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Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov (Template:Lang-ru, Aleksandr Konstantinovič Glazunov; Template:Lang-fr; Template:Lang-ger; August 10, 1865 – March 21, 1936) was a major Russian composer, as well as an influential music teacher.
Biography
Glazunov was born in St Petersburg. He studied music under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, at the recommendation of Mily Balakirev, whom he had met at the age of 14.
The first of his nine symphonies premiered in 1882 when Glazunov was 16 years old. His popular symphonic poem Stenka Razin also stems from that period. His work started to become well known both in Russia and beyond, due partly to the advocacy of Franz Liszt.
Following his conducting debut in 1888, he was appointed conductor for the Russian Symphony Concerts series in 1896. In 1897, he was the conductor at the disastrous premiere of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No 1. This failed utterly at its first attempt, partly because Glazunov seemed to be drunk at the time.
In 1899, Glazunov became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and later its director, where he remained until the events of 1917. After the end of World War I, he was instrumental in the reorganization of the Leningrad Conservatory.
Glazunov left Russia in 1928. He toured Europe and the United States, and settled in Paris, where he died. He always claimed that the reason for his continued departure from Russia was "ill health"; this enabled him to remain a respected composer in the Soviet Union, unlike Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, who had left for other reasons.
In 1929, Glazunov conducted an orchestra of Parisian musicians in the first complete electrical recording of The Seasons. This recording was later reissued on LP and CD; it shows him to be a very competent conductor.
He came to be acknowledged as a great prodigy in his field, and with the help of his mentor and friend Rimsky-Korsakov, finished some of Alexander Borodin's great works, the most famous being the opera Prince Igor, including the popular Polovetsian Dances. He reconstructed the overture from memory, having heard it played only once. Shostakovich reports, however, that Glazunov's "reconstruction" of Borodin's overture was actually original work; Glazunov chose to give full credit to Borodin for the composition which he, Glazunov, wrote. See Solomon Volkov's "Testimony," the memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. Glazunov's ability to perfectly mimic Borodin's style is a tribute to his musical creativity.
Glazunov died in Paris at the age of 70.
Works and influence
For one account of Shostakovich's impressions and interaction with Glazunov, see Solomon Volkov's Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovitch, 25th Anniversary ed., Limelight editions, New York, 2004.
His most popular works nowadays are the ballets The Seasons and Raymonda, some of his later symphonies, particularly the 4th, 5th and 6th, and his two Concert Waltzes. His last work, the Saxophone Concerto (1934), showed his ability to adapt to Western fashions in music at that time. The earlier rebellions of the experimental, serialist and minimalist movements passed him by and he never shied away from the polished manner he had perfected at the turn of the century.
Glazunov wrote three ballets; nine symphonies (the ninth was unfinished--a single movement which was later completed and orchestrated) and many other orchestral works; five concertos (2 for piano; 1 for violin; 1 for cello; 1 for saxophone); seven string quartets; two piano sonatas and other piano pieces; miscellaneous instrumental pieces; and some songs. He worked together with the choreographer Michel Fokine to create the ballet Les Sylphides. It was a collection of piano works by Frédéric Chopin, orchestrated by Glazunov.
Ironically, both Glazunov and Rachmaninoff, whose first symphony Glazunov had conducted so poorly at its premiere, were considered "old-fashioned" in their later years. In recent years, Glazunov's musical gifts have been more fully appreciated, thanks to extensive recordings of his complete orchestral works by Naxos Records.
Media
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See also
External links
- More Complete List of Works
- Free scores by Alexander Glazunov at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Link to music - Chant du menestrel, Op. 71 recording from Musopen.
- Quinteto AMIZADE first recording of Glazunov's original Oriental Reverie.
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