# Any recommendations of pieces by Reinhold Glière?



## anthonycwein (Jan 20, 2016)

Hello all,

Was wondering if we had any Glière experts in the house. I stumbled upon a recording of the 3rd Symphony and am really enjoying it. Would be curious to hear any recommendations for any specific symphonies and specific recordings of those symphonies.

Thanks!


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## Grizzled Ghost (Jun 10, 2015)

This is my third symphony:









This album also has two nice works by Gliere:









Other that these, I just have bits and pieces.

You can check the Composer Guestbook thread for Gliere *here* for more ideas.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

This is my favorite recording of the 3rd Symphony:


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*The Symphonies*

Edward Downes' Chandos set of the symphonies with the BBC Philharmonic is first class. Performances are uniformly excellent, with Downes' tempo choices well judged. And the recorded sound, though a tad distant, is right up to Chandos' high standard (there are no better recordings of Symphonies I & II than these).

*Beyond the Symphonies*

Sinaisky's recording of the overtures (again with the BBC Philharmonic and under Chandos), is an excellent supplement to the symphonies, which is now part of the box set.

Gliere's Duets for Violin & Cello are worth seeking out, and here's a very good album.
-->http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...uth&qid=1453418376&ref_=sr_1_1&s=music&sr=1-1

Joan Sutherland's rendition of the Coloratura Concerto is perfect, for me anyways.
-->https://www.amazon.com/Glière-Glazu...e=UTF8&qid=1453418575&sr=1-14&keywords=gliere

His String Quartets are likewise worth seeking out. Unfortunately, the Fourth, perhaps his best, is still in LP (Melodiya, performer: the famed Beethoven Quartet).

Have fun.
:tiphat:


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

I find it strange that Glière is not more appreciated. He wrote in a high romantic style.


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

I can't contribute much as I've only have the 3rd symphony - it seems to overshadow all else he did, not least his other symphonies. The recording I've got is by Harold Farberman with the London SO on the Unicorn-Kanchana label and it weighs in at over 90 minutes (I'm assuming most recordings use a slimmed-down version).

I have heard one or two other works by Glière - the suite from the ballet _The Red Poppy_ and the tone poem _The Zaporozhy Cossacks_, sorry if I'm sounding unfair but musically they struck me as little more than well-constructed hangovers from a couple of decades before. I won't dismiss him because of that, though - I've read glowing reports about the Harp Concerto and I do genuinely like _Ilya Muromets_.


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## motoboy (May 19, 2008)

I love Arturo Sandoval's version of Timofei Dokshizer's trumpet version of the Concerto for Coloratura.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I like Gliere's horn concerto. The version I heard was with the BBC Philharmonic and Richard Watkins.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Klassic said:


> I find it strange that Glière is not more appreciated. He wrote in a high romantic style.


I second this, can't explain the popularity or lack thereof though


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Harp concerto! Super fun piece!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The 3rd Symphony is the pinnacle, IMO.

Scherchen´s recording - together with the _Red Poppy Suite_ is one of his better records and has some feverish playing.

Some good reading about the orchestral works here 
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/Gliere_CHAN106795X.htm


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Klassic said:


> high


I own the complete Red Poppy ballet by Gliere on the Naxos label, a really lush ballet score despite being written in 1926. It ain't like Prokofiev! More like Glazunov really. Gliere was a bit tending to that way.

The Bronze Horseman is another lovely ballet of his.

Put in another vote for me for Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Muromets." The ginormous tone poem of epic proportions, after I've listened through the whole thing in complete (so about 70 minutes of music) and we get to the end where we go back to the very beginning to that B minor somber chorale signalling the end of the legend... gets me every time.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I own the complete *Red Poppy* ballet by Gliere on the Naxos label, a really lush ballet score despite being written in 1926. It ain't like Prokofiev! More like Glazunov really. Gliere was a bit tending to that way.
> 
> The Bronze Horseman is another lovely ballet of his.
> 
> Put in another vote for me for Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Muromets." The ginormous tone poem of epic proportions, after I've listened through the whole thing in complete (so about 70 minutes of music) and we get to the end where we go back to the very beginning to that B minor somber chorale signalling the end of the legend... gets me every time.


That ballet desperately needs a new (much better) recording (and in a complete edition available at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music). And neither the Bolshoi or the Kirov had gotten around to it yet???


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Orfeo said:


> That ballet desperately needs a new (much better) recording. And neither the Bolshoi or the Kirov had gotten around to it yet???


LOL you got that right! I really don't like Naxos, but I'm glad they did it anyhow. But that work really needs better sound quality engineering! Did you hear some of the glaring editing seams? :O


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> LOL you got that right! I really don't like Naxos, but I'm glad they did it anyhow. But that work really needs better sound quality engineering! _Did you hear some of the glaring editing seams_? :O


Goodness yeah.....

I do like Naxos, not really for its earlier recordings like this one, but for its later ones that are more successful, and decidedly so (like the Rorem and Martinu's piano series to name a couple). This label is not my favorite one, but it evolved nicely over a couple of decades.

It looks like Naxos should have waited to record "The Red Poppy" at a much, much later date.


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## amorris (Jun 10, 2020)

I think that Gliere (along with Taneyev) is a vastly under-rated composer. No-one would suggest that he is one of the greats, but I am so surprised by how neglected his music is. It is consistently tuneful and very approachable. My suggestions, in no particular order, would be:

Symphonies 1 & 2 (I like his 3rd which I've known for over 50 years but find it a bit overblown). The 2nd symphony's middle movements are wonderfully lyrical.

Ballet music to the Bronze Horseman and the Red Poppy

Horn, Harp and Coloratura Concertos. The latter, one of only two in the repertoire, is for a solo soprano treated as an instrument of the orchestra. Truly beautiful.


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

I’ll put my vote in for the Chandos series conducted by Edward Downes. Very, very fine.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

_Russian Sailor's Dance_ from _The Red Poppy_ is good fun. _The Symphony #3 Ilya Muromets _is OK once in a while, but like Beethoven's _Hammerklavier Sonata_ or Mahler's _Symphony #8 "Symphony of a Thousand"_ it's like eating a 20 once steak dinner that weighs heavy afterwards. The only other thing I know by Gliere is this wonderful little duet for violin and cello that I purchased years and years ago on LP:


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I adore his symphonic poem The Sirens, seems like a hugely underrated piece.

I have also enjoyed the second symphony and some nice pieces for horn and piano.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Besides the Symphonies I like : Piano Music on Brilliant /Complete Duets with Cello ( Naxos) and don't miss the harp concerto .


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

I cannot recommend the 3rd symphony enough, to me it is one of the most original, epic, and greatest romantic symphonies.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

His orchestral works seem to receive most of recommendations here, but these chamber works are real gems too. I'm especially fond of the extremely lovely String Octet.


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