Mily Balakirev

Mili Alexeyevich Balakirev (Russian Милий Алексеевич Балакирев, transliteration Mily Balakirev Alekseevic; born December 21 1836jul / January 2 1837greg in Nizhny Novgorod, .. .. † 16 Maijul / May 29 1910greg in Saint Petersburg ) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor.

Life

Balakirev, the son of a civil servant and a pianist, received his first piano lessons from his mother. Through his teacher Karl Eisrich he made in 1850, the acquaintance with the music lovers Squire Alexander Ulybyschew, who engaged him as pianist and conductor. In 1853 he visited with his friend, the later writer Pyotr Boborykin, the Kazan University as a non- matriculated student of mathematics, made ​​himself a name in Kazan as a pianist, and gave some piano lessons. Ulybyschew 1855 took him to St. Petersburg, where Balakirev with Mikhail Glinka came into contact and was able to inspire his vision of a national Russian music. Glinka Balakirev intercession opened wider circles of the St. Petersburg musical life, so that he could get to know the later members of the so-called Mighty Handful in the following years. Having had joined towards the end of 1862 Alexander Borodin, the formation of the Group of Five was completed. Here Balakirev took the function of a teacher and mentor, and oversaw his compositional technique inexperienced friends by giving them instructions on writing symphonies. In the same year he founded the Free School Musical as a competing institution to Saint Petersburg Conservatory. At the Free School, he was assistant to the director Gavriil Lomakin. In addition, he undertook in the 1860s, some traveling through the Caucasus and the Volga region to collect folk songs. From 1867 to 1869 he directed the concerts of the Russian Musical Society as a successor of Anton Rubinstein.

Due to lack of public recognition and the increasing emancipation of his students came Balakirev about 1870 into a deep crisis of meaning, among other things, to expressed in religious fanaticism. He also ceased to give concerts and to compose, was in 1873 from the line of Musical Free School of Rimsky-Korsakov and took a job as a railway official. It was not until 1876 he turned back to the music. In 1881 he was entrusted with the publication of the new harmonized Russian Orthodox liturgy and took over in the same year the line of the musical free school, which he held until 1908. Two years later he was also conductor of the Court Chapel, which he remained until 1894. This year he had his last public appearance as a pianist in Żelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Chopin, at the inauguration of a memorial for the Polish composer. A pension of 3,000 rubles per year from the Court Chapel allowed Balakirev a largely carefree life. In his last years he was compositionally very productive and completed some works that he had begun to decades before.

Tonal language

As a trained pianist Balakirev initially followed the example of Frédéric Chopin and composed brilliant salon pieces. The encounter with Mikhail Glinka made ​​but for a change of heart. He turned now to the creation of an original Russian national style to which va distinguished by the use of Russian song and dance. This brought a hitherto unprecedented use of church modes and unusual harmonies with himself. In addition, stands a taste for orientalism in the eye, especially for melodies from the Caucasus. In addition, he was guided by Franz Liszt, whose influence but less stylistically, but rather in its form, ie in the genus choice in the processing of topics and in the piano, is recognizable. So Balakirev developed starting from Mikhail Glinka, a deeply Russian music, which saw itself music as opposed to the Western (and particularly Italian ). Due to its status as a leading figure of the " Mighty Handful " Balakirev was able to pass his ideals to other composers with whom he was to mark the Russian Music crucial. The problem with his teaching was V.A. the absence of technical exercises and music theory. Balakirev himself had never received lessons in composition, but his knowledge acquired through score reading etc.. He believed anyway, that technical exercises of inspiration were a hindrance and the music " westernized " would. His disciples, however, the lack of technical skill was preparing some not insignificant problems.

Importance

Balakirev has a great importance as the founder of an era. The composer Balakirev is now scarcely represented in the concert halls, although his works have great originality and also a good technique. The reason for this neglect is historically seen: Balakirev mostly turned in the 1860s to promote his associates, but also composed a little and let his compositions are mostly unfinished. In the following years he fell into the above-mentioned Crisis, and only since the 1880s, he composed again. Now he looked at again with his incomplete works, but his style did not change. Therefore, were his works that were only now completed and listed no longer at the height of her time. Had Balakirev they already have in the 1860s, they would have received as a revolutionary pioneering work in the history. The year for him only the fate of the late comers. Therefore Unfortunately, most of his really remarkable compositions to this day have remained barely noticed.

Works

  • Orchestral works De Bohème, tone poem for orchestra on themes from three teschechischen folk songs
  • Symphony No.1 in C major ( 1864-66, 1893-97 )
  • Symphony No.2 in D minor ( 1900-08 )
  • Suite in B minor ( 1902-08, completed by Sergei Lyapunov )
  • Tamara, symphonic poem ( 1867-82 )
  • Overtures: King Lear Ouverture sur un thème de marche espagnole
  • Piano Concerto No.1 in F sharp minor op.1 (1855 /56)
  • Piano Concerto No.2 in E flat major (1861 /62 1909/10, completed by Sergei Lyapunov )
  • Grande fantaisie on Russian folk song themes in D flat major, Opus 4 for Piano and Orchestra ( 1852)
  • Russia, symphonic poem
  • King Lear, music to Shakespeare's tragedy
  • Cantata for the unveiling of Glinka Memorial in Petersburg for soprano, chorus and orchestra ( 1902-04 )
  • Songs
  • Folksong Arrangements
  • Sonata in B flat minor op.5 (1855 /56)
  • Sonata in B minor ( 1900-05 )
  • Islamey, oriental fantasy (1869, rev. 1902)
  • 7 mazurkas
  • 7 Waltz
  • Nocturnes, Scherzi and other pieces
  • Octet for flute, oboe, horn, string quartet and piano in C minor op.3 ( 1850-56 )
  • Romance in E major for cello and piano (1856 )
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