Glazunov, Alexander

Preface

Glazunov, Alexander – Karelian Legend (Légende carélienne) for orchestra Op.99

(b. St. Petersburg, 29 July/10 August 1865 — d. Paris, 21 March 1936)

 

Preface
The decade of Glazunov’s birth witnessed important events in the history of Russian music, all of which influenced his art, life, and career. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857), widely regarded as the founding father of Russian classical music, had recently passed away. His works inspired future generations of composers to value their heritage and write music with a distinctive Russian flavor. Several important Russian composers, who also influenced Glazunov, were coming of age during this critical decade, including Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908), Mussorgsky (1839–81), and Borodin (1833–87). The first Russian schools for the advanced study of music were established in St. Petersburg (1862) and Moscow (1866). Tchaikovsky (1840–93, who graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as part of its first graduating class in 1865, was appointed a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in 1866.

Glazunov was born into a wealthy family in St. Petersburg. He started composing before his teenage years, and by the end of the 19th century had achieved international acclaim with performances of his music throughout Europe. In 1899 he was appointed a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and in 1905 was named director. His music continued to be widely performed throughout Europe and America and he was honored with doctorates from both 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. Glazunov left Russia (by then the Soviet Union) and his post at the Conservatory in 1928, touring Europe and the United States as a conductor and eventually settling in Paris. After he passed away in 1936, his music was largely forgotten, deemed by many to be old-fashioned and reactionary. Only recently, with the availability of excellent performances and recordings of much of his music, has there been a reevaluation with judgments based on the quality of the music rather than musical style.

The 17-minute-long tone poem, Karelian Legend, is masterfully scored for a large symphony orchestra, including triple woodwinds, six horns, three trumpets, three trombones two tubas, two harps, timpani, bells, xylophone, celeste, triangle, tam-tam, cymbals, and drums. It was dedicated to the Latvian composer Joseph Wihtol, a member of the staff of the St. Petersburg Conservatory at the time Glazunov composed the work. Although not directly quoting folk songs, Karelian Legend has the spirit of such music. It was composed in 1916, a time of great turmoil in Russia. World War I continued to rage with devastating losses suffered by the Russian Army. As director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he saw many of his students conscripted and fed into the horrible slaughter of this seemingly unending war. The Bolshevik revolution was only one year away, with constant unrest and riots gaining momentum. Food and other resources were becoming more and more difficult to obtain. Despite all the turmoil, in the summer of 1916, Glazunov managed to escape to a place of tranquility, Karelia, which was close to St. Petersburg. At the time Karelia was still a province (duchy) of Russia but had been granted partial independence including some aspects of self-rule. Karelia returned to Finland completely when it gained independence in 1918. By the end of World War II Russia had seized nearly all of Karelia.

Glazunov had a deep affection for Karelia, its people, culture and traditions. He had previously composed Finnish Fantasy for orchestra (1909) (completed during a stay in Helsinki), Finnish Sketches for orchestra (1912), and Theme and Variations (on a Finnish folk song) for solo piano (1900).

The New Flutist shared wonderful program notes on Karelian Legends on YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTdAB5iiNEw). The opening paragraph is a vivid introduction to the mood and atmosphere of this work: “A young man sat on the shore of the Pielis Lake, where rustling pine forests stood and a cuckoo bird is heard. He is enchanted with listening to the magical sounds coming from the marvelous Koli-Var Gorge. In its mysterious depths, ancient rites are performed to Chernobog. The young man disappeared in that mysterious valley, but as before, the shining waters of the lake, the rustling of the pines and the song of the cuckoo endure…”

Dr. Karl Hinterbichler, University of New Mexico, 2024

For performance materials please contact the publisher M. P. Belaieff c/o Schott Music, Mainz (www.belaieff-music.com).

Deutsch Vorwort … > HERE