Glazunov, Alexander

Preface

Glazunov, Alexander – Ouverture solennelle pour grand Orchestre Op. 73

(10 August 1865, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 21 March 1936, Neuilly-sur-Seine [near Paris], France)

Festovertüre für Orchester, op. 73
Festival Overture for grand orchestra, op. 73

Composition:
1900, St. Petersburg

Dedication:
“Aux Artistes de l’Orchestre de la cour de Sa Majesté l’Empereur de toutes les Russies”

First edition:
Leipzig, Edition M. P. Belaïeff, 1901, plate 2293.
Orchestration:
Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons,
Four horns in F, two trumpets in A, three trombones, tuba,
Timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum), and strings

Alexander Glazunov was a prominent Russian composer who became a professor (1899-1905) and later the director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1905-1930), shepherding it through the turbulent times of the Bolshevik Revolution. During his tenure he worked tirelessly to improve the curriculum, raise standards, defend the institute’s autonomy through many political regimes, and establish an opera studio and students’ philharmonic orchestra. His early music was praised by Borodin, Stasov, and the young Stravinsky, but was considered old-fashioned by his best-known student, Dmitri Shostakovich, who attended the Petrograd Conservatory from 1919-1925.

Widely respected as a Romantic composer, Glazunov conducted the last of the Russian Historical Concerts in Paris on 17 May 1907 and received honorary doctoral degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge. There were also cycles of all-Glazunov concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a composer. Despite the hardships he suffered during World War I, Glazunov presented concerts in factories, clubs, and Red Army posts. He played a prominent part in the 1927 Russian observation of the centenary of Beethoven’s death, both as a speaker and conductor. …

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