Reinhold Glière was born in Kiev, Russia, on January 11, 1875. He was
graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1900. After two years in
Berlin, he returned to his native land to become professor of
composition at the Kiev Conservatory; from 1914 to 1920 he was its
director. After 1920 he was a member of the faculty of the Moscow
Conservatory. Glière’s most famous works are his third symphony (named
_Ilia Mourometz_) introduced in Moscow in 1912, and the ballet, _The Red
Poppy_. But he wrote many other works—orchestral, chamber, and vocal, as
well as ballets. On two occasions he received the Stalin Prize: in 1948
for his fourth string quartet, and two years later for his ballet, _The
Bronze Horseman_. He died in Moscow on June 23, 1956.
Two excerpts from the Soviet ballet, _The Red Poppy_, are perhaps the
composer’s best known compositions. The ballet was first presented in
Moscow on June 14, 1927 with extraordinary success. Its setting is a
port in China where coolies are exploited. When a Soviet ship comes to
port, its captain falls in love with a Chinese girl, Tai-Hao. She is
ultimately killed by the port commander while she is trying to escape
from China on the Soviet ship. Her last words urge the Chinese to fight
for their liberty, and she points to a red poppy as a symbol of their
freedom.
The most celebrated single excerpt from this ballet is the _Russian
Sailors Dance_, for orchestra, with which the third act comes to a
whirlwind conclusion. The main melody is a simple Russian tune that
appears first in lower strings. It is then subjected to a series of
variations, and is permitted to gain momentum through acceleration of
tempo and expanding sonorities until an orgiastic climax is reached.
Less popular, but still often performed, is the “Dance of the Chinese
Girls” from the same ballet. A repeated descending interval leads to an
Oriental dance in the pentatonic scale; in this dance percussion
instruments and the xylophone are used prominently and with telling
effect.