The story of the composition and premiere of the Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 5 (1881 - 1882), by Alexander Glazunov (1865 - 1936), is one of the great tales from the Silver Age of Russian music. Glazunov, the son of a book seller father and a pianist mother, had demonstrated prodigious musical ability from an early age. He began composition lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov when he was 14, began composing his Symphony No. 1 at 15, and saw it premiered when he was 16 under the baton of the godfather of Russian nationalist music, Mily Balakirev. According to Rimsky-Korsakov, the audience was astounded when a young boy in a school uniform acknowledged their applause. Some even suggested that the boy's parents had paid Rimsky-Korsakov or another composer to write the Symphony in E major for Glazunov. As his later works amply demonstrated, the Symphony No. 1 was no hoax and no accident, but rather the first superlative symphony in a series of almost nine (a Symphony No. 9 was begun in 1910, but was left unfinished at Glazunov's death). Indeed, Glazunov's First is an amazing piece not only because a schoolboy wrote it, but because in his Symphony No. 1 Glazunov solved the problem that had seemed insoluble to the generation of composers who came before him. In a single work, Glazunov united the nationalist symphonic music of Balakirev, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov with the cosmopolitan symphonic music of Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein. Glazunov's Symphony No. 1 in E major is in the standard four-movement sequence, and each movement masterfully unites Slavic themes with European forms—hence the nickname "Slavyanskaya" (Slavic). The opening Allegro in 6/8 easily passes between the swaying duple first theme to the rocking triple-meter second theme, moves through a cogent and dramatic development section, and arrives back at the original themes in the recapitulation. The following Scherzo: Allegro is in C major—the key a major third below the work's tonic—and its racing themes are underpinned by a pastoral drone in the basses. The Scherzo's trio is in A flat major—the key a major third above the work's tonic—and has a theme based on a Polish folk song. The following Adagio is in E minor—the parallel minor of the work's tonic—and has two Slavic-sounding themes, the first for clarinets and bassoons and the second for oboe. The Finale: Allegro returns the work to E major in a festive sonata-rondo that brings the symphony to a joyful conclusion.

© All Music Guide