Alexander Glazunov was a Russian composer of symphonies, ballet,
orchestral, and chamber music. He was born in 1865. His symphonies
no. 4 and no. 5 are genuine emotional experiences, as is the lovely
Concerto for Violin & Orchestra. He is perhaps best viewed as a
late Russian romantic in the tradition of Mikhail Glinka and early Peter I. Tchaikovsky.
Glazunov, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, received encouragement
also from Belyayev, an influential patron and publisher, whose
activities succeeded and largely replaced the earlier efforts of
Balakirev to inspire the creation of national Russian music. He
joined the teaching staff of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in
1899 and after the student protests and turmoil of 1905 was elected
director, a position he retained until 1930, although from 1928 he
had remained abroad, chiefly in Paris, where he died in 1936.
His music represents a synthesis between the Russian and the so-called German, the technical assurance introduced by the Rubinstein brothers in the Conservatories of St. Petersburg and of Moscow in the middle of the century.
His string quartets are beautiful and their influence from
Tchaikovsky can be seen. His notable string quartets include
String Quartet #2 in F,
Op.10, String Quartet
#4 in G, Op.26, and String Quartet #7 in Bb,
Op.106. He also wrote a less popular String Quintet in A, Op.39.
He wrote three ballets, Raymonda, The Ruses of Love, and The
Seasons. These three ballets come from the 1890's, his best
period.
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