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Alexander Glazunov | |
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 Portrait of Glazunov byIlya Repin, 1887 | |
| Born | (1865-08-10)10 August 1865 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | 21 March 1936(1936-03-21) (aged 70) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Occupations |
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| Organizations | Saint Petersburg Conservatory |
| Works | List of compositions |
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov[a][b] (10 August [O.S. 29 July] 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late RussianRomantic period. He was director of theSaint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental in the reorganization of the institute into the Petrograd Conservatory, then the Leningrad Conservatory, following theBolshevik Revolution. He continued as head of the Conservatory until 1930, though he had left the Soviet Union in 1928 and did not return.[1] The best-known student under his tenure during the early Soviet years wasDmitri Shostakovich.[2]
Glazunov successfully reconciled nationalism and cosmopolitanism in Russian music. While he was the direct successor toBalakirev's nationalism, he tended more towardsBorodin's epic grandeur while absorbing a number of other influences. These includedRimsky-Korsakov's orchestral virtuosity,Tchaikovsky's lyricism andTaneyev'scontrapuntal skill. Younger composers such asProkofiev and Shostakovich eventually considered his music old-fashioned, while also admitting he remained a composer with an imposing reputation, and a stabilizing influence in a time of transition and turmoil.[3]
Glazunov was born inSaint Petersburg, the son of a wealthy publisher. His father Konstantin was granted the status of hereditary nobility later, in 1882. He began studying piano at the age of nine and began composing at 11.Mily Balakirev, former leader of the nationalist group "The Five", recognized Glazunov's talent and brought his work to the attention ofNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. "Casually Balakirev once brought me the composition of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old high-school student, Alexander Glazunov", Rimsky-Korsakov remembered. "It was an orchestral score written in childish fashion. The boy's talent was indubitably clear."[4] Balakirev introduced him to Rimsky-Korsakov shortly afterwards, in December 1879. Rimsky-Korsakov premiered this work in 1882, when Glazunov was 16.Borodin andStasov, among others, lavishly praised both the work and its composer.[citation needed]
Rimsky-Korsakov taught Glazunov as a private student.[5] "His musical development progressed not by the day, but literally by the hour", Rimsky-Korsakov wrote.[5] The nature of their relationship also changed. By the spring of 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov considered Glazunov more of a junior colleague than a student.[6] While part of this development may have been from Rimsky-Korsakov's need to find a spiritual replacement forModest Mussorgsky, who had died that March, it may have also been from observing his progress on the first of Glazunov's eight completedsymphonies[6] (he left a ninth unfinished at his death).[citation needed]
More important than this praise was that among the work's admirers was a wealthy timber merchant and amateur musician,Mitrofan Belyayev. Belyayev was introduced to Glazunov's music byAnatoly Lyadov[7] and would take a keen interest in the teenager's musical future,[8] then extend that interest to an entire group of nationalist composers.[7] Belyayev took Glazunov on a trip to Western Europe in 1884. Glazunov metLiszt inWeimar, where Glazunov's First Symphony was performed.[1]
Also in 1884, Belyayev rented out a hall and hired an orchestra to play Glazunov's First Symphony plus an orchestral suite Glazunov had just composed.[9] Buoyed by the success of the rehearsal, Belyayev decided the following season to give a public concert of works by Glazunov and other composers.[10] This project grew into theRussian Symphony Concerts, which were inaugurated during the 1886–1887 season.[11]
In 1885 Belyayev started his own publishing house inLeipzig, Germany, initially publishing music by Glazunov, Lyadov, Rimsky-Korsakov andBorodin at his own expense. Young composers started appealing for his help. To help select from their offerings, Belyayev asked Glazunov to serve with Rimsky-Korsakov and Lyadov on an advisory council.[12] The group of composers that formed eventually became known as theBelyayev circle.[7]
Glazunov soon enjoyed international acclaim. He emerged from a creative crisis in 1890–1891 with a new maturity. During the 1890s he wrote three symphonies, two string quartets and a ballet. When he was elected director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1905, he was at the height of his creative powers. His best works from this period are considered hisEighth Symphony and hisViolin Concerto. This was also the time of his greatest international acclaim. He conducted the last of the Russian Historical Concerts in Paris on 17 May 1907, and received honoraryDoctor of Music degrees from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There were also cycles of all-Glazunov concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a composer.[13]
Glazunov made his conducting debut in 1888. The following year, he conducted his Second Symphony in Paris at the World Exhibition.[1] He was appointed conductor for theRussian Symphony Concerts in 1896. In March of that year he conducted the posthumous premiere of Tchaikovsky's student overtureThe Storm.[14] In 1897, he led the disastrous premiere ofRachmaninoff'sSymphony No 1. This catalysed Rachmaninoff's three-year depression. The composer's wife later claimed that Glazunov seemed to be drunk at the time. While this assertion cannot be confirmed, it is not implausible for a man who, according to Shostakovich, kept a bottle of alcohol hidden behind his desk and sipped it through a tube during lessons.[15]
Drunk or not, Glazunov had insufficient rehearsal time with the symphony and, while he loved the art of conducting, he never fully mastered it.[1] From time to time he conducted his own compositions, especially the balletRaymonda, even though he may have known he had no talent for it. He would sometimes joke, "You can criticize my compositions, but you can't deny that I am a good conductor and a remarkable conservatory Director".[16]
Despite the hardships he suffered during World War I and the ensuingRussian Civil War, Glazunov remained active as a conductor. He conducted concerts in factories, clubs andRed Army posts. He played a prominent part in the Russian observation in 1927 of the centenary ofBeethoven's death, as both speaker and conductor. After he left Russia, he conducted an evening of his works in Paris in 1928. This was followed by engagements in Portugal, Spain, France, England, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Netherlands, and the United States.[17]
In 1899, Glazunov became a professor at theSaint Petersburg Conservatory. In the wake of the1905 Russian Revolution and firing, then re-hiring of Rimsky-Korsakov that year, Glazunov became its director. He remained so untilthe revolutionary events of 1917, which culminated on 7 November. His Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major, Op. 100, which he conducted, was premiered at the first concert held in Petrograd after that date.[18] After the end of World War I, he was instrumental in the reorganization of the Conservatory—this may, in fact, have been the main reason he waited so long to go into exile.[16] During his tenure he worked tirelessly to improve the curriculum, raise the standards for students and staff, as well as defend the institute's dignity and autonomy. Among his achievements were an opera studio and a students' philharmonic orchestra.[1]
Glazunov showed paternal concern for the welfare of needy students, such asDmitri Shostakovich andNathan Milstein. He also personally examined hundreds of students at the end of each academic year, writing brief comments on each.[1]
While Glazunov's sobriety could be questioned, his prestige could not. Because of his reputation, the Conservatory received special status among institutions of higher learning in the aftermath of theOctober Revolution. Glazunov established a sound working relationship with the Bolshevik regime, especially withAnatoly Lunacharsky, the minister of education. Nevertheless, Glazunov's conservatism was attacked within the Conservatory. Increasingly, professors and students demanded methods aligned with communistic ideology. Glazunov saw these demands as both destructive and unjust. Tired of the Conservatory, he took advantage of the opportunity to go abroad in 1928 for theSchubert centenary celebrations in Vienna. He did not return.Maximilian Steinberg ran the Conservatory in his absence until Glazunov finally resigned in 1930.[13]
Glazunov toured Europe and the United States in 1928,[19] and settled in Paris by 1929. He always claimed that the reason for his continued absence from Russia was "ill health"; this enabled him to remain a respected composer in the Soviet Union, unlikeStravinsky andRachmaninoff, who had left for other reasons. In 1929, he conducted an orchestra of Parisian musicians in the first complete electrical recording ofThe Seasons. In 1934, he wrote hisSaxophone Concerto, a virtuoso and lyrical work for the alto saxophone.[20]
In 1929, at age 64, Glazunov married the 54-year-old Olga Nikolayevna Gavrilova (1875–1968).[14] The previous year, Olga's daughter Elena Gavrilova had been the soloist in the first Paris performance of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major, Op. 100.[21] He subsequently adopted Elena (she is sometimes referred to as his stepdaughter), and she then used the name Elena Glazunova. In 1928, Elena had married the pianistSergei Tarnowsky, who managed Glazunov's professional and business affairs in Paris, such as negotiating his United States appearances withSol Hurok. (Tarnowsky was also a noted piano teacher, whose students includedVladimir Horowitz.)[22] Elena later appeared as Elena Gunther-Glazunova after her second marriage, to Herbert Gunther (1906–1978).[18]
Glazunov died inNeuilly-sur-Seine (near Paris) at the age of 70 in 1936. In 1972 his remains were reinterred at theAlexander Nevsky Monastery inLeningrad.[citation needed]
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Glazunov's most popular works nowadays are his balletsThe Seasons andRaymonda, some of his later symphonies, particularly theFourth,Fifth and Sixth, the Polonaise fromLes Sylphides, and his two Concert Waltzes. HisViolin Concerto, which was a favorite vehicle forJascha Heifetz, is still sometimes played and recorded. His last work, theSaxophone Concerto (1934), showed his ability to adapt to Western fashions in music at that time.[citation needed]
Glazunov's musical development was paradoxical. He was adopted as an idol by nationalist composers who had been largely self-taught and, apart from Rimsky-Korsakov, were deeply distrustful of academic technique. Glazunov's first two symphonies could be seen as an anthology of nationalist techniques as practiced by Balakirev and Borodin; the same could be said for hissymphonic poemStenka Razin with its use of the folk song "Song of the Volga Boatmen" andorientalist practices much like those employed byThe Five. By his early 20s he realized the polemic battles between academicism and nationalism were no longer valid. Although he based his compositions on Russian popular music, Glazunov's technical mastery allowed him to write in a sophisticated, cultured idiom. With hisThird Symphony, he consciously attempted to internationalize his music in a manner similar to Tchaikovsky, to whom the piece is dedicated.[23]
The Third Symphony was a transitional work. Glazunov admitted its composition caused him a great deal of trouble. With the Fourth Symphony, he came into his mature style. Dedicated toAnton Rubinstein, the Fourth was written as a deliberately cosmopolitan work by a Russian looking outward to the West, yet it remained unmistakably Russian in tone.[24] He continued to synthesize nationalist tradition and Western technique in the Fifth Symphony.[25] By the time Glazunov wrote his Seventh Symphony, his duties at the Conservatory had slowed his rate of composition.[26] After his Eighth Symphony, his heavy drinking may have started taking a toll on his creativity, as well. He sketched one movement of aNinth Symphony but left the work unfinished.[27]
Glazunov wrote three ballets; eight symphonies 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 also collaborated with the choreographerMichel Fokine to create the balletLes Sylphides, a suite of music byFrédéric Chopin orchestrated by Glazunov.
Sergei Diaghilev briefly considered Glazunov to compose the music for his balletThe Firebird after failing to interest his first choice,Anatol Lyadov, before he eventually commissionedIgor Stravinsky instead.[28]
In his 1935 autobiography,Igor Stravinsky admitted that, as a young man, he greatly admired Glazunov's perfection of musical form, purity of counterpoint and ease and assurance of his writing. At 15, Stravinsky transcribed one of Glazunov's string quartets for piano solo.[29] He also deliberately modeled hisSymphony in E♭, Op. 1, on Glazunov's symphonies, which were then in vogue.[30] He used Glazunov's Eighth Symphony, Op. 83, which was written in the same key as his, as a pattern on which to base corrections to his symphony.[31]
This attitude changed over time. In his memoirs, Stravinsky called Glazunov one of the most disagreeable men he had ever met, adding that the only bad omen he had experienced about the initial (private) performance of his symphony was Glazunov having come to him afterwards saying, "Very nice, very nice." Later, Stravinsky amended his recollection of this incident, adding that when Glazunov passed him in the aisle after the performance, he told Stravinsky, "Rather heavy instrumentation for such music."[c][34]
For his part, Glazunov was not supportive of the modern direction Stravinsky's music took. He was not alone in this prejudice—their mutual teacher Rimsky-Korsakov was as profoundly conservative by the end of his life, wedded to the academic process he helped instill at the Conservatory. Unlike Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov was not anxious about the potential dead end Russian music might reach by following academia strictly, nor did he share Rimsky-Korsakov's grudging respect for new ideas and techniques.[35]
Chances are that Glazunov treated Stravinsky with reserve, certainly not with open rudeness.[35] His opinion of Stravinsky's music in the presence of others was another matter. At the performance ofFeu d'artifice (Fireworks), he reportedly made the comment, "Kein Talent, nur Dissonanz" ("no talent, just dissonance"). (Also in the audience wasSergei Diaghilev, who on the strength of this music sought out the young composer for theBallets Russes.)[36] Glazunov eventually considered Stravinsky merely an expert orchestrator. In 1912 he told Vladimir Telyakovsky, "Petrushka is not music, but is excellently and skillfully orchestrated."[37]
Dmitri Shostakovich entered the Petrograd Conservatory at age 13, becoming the youngest student there. He studied piano with Leonid Nikolayev and composition with Rimsky-Korsakov's son-in-lawMaximilian Steinberg. He proved to be a disciplined, hard-working student. Glazunov may have recognized in Shostakovich an echo of his younger self. He carefully monitored his progress in Steinberg's class and, in awarding him his doctorate, recommended Shostakovich for a higher degree which normally would have led to a professorship. Due to his family's financial hardship, Shostakovich was not able to take advantage of this opportunity.[38] Glazunov also arranged for the premiere of Shostakovich'sFirst Symphony, which took place on 12 May 1926[39] with the Leningrad Philharmonic underNikolai Malko.[40][41] This was 44 years after Glazunov's First Symphony had first been presented in the same hall. In another instance ofdéjà vu with Glazunov's early life, the symphony caused almost as much of a sensation as the appearance of the 19-year-old Shostakovich on the stage awkwardly taking his bow.[41]
Glazunov became a teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1900) and later its director (1905)... ...Among his many pupils, one of the last and most famous was Dmitri Shostakovich, on whose behalf Glazunov personally interceded during the parlous postrevolutionary years to ensure adequate paper and food was supplied to his talented pupil.
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