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Glinka's 'Russlan and Ludmila'Author(s): M. D. CalvocoressiSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 66, No. 991 (Sep. 1, 1925), pp. 785-787Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/912148 .

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THE MUSICAL TIMES-SEPTEMBER I 1925 785

SettmusicaltimesAND SINGING-CLASS CIRCULARSEPTEMBER I 1925

(FOR LIST OF CONTENTS SEE PAGE 847.)

GLINKA'S 'RUSSLAN AND LUI)MILA'By M.-D. CALVOCORESSI

A few weeks ago, orchestral excerpts fromGlinka's 'Russlan and Ludmila,' arranged as a Suiteby Mr. Constant Lambert, were given at theRoyal College of Music. Thus was a Londonaudience afforded a fresh glimpse of a work thatteems with lovely music, and is very little knownoutside Russia.It has been often said that Russian music'sindebtedness to Glinka's works, and to 'Russlanand Ludmnila' n particular, equals that of westernmusic to 'Tristan and Isolda.' It would be truerto say that it exceeds it considerably. The betterwe know 'Russlan and Ludmila,' the better werealise how direct, how great, how decisive itsinfluence has been on all Russian composers ofthe second half of the I9th century-Moussorgskystanding as a partial exception.It is not, however, from the historical point ofview alone that I recommend acquaintanceshipwith 'Russlan and Ludmila'; for there is muchin this work which should delight all music-lovers,besides interesting all students. It played an all-important part in creating. the idiom and stylewhich characterise most of the later masterpiecesof the Russian school; but it gives us actualities,not mere potentialities.This fact being acknowledged (and I hopethe few quotations given below may serve as abait), there remains, of course, the other amazingfact that the work was finished in the early part of

I842. It is exactly at the time when westerngrand opera had reached the level of Meyerbeer's'Le Prophete' and Halevy's ' La Reine de Chypre,'whereas Wagner had proceeded no further than'The Flying Dutchman,' that Glinka-a practicallyself-taught composer, with no national art-traditionto fall back upon-followed up his first wonderfulachievement ('A Life for the Csar,' 1836) with thesudden revelation which stood embodied in themusic of 'Russlan.' From that moment a vastnew field was thrown open, and its first-fruitproved how rich it was. Let it be clearly under-stood-lest some day the claim here made betwisted out of recognition--that it is not becauseothers found Glinka's innovations profitable thatGlinka's music should oe admired. It is worthyof being enjoyed just for what it is; its seminalvalue is but an additional proof of its ownvitality.It will be noticed that I speak of the music of'Russlan,' not of 'Russian' as an opera. As anopera it is one of the dullest and most incoherentI know. The libretto was written piecemeal byB

four of Glinka's friends, with his co-operation, andis barely good enough to serve as a prop for themusic-a good deal of which, by the way, waswritten in anticipation of the words. And even themusic is not all good. 'Russlan' is a score fromwhich it is advisable to pick and choose; the bestin it will be found very lovely.There is little likelihood that the work will everbe given here; and even less likelihood that, ifgiven, it would take root. Often I think of thepossibility of grouping the most beautiful parts ofit together into a kind of anthology for concertpurposes, and possibly in view of a stage productionintended for music-lovers rather than for theaverage opera-goer-a kind of concert-opera withstage settings, pageants, and dances.That the first Act, with a few cuts, can hold itsown, was proved by its production at Paris in 19o9.It contains a number of admirable choruses (indeed,the whole choral part of 'Russian' is first class),from which the following samples may be culled:Ex. i. Vivace assaz-.A _

Ala- en, O fUrst dir im Frie - den und strei - te

--I-se - gen die Gt - ter-ver - lein

Ex 2. Allegreto.SOPRANO,ALTO.

Trau - re nicht, 0 sis - ses Herz. ens -kind,

ei I IORCH.---'4 --"---------- L----'-- -- --?=j

beut die Welt dir kei- ne an - d're Freud

......- -

Ex. 3. Allegro.S A -_ _ _. B. -- -- -d-

----- -r-~-e--Wel-cheZa -berkraft, el--e Won-e-maclit

uns der Lie - be glut doch ver - leiht.(The orchestra likewise in octaves.)

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786 THE MUSICAL TIMES-SEPTEMBER I 1925The last-quoted chorus begins in octaves as shown,but afterwards the arrangement is interestinglyvaried. It occurs immediately before the episodeof Ludmila's abduction-in which appears thewhole-tone scale that is the only thing in whichmost western writers on 'Russlan' seem to beinterested. After this episode begins the famouscanon for four male voices and accompanyingchoir, which is one of the finest- things in thewhole opera.Of Ludmila's part, the utmost that can be saidis that it is, musically, far more interesting thanthe stuff usually written for coloratura soprano. Itbecomes more attractive in the fourth Act, althougheven then it remains overladen with ornamentsand runs. Such as it is, it might serve to providemuch-needed changes in the diet which coloraturasopranos, when they give a concert, provide fortheir public.In the second Act two things stand apart: theopening ballad sung by Finn, the kind wizard,which is altogether delightful and instinct withoriginality (it is rather long-drawn), and the scenebetween Russlan and the Giant's Head, to whosefantastic character the music does full justice. Itconstitutes a big step in the direction shown byWeber's Wolfsschlucht music in 'Freyschiitz,' andin anticipation of the Fafner music in 'The Ring.'In the third Act, the Persian chorus, with itssubtle, ingeniously carried-out colour variations(the kind of variation already used in some of thechoruses in the first Act, and a favourite kind withLiszt and the later Russians), and Ratmir'srecitative introduce Eastern elements as definitelyand as effectively as the first Act had introducedarchaic Slavonic elements. There is also a fineCavatina sung by Gorislava (I name the characterswithout troubling to specify the part they play inthe slender, puerile plot), and a lovely chorus ofNa'ina's maidens.It is chiefly in the instinct which promptedGlinka to select and adapt the hitherto ignoredSlavonic and Oriental elements that the signsof his originality are to be found, but notaltogether. Over and above, there existed inhim a strikingly individual sense of purity andsimplicity in workmanship, coupled with a raresense of effectiveness. He was not conspicuousfor his critical sense, and would pour out indifferentmusic as freely as capital music. Yet in thatmusic of his which is fine, there is absolutely noflaw from the technical or from the oesthetic pointsof view. His orchestration especially is alwayssplendid.To the student of the history of orchestrationtwo things remain marvellous: Glinka's orches-tration, and that of Liszt. Both composers,evidently, were born orchestrators, like Mozart,Weber, and Berlioz. But how and where theyacquired their practical experience-that practicalexperience which other composers of geniusacquired so slowly and often far less thoroughly-is an unanswerable question. There exists noinstance of indifferent scoring from the pen ofGlinka or of Liszt. All they have written is

perfectly in keeping, technically faultless, andcomes off.' Their technique seems to have sprung,fully-equipped, from the brain of the orchestralJupiter. And Glinka did not even have thechances of hearing, studying, or conducting musicwhich Liszt had. He was acquainted with acertain portion of the classical repertory, he playedthe violin a little, and he had received a few lessonsfrom Dehn at Berlin. His inborn musicianshipdid the rest.Both the height to which his musical inventioncould rise and the ingenuity and dexterity of hisscoring are admirably evinced in the fairy musicand the scenes in the fourth Act. The TurkishDance, and especially the ' Lesghinka,' are worthyof close study. The latter is one of the mostoriginal things in Russian music. Here is oneinstance of the new and effective devices withwhich it teems:Ex. 4. Vivace assai.

P 9 4 -I -I - -0- -- -

t' -_1

.I -.

- --

Again the temptation is strong to quote freelyfrom the choral music, which is as simple as it istelling; and again it must be resisted. Two shortexcerpts may be given:Ex. 5.

Andante mosso.Sop. dolce. I. II.- - " -

O Her - rin, du hol - de,Alt.

. -- ""%" -orch..on

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THE MUSICAL TIMES-SEPTEMBER I 1925 787dolce assai.

-1--

S ,.

du hol - de,

EBY--- -- . ...

0 Her - rin, du hol - de,

-14

zih - me Zorn und Schmerz.

zih - me Zorn und Schmerz.

Ex. 6.Sopr. I, 2.Andante quasi allegretto. - -- -: ......... ! - " ----------

Sanf-ter Schlaf gieb ihr Ruh, gieb ihr Fried - en.Alti.

-7A"7-----.Sanf-ter Schlaf gieb ihr Ruh, gieb ihr Fried - en.

orch. -----I -

Here we are at the very fount-head of all that isnewest and most significant in Russian music ofthe 19th century. Even these brief excerpts willshow how near the music of 'Russlan' brings usto the music of Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Sadko' andBorodin's 'Polovtsian Dances,' exactly as otherquotations would show its nearness to Balakirev'sTamara' or to other works of the same periodand after.

I shall wind up by quoting the beautifulrecitative for the clarinet which occurs whenRussian grasps the hand of the sleeping Ludmila(Act 5):

Ex. 7.Andante. -

VPY Con grazza, afiacere. Lim

Compare this with the instrumental recitativesin Liszt's 'Dante' Symphony (first movement,middle section), in the third Act of 'Siegfried'(heralding Briinnhilde's awakening)), and inRimsky - Korsakov's 'Mlada' (Cleopatra'sappearance).It will be found, I am sure, that when speakingof the beauty of 'Russlan and Ludmila,' I haveunderstated rather than overstated. I aimed atappraising it from a particular point of view. Icontented myself with noting a few of the thingsin it which I consider of paramount musicalsignificance, without taking into account all in it thatis effective, tuneful, or otherwise acceptable, but notessentially characteristic of Glinka's own genius.For aught I know, I may be under-rating thechances of success which the work might have hereif properly produced. I am, I fear, utterly incapableof understanding what it is that, here or there,makes or mars the success of an opera. TheRussian public of the 'forties did not take kindlyto 'Russlan,' and it is only much later that thebeauties of the work carried the day in Russia.These beauties may still do so elsewhere.In advocating what I have called an anthology, Imay seem to be advocating the very kind of thingagainst which I sometimes protest excitedly. But Ido not suggest that this anthology should be offeredunder a misleading label. The case of 'Russlan'is exceptional, and calls, I believe, for exceptionalmeasures. There is no reason, after all, why thesemeasures should not be only temporary.

P.S.-Referring to my comments on the revisededition of Borodin's first Symphony (see MusicalTimes, December, 1924), M. Andrei Rimsky-Korsakov, the composer's son, writes to me thatthe changes are Borodin's own, and that bothversions were published during Borodin's life-time.He informs me that M. Dianin (the son of a pupilof Borodin) is preparing an article in which hewill set forth the facts and, I understand, condemnmy 'unscientific rashness.' Pending the timewhen this article will come forth, all I wish to dois to make M. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's statementsknown to my readers. I shall be glad-thoughcertainly not for my own sake-if the evidenceproves these statements true.-M.-D. C.