Alexander Glazunov
A child prodigy composer who became the steadfast guardian of Russian musical tradition, shepherding the St. Petersburg Conservatory through revolution.
1865–1936 (age 71)·Russian composer·Birthday: August 10·The Gilded Age
Biography
Alexander Glazunov composed a symphony at sixteen under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's mentorship. His early works displayed the lush orchestral color of the Russian nationalist school, earning patronage from timber magnate Mitrofan Belyayev. As director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory for nearly a quarter-century, he protected students and curriculum from ideological interference, advocating for Dmitri Shostakovich after his first denunciation. He left the Soviet Union in 1928, ostensibly for health reasons, and never returned. He spent his final years in Paris. His music bridged Tchaikovsky and the emerging modernists.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Alexander was born in 1865, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alexander Was Born
The biggest hits of 1865
Alexander's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1865Born
President: Andrew Johnson
1870Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1878Became a teenager
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1881Could drive
President: Chester A. Arthur
1883Could vote
President: Chester A. Arthur
1886Turned 21
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 30
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 40
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 50
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 60
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 70
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1936Died at 71
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
Key Achievements
- Composed eight completed symphonies and the popular ballet 'The Seasons', known for its melodic richness.
- Served as director of the Saint Petersburg (later Petrograd/Leningrad) Conservatory from 1905 to 1930, guiding it through the Russian Revolution.
- Orchestrated and completed Alexander Borodin's unfinished opera 'Prince Igor', including the famous 'Polovtsian Dances'.
- Conducted the premiere of Rachmaninoff's First Symphony, a performance the composer himself famously considered disastrous.
Did You Know?
He possessed a legendary photographic memory and could orchestrate complex pieces entirely in his head.
Glazunov was known for his immense appetite and could reportedly consume an entire goose in one sitting.
He conducted the final concert in the history of the Russian Imperial Mariinsky Theatre before the revolution.
Despite leaving the USSR, he remained a Soviet citizen until his death and received a state pension.
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