertoire, as well as the circulation of the records, were approved by special commissions. The largest circulation was usually produced by variety art collections (100 thousand copies) and albums of popular vocal and instrumental ensembles (from 10 to 30 thousand). Very unusual records were also released in the Soviet Union, for example, with Vietnamese opera and African witchcraft rites.

"Music on the ribs"

At the end of the 40s of the twentieth century, an underground recording industry appeared in the USSR. Small studios were opened in large cities - officially for the "recording of sound letters", in fact, there were established the production and sale of records, which, for ideological reasons, could not be produced by the "Melodia" company. There was such a musical samizdat on X-rays, so the name "music on bones" was stuck behind it. This is how music lovers received banned Western music and works by expatriate writers into their collections.