Michael Glinka was born to prosperous landowners in Novosspaskoye, in
Smolensk, Russia, on June 1, 1804. His academic education took place at
a private school in St. Petersburg, while he studied music with Carl
Meyer, Carl Boehm and John Field. From 1824 to 1827 he worked in the
office of the Ministry of Communications in St. Petersburg. Further
music study then took place in Italy and Germany. After returning to his
native land in 1834, he was fired with the ambition of writing a
national Russian opera. That opera was _A Life for the Tsar_, produced
in 1836, an epoch-making work since it is the foundation upon which all
later Russian national music rests. Glinka’s second national opera,
_Ruslan and Ludmila_, produced in 1842, successfully carried on the
composer’s national ideals further. In the last years of his life Glinka
traveled a great deal, spending considerable time in Paris, Warsaw, and
Spain. He died suddenly in Berlin, Germany, on February 15, 1857.
It is impossible to overestimate Glinka’s significance in Russian music.
His national operas were the source from which the later nationalists,
the “Russian Five” derived their direction and inspiration.
In _Jota aragonesa_, a “caprice brilliant” for orchestra (1845) Glinka
is stimulated by Spanish rather than Russian folk music. This is the
first Russian composition to make serious use of Spanish folk idioms. It
was written during the composer’s visit to Spain in 1845 where he was
fascinated by Spanish folk songs and dances. Within a fantasy form,
Glinka poured melodies and dance rhythms closely modeled after the
Spanish in which the background, culture, and geography of that colorful
country have been fixed.
_Kamarinskaya_ (1848), also for orchestra, is a fantasy in the field in
which Glinka was both an acknowledged master and a significant
pioneer—Russian folk music. This composition is based on two Russian
folk songs heard by the composer in Warsaw: “Over the Hills, the High
Hills” (which appears in strings following a brief introduction), and a
dance tune, “Kamarinskaya” (first heard in violins).
The most popular excerpts from Glinka’s national opera, _A Life for the
Tsar_, are the overture, and the Mazurka and Waltz, for orchestra. The
opera—libretto by Baron von Rosen—was first performed in St. Petersburg
on December 9, 1836. The action takes place in Poland and Russia in
1612. During the struggle between Russia and Poland, Romanov becomes the
new Czar of Russia, and Ivan Susanin, a peasant, is the hero who saves
Russia and the Czar. The love interest involves Ivan’s daughter,
Antonida, and Bogdan Sabinin.
The overture opens with a stately introduction dominated by a melody for
the oboe. A spirited melody brings on the main section. After this
melody is developed, a second theme is offered by the clarinets. Both
ideas are discoursed upon briefly, and they are given further
amplification in the coda.
The Mazurka and Waltz appear at the close of the second act, climaxing a
festive celebration held in the throne room of Sigismund III of Poland
in his ancient castle. The Waltz comes first. Two principal waltz
melodies are given by the woodwind and repeated by strings; a third
waltz tune is then heard in brass, and soon taken over by the strings.
The Waltz is immediately followed by the Mazurka. After a dignified
introduction, a vigorous Mazurka melody unfolds. This leads to a second
dance tune, first heard in the woodwind and cellos; but the first
Mazurka melody soon reappears in the full orchestra. A third lively
dance melody is then presented by the strings.
_Ruslan and Ludmila_ also contributed a lively overture to the
orchestral repertory. This opera, with libretto by the composer and
several others based on a Pushkin poem, was first heard in St.
Petersburg on December 9, 1842. Ruslan is a knight who is a rival of
Ratmir for the love of Ludmila. Ludmila is abducted by the dwarf
Tchernomor, and after Ruslan has saved her, Ludmila’s father blesses his
future son-in-law.
Vigorous chords lead to a dashing melody in violins, violas and
woodwinds. A more lyrical second theme, almost folk-song in character,
is then heard in violas, cellos and bassoons. Both themes are given a
vigorous development in which the sprightly character of the overture is
never allowed to lose its brisk pace or vitality.