Cortege Solennel op. 50 - MVSR3406 | Music

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born in 1865 and showed remarkable musical talent at a young age, which was particularly encouraged by his teacher Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He was accepted into the circle of composers around the music-loving entrepreneur and later music publisher Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev, who published Glazunov’s Symphony No. 1 and supported him for the rest of his life. Glazunov admired composers such as Brahms and his close friend Tchaikovsky. In particular, the fusion of Russian music with Western European stylistic elements in Tchaikovsky’s compositions had a noticeable influence on Glasunov’s own style of composing. He himself managed to build a conciliatory bridge between the rival tendencies of “national Russian” and Western-orientated musical culture. Glazunov was a master of classical composition techniques and attached great importance to traditional musical forms. Initially as a teacher and from 1905 as director of the conservatory in Saint Petersburg, he experienced and taught a new generation of young composers. His students included Dimitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. However, while this new generation conquered the music world with a new, sometimes experimental musical language, Glazunov remained true to his traditional musical style. Many of his works were the result of encounters with famous musicians and other artists.

CORTÈGE SOLENNEL op. 50 was composed in 1894 for the 70th birthday and 50th professional anniversary of the respected music and art critic Vladimir Stasov. This “Solemn Parade” features an unmistakably Russian musical language and traditional compositional techniques. Leontij Dunaev has skilfully transferred Glazunov’s musical signature to the wind orchestra and created an impressive arrangement.