The December post presents Vasily Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1895), which is usually regarded as an outstanding work even by those who have heard it for the first time. Without a doubt, when I first listened to it a few months ago, this was one of the first thoughts that sprang to mind; it generated my interest and prompted me to write a little about it.
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| Image obtained by AI PicLumen. Animated by Photofunia |
Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 in G minor, created between 1894 and 1895, was first performed in Kyiv in 1897 under the baton of A. N. Vinogradsky as part of a Russian Musical Society programme. Vasily Kalinnikov was influenced by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Glinka. It is worth noting that Kalinnikov's pieces were performed in several halls alongside those of Glazunov and Tchaikovsky. Some consider him «as a true heir to Glinka» for being inspired by folk music, the Oryol countryside, the Bryansk forests, or the book The Tale of Igor's Campaign - sources that influenced his music with the «character of Russian folk life» and allowed him, according to some experts, «who in his own way summed up an entire era of the development of Russian music of the 19th century» (Yudina, 2015).
Nowadays, we may consider it a symphony in a series of works that could be regarded as forgotten because they are performed enthusiastically by various orchestras for several years before being performed again decades later. Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 first became recognised in America in the late 1930s, although it has not been performed major orchestras such as the Boston Symphony or the New York Philharmonic in at least 70 years (Blumhofer, 2018). Vasily Kalinnikov's compositions were performed around Europe; as well as in Shanghai in the 1940s or earlier (Utz, 2021). Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff trusted, supported and promoted Kalinnikov's pieces, allowing them to be performed in prestigious venues (Griglio, 2020).
Music… is in fact a language of moods, that is the states of our mind that cannot be expressed in words and do not lend themselves to definite description. Vasily Kalinnikov
If we consider music as a language, as Vasily Kalinnikov suggested, we must remember that the generation of new concepts is inextricably linked to previous concepts; however, what if the language Kalinnikov refers to differs, at least in part, from that derived from R. Koselleck's Sattelzeit, which describes the cultural changes that occurred in Western Europe between 1750 and 1850. Taylor (2013) examines Russian symphonic approaches from the 19th century and their distinctions from the «Austro-German symphonic tradition», focussing on the use and meaning of Time; or, we might analyse how Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 links to the Sattelzeit and the «notion of music as developmental» of Austro-German symphonic music? The study would be set in Time, but not in an evolutionary teleological sense, but rather as a Experience.
However, beneath this difference, the Experience encoded in the concept of Time tells us of a certain Worldview, a way of dealing with the Other, and a way of Living. Whereas in the West we put all our hopes in the future, we secularized everything and emptied the Present of Experience, moving from linear to non-linear, self-regulating and chaotic systems during the 19th and 20th centuries; in other cultures, this did not occur, at least not to the same degree and form. As a result, It is not surprising that Austro-German critics were caught confused by works like Symphony No. 1 in G minor; in fact, it was understandable, as Taylor (2013) reflects, and also because no one can detach themselves from the concepts of their language to explain what is being examined.
So, if the Symphony No. 1 in G minor is described as a «summary» of the Experiential style of Russian works of the 19th century, understood through the lens of Conceptual History, shouldn't this be reason enough for orchestras all over the world to perform it more frequently?
Reflexion
This season, it was decided that the calendar covers would be themed on symphonies, but I can't help but think that there are almost certainly a plethora of other types of lost, forgotten, or ignored works that would each deserve their own post, not to mention the few new compositions that are premiered each season.
As a reflection, I learnt that a composer friend embarked on an epic path a few years ago to trying to convince a well-known orchestra (and soloist) to perform a new piece he had composed. It is, by the way, a fantastic violin concerto, but he had to overcome some barriers to give it its world premiere. I'd like to point out that even in the eyes of the general audience, it's evident how obstinate a "concert hall" can be when it comes to presenting a new piece, and I've observed some remarks about this on social media. It is also vital to remember that there is a part of the audience that is eager to hear (or discover) new works that touch both the ears and the hearts.
This Christmas, my wishlist is:
- May the love of Christ be born again in our hearts. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. 💗
- Concert halls should examine the necessity to develop spaces (subscriptions, festivals and others) for infrequently performed pieces as well as new works. ♪
Feedback
Starting with the last calendar cover (Bruckner's Symphony No. 4), I decided to add the Feedback Section to enrich each topic. On this occasion, I relied on the invaluable help of Harry Armitage, with whom I chatted a few days ago about the publication of Blumhofer (2013) in The Arts Fuse; I was startled to know that Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 in G minor had not been performed by two great orchestras in decades. Harry's comments let me appreciate even more clearly the need of writing about excellent works that are often overlooked in programmes. I've left the transcription here; enjoy it.
By Harry Armitage |
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«This may interest you for your article. A couple of years ago, I heard the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (5 October 2022 on a subscription livestream) play the world premiere of Feodor Akimenko's cello concerto, Opus 50, written in 1922 but only first played in 2022. Written a century ago in 1922 while living in Paris, the Cello Concerto was discovered in the French National Library where Akimenko’s manuscripts had been deposited after his death. Until recently one might only have encountered his name as one of the first teachers of Stravinsky, but the music of this St Petersburg choirboy is slowly being unearthed and includes a handful of instrumental character pieces, two piano sonatas and several works based on Ukrainian themes. The premiere of his Cello Concerto, originally planned to take place in Akimenko’s native Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine, was inevitably not possible, but two violinists from the Ukraine orchestra joined the BSO for this event and French cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière was the soloist. I heard the Halle Orchestra play another "lost" work in 2022. Funeral Song (or Chant funèbre), Op. 5, is a short orchestral work by Igor Stravinsky. Composed in 1908 in memory of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the work received one performance in 1909. The work was then lost in a St Petersburg library and not rediscovered until 2015. Another "obscure" work which is now undergoing an increase in popularity is W L Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony, written in 1934. It was played in four initial concerts in the USA to great acclaim, and then lapsed into obscurity, probably due to the fact that there were only two copies of the conductor's score and one set of handwritten orchestral parts, rented out by the composer. It got perhaps one or two performances a year until after the composer's death when someone took it upon themselves to get it published (in 2023) with all the parts and score readable and corrected. I attended the UK premiere of this edition earlier this year, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Joshua Weilerstein, who told us we were witnessing a premiere and told us a little about Dawson and this symphony's history. Have you ever heard The Song of Hiawatha, Op. 30, by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a trio of cantatas written between 1898 and 1900? I don't think I have ever heard of it being performed live in recent years, but 100 years ago it was seemingly very popular. By 1904, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (the first of the cantatas) had received 200 performances in England alone, and there was a time when it was played every year at the Royal Albert Hall. Starting in 1924, the trilogy, along with the Hiawatha Ballet Music, was presented in the Royal Albert Hall with scenery, costumes and dancing. The first such staging was conducted on 19 May 1924 by the composer's son Hiawatha Coleridge-Taylor (who was born in 1900, at the height of the composer's fame). These stagings, often conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent, were presented for two weeks annually until the Second World War and were attended by many thousands of people, including the Royal Family. It just then seemed to decline in popularity.» |
I must confess that I heard for the first time two amazing recordings that have touched my heart: (1) W L Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony (1934) performed by The Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi; (2) S Coleridge-Taylor's Scenes from The Song of Hiawatha Op. 30 (1898 -1900?) performed by The Longfellow Chorus under the direction of Charles Kaufmann. Thank you very much, Harry!!!🌷
References
Blumhofer, J . (2018, March 17). Rethinking the Repertoire #20 – Vasily Kalinnikov’s Symphony no. 1. The Arts Fuse. https://artsfuse.org/168770/rethinking-the-repertoire-20-vasily-kalinnikovs-symphony-no-1/
Griglio, G (2019, September 11). Vasily Kalinnikov – Symphony n. 1. Gianmaria Griglio https://gianmariagriglio.com/vasily-kalinnikov-symphony-n-1/
Taylor, B (2013). Temporality in Nineteenth-Century
Russian Music and the Notion of Development. Music and Letters, 94(1), 78–118, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/gct024
Utz, C. (2021). Musical
Composition in the Context of Globalization: New Perspectives on Music History
in the 20th and 21st Century. Transcript
Verlag.
Yudina, V. I. (2015). Музыкальное наследие Василия
Калинникова в контексте основных тенденций развития русской культуры конца xix
века. [Musical Vasily Kalinnikov’s musical heritage in a context of the basic tendencies of development of Russian culture in the end of the XIX century]. Music Scholarship. (*), 25-30. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/muzykalnoe-nasledie-vasiliya-kalinnikova-v-kontekste-osnovnyh-tendentsiy-razvitiya-russkoy-kultury-kontsa-xix-veka
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