Vasily Kalinnikov
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Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (Russian: Василий Сергеевич Калинников) (January 13 [O.S. January 1] 1866 – January 11, 1901) was a Russian composer of two symphonies, several additional orchestral works and numerous songs, all of them imbued with characteristics of folksong. His symphonies, particularly the First, were frequently performed in the early 20th century. In recent years his fame has diminished but the symphonies are available in recordings.
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[edit] Biography
Kalinnikov was a policeman's son. Kalinnikov studied at the seminary at Oryol, becoming director of the choir there at fourteen. Later he went to the Moscow Conservatory, but he couldn't pay his tuition fees there. On a scholarship he went to the Philharmonic Society School at Moscow, where he received bassoon and composition lessons from Alexander Il'yinsky. He played bassoon, timpani and violin in theater orchestras. He supplemented his income by working as a music copyist.
In 1892, Tchaikovsky recommended Kalinnikov for director of the Malïy Theater, and later that same year to the Moscow Italian Theater. Due to his worsening health and tuberculosis, Kalinnikov had to resign his theater appointments and move to the warmer, southern clime of the Crimea. He lived at Yalta for the rest of his life, and it was here that he wrote his two symphonies and the incidental music for Alexey Tolstoy's Tsar Boris. Thanks to Sergei Rachmaninoff's help, Tchaikovsky's publisher Pyotr Jurgensen bought three Kalinnikov songs for 120 rubles, and later the Symphony No. 2 in A major. The Symphony No. 1 in G minor, which uses some cyclic principles, was performed in Berlin, Vienna and Moscow during his lifetime, but not published until after his death, so Jurgensen increased the fees he would have paid Kalinnikov, and paid them to his widow. He was also survived by a brother, Viktor, who composed choral music and taught at the Philharmonic School.
The relative fame of Kalinnikov is owning to his first Symphony in G minor, written between 1894 and 1895, whose themes are characteristic of Russian music. The first movement has two Russian themes, which shows some influence of Debussy.[citation needed]
In 2000, one of the lesser known works by Kalinnikov, the overture Bylina (probably composed around 1892), unexpectedly was brought out of obscurity.[citation needed] One of the lyrical themes in the overture (repeated several times in the second half of the overture) turned out to be strikingly similar to the beginning of Alexander Alexandrov's Soviet anthem music composed in 1936–1943. This similarity was used as one of the arguments for restoring the Soviet anthem tune in the State Duma debate.[citation needed] Indeed, Alexandrov's music with new words became the anthem of Russia the same year. A causal link between Bylina and the anthem has not been established; the similarity might well be a mere coincidence.
Now there are some records of his Symphonies. Some orchestras in countries like Germany, France, and Spain are now playing Kalinnikov's music.[citation needed] In Russia his First Symphony remains in the repertory, and his place in musical history there is secure (Spencer 2001).
[edit] Works
Opera
- In 1812 (В 1812 году) (1899-1900), incomplete
Orchestral
- Fugue in D Minor (1889)
- Nymphs (Нимфы), Symphonic Picture after Ivan Turgenev (1889)
- Serenade for Strings (1891)
- Suite (1891-1892)
- Bylina (Былина), Overture (c.1892)
- Overture in D Minor (1894)
- Symphony No.1 in G Minor (1894-1895)
- Symphony No.2 in A Major (1895-1897)
- Intermezzo No.1 in F♯ Minor (1896)
- Intermezzo No.2 in G Major (1897)
- The Ceder and the Palm (Кедр и пальма), Symphonic Picture after Heinrich Heine (1897-1898)
- Tsar Boris (Царь Борис), Incidental Music after Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1899)
Piano
- Moderato in E♭ Minor
- Polonaise in B♭ Major (on a Theme from Symphony No.1) for Piano 4-Hands
- Scherzo in F Major (1888-1889)
- Chanson triste (Грустная песенка) in G Minor (1892-1893)
- Nocturne in F♯ Minor (1892-1893)
- Élégie in B♭ Minor (1894)
- Minuet in E Major (1894)
- Russian Intermezzo in F Minor (1894)
- Waltz in A Major (1894)
Vocal
- Come to Me (Приди ко мне) for Soprano, Alto, Baritone and Piano
- I Am Yours, My Darling for Voice and Piano
- I Would Like to Make My Songs into Wonderful Flowers (Я желал бы своей песней) for Voice and Piano
- On the Old Burial Mound (На старом кургане) for Voice and Piano (1887)
- On Your Lovely Little Shoulder Dear (На чудное плечико милой / An Liebchens schneeweisse Schulter) for Voice and Piano (1887)
- When Life Is Weighed Down with Suffering (Когда жизнь гнетут страданья и муки) for Voice and Piano (1887)
- 16 Musical Letters (16 Музыкальных писем) for Voice and Piano (1892-1899)
- Bright Stars (Звёзды ясные) for Voice and Piano (1894)
- The Gentle Stars Shone Down on Us (Нам звёзды кроткие мерцали) for Voice and Piano (1894)
- There Was an Old King (Был старый король) for Voice and Piano (1894)
- A Present for 1 January 1900 for Voice and Piano (1899)
- Bells (Колокола) for Voice and Piano (1900)
- Prayer (Молитва) for Voice and Piano (1900)
- Do Not Ask Why I Smile in Thought (Не спрашивай, зачем) for Voice and Piano (1901)
Choral
- The Triumph of Lilliput for Chorus and Piano
- Cherubic Hymn No.1 (Херувимская песнь № 1) for Chorus (1885)
- Cherubic Hymn No.2 (Херувимская песнь № 2) for Chorus (1886)
- The Mountain Tops (Горные вершины) for Chorus (1887)
- Christe Eleison for Chorus (1889)
- Lord, Our Lord for Chorus (1889)
- Ioann Damaskin (Иоанн Дамаскин), Cantata for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra (1890)
- A Beautiful Girl Sits by the Sea (Над морем красавица дева сидит) for Female Chorus and Orchestra (1901)
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[edit] References
- anon. [n.d.]. Василий Сергеевич Калинников
- anon. 2004. Василий Сергеевич Калинников
- Spencer, Jennifer. 2001. "Kalinnikov, Vasily Sergeyevich". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
