Alexandre Glazounov Composer

Biography

Born in Saint Petersburg in 1865, the son of musicians (a violinist father and a pianist mother) and a descendant of the prominent Russian publishing family “the Classical G editions,” Alexander Glazunov showed himself to be a talented child. The young pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov composed his first Symphony at the age of 16, which, when performed immediately (1882) under the direction of Balakirev, thrilled both audiences and critics. A wealthy patron, Belayev, took an interest in Glazunov and organized the Russian Symphony Concerts for him: Glazunov’s works were regularly performed alongside the major compositions of the “Mighty Handful” (Balakirev, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and César Cui).

To support his musician friends, Belayev founded a publishing house in Leipzig, the first in history to pay copyright royalties. After composing Stenka Razin (1885), a symphonic poem for large orchestra praised by Paul Dukas, Glazunov collaborated with Rimsky-Korsakov on the orchestration of the opera left unfinished by Borodin, who died in 1887: Prince Igor. Glazunov notably completed the overture. Also dedicating himself to conducting, he was invited to Paris in 1889 for the Exposition Universelle, where he gave several concerts introducing Russian music to the French public, including Delibes, Massenet, Fauré, and Debussy.

In Saint Petersburg, the Mariinsky Theatre, where the French choreographer Marius Petipa reigned, was seeking a composer to succeed Tchaikovsky, who had died in 1893. The Director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky, called on Glazunov in 1896 to compose the music for Raymonda. The success of this ballet, premiered in January 1898, encouraged Petipa and Glazunov to continue their collaboration with Les Ruses d’amour (1899) and The Seasons (1900).

A professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Glazunov was appointed its director in 1905. He continued composing, producing his 8th Symphony, a violin concerto, two piano concertos, and several string quartets. Invited by Sergei Diaghilev, Glazunov contributed to the activities of the Ballets Russes, orchestrating several piano pieces by Chopin for Les Sylphides (1908) and Schumann’s Carnaval (1910), choreographed by Michel Fokine. During a concert tour across Europe, he decided to settle in France in 1928. Among his works composed in Paris were a saxophone quartet for the Garde Républicaine, an Epic Poem dedicated to the Academy of Fine Arts, and a Fantasy for organ written for Marcel Dupré.

Alexander Glazunov died in Paris on March 21, 1936, the very day the Lamoureux Orchestra dedicated a tribute to him. He was buried in the Neuilly cemetery, but in 1972 his remains were transferred to Leningrad.

Immerse in the Paris Opera universe

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