Glinka, Michail Ivanovich

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka – Serenade on Themes from Donizetti’s Opera Anna Bolena

(b. 20 May [1 June] 1804, Nowospasskoje/Smolensk — d. 3 [15] February, Berlin)

Mikhail Glinka may be regarded as the first noteworthy Russian creative musician of the nineteenth century, but it is inter- esting to contrast Stuart Campbell’s assessment of him as ‘the first Russian composer to combine distinction in speaking the musical idiom of the day with a personal and strongly original voice’1 with Arnold Whittall’s assertion that ‘the very incompleteness of his achievement, and his reflection of musical personalities stronger than his own, provided a greater stimulus to those who came after him than mastery and individuality could possibly have done.’2 Whittall’s critical per- spective may lead us closer to the truth of Glinka’s somewhat transcriptive rendering of themes taken from Donizetti’s opera Anna Bolena in his serenade for the eclectic septet ensemble of bassoon, E-flat horn, viola, cello, double bass, harp and piano. We can ask similar questions of Liszt’s literal readings of Bach’s organ works – how can a composer well known for innovative musical language return bland arrangements of works that are in a style earlier than or different from his own? The problem is perhaps less marked in Glinka’s piece, as he makes some effort to accommodate Donizet- ti’s operatic style to Romantic pianistic and chamber idioms, with some hint of Russian lyricism and folk-harmonic proce- dures. But David Brown’s description of Glinka’s composition studies in the late 1820s may be relevant here. According to Brown, his early attempts to emulate Italian operatic writing were ‘stiff’ and ‘contrapuntal’, lending a ‘Teutonic tread’ to his harmony.3 We could bear this comment in mind when evaluating Glinka’s serenade, while asking whether, while it may well describe Glinka’s pastiche exercises, it is in fact too harsh a criticism by which to measure the serenade. …

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