Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Glière composed with broad Slavonic epics and cantabile lyricism, rich harmony and bright orchestral colour. His work runs from the ballet The Red Poppy and the symphony Ilya Muromets to concertos and intimate salon pieces built on long singing lines.
The Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra (1943) rests on pure melodic beauty; arranged for oboe and strings it keeps that vocal line intact. Short pieces such as an Album Leaf for cello and piano show the same gift for song without words, quiet and romantic. His best-known single number remains the Russian Sailor's Dance from The Red Poppy: a folk chastushka stated low, then driven through increasingly frenetic variations to a full orchestral climax. He also wrote concertos for harp, horn and cello, ballets and operas that fold folk material into traditional forms, and chamber music that still favours clear melody over experiment.
Compositions by Reinhold Glière appear on
Russian Cello
Enter the world of Russia. Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid present unknown works alongside much-loved classics. The recording celebrates a romanticism in composition inspired by the combination of cello and piano.
Pictures at an Exhibition: Reflected and Refracted
Unique orchestral arrangements of Pictures at an Exhibition, Glière’s Coloratura Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, Glinka’s The Nightingale, and two movements from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons.