Thursday, December 9, 2021

XCIX. KALINNIKOV, Vasily: Symphony #1 in G Minor

XCIX. KALINNIKOV, Vasily (1866-1901)

Symphony #1 (1895)
1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante commodamente
3. Scherzo: Allegro non troppo
4. Finale: Allegro moderato
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond.
(40:30)

He was recuperating from tuberculosis in Yalta (along with Maxim Gorky and Anton Chekov) when he wrote this shockingly underplayed masterpiece.

He died shortly thereafter, at 35, in dire poverty.

The symphony has a decidedly Russian character; Kalinnikov shows off his abilities at orchestration, part-writing, fugue-writing, and composing beautiful melodic moments like the English Horn solo in the second movement.


I played this in 1967 at Interlochen, and I'll never forget my reaction to the stunning beauty of this first movement theme in the viola and celli:




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