Glazounow, Alexander Konstantinowitch

1865-

Eminent composer, the greatest of the younger Russian School, and a rival of his former teacher, Rimsky-Korsakow. He was born at St. Petersburg, the son of a well-known bookseller and publisher, and began the study of piano at nine years of age with Elenowsky, who supplemented these lessons with elementary theory. Although Glazounow displayed marked ability for composition within the next few years, he entered the Polytechnic Institute at fourteen for scientific study. About this time, however, he became acquainted with Balakirev, who recognized his genius, and introduced him to Rimsky-Korsakpw, under whom he studied composition and theory. For several years he pursued both his general and musical studies, and during this period composed a symphony, which, when produced in 1882, at a concert in St. Petersburg, met with such success that he decided to follow music as a career. His patience and critical taste in composition are indicated by the fact that the symphony had to be reorchestrated five times before he would allow it to be published. His second symphony was performed under his own baton at a Trocadero concert in Paris, in 1889. The fourth was brought out in 1897 at a London Philharmonic concert, and a fifth at a symphony concert in the same city the same year. His first overture, based on Greek themes, was performed at a concert of the Russian Musical Society, with Anton Rubinstein as conductor. For some time he lived in Germany, and was seriously influenced by the music of Brahms and Wagner, though not to the extent of submerging his Russian individuality. His music, however, is more cosmopolitan than the works of his compatriots, and shows from the very first, a mastery of technical means seldom attained till maturity. His tendency is toward classical forms, yet suggestive of the realistic school. While his harmonies are rich, intricate and original, they never verbal ance his gift of melody, which is perhaps at its best in a melancholy vein. His early works are characterized also by a strong inclination toward the fantastic and imaginative, his choice of themes being drawn largely from nature and from Oriental sources.

In 1899 he became professor of instrumentation and score-reading at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg, and is now one of the directors of the Imperial Russian Music Society. He is also an associate conductor of the Russian Symphony concerts. His official duties do not, however, interfere with his creative work, and for nearly twenty years he has occupied a position in the front rank of Russian composers. He is an honorary member of the London and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Societies, and of the St. Petersburg Society for Chamber Music, etc. His compositions num- ber about a hundred, nearly all of them being works of importance. He has brought out eight symphonies in all; the eighth, his last work, being performed at a Leeds Musical Festival in October, 1907. It is said to exhibit his best qualities as a composer, and also for a modern symphony, unusual restraint, as it contains no merely sensational effects. He has recently received considerable attention in England, having had conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from both Oxford and Cambridge, in June, 1907. Glazounow's orchestral works predominate over other compositions in the eighty or more that he has published. They include, beside the symphonies, four suites, the Characteristic, Scenes de ballet, Aus dem Mittelalter, and Chopiniana; two overtures on Greek themes; The Carnaval overture; Overture solennelle; Cortege solennel; The Kremlin, a symphonic picture; an Oriental rhapsody; an Oriental reverie; a Ballade; a Scene dansantc; a wedding march; a mazurka; two concert waltzes; a march on a Russian theme; a Triumphal March, written expressly for the Chicago Exposition of 1893; three fantasias, two of these entitled, respectively, The Forest, and The Sea; two symphonic sketches, Spring and Un fete Slave; an elegy; and a symphonic poem, Stenka Rasine. His vocal works include three cantatas, the Coronation, written for the Czar; the Memorial Cantata; and a third for women's voices; a Hymn to Pushkin, also for women's chorus; and about twenty songs. Among his chamber compositions are a suite and four other numbers for string quartet; a string quintet; a quartet for brass instruments; several works for cello and piano; a yiolin concerto; a meditation for violin and piano; and a reverie for horn and piano. His piano compositions include a suite on the theme Sacha, a diminutive of his Christian name, Alexander; two sonatas; and arrangements of his orchestral works. His orchestral fantasias, The Forest, and The Sea, are arranged for two pianos, eight hands. Glazounow has written no operas, but has produced three ballets, Raymonda, Ruses d'amour, and The Seasons. His career has been marked by  a good fortune rare among composers of genius, unhampered by poverty, grief, or disappointment.

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