Rejngold Moricewicz Glier - Trzecia Symfonia "Ilja Muromiec"
Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр - третья симфония - Илья Муромец
Composed: 1909-1911
Conductor: JoAnn Falletta
Orchestra: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
0:00 - Title
0:08 - I. Wandering Pilgrims: Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor
21:24 - II. Solovei the Brigand
41:24 - III. The Palace of Prince Vladimir
48:27 - IV. The Feats of Valor and the Petrification of Ilya Muromets
Reinhold Gliere (1875-1956) was a Russian composer with Polish and German ancestry. Musically, he took inspiration from The Five, and he absorbed the instruction of his teachers at the Moscow Conservatory: Arensky, Taneyev, and Ippolitov-Ivanov. Despite his ethnic roots, he stayed close to the Russian romantic tradition. He taught, composed, and gave concerts, winning Glinka and Stalin prizes for his phenomenal compositions.
The legends say Ilya Muromets was a massive figure in Kievan Rus' who befriended Prince Vladimir, defended his country from the Golden Horde, and defeated a monster plaguing travelers, stealing their gold. It appears that he may have been based on an actual historical figure named Ilya Pechersky, who was a warrior of incredible strength before taking monastic vows and becoming a monk. Some amalgamation of the two is canonized as a saint in the Orthodox Church as Elias of Murom.
Gliere's third symphony is a work that elicits both praise and scorn from a variety of different types of listeners for any number of reasons. It is a massive work that can either test one's patience or fully engross one in the myths of Rus' that the music makes feel so immanent. It can dazzle or overwhelm with its titanic orchestration, its almost excessive counterpoint, its thematic and rhythmic inventiveness, and its motivic structure. Despite the criticism, and even above all of the praise, the symphony's purpose shines. Gliere's third sets out to achieve something beyond the musical layer by bringing the world of the byliny to life. Almost all of what the five strove for can be found in this symphony, which embodies the pursuit to fully realize in music the legendary myths that eastern Slavs all share.
The symphony itself comprises four movements that each feels like an episode of one long symphonic poem. The movements all share thematic and motific material with each other, and it is impossible to isolate one from any of the others. Overall, the structure flows from one movement to another, carrying the themes along and transforming them along with the demands of the story that is unfolding.
I. Wandering Pilgrims: Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor
Musically, the first movement establishes many of the themes and motifs that will re-appear later. The scope is epic, including chant-like and full-bodied adventurous themes and a wide variety of motifs achieved with astoundingly innovative figurations. Turning to the literary side, this movement describes two pilgrims as they give Ilya his call to adventure, telling him to become a bogatyr and save Kiev from Idolishche Poganoye (a mythical figure that personifies paganism). At this point, Ilya is ill and unable to walk. The pilgrims heal him and Svvyatogor (the most powerful bogatyr) gives him his power as he dies.
II. Solovei the Brigand
This movement is possibly the greatest musical depiction of a creepy forest ever conceived. The counterpoint in the woodwinds make it seem like one is surrounded by woodpeckers, sparrows, and all the birds of the forest joining together in song. To offset the pleasant stroll, the heavy strings and brass stalk the listener and swell, representing the danger of the brigand inhabiting the forest. The brigand, Solovei, is characterized by his whistle that can kill, which appears in the music as a climax of the chirping bird motif, screeched out by trilling woodwinds.
III. The Palace of Prince Vladimir
After shooting Solovei in the eye with an arrow, Ilya goes on to meet Prince Vladimir (also a Saint in the Orthodox Church) in his palace in Kiev. Ilya arrives in the middle of a great feast, illustrated by some of the brightest, liveliest music in the whole symphony. The then music turns stately and refined, reflecting the solemnity and wisdom of Prince Vladimir. Solovei resurrects along with his motifs and Ilya decapitates him, putting him to rest for good.
IV. The Feats of Valor and the Petrification of Ilya Muromets
The finale is action-packed and features the return of most of the themes presented earlier. A very consistent atmosphere of adventure runs through the whole finale, accompanying Muromets on his battles with the pagans and with heavenly beings which end up turning him and his bogatyrs to stone.
Art in order of appearance:
Thumbnail: A Bogatyr - Viktor Vasnetsov
Ia. Bogatyrs - Viktor Vasnetsov
Ib. Pilgrims in the Snow - Albert Bloch
II. Morning in a Pine Forest - Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky
III. The Baptism of Russia - Viktor Vasnetsov
IV. A Knight at the Crossroads - Viktor Vasnetsov