Alexander Glazunov
Saint Petersburg, 1879. A fourteen-year-old high school student named Alexander Glazunov sat before Mily Balakirev with an orchestral score in hand. Balakirev casually brought the composition to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov later that December. Rimsky-Korsakov remembered the work as written in a childish fashion yet declared the boy's talent indubitably clear. The composer taught Glazunov as a private student starting that same month. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that his musical development progressed not by the day but literally by the hour. By spring of 1881 their relationship shifted from teacher and pupil to junior colleague and senior mentor. Borodin and Stasov lavishly praised both the work and its young creator when it premiered in 1882. Glazunov was only sixteen years old at the time.
Mitrofan Belyayev entered the picture as a wealthy timber merchant and amateur musician who admired the teenager's music. Anatoly Lyadov introduced Belyayev to Glazunov's compositions around 1884. Belyayev took the young composer on a trip to Western Europe that year. They met Franz Liszt in Weimar where Glazunov's First Symphony was performed publicly. Later in 1884 Belyayev rented a hall and hired an orchestra to play Glazunov's symphony plus a new orchestral suite. Buoyed by rehearsal success he decided to give a public concert of works by Glazunov and other composers the following season. This project grew into the Russian Symphony Concerts which began during the 1886, 1887 season. In 1885 Belyayev started his own publishing house in Leipzig Germany initially funding music by Glazunov Lyadov Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin at his own expense. The group eventually became known as the Belyayev circle.
Glazunov became director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1905 after the firing and re-hiring of Rimsky-Korsakov that same year. He remained so until revolutionary events culminated on the 7th of November 1917. His Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major premiered at the first concert held in Petrograd after that date. After World War I ended he worked tirelessly to improve curriculum standards and defend the institute's autonomy. Among his achievements were establishing an opera studio and a students' philharmonic orchestra. Glazunov showed paternal concern for needy students like Dmitri Shostakovich and Nathan Milstein. He personally examined hundreds of students each academic year writing brief comments on their progress. Despite his questionable sobriety his prestige gave the Conservatory special status among higher learning institutions following the October Revolution. He established a sound working relationship with Anatoly Lunacharsky the minister of education yet faced attacks from professors demanding methods aligned with communist ideology. Tired of the Conservatory he took advantage of an opportunity to go abroad in 1928 for Schubert centenary celebrations in Vienna. He did not return and Maximilian Steinberg ran the institution until Glazunov finally resigned in 1930.
Glazunov made his conducting debut in 1888 and conducted his Second Symphony in Paris at the World Exhibition the following year. In March 1896 he led the posthumous premiere of Tchaikovsky's student overture The Storm. In 1897 he conducted the disastrous premiere of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No 1 which catalysed the composer's three-year depression. Rachmaninoff's wife later claimed that Glazunov seemed to be drunk at the time though this assertion cannot be confirmed. Shostakovich recalled that Glazunov kept a bottle of alcohol hidden behind his desk and sipped it through a tube during lessons. Glazunov had insufficient rehearsal time with the symphony and never fully mastered the art of conducting despite loving it. He would sometimes joke that you could criticize his compositions but you could not deny he was a good conductor. Despite hardships during World War I and the Russian Civil War he remained active as a conductor playing concerts in factories clubs and Red Army posts. After leaving Russia he conducted an evening of his works in Paris in 1928 followed by engagements across Portugal Spain France England Czechoslovakia Poland the Netherlands and the United States.
Glazunov toured Europe and the United States in 1928 before settling in Paris by 1929. He always claimed ill health explained his continued absence from Russia allowing him to remain a respected composer unlike Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff who left for other reasons. In 1929 he conducted an orchestra of Parisian musicians in the first complete electrical recording of The Seasons. In 1934 he wrote his Saxophone Concerto a virtuoso and lyrical work for the alto saxophone. At age 64 in 1929 Glazunov married the 54-year-old Olga Nikolayevna Gavrilova. Elena Gavrilova daughter of his wife had been the soloist in the first Paris performance of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major the previous year. He subsequently adopted Elena who used the name Elena Glazunova. Her husband Sergei Tarnowsky managed Glazunov's professional affairs in Paris negotiating appearances with Sol Hurok. Glazunov died in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris at the age of 70 in 1936. His remains were reinterred at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Leningrad in 1972.
Glazunov's musical development was paradoxical as he became an idol to nationalist composers yet mastered academic technique himself. His first two symphonies served as anthologies of nationalist techniques practiced by Balakirev and Borodin. By his early twenties he realized polemic battles between academicism and nationalism were no longer valid. With his Third Symphony he consciously attempted to internationalize his music similar to Tchaikovsky whom the piece is dedicated to. The Fourth Symphony came into his mature style written as a deliberately cosmopolitan work by a Russian looking outward to the West. It remained unmistakably Russian in tone while synthesizing nationalist tradition and Western technique. He continued this synthesis in the Fifth Symphony. By the time Glazunov wrote his Seventh Symphony his duties at the Conservatory had slowed his rate of composition. After his Eighth Symphony heavy drinking may have started taking a toll on his creativity. He sketched one movement of a Ninth Symphony but left the work unfinished before his death.
Igor Stravinsky admitted in his 1935 autobiography that as a young man he greatly admired Glazunov's perfection of musical form and purity of counterpoint. At fifteen Stravinsky transcribed one of Glazunov's string quartets for piano solo. He deliberately modeled his Symphony in E Op. 1 on Glazunov's symphonies which were then in vogue. He used Glazunov's Eighth Symphony Op. 83 written in the same key as his own as a pattern for corrections. This attitude changed over time when Stravinsky called Glazunov one of the most disagreeable men he had ever met. During an initial private performance of Stravinsky's symphony Glazunov told him very nice very nice after passing him in the aisle. Later Stravinsky amended his recollection adding that Glazunov said rather heavy instrumentation for such music. Glazunov was not supportive of the modern direction Stravinsky's music took nor did he share Rimsky-Korsakov's grudging respect for new ideas. At a performance of Fireworks he reportedly made the comment no talent just dissonance. In 1912 he told Vladimir Telyakovsky that Petrushka is not music but is excellently and skillfully orchestrated.
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Common questions
When was Alexander Glazunov born and when did he die?
Alexander Glazunov lived from 1865 to 1936. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris at the age of 70 in 1936.
Who taught Alexander Glazunov his early music lessons?
Mily Balakirev introduced Alexander Glazunov to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who began teaching him as a private student in December 1879. Rimsky-Korsakov guided the composer until their relationship shifted to junior colleague and senior mentor by spring 1881.
What role did Mitrofan Belyayev play in Alexander Glazunov's career?
Mitrofan Belyayev supported Alexander Glazunov financially starting around 1884 by funding his publishing house and organizing public concerts. This support led to the formation of the Belyayev circle which included composers like Anatoly Lyadov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
How long did Alexander Glazunov serve as director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory?
Alexander Glazunov served as director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory from 1905 until he resigned in 1930. He left Russia permanently after taking an opportunity to go abroad for Schubert centenary celebrations in Vienna in 1928.
Which famous work did Alexander Glazunov write for saxophone in 1934?
Alexander Glazunov wrote his Saxophone Concerto in 1934 as a virtuoso and lyrical work for the alto saxophone. This piece remains one of his most recognized compositions for wind instruments.