I always find myself forgetting the timeline or history or chronology or whatever, of the famous Russian composers. Who was born earlier, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov or Chaikovsky? Of The Five, who outlived whom? How far apart in age were Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Stravinsky?
I made a little list to remind myself. Here it is:
First generation: 1800 - 1825
- Mikhail Glinka, b. 1804 (sam year as premiere of the Eroica)
- Dargomyzhsky, b. 1813
Second Generation: 1825 - 1850
- Anton Rubenstein, b. 1829
- Borodin, b. 1833
- Nicolas Rubenstein, b. 1835
- Cesar Cui, b. 1835
- Balakirev, b. 1837
- Mussorgsky, b. 1839
- Chaikovsky 1840
- Rimsky Korsakov, b. 1844
Third Generation: 1850 - 1875
- Lyadov, b. 1855
- Sergei Taneyev, b. 1856
- Lyapunov, b. 1859
- Arensky, b. 1861
- Gretchaninov, b. 1864
- Glazunov, b. 1865
- Vasily Kallinikov, b. 1866
- Scriabin, b. 1872
- Rachmaninoff, b. (March 20) 1873
- Nikolai Tcherepnin, b. (May 15) 1873
- Glière, b. 1875
Fourth Generation: 1875 - 1900
- Roslavets, b. (Jan. 4) 1881
- Mayaskovsky, b. (Apr. 20) 1881
- Stravinsky, b. 1882
- Prokofiev, b. 1891
- Alexander Tcherepnin, b. 1899
And one more...
- Shostakovich, b. 1906
Igor Stravinsky died in 1971. Shostakovich died in 1975, and Alexander Tcherepnin died in 1977.
Making this list gives me pause to consider the longevity of Igor Stravinsky. The man traveled, composed, conducted, rubbed elbows with movie stars in California, wrote lectures and was interviewed continually by Robert Craft. How did he achieve such a long life? Leaving the Soviet Union?
Cesar Cui was also long-lived; he died aged 83 in 1918 (March). He was born under Nicholas I of Russia, and died after Lenin and the Bolsheviks took over the Russian Socialist Republic.
Also this list is an interesting reminder that Chaikovsky is truly a child of the 19th century, and in fact is not too far removed from the Classical era. Do we see him as too much of a Romantic sometimes? He did treasure the music of Mozart above all others. Are there any interpreters who see Chaikovsky in this way? I often do not enjoy the intensely dramatic readings of his orchestral works.
This is also a good reminder that Rimsky-Korsakov was truly a Romantic and a Modernist. Stravinsky saw him in this way. No one has a monopoly on the reputation of any composer. What were the most modern elements of R-K’s music?
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