A familiar star: Alexandra Pakhmutova handed over her personal archive to Leninka

Handwritten poems by Nikolai Dobronravov with author's edits, musical scores for songs familiar to several generations, pencil sketches by Alexandra Pakhmutova and the Golden Disc by Melodiya — these and other unique documents from the family archive of the legendary creative tandem are now stored in the Russian State Library. On February 3, Alexandra Nikolaevna signed an agreement at the Pashkova House on the transfer of about 400 archival family exhibits to the collections of the Russian State Library (RSL). Izvestia was one of the first to study these unique materials, which had never been publicly displayed before.

Plaster cast

High-ranking guests were invited to the event: politicians, artists and public figures. However, a surprise awaited everyone. It turned out to be difficult to get into Pashkov's House — traffic in Starovagankovsky Lane was blocked. Vigilant officers found a suspicious object, but the security services quickly arrived and quickly sorted out the situation. As a result, the long-awaited meeting with Alexandra Pakhmutova still started on time. The composer appeared in front of the audience in a pink dress and white high-heeled shoes. Of the decorations, there are only two golden Hero Stars.

Vadim Duda, Director General of the Russian State Library, said that he had prepared a surprise for Alexandra Nikolaevna. Under the white cloth was a plaster cast depicting a married couple, Nikolai Dobronravov and Alexandra Pakhmutova. Later, this composition will take on a bronze incarnation. It shows Nikolai Nikolaevich hugging his Alyonka, as he affectionately called his wife. When Alexandra Nikolaevna saw the bas-relief of her beloved husband, who died in September 2023, she burst into tears.

— Everything continues, new wonderful children appear, young people are talented and interesting. And I really want them to have a busy, interesting life. And we would have received new, profound works," Alexandra Pakhmutova said and sat down at the piano to play her own waltz with a young pianist Nail Mavlyutov in four hands.

History under glass

Meanwhile, the guests were already waiting in the Ballroom. An exhibition dedicated to a unique creative tandem has opened there. Under the glass is a part of historical relics donated by the composer to the funds of the Russian State Library. The event was organized by the Russian State Library, the Alexandra Pakhmutova Cultural Foundation, the Voice of Goodness Charitable Foundation, and the Leninka Development Foundation.

— It is a great honor for us to accept such a gift, — said Vadim Duda. — This building houses the most valuable part of our collection: manuscripts and autographs of Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov. And we are very pleased that now the invaluable personal archive of Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov will be added to them. Access to these documents will be open to everyone, according to the rules of our library.

Among the transferred materials are scores and poems to the greatest works: "Hope", "Morning Sky banner", "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", "Melody", "Bird of Happiness", "My Heart is not a stone" and other songs familiar to many generations from childhood. There are autographs of the authors on each sheet.

The poems were not born immediately to rhythmically complex music of "Melody" — there were several options. The exhibition features a typewritten page with poems: it is scratched out with a pen, and new words are written on top of it in an even, concise handwriting.

Even the diplomas of the poet and composer got into the funds of the Russian State Library. It turns out that Nikolai Dobronravov had two educations. He graduated from the Moscow Art Theater Studio School as a certified "drama theater actor." He also received a degree from the Moscow Teachers' Institute in Russian Language and Literature. The future poet was almost an excellent student: there were only two fours in the document — on "Introduction to Linguistics" and on "History of the USSR". But Alexandra Pakhmutova has a "profile" diploma from the Moscow Conservatory specializing in Composition.

Under the glass, you can also see a typewritten page of Dobronravov's poem "The Russian Waltz" with pencil notes by Alexandra Nikolaevna. As it turned out, the composer could have been inspired by her husband's poetry and immediately sketched out a musical plot. The guests were also shown a pencil sketch by Pakhmutova for her husband's poem "The Tsar is a Craftsman."

Songs without an order

Yevgeny Malyshko, director of the Alexandra Pakhmutova Cultural Foundation, told Izvestia that the composer, in the old—fashioned way, calls the library "Leninka" - a place where the past, present and future always combine.

— It was decided to transfer the manuscripts of Nikolai Nikolaevich and musical publications published during the poet's lifetime, — Evgeny Malyshko shared with Izvestia. — Although it turned out that some books are already in the funds of the Russian State Library, it is important that now there will be a complete collection. The authenticity of all the items will be examined — it will take almost a year. There are a lot of handwritten texts and drafts in the archive. Meanwhile, at the exhibition, you can see how Nikolai Nikolaevich crossed out the words in the manuscript of the verses to the song "Hope" with a red pen.

These exhibits have never been exhibited before. One of the central ones is the Golden Disc, awarded to Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov in the 1970s by the Melodiya company. For many years it hung on their wall at home, and now it is kept in the Russian State Library.

Some composers and authors of poetry admitted that they worked on government orders, composing pathetic and patriotic rhetoric. Pakhmutova and Dobronravov have always been patriots — they didn't need orders. They wrote about the young and for the young. And if they were offered trips abroad, the couple chose Ust-Ilimsk or Bratsk.

— There was still a global order: they wrote the song "Goodbye, our affectionate Misha" for the Olympics-80, — said Evgeny Malyshko. — This manuscript can also be seen at the exhibition in the Ballroom of the Pashkov House.

Classics for future generations

There are also unique photographs from the family archive: Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov with Valery Gergiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Mikhalkov, Anna German. The first visitor to the exhibition was the donor herself. The Large Children's Choir named after V. S. Popov greeted the composer with her own song dedicated to the Lenin Library.

Elena Yampolskaya, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, called the transfer of the archive a historic event. She also said that Nikolai Dobronravov's poems will be included in school textbooks on literature as already recognized classics.

— It is important to invest efforts in popularizing our best song traditions. Therefore, I had an idea, supported by the president, to announce an All-Russian song poetry contest and give it the name of Nikolai Dobronravov. It takes place on the platform of the Znanie Society. We received thousands of poems, from patriotic lyrics to love songs and poems for children," said Elena Yampolskaya.

Alexandra Pakhmutova is the honorary chairman of the competition jury. When asked by Izvestia if there was a chance that Alexandra Nikolaevna would write music to the winner's poems, Elena Yampolskaya replied that it could be a "pleasant surprise."

The second layout of textbooks for grades 10-11 is currently underway, where a story about the outstanding creative union of the poet and composer has appeared in the "Vocation" section. Nikolai Dobronravov's poems are mentioned in several other paragraphs of this manual.