Interlude In Olden Style

Description

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazounov was born August 10, 1865 in St. Petersburg. His musical talents were discovered at an early age and he was placed under the tutelage of Balakirev, who was the preeminent Russian composer of the time. Glazounov was appointed to a professorship at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1900 and became its director in 1906, by which time he had achieved renown throughout Europe as a composer and conductor. After World War One he played a major part in the reorganization of the conservatory.

As a composer, Glazounov avoided the overt nationalism of most of his contemporaries, and perhaps for this reason gained more fame abroad than other Russians of his time. More than any other Russian composer, his music shows the influence of Brahms in the tendency toward classical forms, but without being abstract. His music almost always reflects a kind of realism that transcends pure nationalism.

Few composers have made their debuts under more favorable auspices or won appreciation so rapidly.
Glazounov’s career seemed the realization of a musical fairy-tale until the political troubles of his country threw his life and art into the shadows. His music was dismissed by the Soviets as “bourgeois”

Five Novelettes, opus 15, dates from 1886, and is a set of “characteristic pieces” for string quartet. This adaptation of the third movement for string orchestra retains the character of the original. A bass part is added and minor revoicings have been made to enhance playability by student and amateur orchestras.

Published by: String Instrument Specialists