Vasily Kalinnikov (1866-1901)
(Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov)
Orchestral Works
cd1
Suite in B minor (1891)
I. Andante
II. Allegro scherzando
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro moderato
Cedar and Palm, Symphonic Picture (1898)
Bylina (1892)
Evgeny Svetlanov maestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
cd2
Symphony No.2 in A major (1897)
I. Moderato - Allegro ma non troppo
II. Andante cantabile
III. Allegro scherzando
IV. Andante cantabile - Allegro vivo
Intermezzo No.1 in A major (1896)
Intermezzo No.2 in G major (1897)
Serenade for Strings in G major (1891)
Nymphs (1889)
Evgeny Svetlanov maestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Vasily Kalinnikov (Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov 1866-1901 Russian: Василий Сергеевич Калинников) was a Russian composer of two symphonies, several additional orchestral works and numerous songs, all of them imbued with characteristics of folksong. His symphonies, particularly the First, were frequently performed in the early 20th century.
His younger brother Viktor Kalinnikov (1870-1927) was also a composer, mainly of choral music.
Biography
Kalinnikov was a policeman's son. He studied at the seminary at Oryol, becoming director of the choir there at fourteen. Later he went to the Moscow Conservatory but could not afford the tuition fees. On a scholarship he went to the Moscow Philharmonic Society School, where he received bassoon and composition lessons from Alexander Ilyinsky. He played bassoon, timpani and violin in theater orchestras and supplemented his income working as a music copyist.
In 1892, Tchaikovsky recommended Kalinnikov to be the director of the Maly Theater, and later that same year to the Moscow Italian Theater. However, due to his worsening tuberculosis, Kalinnikov had to resign from his theater appointments and move to the warmer southern clime of the Crimea. He lived there at Yalta for the rest of his life, and it was there that he wrote the main part of his music, including his two symphonies and the incidental music for Alexey Tolstoy's Tsar Boris. Exhausted, he died of tuberculosis on January 11, 1901 just before his 35th birthday.
Thanks to Sergei Rachmaninoff's help, Tchaikovsky's publisher Pyotr Jurgensen bought three Kalinnikov songs for 120 rubles, and later the Symphony No.2 in A major. The Symphony No.1 in G minor, which uses some cyclic principles, was performed in Berlin, Vienna and Moscow during his lifetime, but not published until after his death, so Jurgensen increased the fees he would have paid Kalinnikov, and paid them to his widow. He was also survived by a brother, Viktor, who composed choral music and taught at the Philharmonic School.
He is most well known for his First Symphony, written between 1894 and 1895, whose themes are characteristic of Russian music.
In Russia his First Symphony remains in the repertory, and his place in musical history there is secure (Spencer 2001). On November 7, 1943, Arturo Toscanini conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a rare broadcast performance of the First Symphony; although the performance was recorded, it was never commercially released by RCA Victor, but has recently appeared on Relief CR 1886 (anon. [n.d.]b, 15).
Works
Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov
Opera
In 1812 (В 1812 году) (1899-1900), incomplete
Orchestral
Fugue in D minor (1889)
Nymphs (Нимфы), Symphonic Picture after Ivan Turgenev (1889)
Serenade for Strings (1891)
Suite (1891-1892)
Bylina (Былина), Overture (c.1892)
Overture in D minor (1894)
Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1894-1895)
Symphony No. 2 in A major (1895-1897)
Intermezzo No. 1 in F♯ minor (1896)
Intermezzo No. 2 in G major (1897)
The Ceder and the Palm (Кедр и пальма), Symphonic Picture after Heinrich Heine (1897-1898)
Tsar Boris (Царь Борис), Incidental Music after Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1899)
Piano
Moderato in E♭ minor
Polonaise in B♭ major (on a Theme from Symphony No.1) for Piano 4-Hands
Scherzo in F major (1888-1889)
Chanson triste (Грустная песенка) in G minor (1892-1893)
Nocturne in F♯ minor (1892-1893)
Élégie in B♭ minor (1894)
Minuet in E major (1894)
Russian Intermezzo in F minor (1894)
Waltz in A major (1894)
Vocal
Come to Me (Приди ко мне) for Soprano, Alto, Baritone and Piano
I Am Yours, My Darling for Voice and Piano
I Would Like to Make My Songs into Wonderful Flowers (Я желал бы своей песней) for Voice and Piano
On the Old Burial Mound (На старом кургане) for Voice and Piano (1887)
On Your Lovely Little Shoulder Dear (На чудное плечико милой / An Liebchens schneeweisse Schulter) for Voice and Piano (1887)
When Life Is Weighed Down with Suffering (Когда жизнь гнетут страданья и муки) for Voice and Piano (1887)
16 Musical Letters (16 Музыкальных писем) for Voice and Piano (1892-1899)
Bright Stars (Звёзды ясные) for Voice and Piano (1894)
The Gentle Stars Shone Down on Us (Нам звёзды кроткие мерцали) for Voice and Piano (1894)
There Was an Old King (Был старый король) for Voice and Piano (1894)
A Present for 1 January 1900 for Voice and Piano (1899)
Bells (Колокола) for Voice and Piano (1900)
Prayer (Молитва) for Voice and Piano (1900)
Do Not Ask Why I Smile in Thought (Не спрашивай, зачем) for Voice and Piano (1901)
Choral
The Triumph of Lilliput for Chorus and Piano
Cherubic Hymn No. 1 (Херувимская песнь № 1) for Chorus (1885)
Cherubic Hymn No. 2 (Херувимская песнь № 2) for Chorus (1886)
The Mountain Tops (Горные вершины) for Chorus (1887)
Christe Eleison for Chorus (1889)
Lord, Our Lord for Chorus (1889)
Ioann Damaskin (Иоанн Дамаскин), Cantata for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra (1890)
A Beautiful Girl Sits by the Sea (Над морем красавица дева сидит) for Female Chorus and Orchestra (1901)
Vasily Kalinnikov (1866-1901) - Orchestral Works 2 DISC
Evgeny Svetlanovmaestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
ⓒ 1997 BMG Musicⓟ 1970, 1991 Melodiya
Kalinnikov · Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony No.1
Orchestral Work
Evgeny Svetlanovmaestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Label: Moscow Studio
Release Date: 2005
Kalinnikov - Symphony No.1
Tchaikovsky - Overture in C minor & Coronation March in D
Evgeny Svetlanovmaestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Label: Melodiya
Release Country: UK
Release Date: 1978
1978 UK label stereo vinyl LP. Performed by the USSR Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov and Alexander Lazarev
Kalinnikov - Symphonies 1 & 2
Neeme Jarvi maestro
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Label: Chandos
Release Date: 1997
Kalinnikov - Symphony No.1
Rimsky-Korsakov- Orchestral Work
Label: Cdk
Release Date: 2003
Kalinnikov- Symphony No.1
Rimsky-Korsakov- Orchestral Work
Evgeny Svetlanovmaestro
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Label: Melodiya
Vasily Kalinikov - Symphony No.1 in G mino
Evgeny Svetlanov-maestro
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Date & Location: 1999. 02. 26, 27: NHK Hall, Tokyo
Alexander Borodin : Polovtsian Dances
(from "Prince Igor", Orch. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Evgeny Svetlanov maestro
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Label: King Record
Date & Location: 1993. 02.03: NHK Hall, Tokyo
Kalinnikov - Symphony 1
Rimsky-korsakov - Sinfonietta
Evgeny Svetlanov maestro
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Label: Regis Records
Release Date: 2010
Vasily Kalinnikov - Symphony No.1 in G minor (Rec.1945)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante comodamente
III. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo
IV. Allegro moderato
Nikolay Golovanov maestro
The USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Recorded in 1945. First publication
Label: Boheme Golo
Original Release Date: 1945
