# Happy Birthday To Mily Balakirev !



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Today is the 176th birthday of the sadly neglected but important Russian composer Mily Balakirev 
(1837-1910 ) , who was a major figure in the development of 19th century Russian music and a member
of the so-called "mighty five ". The centennial of his death passed by almost without notice three years ago ,which is a pity . 
If you enjoy the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Mussorgsky, you definitely need to hear the music of Balakirev . His best known work is the finger-busting piano piece "Islamey", which is based on the folk music of the Circassians of the Caucasus (conductor Yuri Temirkanov is an ethnic Circassian ) .
This has been orchestrated by both Alfredo Casella and Russian composer Sergei Liapunov .Balakirev's symphony no 1 in C major is a terrific symphony , chock full of great themes mixing the flavors of Russian and oriental music , and though it has been recorded by the likes of Karajan,Beecham,Jarvi and Svetlanov, your chances of hearing a live performance are pretty much non-existent. 
Balakirev was a friend and associate of the more famous Russian composers of the 19th century and 
provided much encouragement and advice to them . He was a rather difficult personality ; retiring , stubborn, 
somewhat misanthropic and like Mussorgsky, spent much time earning his living outside of music .
But his music does not deserve its neglect at all .


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

Out of the 'mighty handful' Balakirev is probably my favourite composer of purely orchestral works overall, allowing for the facts that R-K's is more variable in quality and Mussorgsky, Cui and Borodin wrote relatively little. I think his two symphonies are noteworthy, as are his other works like the symphonic poems 'Russia' and 'Tamara', the Grande Fantasie on Russian Folksongs and the two piano concertos (the second of which was unfinished when Balakirev died - completed by Lyapunov). I like the orchestral (Lyapunov again) version of 'Islamey', too.

Interesting man, but a bit of a strange fish and, as superhorn points out, capable of being both difficult and unpleasant.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I like his piano music a lot too. Islamey is from early in his career and though very flashy, you can't ignore that beautiful middle section and the build to the end. The mazurkas are really nice.

Didn't he essentially take a hiatus from composing and get a little reclusive and uninterested in this for a while? A full life of composing might have earned him a reputation as great as Rimsky Korsakov or Mussorgsky, I speculate. 

His student Sergei Lyapunov was also a very good composer, though pretty far behind the trends of his time.


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

clavichorder said:


> I like his piano music a lot too. Islamey is from early in his career and though very flashy, you can't ignore that beautiful middle section and the build to the end. The mazurkas are really nice.
> 
> Didn't he essentially take a hiatus from composing and get a little reclusive and uninterested in this for a while? A full life of composing might have earned him a reputation as great as Rimsky Korsakov or Mussorgsky, I speculate.
> 
> His student Sergei Lyapunov was also a very good composer, though pretty far behind the trends of his time.


There are a couple of theories as to why Balakirev's character changed - some ascribe it to a newly-found zeal for the Orthodox religion which bordered on the fundamental, and others to an alleged nervous breakdown which he suffered while still relatively young and which completely knocked the stuffing out of him. Sadly, he also shamelessly, and increasingly, pandered to an anti-Semitic streak. Never prolific at his creative peak due to other commitments, he was far less so in later life, the majority of works from his last years being primarily songs and individual piano pieces. One side-effect of this withdrawal was that his style failed to evolve, as the 2nd symphony (which he piddled around with for about 8 years) and the unfinished 2nd piano concerto prove - they're still good works, though.


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## Hassid (Sep 29, 2012)

His second piano sonata is a really beautiful all Russian piece, that has being forgotten and nobody ever plays. Late Ronald Smith and great Louis Ketner had magnificent recordings of it.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2013)

Inspired by this thread, I've listened to all my relatively limited collection of Balakirev - just a little over 2 hours.

A couple of points:

- I find Islamay (the piano version) little more than a finger exercise, definitely not B's best work. It may be though that I'm just not a fan of rat-tat-tat piano music.

- Perhaps his most impressive work was the Grand Fantaisie on Russian Folksongs, since it was written when he was just 15

- I don't hear too much of the famous Russian exoticism/orientalism developed by Borodin then Rimsky-Korsakov, except in Tamara (1882). Borodin's Symphony #2 strikes me as more exotic and it was written in 1869, and his In the Steppes of Central Asia was written in 1880. I'd call Balakirev a follower rather than a leader in this regard, at least based on published works (that I own).

- Balakirev was born in Nizhny Novgorod, a pleasant city where I lived for two years! I guess I should get to know his music better!

Hassid: I'll have to check out his second piano sonata. 1905 is late for Balakirev!


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