For Alexander Glazunov, the years immediately following his appointment in 1899 to the faculty of the St. Petersburg Conservatory marked the high point of his creative life—his greatest music all dates from the period from 1900-1906. Among these works, the Violin Concerto, Op. 82, of 1904 and the Symphony No. 8, Op. 83, of 1906 are certainly the most admired; but there is a great deal of other, lesser-known but amply endowed music from this time. The orchestral suite From the Middle Ages, Op. 79, of 1902, a work in which Glazunov musically evokes enduring images of medieval Europe, is an example.

From the Middle Ages (Glazunov's title, in Russian, is Iz srednikh vekov) is in E major and has four midsize movements which serve almost as the four movements of a conventional symphony. In No. 1, Prelude, the composer moves from deep, bass-driven portent to amorous warmth of a most attractive kind—Glazunov's greatest strength was always his capacity for drawing broad lyric strokes from his instruments. He has not traditionally been a widely admired musician, but efforts like this Prelude give reason to reevaluate a century's worth of harsh judgments. No. 2, Scherzo, is a kind of Danse macabre, initiated by vehement strings, in which the traditional plainchant Dies irae can be heard. No. 3, "The Troubadour's Serenade," is a long-spun melody with a harp accompaniment at first, and then richer full orchestral support. The finale, No. 4, "The Crusaders," adopts the traditional European view of the medieval Crusaders as lofty Christian heroes and builds it up into a rousing, if perhaps vainglorious, musical epic that culminates in a brass-driven chorale.

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