Reinhold Glière was one of those composers whose allegiance to tradition either courted controversy or, more often than not, neglect. Regarded as a great musical icon in his native Ukraine, his reputation elsewhere remains mixed. Detractors accuse him of being an epigone, writing music in the style of Tchaikovsky well into the 20th century. The American scholar Richard Taruskin went even further, describing him as ‘a doddering relic’.
Such disparagements ignore some incontestable aspects of Glière’s achievement. A convincing melodist and a superb technician, writing extremely attractive music, he was also one of the great survivors of the first half of the 20th century. Despite living through a period of political turmoil, he somehow managed to carve out a consistently successful career, both in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. In the later part of his life, he was hailed as an ideal exponent of Socialist Realism, composing works that not only had an instantaneous appeal but, to the delight of the Soviet bureaucrats, also avoided any unwarranted contamination with Western modernism.
この記事は BBC Music Magazine の December 2022 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は BBC Music Magazine の December 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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