Composed by: Alexander Borodin (1833-87)
Date of composition: 1869-1876
Arranged by: Konstantin Chernov (1865-1937)
My attempt at performing a piano arrangement of the finale from Borodin's spectacular 2nd Symphony, a piece I fell in love with ever since I first heard it. Enjoy!
PERFORMANCE NOTES:
Symphony No. 2 in B minor by Alexander Borodin was composed intermittently between 1869 and 1876. It consists of four movements and is considered the most important large-scale work completed by the composer himself.
According to [Serge] Dianin, [Vladimir] Stasov believed that Borodin had the knights and heroic figures of ancient Russia in mind with this piece. "The first movement depicts an assembly of Russian knights […] the Scherzo could be intended to suggest a headlong chase, but it could equally well be a festive scene […] the third movement was to have depicted Bayan, the legendary minstrel who appears in the Lay of Igor's Campaign […] and the finale is meant to depict ‘the knights’ feast, the sound of the gusli, and a jubilant throng of people."
In summing up the work, [A. Peter] Brown had the following comment:
The Second Symphony proved to be Borodin's great work. Whatever Borodin's technical limitations as a composer, they fail to be revealed in this symphony. The power, the playfulness, the lyricism, and the liveliness incorporated into each of the movements make for a compelling gesture.
In the autumn of 1876, the Russian Musical Society showed an interest in performing the symphony; however, Borodin was disconcerted to find that he had lost the full score. Although the middle movements were eventually found, he had to reorchestrate the outer two movements while sick in bed. The work was premiered 10 March 1877 under the baton of Eduard Nápravník. This symphony fits in the debate over the merit of folklore elements and traditional western art music values, which was a central conflict of Romantic nationalism. The work was popular, but according to Rimsky-Korsakov, only enjoyed "moderate success" because Borodin had written the brass part too thickly.
Later in 1877, Borodin traveled to Germany in order to enroll some of his chemistry pupils in Jena University. While in Germany, Borodin visited Liszt in Weimar where the two played through both of Borodin's symphonies in four-hand piano arrangements. Liszt had been an admirer of Borodin's music and he arranged performances of Borodin's symphonies, making them the first Russian symphonies to be received abroad. Regarding Borodin's attempt to revise his score, Liszt said,
Heaven forbid! Do not touch it; alter nothing. Your modulations are neither extravagant nor faulty. Your artistic instinct is such that you need not fear to be original. Do not listen to those who would deter you from following your own way. You are on the right road. Similar advice was given to Mozart and to Beethoven, who wisely ignored it. Despite the adage that ‘there is nothing new under the sun,’ your Second Symphony is entirely new. Nobody had done anything like it. And it is perfectly logical in structure.
[adapted from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphon...)]