Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (; 13 January 1866 – 11 January 1901 ) was a Russian composer. His body of work consists of two symphonies, several additional orchestral works, and numerous songs, all of them imbued with characteristics of folksong. His symphonies, particularly the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, were frequently performed in the early 20th century. Kalinnikov's musical style was inspired by composers like

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 popular ...

and Rimsky-Korsakov, and is notable for its expressive melodies and lush orchestration. His younger brother Viktor Kalinnikov (1870–1927) was also a composer, mainly of choral music.

Biography

Kalinnikov was a police official's son. He studied at the seminary at

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

, becoming director of the choir there at fourteen. Later he went to the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

but could not afford the tuition fees. On a scholarship, he went to the Moscow Philharmonic Society School, where he received

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

and composition lessons from Alexander Ilyinsky. He played bassoon,

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

in theater orchestras and supplemented his income working as a music copyist. In 1892,

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 ...

recommended Kalinnikov for the position of main conductor of the Maly Theatre, and later that same year to the Moscow Italian Theatre. However, due to his worsening

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, Kalinnikov had to resign from his theatre appointments and move to the warmer southern climate of the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. He lived at

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

for the rest of his life, and it was there that he wrote the main part of his music, including his two symphonies and the incidental music for Alexey Tolstoy's ''Tsar Boris''. In Yalta he joined two other famous tubercular patients,

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

. Exhausted, he died of tuberculosis on 11 January 1901, just two days before his 35th birthday. He was survived by his widow and his brother, Viktor Kalinnikov, who composed choral music and taught at the Moscow Philharmonic Society School. Vasily Kalinnikov's reputation was established with his First Symphony, written between 1894 and 1895, which had great success when Alexander Vinogradsky conducted it at a Russian Musical Society concert in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

on 20 February 1897. Further performances swiftly followed, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It was not published until after his death. At

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 suggestion (following a visit to Kalinnikov in his illness), Tchaikovsky's publisher P. Jurgenson bought three Kalinnikov songs for 120

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s. After Kalinnikov's death Jurgenson purchased the Symphony No. 2 in A major and other works from his widow for a high sum, commenting that his death "had multiplied the value of his works by ten". In Russia, his First Symphony remains in the repertory, and his place in musical history is secure. On 7 November 1943,

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

conducted the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...

in a rare broadcast performance of the First Symphony; although the performance was recorded, it was never commercially released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, but was released as a CD recording in 2006.

Works

;Opera * ''In 1812'' (В 1812 году) (1899–1900); incomplete ;Orchestral * Fugue in D minor (1889) * ''Nymphs'' (Нимфы), Symphonic Picture after

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

(1889) * Serenade (Серенада) in G minor for string orchestra (1891) * Suite (Сюита) in B minor (1891–1892) * ''Bylina'' (Былина: Эпическая поэма), Epic Poem (Overture) (c. 1892) * Overture in D minor (1894) * Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1894–1895) * Symphony No. 2 in A major (1895–1897) * Intermezzo No. 1 (Интермеццо No. 1) in F minor (1896) * Intermezzo No. 2 (Интермеццо No. 2) in G major (1897) * ''The Cedar and the Palm'' (Кедр и пальма; Le Cèdre et le palmier), Symphonic Picture after

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

(1897–1898) * ''Tsar Boris'' (Царь Борис), Incidental Music to the tragedy by

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (; – ), often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy, was a Russian poet, novelist, and playwright. He is considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist, primarily on account o ...

(1898) ;Piano * Moderato in E minor * ''Polonaise on a Theme from Symphony No. 1'' (Полонез на темы Симфонии No. 1) in B major for piano 4-hands * Scherzo in F major (1888–1889) * ''Chanson triste'' (Грустная песенка) in G minor (1892–1893) * Nocturne (Ноктюрн) in F minor (1892–1893) * ''Élégie'' (Элегия) in B minor (1894) * Minuet (Менуэт) in E major (1894) * ''Russian Intermezzo'' (Русское интермеццо) in F minor (1894) * Waltz (Вальс) in A major (1894) ;Vocal * ''Come to Me'' (Приди ко мне) for soprano, alto, baritone and piano; words by Aleksey Koltsov * ''I Am Yours, My Darling'' (Я ли тебя, моя радость) for voice and piano; words by

* ''I Would Like to Make My Songs into Wonderful Flowers'' (Я желал бы своей песней) for voice and piano; words by

* ''On the Old Burial Mound'' (На старом кургане) for voice and piano (1887); words by

Ivan Savvich Nikitin Ivan Savvich Nikitin () (, Voronezh – , Voronezh) was a Russian poet. Born in Voronezh into a merchant family, Nikitin was educated in a seminary until 1843. His father's violence and alcoholism brought the family to ruin and forced young Ivan ...

* ''On Your Lovely Little Shoulder Dear'' (На чудное плечико милой; An Liebchens schneeweisse Schulter) for voice and piano (1887); words by

in translation by Vasily Pavlovich Fyodorov (1883–1942) * ''When Life Is Weighed Down with Suffering'' (Когда жизнь гнетут страданья и муки) for voice and piano (1887); words by Polivanov * ''16 Musical Letters'' (16 Музыкальных писем) for voice and piano (1892–1899) * ''Bright Stars'' (Звёзды ясные) for voice and piano (1894); words by Konstantin Fofanov * ''The Gentle Stars Shone Down on Us'' (Нам звёзды кроткие мерцали) for voice and piano (1894); words by Aleksey Pleshcheyev * ''There Was an Old King'' (Был старый король) for voice and piano (1894); words by

in translation by Aleksey Pleshcheyev * ''A Present for 1 January 1900'' for voice and piano (1899) * ''Bells'' (Колокола) for voice and piano (1900); words by K. R. * ''Prayer'' (Молитва: "О Боже мой") for voice and piano (1900); words by Aleksey Pleshcheyev * ''Do Not Ask Why I Smile in Thought'' (Не спрашивай, зачем...) for voice and piano (1901); words by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

;Choral * ''The Triumph of Lilliput'' for chorus and piano * ''Cherubic Hymn No. 1'' (Херувимская песнь No. 1) for chorus (1885) * ''Cherubic Hymn No. 2'' (Херувимская песнь No. 2) for chorus (1886) * ''The Mountain Tops'' (Горные вершины) for chorus (1887) * ''Christe Eleison'' for chorus (1889) * ''Lord, Our Lord'' for chorus (1889) * ''John of Damascus'' (Иоанн Дамаскин), Cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1890); words by

* ''A Beautiful Girl Sits by the Sea'' (Баллада: Над морем красавица дева сидит), Ballade for female chorus and orchestra (1894); words by

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...

References

Works cited

* * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalinnikov, Vasily 1866 births 1901 deaths People from Mtsensky District People from Mtsensky Uyezd 19th-century composers from the Russian Empire Bassoonists from the Russian Empire Russian Romantic composers Russian classical bassoonists Russian male classical composers 19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire 19th-century male musicians from the Russian Empire 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 20th-century Russian male musicians Tuberculosis deaths in the Russian Empire