Alexander Glazunov: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5, The Seasons (excerpts)

Featuring

Evgeny Mravinsky
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexander Glazunov

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Composer Biography

Glazunov attended all rehearsals of Wagner's Ring in St. Petersburg in 1889 with Rimsky-Korsakov and was greatly impressed by the orchestral technique.

Compositional Technique

The Fourth Symphony has only three movements, with a subtly orchestrated scherzo featuring hunting themes, and integrates a slow movement into its outer movements.

Composer Biography

Alexander Glazunov, the composer, emerged from a creative crisis around 1890 and developed his own individual style.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Glazunov's individual style attempted to combine the Central European tradition of composition with a distinctly Russian flavor.

Performer Biography

Yevgeny Mravinsky, the conductor, became the permanent conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1938 and remained its musical director until his retirement in 1982.

Composition History

Glazunov's Fourth Symphony, composed in 1893, is known as the 'Lyrical' due to its subjective, subdued mood and intimate formal structure.

Composition History

Glazunov's Fifth Symphony, composed in 1895, was called 'The Heroic' or 'Wagnerian' due to the influence of Wagnerian orchestration and thematic development.