Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- List of sources
- Chapter One Glinka's operas
- Chapter Two The 1840s and 1850s
- Chapter Three The Conservatoire controversy – a clash of ideals
- Chapter Four New ideas about opera
- Chapter Five New operas
- Chapter Six The 1860s, opera apart
- Chapter Seven Opera in the 1870s
- Chapter Eight The 1870s, opera apart
- Index
Chapter Six - The 1860s, opera apart
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- List of sources
- Chapter One Glinka's operas
- Chapter Two The 1840s and 1850s
- Chapter Three The Conservatoire controversy – a clash of ideals
- Chapter Four New ideas about opera
- Chapter Five New operas
- Chapter Six The 1860s, opera apart
- Chapter Seven Opera in the 1870s
- Chapter Eight The 1870s, opera apart
- Index
Summary
This decade witnessed a considerable increase in the number of concerts in both St Petersburg and Moscow thanks to the work of the Russian Musical Society; in the former, the vitality of musical life was further enhanced by the opening of the Free School of Music. With Rubinstein and the conservatoires' staff engaged in composition and Balakirev persuading his disciples to take up the challenge, the repertory expanded considerably. While the resources at the disposal of opera had been visibly to hand before (even if inadequately made available to Russian composers), the prospect of frequent and adequate performances of orchestral music acted as a spur to composers. This chapter records the growth of this repertory, formerly consisting of a handful of pieces by a few composers. The visits of Wagner in 1863 and Berlioz in 1867–8 made Russians more aware of what the modern orchestral conductor could obtain from his forces. Music publishing expanded also. The important new firms of Gutheil (Moscow, founded in 1859), Jürgenson (Moscow, 1861), Bessel (St Petersburg, 1869) and Zimmermann (St Petersburg, 1876) are indicative of new commercial activity.
(a) Ts. A. Cui: A St Petersburg musical chronicle (the musical part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare). St Petersburg Bulletin, 10 May 1864, no. 103. Cui, pp. 28–31
This concert took place on 23 April 1864.
Independently of his worldwide literary significance, Shakespeare has had and will continue to have a permanent influence on artists and through the other branches of art: he has inspired painters, sculptors and musicians; his scenes and characters have served as an object of study and have often been reproduced using the chisel or the brush or in the sounds of music; through his art he has given rise to further art.
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- Information
- Russians on Russian Music, 1830–1880An Anthology, pp. 178 - 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994