Glazunov: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 4

Featuring

Stephen Coombs
Stephen Layton
The Holst Singers
Alexander Glazunov

Did you know?

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded in Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, London, in June and October 1995.

Cultural Impact

Glazunov's influence as Russia's great musical conciliator lived on in successive generations of post-Revolutionary composers, especially his greatest student, Shostakovich.

Composer Biography

Glazunov was championed by the nationalistic composer Balakirev and taught by Balakirev's student Rimsky-Korsakov.

Compositional Technique

Glazunov's Barcarolle sur les touches noires (Barcarolle on the black keys) is written so that the right hand plays only on the black keys of the piano, yet avoids sounding artificial.

Composition History

The Idylle, Op 103, from 1926, marks the end of Glazunov's work as a piano composer, written despite his appalling living conditions of poverty and illness.

Compositional Technique

The Triumphal March, Op 40, originally for grand orchestra and chorus, includes a solemn interlude with Wagnerian influence and a sudden appearance of a well-known American tune.

Composer Biography

Alexander Glazunov, the composer, is considered an heir to both Glinka's Russian nationalism and Anton Rubinstein's integration of Russian art into European culture.