# Favorite Romantic Style, Minor Key, Russian Symphonies



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Just thought I'd ask. Tchaikovsky's last 3 numbered symphoes and his Manfred Symphony have always been some of my favorite works. Granted, I know many Russian Composers felt Tchaikovsky's Symphonis lacked that Russian nationalism flare at the time, but I can still hear some in his works. Anyways, again I'm looking for symphonies that still have that Romantic feel to them, not ones with that strong 20th Century, atonal mood, regardless of composition date. (For example, Rachmaninoff's Symphonies are perfectly fine). What are some suggestions for favorites in this category? Thanks everyone!


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Try the last three symphonies by Anton Rubinstein, his 4th, 5th and 6th may match your search.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Also try Reinhold Gliere, Symphony No. 3, _Ilya Muromets_.


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

Many of Myaskovsky's symphonies would fit the bill (no. 22 _Symphonic Ballad_ is a particular favorite of mine). Also, Scriabin's 2nd and Weinberg's 3rd (one of his most Romantic pieces). Though Italian, Alfredo Casella's first two symphonies sound strongly Russian at times. Check out the thumping second movement from his 2nd Symphony, in particular!


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

Kalinnikov 1 and Borodin 2 are both awesome symphonies. Glazunov has some good ones, especially (IMO) 1, 4, and 7. I also agree with the Gliere, Rubinstein, and Myaskovsky recommendations. I really like Casella, as mentioned in the last post, but I don't remember noticing it sounding Russian... I'll have to go back and listen.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions so far. As of right now I've only had time to listen to Borodin's 2nd (even though I have heard it before), and Rubinstein's 4th, 5th, and the first movement of his 6th. For the Rubinstein Symphonies, I wasn't huge on the 5th. The 6th is good so far, and the 4th was nice. I was very surprised at how much the opening theme of the first movement resembles Beethoven!! I just mean how much of an emphasis is placed on rhythm and rhythmic motifs!! Very nice!! Anyways, I'll keep looking into the suggestions you guys are providing. Thanks!!


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> Also try Reinhold Gliere, Symphony No. 3, _Ilya Muromets_.


It was also Gliere's birthday yesterday, did you know? I shared that video with some friends, they absolutely loved it when I told them the story, movement by movement.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Glazunov 4 and 5, while they are "major key" symphonies, the 4th's 1st mvmt has a lot of deep melancholy, and the 5th's 3rd mvmt is heartbreaking. He had a special gift of making major keys deeply sad.

Glazunov 4 - I





Glazunov 5 - III





I could cry all over again listening to these movements just by themselves.


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## David OByrne (Dec 1, 2016)

Bevo said:


> Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions so far. As of right now I've only had time to listen to Borodin's 2nd (even though I have heard it before), and Rubinstein's 4th, 5th, and the first movement of his 6th. For the Rubinstein Symphonies, I wasn't huge on the 5th. The 6th is good so far, and the 4th was nice. I was very surprised at how much the opening theme of the first movement resembles Beethoven!! I just mean how much of an emphasis is placed on rhythm and rhythmic motifs!! Very nice!! Anyways, I'll keep looking into the suggestions you guys are providing. Thanks!!


I like Rubinstein too!


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Glazunov 4 and 5, while they are "major key" symphonies, the 4th's 1st mvmt has a lot of deep melancholy, and the 5th's 3rd mvmt is heartbreaking. He had a special gift of making major keys deeply sad.
> 
> Glazunov 4 - I
> 
> ...


Glazunov was a discovery for me last year thanks to your posts on Russian music
Whilst I can't pretend the Symphonies move me quite as deeply as you I do agree with your comments


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Glazunov-4,5,6, and 7
Kalinnikov-both
Myaskovsky-the 27th, if you have never heard it (and in the light of your original post) you are in for a treat!


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Miaskovsky 4, 9, 17 and 21, along with 27, as Jim said. ^ ^ ^


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I do not know Myaskovsky at all other than occasionally happening upon him, he looks like the next name on my Russian composer explorations


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Balakirev - no 1 (an extraordinarily beautiful work, unjustly neglected)
Maximillian Steinberg symphonies 1 & 2
Arensky symphonies 1 & 2
Grechaninov symphony 1
Yevgeny Svetlanov (yes, the conductor) symphony no 1
Gliere no 2 in addition to 3
Glazunov - 4 and 5 are terrific, and so is 6

I've never found Rubinstein's symphonies to sound particularly Russian - they're too indebted to the German school. I also think they're pretty dull, badly orchestrated and uninteresting. His piano concertos are much, much better.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

forgot to mention Grechaninov.....thanks mbhaub for reminding me!


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Haydn man said:


> I do not know Myaskovsky at all other than occasionally happening upon him, he looks like the next name on my Russian composer explorations


if by any chance you happen to listen to 27th I personally would be really interested to see what your response is!


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Glazunov's 8th yet. Though in E flat major, it is an often dark and poignant work.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

jim prideaux said:


> if by any chance you happen to listen to 27th I personally would be really interested to see what your response is!


In response to Jim :tiphat:I have this morning listened to Miaskovsky No.27 in C minor
Three movements of glorious romantic music, in a traditional rather conservative style on a first listen. The finale ends with some very Russian sounding almost military march like music.
I shall be listening again and exploring more of Miaskovsky


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I can add Georgy Catoire's Symphony.
I've listened to it a few times before and it's really quite good. The recording below is new to me and sounds very good actually! So there are now two different recordings on youtube of this obscure piece.






And of course Scriabin's first, but it's in major key.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

And coupled with the Catoire on Dutton, Felix Blumenfeld's expressive C Minor Symphony, a real find.


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## insomniclassicac (Jan 15, 2018)

Don't know if this might be a little more "modernist" than you prefer. But I was blown away the first time I heard Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov's "Space" Symphony: In Memory of Yuri Gagarin:


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## ancore (Jan 11, 2018)

I love rachmaminoff the best, and his work in E flat minor, which is a typical russian key


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

mbhaub said:


> Balakirev - no 1 (an extraordinarily beautiful work, unjustly neglected)
> Maximillian Steinberg symphonies 1 & 2
> Arensky symphonies 1 & 2
> Grechaninov symphony 1
> ...


Rubinstein's Fifth Symphony is an exception to what you've described in his symphonies overall (very Russian, esp. the slow movement with its soaring melancholy). It's also quite anachronistic, as if Dargomyzhsky or Serov wrote it instead some 15-20 years ago. But it is somewhat interesting and enjoyable.

I agree that Glazunov's Eighth is quite a dark, troubled work, no doubt written during Russia's turbulent years of 1905-1906 that ended Russia's Silver Age that started in earnest in the 1890s.

That said, let me add the Second, Third, and Fourth Symphonies of Gliere's pupil, *Boris Lyatoshynsky*. They're all in b-minor, and although modern, they're not far removed from the romanticism that one will see in, yes, Myaskovsky's symphonies. *Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov's* Symphony no. I fits that mold rather well.

*Other Candidates*


*Felix Blumenfeld's* Symphony in C minor "To the Dear Beloved"
*Mikhail Glinka's* Symphony on Two Russian Themes in D minor (compl. Shebalin).
*Vissarion Shebalin's* Symphony no. 1 in F minor op. 6 (1925)


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

Orfeo said:


> That said, let me add the Second, Third, and Fourth Symphonies of Gliere's pupil, *Boris Lyatoshynsky*. They're all in b-minor, and although modern, they're not far removed from the romanticism that one will see in, yes, Myaskovsky's symphonies.


I know Lyatoshynsky's 2nd Symphony which is a very dark, gripping work. I shall certainly check out his other symphonies! I was also taken by his tone poem _Grazyna_.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

kyjo said:


> I know Lyatoshynsky's 2nd Symphony which is a very dark, gripping work. I shall certainly check out his other symphonies! I was also taken by his tone poem _Grazyna_.


Grazyna is an excellent work, and I typically play it alongside Bartok's Kossuth, its distant cousin.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Some fine works mentioned here. Some of my favorite Russian symphonies, to be sure. I'm one of those folks who owns the box set of the complete Myaskovsky symphonies, and I must admit they seldom fail to please. Beautiful works, those symphonies. Too, I've long been a fan of the Kalinnikov symphonies and enjoy them at least once a year in one of my "private concerts." And of course the Rachmaninoff Second reigns nearly supreme (along with the Borodin Second and a couple by a feller named Tchaikovsky).

But I went deep into my Russian Disc and Olympia labels collection to find a few I'm not sure were yet mentioned. These all share some semblance of the Rachmaninoff sound, if that's what you're going for.

Nina Makarova was born in a town on the Volga River in 1908. Her Symphony in D Minor (Russian Disc RD CD 11 382) is rich and dark in the best of ways. Akin somewhat to the Rachmaninoff Orchestral Dances, but a thoroughly original symphony.

Sergei Lyapunov was born in 1859 and received musical training in what later became known as the city of Gorky. His Symphony No. 1 in B Minor is a wonderfully Russian work, close in attitude to the Rachmaninoff First. Well worth hearing. It appears on Olympia OCD 519.

What is playing over my Sennheiser's at this very moment is Russian Disc RD CD 11 020, Boiko's Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. The liner notes to this album state at the start: "Rostislav Boiko is an original composer, resembling no one else, a fact that has always ben acknowledged by his colleagues." Indeed, that is not far from true. I've long enjoyed Boiko's music and have several of his discs in my collection. But I hear the sound world of late Rachmaninoff again in this symphony, which includes a chorus. It's a gorgeous work dedicated to the memory of those killed in war. (Boiko's Second Symphony, no key signature indicated, proves equally stunning. It was released on Russian Disc RD CD 11 045 coupled with the Vyatka Songs. I still recall my first hearing of this disc; it was the final song of the Vyatka Songs that grabbed me and never let go, track 13 on the disc, a song titled "As the Linnet Was Walking in the Boyar's Yard", a whole minute and thirty-one seconds of pure delight. Unforgettable. I remember repeating the work some dozen times before I could calm down enough to move on with my life. Don't miss this one!)

The famous Russian conductor Evgeni Svetlanov was also a composer of some note and his First Symphony in B Minor proves imaginative and tuneful. You'll hear shades of Rachmaninoff's Dances in this one, too. This stunning work appears on Russian Disc RD CD 11 042.

A few days ago I listened to Soviet composer Boris Parsadanian's Symphony No. 1 in C Minor "To the Memory of the 26 Commissars of Baku" and found the time well spent. This too appears on a Russian Disc, RD CD 11 050. And I recommend it (as well as its major key brother, the Second Symphony in E Flat, on the same disc), especially if you've never tried Parsadanian.

I know there's plenty more out there, Russian romanticism in the grand style, but I offer these minor key symphonies for this post and hope some of you will sample them. You probably will not regret the attempt. Enjoy.


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## JLi (Jan 31, 2018)

cough shostakovich 5 cough


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