Glière, a Russian composer of French ancestry, was one of the more conservative figures of the twentieth century. His most famous large-scale work is this program symphony telling the tale of the legendary twelfth century figure Il'ya Murometz. He is selected by a mighty "bogatyr," a Russian type of knight, to be his successor. Il'ya captures an outlaw named Solovei (which ironically means "nightingale"), and takes him to the castle of Vladimir, the Sun. Using Solovei's mighty voice as a weapon (before decapitating him) Murometz overcomes the defenses of the castle, and is welcomed inside by Vladimir. Finally, he is conquered when he and his forces are turned to stone. The idiom of the symphony is the rich romanticism of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, with richer, more Wagnerian harmonies. It is also distinguished as one of the longest symphonies in the entire repertoire. Buyers of recordings of it should be aware of whether the version they are considering is complete or cut.

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