Gennady Gladkov wrote the music for “An Ordinary Miracle” at the time of a great personal tragedy

“And the butterfly’s wings are bleep-byak-byak-byak!” they wanted to ban it because of the subtext

Gennady Gladkov, who died at 88, was one of our best film composers. And among all the works he wrote for feature films and television films, among the most remarkable, beloved by the audience, are, of course, songs from the film “An Ordinary Miracle.” Production designer Lyudmila Kusakova once told a MK correspondent about some episodes related to the film adaptation of this fairy tale. Here are her memories of how the work on the “musical component” of the film took place.

“Throughout the entire filming period, the role of the songwriters was very important – composer Gennady Gladkov and poet Yuli Kim, with whom Mark Zakharov had already collaborated a lot until then,” following these words, Lyudmila Mikhailovna clarified: “At the very first conversation with Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov , when he invited me to work as a production designer on the film, he immediately explained that he wanted to make a musical film in the end. But not an operetta film! That is why, if you pay attention, none of the characters in “An Ordinary Miracle” sing in the frame. It was unusual for me that the director decided from the very beginning to film episodes of the film with ready-made music for them…

In confirmation of these words of Kusakova, one can cite the memories of Gladkov himself in one of his interviews: “They started filming the film when there was already a phonogram. At least for the piano. Mark Anatolyevich made films with my piano, with my singing or with the singing of Yuli Kim. I asked: “Why is this necessary?” He said: “Music gives the actors a mood. While listening to music, they involuntarily work to the rhythm of the music. I tell them – here’s the music, it plays for two minutes, and in these two minutes you need to fit your episode. Otherwise, the actor begins to pull the blanket over himself, to come up with some tricks … “

A total of 6 songs were written for “An Ordinary Miracle,” but only five were included in the film. “The Hunter’s Song,” performed by Mikhail Boyarsky, did not find a place in the finally assembled fairy tale film. So it can only be heard on the record with music from “An Ordinary Miracle”, which was released shortly after the film was released on television.

“When I first heard these songs, some of them seemed too hooligan to me,” Lyudmila Kusakova smiled. – Well, for example, the one that the First Cavalry Lady Emilia sings (the role was played by Ekaterina Vasilyeva, and the vocal part was performed by Larisa Dolina – A.D.): “If he dies, then the devil is in two, / Don’t expect good from a parasite.” / What use is my head, devil, / When it hasn’t been washed for three days?”

However, in the end, such a dashing fragment was included in the final version of the film. But another work created by Gladkov and Kim almost had to be “thrown into the trash.” I’m talking about the couplets of the Minister-Administrator, the same ones where “And the butterfly’s wings are bak-bak-bak-byak!” The song seemed to be quite harmless, without harsh expressions – such as in the previous case, but the “supervising authorities” saw in it a hint of some kind of sexual activity. And this, in those Brezhnev times, was unconditional sedition, encroaching on the moral foundations of the Soviet people.

“Butterfly” was demanded to be removed, but Mark Anatolyevich showed character and was able to win back these verses. It also helped in this case that their performer was Andrei Mironov, an artist who was loved by many representatives of the highest party nomenklatura.

It should be noted that when creating the music for the songs for “An Ordinary Miracle,” Gladkov showed extraordinary willpower and professionalism as a composer.

L. Kusakova: “While working on the film, I didn’t know anything about this; Gennady Igorevich, during our meetings with him on the set, was silent about his problems and troubles. Only later did it become clear that he was then creating wonderful works for this film fairy tale, literally “I can’t.” Shortly before filming began, his brand new dacha burned down. A few months later, Gennady Igorevich’s father died.

Gladkov reached, in his own words, “the limit of his “black” state,” but he managed to overcome himself. If you listen closely to the musical works written for “An Ordinary Miracle,” you will not find echoes of the author’s personal dramas there. Lyrical, light, mischievous, dramatically rich music – different, but not a single “black”, dark fragment.”