Alexandre Borodine
Though far from prolific as a composer -- by day he was a scientist noted for his research on aldehydes -- Alexander Borodin nevertheless earned a secure place in the history of Russian music. As a creative spirit, he was the most accomplished of the Russian nationalist composers. He had a particular gift for the distinctive stripe of exoticism so evident in his most frequently performed work, the "Polovtsian Dances" from the opera Prince Igor.
The illegitimate son of a Georgian prince and a doctor's wife, Borodin enjoyed a comfortable upbringing. As a child he learned to play several instruments and tried his hand at composing, but other aptitudes directed his formal education. He studied chemistry at St. Petersburg's Medico-Surgical Academy, obtaining his doctorate in 1858 and pursuing further studies in Europe until 1862. Upon his return to Russia, he became a professor at his alma mater, but even as an academic career apparently loomed before him, he maintained a devotion to music.
Under the influence of Mily Balakirev, whom he met in 1862, Borodin became interested in applying elements of Russian folk music to works for the concert hall and stage. He joined a circle of like-minded composers -- Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Cui -- famously dubbed "The Five" or "The Mighty Handful." The influence of Balakirev in particular is at once in evident in the Symphony No. 1 in E flat major (1867). Borodin began the much craggier Symphony No. 2 in B minor in 1869, the same year he commenced labor on his most important work, the opulent four-act opera Prince Igor. While it took him more than five years to complete the symphony, work on Prince Igor dragged on for decades. Borodin, who had in the meantime completed a number of other works, left the opera unfinished at the time of his death. It was completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov, a skillful craftsman and a particularly apt match for Borodin's colorful musical character, and Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov also completed the Symphony No. 3 in A minor, which the composer had been working on until the time of his death.
Aside from teaching chemistry and conducting research, Borodin helped found a series of medical courses for women in 1872. Such activities, as well as the poor health that plagued him in the 1880s, drained the energy that he might have devoted to composition. Still, as a part-time composer, he left a significant oeuvre: more than a dozen worthy songs, miscellaneous piano pieces, two string quartets (the second of which contains a ravishing Nocturne often performed in an arrangement for string orchestra), and the popular tone poem In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880). Borodin died while attending a ball in St. Petersburg on February 27, 1887.
© James Reel /TiVo
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Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Lançado por EMG Classical em 17/04/2013
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The Art of Nikolai Golovanov: Borodin - Symphony No. 2
Classical - Lançado por Music Online em 07/12/2007
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Romantic Cello
Alexandre Borodine, Edward Elgar, Julian Lloyd Webber
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 15/02/2022
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String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2
Chamber Music - Lançado por Naxos em 24/10/1994
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Borodin: Prince Igor
Classical - Lançado por Music Online em 25/10/2007
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Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B Minor "The Herculean" (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Lançado por EMG Classical em 16/04/2013
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Borodin: Symphony no 2
Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Classical - Lançado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE em 26/03/2024
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Borodin: Prince Igor, Opera in Four Acts (Digitally Remastered)
The Symphony Orchestra of Bolshoi Theatre
Classical - Lançado por EMG Classical em 15/04/2013
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Borodin: Polovetsian Dance No. 8 from Prince Igor (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Lançado por EMG Classical em 11/04/2013
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Borodin: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Lançado por Arabesque Recordings em 01/01/1995
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Borodin: Selección de Polovietzkian Dances
Classical - Lançado por Piros Comercial Digital em 19/06/2013
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Romantic Thanksgiving
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 21/11/2020
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Prokofiev - Borodin
Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine, Christian Lindberg, Oviedo Filarmonía
Classical - Lançado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE em 04/07/2023
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Strings by Starlight
The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Felix Slatkin
Classical - Lançado por Radio Tower Records em 05/01/2015
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The Best of Classic
Classical - Lançado por Piros - Send em 20/06/2011
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The Great Russian Composers
Classical - Lançado por OMP Classics em 30/06/2013
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Borodin: Petite Suite
Alexandre Borodine, Niagara Falls Piano Classic Philharmonic
Classical - Lançado por Pastel Records Canada em 01/06/2023
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The Very Best of Borodin
Classical - Lançado por Past Classics em 08/08/2012
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Borodin - Falla: Famous Classical Works, Vol. XXV
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Lançado por SB Clasic em 15/10/2002
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Petite Suite (Electronic Version)
Electronic - Lançado por Digi Records em 06/02/2022
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50 Relaxing Classical Favourites
Classical - Lançado por OMP Classics em 30/06/2013
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