# Russia 1855-1964 - help curating a musical journey?



## Kollwitz (Jun 10, 2018)

I teach a History unit on Russia and its Rulers 1855-1964 to 16-18 year old students (A level History in the UK, if anyone's interested). It's a fascinating course, with a rich cultural hinterland.

I would greatly appreciate recommendations of music that could either be used in lessons for a bit of atmosphere or that students could be guided towards for their enjoyment. Some of the students are quite musical, others less so. I'm interested in pieces that say something about the intellectual climate in Russia in the period as well as those that have a more direct connection to historical events.

I'm more familiar with Shostakovich than any other Russian composer of this period and do use his some of his symphonies (11 when studying the 1905 revolution, plus 5, 7, 8 and 10 in relation to the Stalin period). We also listen to some of Mysaskovsky 27 when studying Stalin's final years in power, with the story of Myaskovsky's condemnation of posthumous rehabilitation adding a bit of colour to discussion of the trials of intellectuals in the period.

Mid and late 19th century Russia music is the area I'm least familiar with, both in terms of specific composers and pieces, as well as the intellectual background. Politically, in the mid-19th there was tension between Westernisers, who looked to west for a model of development involving liberal-democratic practices such as written constitutions, individual rights and the rule of law, and Slavophiles, who sought to preserve Russia's unique autocratic carrier and the influence of the orthodox Church. Was this also seen in the music of the period? I'd be fascinated to know.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The beginning of your dateline coincides with the latter years of Mikhail Glinka, arguably Russia's first really illustrious composer. There are any number of pieces by him which are still played, but for your project perhaps you might consider the orchestral piece _Kamarinskaya_, based on the Russian folk dance of the same name. The piece was composed in 1848 which is slightly before your project date but I would lobby for its inclusion as it is a work which inspired future Russian composers to look more to the traditions of their homeland for inspiration. Hope this helps, and good luck with your work!


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## Kollwitz (Jun 10, 2018)

Thanks very much, that's ideal! This week I'm looking at the legacy Nicholas I left to Alexander II with Year 12 (16-17 year olds). The piece fits really well with the question of how Russian identity and how it should seek to develop in the aftermath of humiliating defeat in the Crimean War.

I've taught the course for a few years now and have pretty sound knowledge of politics, economy and society across the period, but as my interest in classical music has burgeoned I thought it would be an opportune time to try and boost the cultural aspect.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

It's a really worthwhile and interesting subject - I almost wish I was young enough to be one of your students. :lol:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

It's historical, but fits in with a general Russian autocrat-centered ethos. "Boris Godunov" (Pushkin via Mussorgsky) is an operatic masterpiece, but may be too much to absorb for high schoolers. Properly atmospheric scenes include the Coronation scene, the clock scene, and the Kromy Forest scene.


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## minn tomk (Sep 28, 2020)

Kollwitz said:


> I teach a History unit on Russia and its Rulers 1855-1964 to 16-18 year old students (A level History in the UK, if anyone's interested). It's a fascinating course, with a rich cultural hinterland.
> 
> I would greatly appreciate recommendations of music that could either be used in lessons for a bit of atmosphere or that students could be guided towards for their enjoyment. Some of the students are quite musical, others less so. I'm interested in pieces that say something about the intellectual climate in Russia in the period as well as those that have a more direct connection to historical events.
> 
> ...


I would recommend Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Moussorgsky, Balakirev among others. Tchaikovsky is also in that era


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## Kollwitz (Jun 10, 2018)

That looks really good, definitely the sort of thing that will enhance their sense of a world very different to their own. Thanks for mentioning specific scenes, this is a context where there's a place for 'bleeding chunks'.


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## thejewk (Sep 13, 2020)

I wish I had the knowledge to contribute, but I'll say good on you in place of it. Before I became unable to do so, I worked as a librarian in a high school/ sixth form centre, and this kind of thing is what helps the kids to get stuck in. 

I did a series of sessions with our Ancient History teacher exploring Homer's writings, and some imaginative use of art, mostly drawings and paintings for us, really helped get across the points.


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## Dima (Oct 3, 2016)

Kollwitz said:


> I teach a History unit on Russia and its Rulers 1855-1964 to 16-18 year old students (A level History in the UK, if anyone's interested). It's a fascinating course, with a rich cultural hinterland.
> 
> I would greatly appreciate recommendations of music that could either be used in lessons for a bit of atmosphere or that students could be guided towards for their enjoyment. Some of the students are quite musical, others less so. I'm interested in pieces that say something about the intellectual climate in Russia in the period as well as those that have a more direct connection to historical events.
> 
> ...


O! I can talk about the history and politics of Russia and it's music very long. Feel free to write me private message and I will give some examples with information for every period you are interesting.


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## mark6144 (Apr 6, 2019)

Kollwitz said:


> Politically, in the mid-19th there was tension between Westernisers, who looked to west for a model of development involving liberal-democratic practices such as written constitutions, individual rights and the rule of law, and Slavophiles, who sought to preserve Russia's unique autocratic carrier and the influence of the orthodox Church. Was this also seen in the music of the period? I'd be fascinated to know.


I'm no expert, but I believe it was. "The Five" emerged as a nationalist school in the aftermath of the Crimean War, in contrast to the more traditional western-influenced composers like Tchaikovsky. See here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_(composers)


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

For atmosphere and true Russian feeling:

1. Mussorgsky: Dawn Over the Moscow River (from opera Khovanschina) arr. Rimsky-Korsakov
2. Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
3. Tchaikovsky: March Slav
4. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
5. Rachmaninoff: The Rock
6. Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Tumblers from Snow Maiden
7. Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
8. Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko
9. Stravinsky: Firebird Suite

Then find this disk:


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## Dima (Oct 3, 2016)

mark6144 said:


> I'm no expert, but I believe it was. "The Five" emerged as a nationalist school in the aftermath of the Crimean War, in contrast to the more traditional western-influenced composers like Tchaikovsky. See here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_(composers)


Musical tastes and political views it is different things. One composer could like Western music and at the same time like Russian monarchy.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Prokofiev is an interesting case. He died the same day as Josef Stalin. His Symphony No.5, often considered his masterpiece, was written during the summer of 1944 towards the end of WWII. The Russian establishment was thrilled with the work and promoted it internationally. Prokofiev was even on the cover of Time magazine, in the states. Through much of the rest of his later years in Russia, Prokofiev was mistreated and oppressed by Stalin and his people.

On another note: As far as other great music with mass appeal: I doubt you could find anything more appealing, in that way, than Mussorgsky's (Ravel orchestration) of Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)


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## Dima (Oct 3, 2016)

Kollwitz said:


> I'm more familiar with Shostakovich than any other Russian composer of this period and do use his some of his symphonies (11 when studying the 1905 revolution, plus 5, 7, 8 and 10 in relation to the Stalin period). We also listen to some of Mysaskovsky 27 when studying Stalin's final years in power, with the story of Myaskovsky's condemnation of posthumous rehabilitation adding a bit of colour to discussion of the trials of intellectuals in the period.


The classical music of intellectuals is one thing, but the music of this time (close to popular), reflecting the atmosphere, is another. For example, the most popular composer of Stalin time in USSR was genius composer Dunaevsky and not Shostakovich, Prokofiev or Myaskovsky - who were known only by 1%.


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## Dima (Oct 3, 2016)

I recommend to give your students this video (cantata of Prokofiev written for celebrating 60 years of Stalin):


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

I agree that _Boris Godunov_ is essential, but I would suggest the St. Basil's scene because of its relation to Stalin era mythology. In this scene a mentally challenged individual (idiot) requests that Boris have the children who just stole his kopeck killed, just as he murdered the Tsarovich. Boris asks the fool to pray for him but the man says he can't because the Virgin Mary forbids it. He is spared for his treasonous speech because of his status as a "Holy Fool." This trope is repeated in an apocryphal tale in which the pianist Maria Yudina supposedly directly denied a request from Stalin that she pray for him.


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

elgars ghost said:


> It's a really worthwhile and interesting subject - I almost wish I was young enough to be one of your students. :lol:


Ditto - Can I also go back about 50 years too?


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## mrdoc (Jan 3, 2020)

Perhaps a very popular folk song from Russia would be OK. 
The Red Army Choir performing Kalinka it would appeal to most people even those that are not into classical, there are many videos of it on YT from historical to modern, it is one of those songs that always gets to me. Composed by Ivan Larionov in 1860 so just makes you time slot.
*
The Red Army Choir Alexandrov - Kalinka*


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Anton Chekhov, the Russian physician and writer, who died in 1904, seems to me, in the late plays, including and especially _The Cherry Orchard_, to have anticipated the revolution that swept through the country in 1905. Of course Chekhov was not prescient in any mystical sense, but his travels through Russia in the decades preceding the First Revolution revealed scores of problems the nation faced and certainly touched the sensitive soul of his genius which, by nature, provokes awarenesses beyond those possessed by the rest of us.

I cannot listen to the two string quartets of Alexander Borodin, the Russian chemist and composer, who died in 1887, without the sense of nostalgia for the past greatness of Russia and an almost terror about the future that I also experience from reading or viewing the Chekhov plays. My own sound design for a production of _The Cherry Orchard_ would most certainly incorporate music from those Borodin chamber works as they seem most applicable to the thematic substance of the play.

As for Shostakovich, long a favorite of mine, I have on more than one occasion asserted that the Soviet composer's music (especially the symphonies and string quartets) sum up better than any book of history the emotional nature/effect of Stalinism and Communism on the Russian soul. The very _feeling_ of the oppression, the depths of the heart, the terror and the hopelessness.

All the best with your course. It sounds intriguing. And I speak as a long-time teacher myself whose interest in Humanities certainly incorporated history with the arts. Often the arts reflect the times; more pointedly they sometimes anticipate the era to come.


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