The Russian Symphony Concerts were a series of Russian classical music concerts hosted by timber magnate and musical philanthropist
Mitrofan Belyayev in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
as a forum for young Russian composers to have their orchestral works performed. While a number of works by these composers were performed, pieces written by composers of the previous generation such as
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...
and
Mily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ( , ; ,BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian, BGN/PCGN romanization: ; ALA-LC romanization of Russian, ALA-LC system: ; ISO 9, ISO 9 system: . ; – )Russia was still using Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in E ...
were also played there.
History
The idea for the Russian Symphony Concerts was Rimsky-Korsakov's. He had become acquainted with Belyayev at the weekly "quartet Fridays" ("Les Vendredis") held at Belayev's home. Belayev had already taken a keen interest in the musical future of the teenage
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...
, who had been one of Rimsky-Korsakov's composition students. In 1884, Belayev rented out a hall and hired an orchestra to play Glazunov's
First Symphony plus an orchestral suite Glazunov had just composed.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 275.] Glazunov was to conduct part of this concert.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 275.] Seeing he was not ready to do this, Rimsky-Korsakov volunteered to take his place.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 275.] This "rehearsal," as Rimsky-Korsakov called it, went well and pleased both Belayev and the invited audience. Buoyed by the success of the rehearsal, Belayev decided the following season to give a public concert of works by Glazunov and other composers.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 278.] Rimsky-Korsakov's piano concerto was played, along with Glazunov's symphonic poem ''
Stenka Razin
Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (, ; c. 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Don Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1670–1671.
Early life
Razin's father, Timofey Ra ...
''.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 278.]
Both the rehearsal the previous year and this concert gave Rimsky-Korsakov the idea of offering several concerts per year featuring Russian compositions.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 279.] The number of orchestral compositions was growing, and there were always difficulties in having the
Russian Musical Society
The Russian Musical Society (RMS) () was the first music school in Russia open to the general public. It was launched in 1859 by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Anton Rubinstein, one of the few notable Russian pianists and composers of th ...
and other organizations program them.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 279.] Rimsky-Korsakov mentioned the idea to Belayev. Belayev liked it,
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 279.] inaugurating the Russian Symphony Concerts during the 1886-1887 season. Rimsky-Korsakov shared conducting duties for these concerts.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 279.]
In 1889 Belyayev engaged Rimsky-Korsakov to conduct two such concerts at the Paris Exposition. Rimsky-Korsakov recalled that although the performances, held at the
Trocadéro on 22 and 29 June involving the
Concerts Colonne
The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne.
History
While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead ...
orchestra, had gone well, the audiences had been meagre due to Belyayev's reluctance to advertise the concerts. Nonetheless, the programmes of works by Glinka, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky and Lyadov, as well as works by "the mighty handful" made a profound impression on
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
and
Ricardo Viñes
Ricardo Viñes y Roda (, , ; 5 February 1875 – 29 April 1943) was a Spanish pianist. He gave the premieres of works by Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Falla and Albéniz. He was the piano teacher of the composer Francis Poulenc and the pianists M ...
, who made a point of obtaining a piano duet arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's ''
Antar
Antar may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Antar'' (film), 2013 Indian film
* ''Antar'' (Rimsky-Korsakov), an 1868 symphonic suite by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
*''Antar'', a 1912–1914 opera by Gabriel Dupont
*''Antar'', a 1948 opera by Azi ...
'' Symphony. So started what was to be an important influence on Ravel's own work.
Glazunov was appointed conductor for the series in 1896. The following year, he led the disastrous premiere of
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
's
Symphony No 1. While Glazunov's conducting skills were not especially strong and he used his rehearsal time poorly, his
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
may have contributed to the debacle.
Works premiered
Some of the works currently best known as "Russian music" were first presented at the Russian Symphony Concerts. Rimsky-Korsakov finished his revision of
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...
's ''
Night on Bald Mountain
''Night on Bald Mountain'' (), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian s:St. John's Eve (Gogol, unsourced), literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed ...
'' and conducted it at the opening concert.
[Rimsky-Korsakov, 281.] He also wrote ''
Scheherazade
Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''.
Name
According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...
'', ''
Capriccio espagnol
''Capriccio espagnol'', Op. 34, is the common Western title for a five movement orchestral suite, based on Spanish folk melodies, composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. It received its premiere on 31 October 1887, in S ...
'' and the ''
Russian Easter Festival Overture'' specifically for them. Revisions of earlier works were also featured. One concert included the first complete performance of the final version of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
's
First Symphony; another featured the premiere of the revised version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Third Symphony.
[Brown, ''Final Years'', 91.] Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
's tone poem ''The Rock'' was premiered at a Russian Symphony Concert in 1896 under the direction of Glazunov; this was followed a year later by the premiere of Rachmaninoff's First Symphony, also under Glazunov.
[Harrison, 77.]
References
Bibliography
*Brown, David, ''Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885–1893'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991). .
*Figes, Orlando, ''Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia'' (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2002). (hc.)
*Harrison, Max,
Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings' (London and New York: Continuum, 2005). .
*Maes, Francis, tr. Pomerans, Arnold J. and Erica Pomerans, ''A History of Russian Music: From ''Kamarinskaya ''to'' Babi Yar (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2002). .
*Nichols, Roger, ''Ravel'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011). .
*Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, ''Letoppis Moyey Muzykalnoy Zhizni'' (St. Petersburg, 1909), published in English as ''My Musical Life'' (New York: Knopf, 1925, 3rd ed. 1942; reprinted London: Faber & Faber, 1989. ).
*
Volkov, Solomon, tr.
Antonina W. Bouis, ''St. Petersburg: A Cultural History'' (New York: The Free Press, 1995). {{ISBN, 0-02-874052-1.
Classical music in Russia
Music organizations based in Russia
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Music in Saint Petersburg
Organizations based in Saint Petersburg
19th century in Saint Petersburg
Culture of the Russian Empire