During his lifetime, the famous poet Alexei Fatyanov, whose biography was cut short at the age of 40, published only one collection of poems. But his work was known to the general public due to the huge number of songs in his words that became truly loved by the people.
Songwriter Alexei Fatyanov: biography
The photo of the forties represents the absolutely Russian appearance of a handsome hero. His friends, even in the manner of Ilya Muromets, called Alexei Fatyanitch. Born in a Russian outback (the outskirts of Vyaznikov, Vladimir province) in a family with Old Believers, the future poet spent his childhood in the house of his grandfather Vasily Vasilyevich Menshov, a peasant aristocrat, a well-known flax expert who has achieved European recognition. In 1919 he will become the fourth child in the family of Ivan and Evdokia Fatyanov, known by the standards of entrepreneurs. It was an enlightened family (own cinema, library), which has a two-story mansion in the center of Vyaznikov. During the years of the revolution, the house was expropriated, but during the NEP it was returned again. After a second attempt to confiscate property, in 1929, the family moved to the Moscow region.
Alexei Fatyanov studied music, ran to theaters and exhibitions, becoming familiar with the cultural life of the capital. Under the influence of Yesenin and Blok, at the age of 10 he would write the first poems, but would prefer the profession of actor to poetry. Having lost his mother early (1934), he moved to his sister in Moscow, where he studied at a studio school. Since 1938, he already worked as an actor of the Central Theater of the Red Army, actively traveling around the tour. He succeeded in concert programs, where he had to sing and read poetry, for he had absolute pitch. Fatyanov was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army on the eve of the war.
The Great Patriotic War
From the first days of the war, along with weapons, they fought for the victory of the song and poems of its participants. In just a few days of June, more than a hundred were written. And each has its own life. Someone's melodies and rhymes did not reach the soldier’s heart, and the songs of others still sound. Aleksey Fatyanov met the war in the Oryol region, where as part of the District Ensemble he performed at the forefront, performing the duties of both the artist, and the author of poems, and the director. The work is dangerous, he was even injured, but still he was eager for the front. Since 1944, the poet is in the army. For courage in the battles for the liberation of Hungary, Private Fatyanov will be awarded the medal “For Courage” and the Order of the Red Star. A new wound will return him to the ensemble of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, where he will meet the end of the war.
Of the verses of the war years, his three songs were rightfully included in the treasury of the best works of the Great Patriotic War: “Nightingales” (1942), “On a Sunny Meadow” (1942), “We haven't been home for a long time” (“Where are you now, fellow soldiers ? ”, 1945), written by composer V.P. Solovyov-Sedym, whom he would meet in Orenburg. The first will be the favorite of Marshal Zhukov, which he will repeatedly tell in an interview.
Creative tandem with Mokrousov
Being very musical, Alexei Fatyanov, along with poetry, immediately hummed or whistled a melody that was superimposed on words. But in 1946, he met with Boris Mokrousov, a composer from Nizhny Novgorod, who created songs where the original role was played by music. They were so close to each other in spirit that the fusion of text and music in their works took place at some almost unconscious level. In the eyes of those around them, they seemed like brothers: two broad-shouldered handsome men full of youth, strength and desire to create for ordinary people from the people. Former war veterans created thirty songs that convey the cheerfulness of the post-war era and the breadth of the Russian soul: “Guest”, “Hex”, “Third Battalion”.
The greatest popularity was brought to them by the song for the film "Spring on Zarechnaya Street" (1956). Director Marlene Khutsiev admitted that the authors brilliantly grasped the idea of the picture and the character of the characters: "The whole film in this song." It has long become the hallmark of aspiring actor Nikolai Rybnikov and has been performed in concerts ever since (Boris Grebenshchikov, Zaur Tutov).
"The most coveted"
Among the outstanding composers that Alexei Fatyanov, a songwriter born of his time, wants to work with, will be Nikita Bogoslovsky. One of the most lyrical songs, “I dreamed three years,” (1946) was included in the film “Big Life” and immediately spread among the people. She was dedicated to the main woman of the author, whom he met after mobilization from the army in 1946. Galina sang in the choir of N. Sats and was a real “general's daughter”. True, this was not his father, but his stepfather, but he took an active part in organizing the wedding, because the budding poet had no money. He married in a suit from someone else's shoulder, but then in the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel, having walked, as expected, to the fullest.
The couple will live in marriage for 13 years, until the death of the poet in 1959. They will have two children - daughter Alena and son Nikita.
The Russian by nature Fatyanov, even the flaws were originally Russian. Everyone knows that he loved to drink and did not even take his wife to the hospital for the first-born. But it was impossible to be angry with him, for he loved sincerely and truly. How could a song that was included in the picture “Soldier Ivan Brovkin”, “If the Harmonica Was Able” (1955) to the music of A. Lepin, be born without feelings?
Interesting Facts
Aleksey Fatyanov was offended when he was called a songwriter and worried because of the difficult relationship of his colleagues: he was either accepted or expelled from the Writers' Union. The poet’s work was compared with the “tavern melancholy”. They were removed from the lists of authors when awarded state prizes. Before his death, he finished a serious poem, the text of which, unfortunately, was lost. Director Dmitry Sukhachev restored it from memory.
For his short creative biography, the poet has co-authored more than 200 songs. The most fruitful was the collaboration with V.P. Solovyov-Sedym - 80 joint works. Of the non-mentioned, his composers were also M. Blanter, Yu. Biryukov, Yu. Milyutin, A. Kholminov. In 18 films that appeared on the screen in those years, his songs sounded.
His statement about whether one can learn to be a poet is interesting. A friend of the poetess reported the good news that she entered the Literary Institute. He, highly appreciating her work, advised me to leave the school faster and not take someone's place: “Is it like Mozart going to the conservatory, what would he teach there?”
Death of poet
On the night of November 13, 1959, Alexei Fatyanov died. There was a heart attack that no one could have foreseen. A few days later, from the conference hall of the Writers' Union, he was taken on his last journey. It was the most massive funeral since the death of M. Gorky, bringing together tens of thousands of admirers of his talent. Alexei Fatyanov - a poet of his people - is buried in the Vagankovsky cemetery.
Every year Vyazniki becomes the center of the Fatyanovo festival, where composers, poets, singers and just lovers of his work come together. The house of the Fatyanov family turned into a museum of Russian song, and the Writers' Union established a literary prize to them. A. Fatyanova. In 1995, justice was restored, and the poet was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, and collections of his poems are published in thousand copies. The best pop singers continue to include in his repertoire his creations - songs of deep heart, warming with their warmth.