1st Symphony (Glasunow)

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Alexander Glasunow, painting by Ilya Repin , 1887

The Russian composer Alexander Glasunow (1865–1936) completed his 1st Symphony in E major, Op. 5 , at the age of 16. In 1882 it was premiered with great success in St. Petersburg under the direction of Mili Balakirew .

Emergence

On the recommendation of Mili Balakirew, the young Alexander Glasunow took composition lessons from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from the beginning of 1880 . Because of Glasunov's tremendous progress, Rimsky-Korsakov stopped regular classes in the spring of 1881, but continued to offer him friendly advice. Glasunow began composing his Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 5, while he was taking lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov in 1880 when he was 15 years old. A summer stay in the health resort Druskininkai , where people of many Slavic nationalities lived, stimulated him to do a “Slavic Symphony”. The work was finished in the fall of 1881, with Balakirew and Rimsky-Korsakov providing assistance, particularly with the instrumentation .

World premiere and reception

On March 17th, Jul. / March 29,  1882 greg. Balakirew conducted the world premiere of the work dedicated to Rimsky-Korsakov in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic as part of a concert by the Free Music School, of which Balakirew was the director. The success was great and the reactions of the press and composer colleagues to the work of the precocious composer, who was still attending the Petersburg secondary school, were unanimously positive. The influential art critic Stassow wrote " Glasunow was born as a musical elemental force and immediately jumped into the arena as a young Samson ". César Cui described the symphony as “a wonderful, remarkably talented work of the most serious musical content ”. More performances soon followed. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted Glazunov's 1st Symphony in the summer of 1882 at the All-Russian Industrial and Crafts Exhibition in Moscow. In 1884 there was a performance in Weimar in the presence of Franz Liszt . In 1885 Hans von Bülow conducted it again in St. Petersburg.

The industrialist and music lover Belyayev was also present at the rehearsals for Glazunov's 1st Symphony and was so impressed by the work that he continued to support Glazunov intensively and included many of his works - including the 1st symphony - in the program of the music publisher founded a few years later MP Belaieff were admitted. Glazunov himself, when looking through the score on the occasion of an anniversary edition in 1932, 50 years after the premiere, determined: I can't find a tone to change .

Work characterization

Instrumentation: 2 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion , strings (1st violin , 2nd violin, viola , cello and double bass ).

Sentence sequence:

  • I. Allegro
  • II. Scherzo: Allegro
  • III. adagio
  • IV. Finale: Allegro

The playing time is about 35 minutes.

The symphony shows - with Rimsky-Korsakov's influence still noticeable in the instrumentation in particular - in its colored harmony, type of theme formation and formal clarity, essential characteristics of Glazunov's later symphonies. The use of a Polish theme ("Thème polonais") in the 2nd and 4th movements earned the symphony the nickname "Slavic Symphony", which is sometimes used.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cit. n. Detlef Gojowy: Alexander Glasunow . List Verlag, Munich, 1986. ISBN 3-471-77644-3 , p. 9
  2. ↑ a b quot. n. Detlef Gojowy: Alexander Glasunow . List Verlag, Munich, 1986. ISBN 3-471-77644-3 , p. 25

literature

Web links