Vasily Kalinnikov
Encyclopedia
Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (January 11, 1901 [O.S. December 29, 1900]) was a Russia
n 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.
His younger brother Viktor Kalinnikov
(1870-1927) was also a composer, mainly of choral music.
, becoming director of the choir there at fourteen. Later he went to the Moscow Conservatory
but could not afford the tuition fees. On a scholarship he went to the Moscow Philharmonic Society School, where he received bassoon
and composition lessons from Alexander Ilyinsky
. He played bassoon, timpani and violin in theater orchestras and supplemented his income working as a music copyist.
In 1892, Tchaikovsky
recommended Kalinnikov to be the director of the Maly Theater, and later that same year to the Moscow Italian Theater. However, due to his worsening tuberculosis
, Kalinnikov had to resign from his theater appointments and move to the warmer southern clime of the Crimea
. He lived there at Yalta
for the rest of his life, and it was there that he wrote the main part of his music, including his two symphonies and the incidental music for Alexey Tolstoy
's Tsar Boris. Exhausted, he died of tuberculosis on January 11, 1901 just before his 35th birthday.
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.
He is most well known for his First Symphony, written between 1894 and 1895, whose themes are characteristic of Russian music.
In Russia his First Symphony remains in the repertory, and his place in musical history there is secure (Spencer 2001). On November 7, 1943, Arturo Toscanini
conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra
in a rare broadcast performance of the First Symphony; although the performance was recorded, it was never commercially released by RCA Victor, but has recently appeared on Relief CR 1886 (anon. [n.d.]b, 15).
Opera
Orchestral
Piano
Vocal
Choral
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n 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.
His younger brother Viktor Kalinnikov
Viktor Kalinnikov
Victor Sergeevich Kalinnikov was a Russian choral composer, conductor and pedagog.Victor Kalinnikov was the younger brother of the better known symphonic composer Vasily Kalinnikov...
(1870-1927) was also a composer, mainly of choral music.
Biography
Kalinnikov was a policeman's son. He studied at the seminary at OryolOryol
Oryol or Orel is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow...
, becoming director of the choir there at fourteen. Later he went to the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
but could not afford the tuition fees. On a scholarship he went to the Moscow Philharmonic Society School, where he received bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
and composition lessons from Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the Lullaby , Op. 13, No. 7, from his orchestral suite "Noure and Anitra", and for the opera The Fountain of Bakhchisaray set to Pushkin's poem of the same name.Alexander Ilyinsky was born in Tsarskoye Selo...
. He played bassoon, timpani and violin in theater orchestras and supplemented his income working as a music copyist.
In 1892, Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
recommended Kalinnikov to be the director of the Maly Theater, and later that same year to the Moscow Italian Theater. However, due to his worsening tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, Kalinnikov had to resign from his theater appointments and move to the warmer southern clime of the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. He lived there at Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
for the rest of his life, and it was there that he wrote the main part of his music, including his two symphonies and the incidental music for Alexey Tolstoy
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy , was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist...
's Tsar Boris. Exhausted, he died of tuberculosis on January 11, 1901 just before his 35th birthday.
Thanks to Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
'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
Cyclic form
Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and end Cyclic form is a technique of musical...
, was performed in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
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.
He is most well known for his First Symphony, written between 1894 and 1895, whose themes are characteristic of Russian music.
In Russia his First Symphony remains in the repertory, and his place in musical history there is secure (Spencer 2001). On November 7, 1943, Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
in a rare broadcast performance of the First Symphony; although the performance was recorded, it was never commercially released by RCA Victor, but has recently appeared on Relief CR 1886 (anon. [n.d.]b, 15).
Works
- In 1812 (В 1812 году) (1899–1900); incomplete
Orchestral
- Fugue in D minor (1889)
- Nymphs (Нимфы), Symphonic Picture after Ivan TurgenevIvan TurgenevIvan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
(1889) - Serenade (Серенада) in G minor for string orchestra (1891)
- Suite (Сюита) (1891–1892)
- Bylina (Былина: Эпическая поэма), Epic Poem (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 (Интермеццо № 1) in F minor (1896)
- Intermezzo No. 2 (Интермеццо № 2) in G major (1897)
- The Ceder and the Palm (Кедр и пальма; Le Cèdre et le palmier), Symphonic Picture after Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
(1897–1898) - Tsar Boris (Царь Борис), Incidental Music to the tragedy by Aleksey Konstantinovich TolstoyAleksey Konstantinovich TolstoyCount Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy , was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist...
(1898)
Piano
- Moderato in E minor
- Polonaise on a Theme from Symphony No. 1 (Полонез на темы Симфонии № 1) in B major for piano 4-hands
- Scherzo in F major (1888–1889)
- Chanson triste (Грустная песенка) in G minor (1892–1893)
- Nocturne (Ноктюрн) in F minor (1892–1893)
- Élégie (Элегия) in B minor (1894)
- Minuet (Менуэт) in E major (1894)
- Russian Intermezzo (Русское интермеццо) in F minor (1894)
- Waltz (Вальс) in A major (1894)
Vocal
- Come to Me (Приди ко мне) for soprano, alto, baritone and piano; words by Aleksey KoltsovAleksey KoltsovAleksey Vasilievich Koltsov was a Russian poet who has been called a Russian Burns. His poems, frequently placed in the mouth of women, stylize peasant-life songs and idealize agricultural labour....
- I Am Yours, My Darling (Я ли тебя, моя радость) for voice and piano; words by Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
- I Would Like to Make My Songs into Wonderful Flowers (Я желал бы своей песней) for voice and piano; words by Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
- On the Old Burial Mound (На старом кургане) for voice and piano (1887); words by Ivan Savvich NikitinIvan Savvich NikitinIvan Savvich Nikitin Born in Voronezh into a merchant family, Nikitin was educated in a seminary until 1843. His father's violence and alcoholism brought the family to ruin and forced young Ivan to provide for the household by becoming an innkeeper...
- On Your Lovely Little Shoulder Dear (На чудное плечико милой; An Liebchens schneeweisse Schulter) for voice and piano (1887); words by Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
in translation by Vasily Pavlovich Fyodorov (1883–1942) - When Life Is Weighed Down with Suffering (Когда жизнь гнетут страданья и муки) for voice and piano (1887); words by Polivanov
- 16 Musical Letters (16 Музыкальных писем) for voice and piano (1892–1899)
- Bright Stars (Звёзды ясные) for voice and piano (1894); words by Konstantin FofanovKonstantin Fofanov-Early life:Konstantin was born into a family of St. Petersburg merchants. His father had been born a peasant, but had risen to the merchant class through the selling of firewood. Konstantin was one of ten children. At the age of six he began attending a primary school. He later attended the cheap...
- The Gentle Stars Shone Down on Us (Нам звёзды кроткие мерцали) for voice and piano (1894); words by Aleksey Pleshcheyev
- There Was an Old King (Был старый король) for voice and piano (1894); words by Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
in translation by Aleksey Pleshcheyev - A Present for 1 January 1900 for voice and piano (1899)
- Bells (Колокола) for voice and piano (1900); words by K. R.Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of RussiaGrand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and a poet and playwright of some renown...
- Prayer (Молитва: "О Боже мой") for voice and piano (1900); words by Aleksey Pleshcheyev
- Do Not Ask Why I Smile in Thought (Не спрашивай, зачем...) for voice and piano (1901); words by Alexander Pushkin
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); words by Aleksey Konstantinovich TolstoyAleksey Konstantinovich TolstoyCount Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, often referred to as A. K. Tolstoy , was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright, considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist...
- A Beautiful Girl Sits by the Sea (Баллада: Над морем красавица дева сидит), Ballade for female chorus and orchestra (1894); words by Mikhail LermontovMikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...