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Alexander Glazunov

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Composer

The Resume

    (August 10, 1865-March 21, 1936)
    Born in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
    Late Russian Romantic composer, music teacher, and conductor who composed various symphonies, tone poems, ballets, chamber music, choral works, and concertos
    First known as the 'Little Glinka'
    Compositions include 'Stenka Razin' (1885), 'To the Memory of Liszt' (1886), 'Raymonda' (January 19, 1898), 'Commemorative Cantata for the Centenary of the Birth of Pushkin' (1899), 'The Ruses of Love' AKA 'The Trial of Damis' or 'Lady Soubrette' (1900), 'The Seasons' (1900), 'Violin Concerto in A Minor' (1904), 'Introduction and Dance of Salomé', to the drama of Oscar Wilde (1908), 'Concerto-Ballata for Cello and Orchestra' (1931), and 'Concerto for Saxophone, Flute, and Strings' (1934)
    Appointed conductor for the Russian Symphony Concerts (1896)
    Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1899-1905)
    Director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1905-1928)
    Died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
    Reburied in Leningrad A.K.A. St. Petersburg (1972)

Why he might be annoying:

    He disliked Igor Stravinsky, one of his former admirers, and called him merely an expert orchestrator.
    Younger composers of his time considered his music old-fashioned.
    His critics thought his music was too Western and not Russian enough.
    He continued to live with his mother for much of his adult life.
    He kept a bottle of alcohol hidden behind his desk and sipped it through a tube, putting his sobriety in question.
    He never fully mastered conducting despite loving it.
    He led the disastrous premiere of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1, and Rachmaninoff's wife accused him of being drunk at that time. (1897)
    People were shocked when his death was first announced because they associated him with the music of the past rather than the present and therefore thought he was long dead.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He created a unique and authentic Russian style of music through his works while absorbing the influences of foreign composers.
    His works contributed to the rise of Russian cultural pride.
    When taught by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the latter remarked that his musical skill developed by hours instead of days.
    His first symphony premiered when he was sixteen. (March 1882)
    He cared for his students' welfare, personally examining them at the end of each academic year and writing comments on each of them.
    It is implied that he supported political reform, such as supporting Rimsky-Korsakov's decision to resign in protest against the violent suppression of protesters. (1905)
    After the Russian Revolution, he did his best to shield his students from government meddling, as the new government sought to use music as a propaganda tool.
    Two of his students, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, would go on to become famous composers.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying