Glazunov: Finnish Fantasy, Finnish Sketches

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865 - 1936)Finnish Fantasy, Op. 88Finnish Sketches, Op. 89Karelian Legend, Op. 99Ouverture solennelle, Op. 73Wedding March, Op. 21 It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to defend thereputation of Glazunov. He belonged to a generation of Russian composers thatwas able to benefit from more professional standards of compositional technique,absorbing and helping to create a synthesis of the national, that mightsometimes be expressed crudely enough, and the technique of the conservatories,that might sometimes seem facile. Glazunov worked closely with Rimsky-Korsakov,to whom Balakirev, his mother's teacher, had recommended him, and played animportant part in the education of a new generation of Russian composers suchas Shostakovich. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born in St Petersburg in 1865, the son of a publisher and bookseller. As a child heshowed considerable musical ability and in 1879 met Balakirev and henceRimsky-Korsakov. By the age of sixteen he had finished the first of his ninesymphonies, which was performed under the direction of Balakirev, whoseinfluence is perceptible in the work. The relationship with Balakirev was notto continue. The rich timber-merchant Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev had beenpresent at the first performance of the symphony and travelled to Moscow tohear Rimsky-Korsakov conduct a second performance there. He attended the Moscowrehearsals and his meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov was the beginning of a newinformal association of Russian composers, perceived by Balakirev as a threatto his own position and influence, as self-appointed mentor of the Russiannationalist composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev's circle, attending hisFriday evenings with Rimsky-Korsakov, rather than Balakirev's Tuesday eveningmeetings. Belyayev took Glazunov, in 1884, to meet Liszt in Weimar, where the FirstSymphony was performed. In 1899 Glazunov joined the staff of the Conservatory in St Petersburg, but by this time his admiration for his teacher seems to havecooled. Rimsky-Korsakov's wife was later to remark on Glazunov's admiration forTchaikovsky and Brahms, suspecting in this the influence of Taneyev and of the criticLaroche, champion of Tchaikovsky and a strong opponent of the nationalists, aman described by Rimsky-Korsakov as the Russian equivalent of Hanslick inVienna, a comparison that, from him, was not entirely complimentary. Glazunov, however, remained a colleague and friend ofRimsky-Korsakov, and demonstrated this after the political disturbance of 1905,when the latter had signed a letter of protest at the suppression of some elementof democracy in Russia and had openly sympathized with Conservatory studentswho had joined liberal protests against official policies. Rimsky-Korsakov wasdismissed from the Conservatory, to be reinstated by Glazunov, elected directorof an institution that, in the aftermath, had now won a measure of autonomy.Glazunov remained director of t