BY HOLLYN WHITE

Russian Nationalists

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Born March 18, 1844 near Novgorod, Russia

Died June 21, 1908 ni Lyubensk

Russian composer, teacher, editor

Member of The Five

Rimsky-Korsakov

Moved to St. Petersburg at age 12 and entered the naval academy

Began taking piano lessons and learn the basics of composition at 15

Sailed on a long voyage in 1862 for three years Where fascination with the sea came from

Had his first symphony performed to great success in St. Petersburg on December 31, 1865 at the age of 21

In 1871 was engaged to teach composition at St. Petersburg Conservatory Admitted his lack of qualifications in his autobiographical book

Began study in counterpoint and the fugue in 1873

Rimsky-Korsakov

Ended his studies in 1875 by sending 10 fugues to Tchaikovsky

Left naval service in 1873 and became inspector and conductor of military bands

Appointed director of the Free Music School in St. Petersburg in 1874 Held post until 1881

Served as conductor of concerts at the court chapel from 1883-1894

Chief conductor of the Russian symphony concerts between 1886-1900 1889-led concerts of Russian music at Paris World Exposition

Rimsky-Korsakov

Was a severe critic of own musicMade constant revisions of early

compositionsSubjects of operas taken from Russian or

other Slavic fairy tales, literature, and historySongs are distinguished by simple elegance

and fine Russian prosodyChamber music is less importantProfessor of composition and orchestration

Rimsky-Korsakov: Style

Influenced by Liszt and Balakirev Liszt

Harmonic adventurousness Balakirev

Use of whole tone scale Treatment of folk songs Musical orientalism

Use of whole tone and octatonic scalesFolk musicBoth a progressive and a conservative

More radical his harmonies became, the more he attempted to control them with strict rules

Often used aquatic themes

Rimsky-Korsakov: Works

Russian Easter OvertureScheherazadeThe Snow MaidenPiano Concerto

Alexander Skryabin (Scriabin)

Born Jan 6, 1872 in Moscow

Died April 27, 1915 in Moscow

Russian composer and pianist

Skryabin

Took piano lessons with Nikolai Zverev at an early age Was teaching Rachmaninoff at the same time

Enlisted in the Second Moscow Cadet Corps in 1882

Later studied at Moscow Conservatory with Anton Arensky, Sergei Taneyev, and Vasily Safonov.

Became a noted pianist despite small hands Could barely stretch a ninth

Skryabin

Toured in Russia and abroad as a concert pianist

Became a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory Began to establish a reputation as composer Based in Moscow for a period of 5 years

By winter 1904 relocated to Switzerland Began work on Symphony No. 3

With financial help, traveled in Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, and the US

Relocated to Brussels in 1907Returned to Russian permanently in 1909

Skryabin

Five symphoniesTen piano sonatasHundreds of preludes, etudes, and poems

Associated with piano poemsEarly music resembled ChopinMusic evolved over his lifetime

Evolution was rapid and briefMusic divided into three periods

Skryabin

First period (1880s-1903) Stick to Romantic tradition Employed common practice period harmonic language

CPP uses conventionalized sequences of chords (I-IV-V-I) and obeys specific contrpuntal norms (avoidance of parallel fifths and octaves)

Fondness of dominant function Added tone chords Waltz in F minor Piano Concerto in F# minor Sonata No. 1

Skryabin

Third Period (1907-1915) Built on the acoustic and octatonic scales

Seven note synthetic scale Nine-note scale from the combination of the above Tonal unity was replaced by harmonic unity

Style can be traced in the 10 piano sonatas Earliest are composed in conventional late-Romantic

manner Later ones are very different, the last five written

without a key signature Sonata No. 10 Poem of Fire

Octatonic and Acoustic Scales

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Born April 1, 1873, in Semyonovo

Died March 28, 1943 in Beverly Hills

Russian composer, pianist, and conductor

Last great representative of Russian late Romanticism

Skryabin

Second Period (1903-1907) Music became more chromatic and dissonant Mostly adhered to traditional functional tonality Complex forms like mystic chord are hinted Added dissonances are resolved conventionally according

to voice leading but focus shifts towards a system where chord coloring is more important

Fewer dissonances on the dominant chords are resolved As dominant chords are further extended, they lose their

dominant fuction Poeme Satanique The Poem of Ecstasy Sonata No. 4

Rachmaninoff

Entered St. Petersburg in 1883 Failed all his general subjects at the end-term exams in 1885 Feared scholarship might be withdrawn

Sent to the Moscow Conservatory Took his final piano exam spring 1891 and passed with

honors During his final studies he completed

Youth Symphony A one-movement symphonic piece

Prince Rostislav A symphonic poem

The Rock A fantasia for orchestra

Rachmaninoff

Graduated on piano in 1891Graduated in composition in 1892Concert debut in London in 1899, as conductor in The

Rock and pianist in Elegie and Prelude in C# minorIn 1906 conducted operas Francesca da Rimini and

The Miserly Knight at BolshoyFollowing decade included many of his most

celebrated scores Symphony No. 2 The Isle of the Dead The Bells Vespers

Rachmaninoff

Left Russia in 1917 and toured as a pianist briefly in Stockholm and Copenhagen

Sailed to America in 1918Began a career in the studio, producing

recordings that are still regarded as some of the most valuable interpretations of his own and others’ music

Rachmaninoff: Style

Showed initial influence of TchaikovskyBegan showing a more individual tone in the mid

1890sUse of unusually widely spaced chords for bell-like

soundsFond of Russian Orthodox chantsChromatic counterpointFrequently used motifs, including fragments of the

first phrase of the Dies IraeOften used modified rondo formLater compositions sought a greater sense of

compression and motivic development

Rachmaninoff

Works: Orchestral works Chamber works Piano concertos Solo piano pieces

Piano for six hands Two pianos Piano duet

Operas Choral Works Solo voice and piano

Prelude in G minorPiano Concerto No. 3The Isle of the DeadThe Bells

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Born May 7, 1840, in Vyatka, Russia

Died November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg

Russian Composer

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Began taking piano lessons at 5 years oldBegan attending the Imperial School of

Jurisprudence at age 10Became a bureau clerk with the Ministry of Justice

in 1859Began taking music lessons at the Russian Musical

Society at age 21 Enrolled at the newly founded St. Petersburg Conservatory Became one of the school’s first composition students

Moved to Moscow in 1863 and became a professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory

Tchaikovsky

First work to be publicly performed with Characteristic Dances in 1865 at a Pavlovsk concert

Resigned from Moscow Conservatory in 1878 to focus on composing

Returned to Moscow Conservatory in fall 1879 as a temporary move Stayed only until December

Traveled all over Europe for performances of his music

In 1891 came to the opening of Carnegie Hall

Tchaikovsky: Style

Taught more of a Western style of theory and composition

Inspired by Russian folk musicRussian, romantic melodiesStravinsky called him “the most Russian of

Russian composers”Had a difficult time composing within the

structures of the German school of composition

Leading composer of Romanticism

Tchaikovsky

Works: Ballets

Sleeping Beauty Operas

Eugene Onegin Symphonies Symphonic poems

Romeo & Juliet Fantasy

Concertos Piano Concerto NO. 1

Orchestral suites Incidental music

Choral music All Night Vigil

Chamber music String Quartet No. 1

Solo piano music Songs Arrangements of the

works of others

Sergey Prokofiev

Born April 11/23, 1891, in Sontsovka, Ukraine

Died March 5, 1953, in Moscow

Began career as a composer while still a student

Composer, pianist, conductor

Prokofiev: Formative Years

Primitive style Driving rhythmsDissonant harmoniesMost popular works:

First two piano concertos First violin concerto Orchestral Scythian Suite Ballet Ala and Lolly Symphony no. 1 in D major

Written to convince critics he could compose in the style of Mozart

Prokofiev: US and Paris Years (1922-1936)

Had to compete with Stravinsky as a composer and Rachmaninoff as a performer

Had success early with solo recitalsHad little success with operaEnded up in financial difficulty and left for

ParisMoved to Paris in 1920Had mixed success in Paris over the yearsDid some USSR tours

Prokofiev: US and Paris Years (1922-1936)

Produced two operas The Love for Three Oranges The Flaming Angel

Two balletsThree symphoniesThree more piano concertosLess productive period than his first

Prokofiev: Return to Russia (1936-1953)

Beginning of Russia’s artistic isolation from western Europe

Forced to adapt to the new circumstances he wrote a series of “mass songs” using the lyrics of officially approved Soviet poets

During the war years the rules for “socialist realist” style compositions were slackened

Died of a brain hemorrhage the same day as Joseph Stalin

Prokofiev: Return to Russia (1936-1953)

Works: Film scores

Ivan the Terrible Alexander Nevsky

Ballets Romeo and Juliet Cinderella

Peter and the Wolf March War and Peace Symphonies Chamber works A number of propaganda

works Piano Concerto No. 3

Wrote in a simplified style

Used less dissonance than before

Remained essentially tonal

Often followed the classical forms of sonata, symphony, and concerto

Publicly denounced in 1948 for being “too modern”

Igor Stravinsky

Born June 17, 1882 in Lomonosov (Oranienbaum)

Died April 6, 1971 in NYC

Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (Later a naturalized French and American)

Stravinsky

Given lessons in piano and music boy as a boyStudied law and philosophy at St. Petersburg

UniversityIn 1902 showed early compositions to Rimsky-

Korsakov Took Stravinsky as a private student Advised against entering the conservatory Tutored mainly in orchestration

Diaghilev commissioned some orchestral arrangements for the summer season of Ballets Russes in Paris after hearing the Scherzo fantastique Later commissioned the full-length ballet The Firebird The premiere made him an overnight success

Stravinsky

Success of The Firebird led to many collaborations between the two

1911-1913: Wrote The Rite of Spring First performance May 29, 1913 provoked a riot Was then known as “the composer of The Rite of Spring”

War led him to Switzerland Russian Revolution October 1917 led to no hope for him to

return to RussiaAfter WWI the Russian style faded from his musicLeft Switzerland and lived in France until 1939

Took French citizenship in 1934

Stravinsky

Earn his living as a performer Many of the works composed 1920s and 1930s were written for

his own use as a concert pianist and conductorSailed to America in 1939

Worked at Harvard 1939-1940 delivering Charles Eliot Norton Lectures

Became a naturalized citizen in 1945Most important aspect of work is the changing face of

compositional style while always retaining an identity As well as technical innovations (including rhythm and harmony) Use of motivic development included additive motivic

development Notes subtracted/added with disregard to consequent meter change

Stravinsky: Style

Divided into three periods Russian period Neo-classical period Serial period

Noted for distinctive use of rhythmCreation of unique and idiosyncratic ensembles

Single instruments Three Pieces for solo clarinet

Enormous orchestra Rite of Spring Use of ostinati

Stravinsky

Russian period Music uses significant number of Russian folk tunes Works clearly show influence of Rimsky-Korsakov The Faun and the Shepherdess

Neo-classical period Shows return to music of Classical period Exploration of themes from the ancient Classical world (Greek

Mythology) The Rake's Progress

Serial period Began using serial compositional techniques

Dodecaphony-twelve tone technique by Schoenberg Experimented with non-twelve-tone serial techniques The Flood