Classical Music / Symphonic Poem
Mily Balakirev conducts the first performance of his symphonic poem Tamara in St Petersburg, on March 19, 1883. One of his best known works, Tamara is based on a ballad by the poet Mikhail Lermontov, who was inspired by an ancient local legend while exiled to the Caucasus.
Initially, he saw the work as a possible symbol of the recent political unification of the Caucasus under Russian rule. The poetic style and romantic language of the poem are important to an understanding of the plot, which describes a beautiful but evil princess (Tamara) whose songs lure travelers to her enchanted castle in the Caucasus by the river Terek. After a night of passion, the princess murders the traveler, whose body is borne away by the river.
Balakirev began work on Tamara in 1867. In the mid-1870s, he had a four-year battle with depression. Fortunately, his friends confiscated his work sketches fearing what he might do to them. In 1876, his friends helped him rekindle his interest in music by returning the score to him and asking him to resume composition. Three years later, he performed Tamara on piano to an enthusiastic audience of friends. In March 1883, Tamara was premiered with the composer conducting, and the 15-year odyssey, of which perhaps only three years total were spent intensively working on the score, was completed.
The slow (and soft) introduction and conclusion to the piece is a characteristic of Balakirev's orchestral works. It opens with ripples in the strings and low brass, representing the river, which establish the impressively pervasive feeling of foreboding, the key is the ominous B minor. Lyrically supple woodwind melodies abound in the work, and the first few notes of what will later be identified as Tamara's love song are heard from the English horn. After a few more notes of the love song, the rippling returns.
The main work of the score is taken up with the two love themes of Tamara. Balakirev develops these melodies from seductive lyricism to driving passion to the murderous climax, after which the original form and the river music returns.
Balakirev dedicated Tamara to Franz Liszt, who is considered originator of the tone poem. Despite remaining distinctively Russian in orchestral scope, Tamara, in its form and language, embraces Oriental flavor. In 1912, Diaghilev and Fokine produced a ballet to Balakirev's Tamara.
Resource:
Mily Balakirev, Tamara, Symphonic Poem. www.allmusic.com. Accessed March 19, 2009.
Video Credit:
Mily Balakirev - Tamara, symphonic poem (1867-82). Youtube, uploaded by KuhlauDelfing2.
Orchestra: The State Academic Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Evgeny Svetlanov. Accessed March 19, 2009
Mily Balakirev. en.wikpedia.org. Accessed March 19, 2009
(c) March 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
Orchestral Symphony No. 2 Tamara or Thamar is a symphonic poem composed by Russian composer Mily Balakirev.
Mily Balakirev conducts the first performance of his symphonic poem Tamara in St Petersburg, on March 19, 1883. One of his best known works, Tamara is based on a ballad by the poet Mikhail Lermontov, who was inspired by an ancient local legend while exiled to the Caucasus.
Initially, he saw the work as a possible symbol of the recent political unification of the Caucasus under Russian rule. The poetic style and romantic language of the poem are important to an understanding of the plot, which describes a beautiful but evil princess (Tamara) whose songs lure travelers to her enchanted castle in the Caucasus by the river Terek. After a night of passion, the princess murders the traveler, whose body is borne away by the river.
Balakirev began work on Tamara in 1867. In the mid-1870s, he had a four-year battle with depression. Fortunately, his friends confiscated his work sketches fearing what he might do to them. In 1876, his friends helped him rekindle his interest in music by returning the score to him and asking him to resume composition. Three years later, he performed Tamara on piano to an enthusiastic audience of friends. In March 1883, Tamara was premiered with the composer conducting, and the 15-year odyssey, of which perhaps only three years total were spent intensively working on the score, was completed.
The slow (and soft) introduction and conclusion to the piece is a characteristic of Balakirev's orchestral works. It opens with ripples in the strings and low brass, representing the river, which establish the impressively pervasive feeling of foreboding, the key is the ominous B minor. Lyrically supple woodwind melodies abound in the work, and the first few notes of what will later be identified as Tamara's love song are heard from the English horn. After a few more notes of the love song, the rippling returns.
The main work of the score is taken up with the two love themes of Tamara. Balakirev develops these melodies from seductive lyricism to driving passion to the murderous climax, after which the original form and the river music returns.
Balakirev dedicated Tamara to Franz Liszt, who is considered originator of the tone poem. Despite remaining distinctively Russian in orchestral scope, Tamara, in its form and language, embraces Oriental flavor. In 1912, Diaghilev and Fokine produced a ballet to Balakirev's Tamara.
Resource:
Mily Balakirev, Tamara, Symphonic Poem. www.allmusic.com. Accessed March 19, 2009.
Video Credit:
Mily Balakirev - Tamara, symphonic poem (1867-82). Youtube, uploaded by KuhlauDelfing2.
Orchestra: The State Academic Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Evgeny Svetlanov. Accessed March 19, 2009
Mily Balakirev. en.wikpedia.org. Accessed March 19, 2009
(c) March 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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