Reingold Moritsevich Gliere(birth name - Reinhold Ernest Glier; 1874-1956) - Soviet, Ukrainian and Russian composer, conductor, teacher, musical and public figure. People's Artist of the USSR (1938). Winner of three Stalin Prizes of the first degree (1946, 1948, 1950). Author of the music for the anthem of St. Petersburg.
Biography
Reingold Moritsevich Gliere was born on December 30, 1874 (January 11, 1875) in Kyiv. The son of a brass instrument maker who moved to Kyiv from Klingenthal in Germany.
He received his initial musical education at home (violin lessons from A. Weinberg, K. Vought). In 1894 he graduated from Kiev music school(now the Kiev Institute of Music named after Gliere) with O. Shevchik (violin) and E. Ryba (composition) and entered the Moscow Conservatory in the violin class of N. N. Sokolovsky (then moved to the class of Y. V. Grzhimali).
In 1900 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory (took a course in polyphony with S. I. Taneyev, harmony with A. S. Arensky and G. E. Konyus, composition class with M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov), in 1906-1908 he took conducting lessons at O. Fried in Germany.
In the early 1900s, he participated in meetings of the Belyaev circle in St. Petersburg.
In 1900-1907, 1909-1913 he taught music theoretical disciplines at the E. and M. Gnessin Music School (now the Gnessin College). In 1902-1903 he gave private lessons to N. Ya. Myaskovsky and S. S. Prokofiev.
Since 1908 he acted as a conductor, performing mainly his own works.
He developed as a composer largely thanks to his communication with A.K. Glazunov, S.V. Rachmaninov, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Since 1900, he has been a teacher.
In 1913-1920 - professor at the Kyiv Conservatory (now the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P. I. Tchaikovsky) (composition and orchestral classes), in 1914-1920 director of the conservatory, as well as director of opera, orchestral, chamber and instrumental classes. Among the students are B. N. Lyatoshinsky, L. N. Revutsky, M. P. Frolov and others.
In 1920-1941 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of composition. Among the students are A. A. Davidenko, A. G. Novikov, N. P. Rakov, L. K. Knipper and others.
In 1920-1922 - head of the music section of the Moscow Department of Public Education, employee of the music department of the People's Commissariat for Education. In 1920-1923 - member of the ethnographic section of the Moscow branch of Proletkult.
In 1923, he received an invitation from the People's Commissariat of Education of the Azerbaijan SSR to come to Baku and write an opera on a national plot. The creative result of this trip was the opera “Shahsenem”, staged at the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theater in 1927. The study of Uzbek folklore during the preparation of the decade of Uzbek art in Tashkent led to the creation of the overture “Fergana Holiday” (1940) and, in collaboration with T. Sadykov, the operas “Leyli and Majnun” (1940) and “Gyulsara” (1949). While working on these works, I became more and more convinced of the need to preserve the originality of national traditions and look for ways to merge them. This idea was embodied in the “Solemn Overture” (1937), built on Russian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek melodies, in the overtures “On Slavic Folk Themes” and “Friendship of Peoples” (1941)
At the end of the 30s, as well as in 1947 and 1950, he undertook several tours around the USSR, performing his own concerts.
In 1924-1930 - Chairman of the All-Russian Society of Playwrights and Composers. In 1938 - Chairman of the Moscow Union of Composers, in 1939-1948 - Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR.
“A composer must know a lot and be able to do a lot. I couldn’t see anyone working harder than me,” said Reinhold Gliere.
The deepest comprehension of the fundamentals of craftsmanship, the study of the experience of predecessors, broad knowledge in the field of culture, history, philosophy - these, as Gliere believed, are the necessary prerequisites for a talented person to grow into a master, an artist. And this means you need to work hard and selflessly.
My father, who moved to Kyiv from the German town of Klingenthal, owned a workshop of brass instruments, loudly called the “wind instrument factory.” The composer's mother, Yuzefa (Zhozefina Vikentievna), was an educated, well-read woman.
In addition to the future composer, three more children grew up in the family - his beloved sister Cesia (Cecilia) and two brothers - Karl and Moritz.
Josephine Vikentievna taught her children not only Russian, but also her native Polish language. And when the adult sons left home, she corresponded with them only in Polish, sending especially tender letters to her “dear Goldichka.”
“I can’t even tell you how much poetry, how much calm happiness and joy flew into our room then,”
– Gliere recalled about his childhood years.
In those years, he was irresistibly attracted to music, he rejoiced at every visitor to the workshop, because he knew that he would hear the voices of some instruments, and if they played for a long time, he would be immersed in a bewitching world of sounds. Conversations about how he also wanted to learn to play did not arouse joy among adults: the house needed a craftsman capable of making and tuning instruments, and not an artist or performer.
“It was hard to study when my relatives were against my becoming a “musician,” and when there were neither good teachers nor the means to take lessons even from mediocre musicians...”
The boy first picked up a violin and bow when he was eleven years old.
“I found teachers for myself who taught me for the most part for nothing.”
The composer's first creative experiences date back to the age of fourteen. These were pieces for piano, then for violin or cello and piano. At that time, Goldik was already in the fourth grade of the gymnasium, which he began attending in 1885.
Getting more and more interested in music, in 1891 he also entered the Kiev Music School, where his teachers in the violin class were Otakar Shevchik, and in musical theoretical subjects - a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Evgeniy Avgustovich Ryb.
On December 21 and 22, 1891, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky came to Kyiv to hold his own concerts. The concerts were organized by the Russian Musical Society (RMS), which also administered the Kiev Music School. Among the lucky ones who received a backstage pass to the stage was a newcomer to the school, Reinhold Gliere.
“When Tchaikovsky passed by me, and I saw in front of me a face that was so familiar to me from numerous portraits, I involuntarily bowed, and Tchaikovsky returned my bow with a smile. This silent - the only - meeting left a deep mark ... "
The concert was a real holiday for the young man.
“For the first time in my life I witnessed such applause, such triumph. And for the first time I felt that music brings joy not only to a narrow circle of amateurs; that musical experiences can capture and unite a wide mass of listeners; that the composer’s art can win universal recognition and love,”
- this is how the composer himself defined the role of this concert in his life.
At the end of the summer of 1894, the young musician went to Moscow to enter the Moscow Conservatory.
Among the examiners, Glier expected to meet Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, with whom he most wanted to study, or Anton Stepanovich Arensky, but they were not there. Distressed, he decided not to show his works brought from Kyiv, although among those present was Nikolai Dmitrievich Kashkin, about whom he had heard a lot of good things. The exam passed successfully, and Reinhold Glier was enrolled in the class of the young violinist Nikolai Sokolovsky (from whom, however, he soon moved on to the famous Jan Grzhimali).
At the Moscow Conservatory, he was supposed to attend harmony classes with Arensky, although Gliere himself dreamed of getting to Taneyev. Communication with Arensky brought great benefits to Gliere. Arensky, himself a talented composer, during boring discussions, when he had to operate in purely professional terms, knew how to excite creative thought. Gliere said:
“I remember how once, after playing one of my cool preludes, he looked at me seriously and asked: “Are you in love?” He even looked for expressions of living feelings in our school works.”
Gliere made noticeable progress. Thus, already in the first years of the conservatory, Gliere entered the circle of Moscow musicians as the generally recognized leader, mentor and “musical conscience” of whom Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev was, and whose idols were Scriabin and Rachmaninov. Especially Rachmaninov - simple, modest, a little gloomy and withdrawn in appearance, but infinitely charming. Possessing a sense of humor, as Gliere noted, Seryozha Rachmaninov loved a funny joke, loved when there was easy laughter around him.
“He played amazingly, possessing the highest skill of hypnotic influence on listeners. Even then he was a true piano wizard.”
Glier recalled.
Then there were long, interesting conversations about music - Gliere showed Sergei Vasilyevich his compositions and listened to advice and comments, sometimes, according to Gliere, very critical.
Having passed the exams in harmony, Reinhold Gliere finally entered the class of Taneyev, who in those years taught only strict style and fugue. Sometimes Taneyev would sit a student next to him and offer to play four-handed with him (which, in the transcription of others, later sounded like this: “Taneev and I played music”). Being an artistic nature, in many ways not similar to Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, however, in the field of forms adhered to the same perfect clarity, coming from the classics (in particular, from Mozart), like Tchaikovsky. I learned this maximum clarity of form and harmony of the work from Taneyev and Gliere.
Under the influence of his mentors, Gliere turned to collections of Russian folk songs by M. A. Balakirev, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Yu. N. Melgunov and began to make arrangements of some of them. Growing interest in folk art, naturally, was reflected in the works of Glier at the conservatory. The list opens with the First String Sextet (for two violins, two violas and two cellos), written in 1898 and dedicated to the mentor and teacher S.I. Taneyev.
Even then, Glier, constantly communicating with musicians, listening to a lot of new music, knew quite well about various “sound experiments”, about the desire of some composers for deliberate complexity and sophistication of artistic images. However, he determined without hesitation that the path to this complexity was not for him, although he did not find it difficult at all. In addition, Gliere believed that music must certainly be optimistic, it must please people, instill cheerfulness and hope.
The conservative years were overshadowed by three deaths of people close to him: following the death of his grandfather, the composer’s father died in 1896, and in 1899, leaving three small children, his beloved sister Tsesya, with whom everyone was connected, tragically died bright memories childhood. The first string quartet (A major, op. 2), which followed the sextet, was written in the year of his sister’s death, but there is no trace of the bitter experiences in which the author was in the grip. Almost simultaneously with the quartet, the Octet (D major, op. 5) for four violins, two violas and two cellos was also composed.
In 1900, Reinhold Gliere graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a gold medal (as an examination essay, Reinhold Moritsevich presented the one-act oratorio “Earth and Heaven” after J. Byron). His name was carved on a marble plaque hanging at the entrance to the Small Hall of the Conservatory, on which the names of Taneyev, Rachmaninov, Scriabin already shone...
In subsequent years, he writes a lot in different genres. The most significant result is the Third Symphony “Ilya Muromets” (1911), about which Leopold Stokowski wrote to the author:
“I think that with this symphony you have created a monument to Slavic culture - music that expresses the strength of the Russian people.”
Immediately after graduating from the conservatory, Gliere began his teaching career. From 1900, he taught a class on harmony and encyclopedia (an advanced course in the analysis of forms, including polyphony and music history) at the Gnesin sisters' music school; in the summer months of 1902 and 1903. prepared Seryozha Prokofiev for admission to the conservatory, studied with Nikolai Myaskovsky.
Within the walls of the Gnessin school, Glier met a girl whom he fell in love with tenderly and for the rest of his life. Her name was Maria Robertovna Rehnquist, she played the piano, studied theory and tried to compose. On April 21, 1904, Maria Rehnquist became Gliere's wife.
In June 1905, the composer gave birth to two twin daughters, Nina and Leah. Despite this, or perhaps precisely for this reason (Liya was very weak and was sick all the time), Glier and his family left for Germany at the beginning of winter, having agreed with Alexander Grechaninov that during his absence he would teach harmony lessons at the Gnesins.
Abroad, Glier did not stop composing piano miniatures at the request of Evgenia Fabianovna Gnessina and immediately sent them to her in Moscow. Regarding “Twelve Children’s Plays,” Evgenia Fabianovna wrote on October 8, 1907 to Gliere in Berlin:
“This opus is destined to become popular, and in particular it will gain enormous popularity in our school.”
Having evidence of Gliere’s creative activity, receiving news of his successes abroad, Evgenia Fabianovna wrote:
“I want to hope that you will not break ties with the school, will not lose interest in it and will remain an honorary member of our little partnership and our beloved friend.”
Information reached Moscow about the increasing number of performances of chamber works by Reingold Moritsevich. Thus, on January 4, 1906, Glier’s First Quartet was performed for the first time in America (in one concert with works by Haydn and Dvorak). His music was heard in many cities in Germany and England. The Berlin concerts in February and March 1907, held in the Beethoven Hall, were especially widely celebrated by the press. In one the First Quartet was performed, in the other - the Second Quartet and the Third Sextet, as well as romances (they were sung by a singer specially invited by Koussevitzky from Paris) and piano pieces - preludes and mazurkas, brilliantly played by Leopold Godowsky. The singer Glier accompanied himself.
In 1913, Reinhold Gliere was invited as a professor of composition at the Kyiv Conservatory, and a year later became its director. Having learned about this event, the son of the publisher B.P. Jurgenson wrote to the composer:
“In any case, we can rejoice at the conservatory itself - in your person, its fate is in the right hands!”
Famous Ukrainian composers Lev Revutsky and Boris Lyatoshinsky were educated under his leadership. In addition to studying with composers, he conducted a student orchestra, led opera, orchestral, and chamber classes, participated in concerts of the Russian Musical Society, and organized tours in Kyiv for many outstanding musicians - Sergei Koussevitzky, Jascha Heifetz, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Grechaninov. Knowing Taneyev’s kind heart, Gliere wrote to him:
“Maybe you won’t refuse to perform in this half-year... I, and all Kyiv musicians, would be very happy to see and hear you in Kyiv. I personally would very much like to see you, consult with you, and talk about conservatory affairs.”
In 1920, Gliere moved to Moscow, where until 1941 he taught a composition class at the Moscow Conservatory. He trained many Soviet composers and musicologists, including Nikolai Rakov, Igor Sposobin, Leonid Polovinkin, Lev Knipper, Aram Khachaturian, conductor Boris Khaikin...
“Somehow it turns out that no matter which composer you ask, he turns out to be Gliere’s student - either direct or grandson,”
– wrote Sergei Prokofiev.
In addition to pedagogical activities, Gliere developed many-sided educational activities. He headed the organization of public concerts, took patronage over a children's colony, where he taught students choral singing, staged performances with them, or even told fairy tales, improvising on the piano.
Ballet “Red Poppy”. In the role of Tao Hoa - Galina Ulanova Glier's merits in the formation of Soviet ballet are significant. An outstanding event in Soviet art was the ballet “The Red Poppy,” staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1927. This was the first Soviet ballet on a modern theme, telling about the friendship of the Soviet and Chinese peoples. The Bolshoi Theater performance was awarded the State Prize. It was such a success that it was even shown in the Green Theater of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation, which could accommodate nine thousand spectators. In an editorial, the newspaper "Soviet Artist" stated:
“The ballet “Red Poppy” can easily be called a work of Soviet classics.”
IN new production Bolshoi Theater, performed by Leonid Lavrovsky, the role of Tao Hoa was performed by Galina Ulanova and Olga Lepeshinskaya, in Leningrad - Natalya Dudinskaya.
In 1930, the legendary American impresario and producer Sol Hurok, who determined the atmosphere of cultural life in the United States, several times invited Reinhold Moritsevich to America as a pianist and conductor performing his works and offered to organize an eight-week tour of North America and Canada:
“I believe that your visit can be an event in the musical world of America”
In 1935, the year of Gliere's sixtieth birthday, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
The war that invaded our land on June 22, 1941, disrupted the peaceful creative life of the country and subjected its people to the most difficult trials.
“We need to start working on major works related to images, feelings, themes suggested by the Great Patriotic War... We have a duty to give our Motherland music that would lift the spirit, arouse patriotic feelings, and be an effective weapon...”
During the war years, Gliere returned to his favorite chamber instrumental genre and added to his list of works the Fourth String Quartet (1943), awarded the State Prize of the first degree. This work can undoubtedly be considered one of the composer’s outstanding achievements.
Concerto for coloratura soprano and orchestra, written during a time of fierce battles, tears and suffering (1942 - 1943). The composer, who huddled in the same room with his family during evacuation and had only an instrument for work, which was in the dining room of the Sverdlovsk Composers' Union, sings of the joy of life and the fullness of human feelings! Among the composer's works, most of which are marked by poetry and lyricism, this concert is perhaps the most sincere, heartfelt and soulful.
In the post-war years, there were no noticeable changes in Gliere’s lifestyle - he gave concerts just as intensely and met with listeners. The music for Samad Vurgun’s play “Farhad and Shirin”, staged in the studio named after K. S. Stanislavsky, was completed, Concertos for cello (1946), for horn (1951), violin (1956), ballets “ Bronze Horseman", "Taras Bulba".
The year 1956 arrived. Gliere began reworking the score of “The Red Poppy” for the fourth time in order to show an even more expressively active, heroic role of the people in the development of the plot. New dances were added, additional numbers. In the latest version, the ballet, called “Red Flower,” included not eight, but twelve scenes. Absorbed by this work, Gliere relived everything connected with the birth of ballet and remembered with gratitude everyone who helped him. First of all, Ekaterina Geltser. Early in 1955 he wrote:
“I sincerely thank... for everything that I received from you as a great artist, working with you on “Esmeralda” and “Red Poppy.”
In May 1956, Gliere gave several concerts in Chisinau and Odessa - the program included two suites from the ballets “Taras Bulba” and “Daughter of Castile” and a Concerto for harp and orchestra, the solo part of which was superbly played by Vera Dulova. On May 22, Reingold Moritsevich attended the dress rehearsal and first performance of The Bronze Horseman and felt very tired. He even complained to his old friend, Odessa doctor A.M. Seagal, about unpleasant sensations in the heart area.
May 30 Reingold Moritsevich last time in life, he put on a tailcoat and, overcoming the pain in his lower back, went onto the stage with a conductor's baton in his hands. Concert in the city Teacher's House, the program of which included an overture on Slavic themes, a ballad from the opera “Shahsenem”, a suite from the ballet “Red Poppy”, romances (“Oh, if only my sadness”, “We sailed with you”) with an orchestra and fragments from The Bronze Horseman, became Gliere's last public appearance.
On the night of June 3-4, a severe heart attack put him to bed. He allowed doctors to be called and dutifully took the prescribed medications. But one night, when Nina went to see her father sleeping, she saw him kneeling on the bed, and in front of him on the pillow was the proof of the suite of the last ballet that he was directing.
“I promised to finish the proofreading by tomorrow morning, otherwise I would let the publishing house down. I can't lie"
He explained meekly to his daughter.
On the piano stand there was a sheet of music paper, the first page of which was almost completely filled with a pencil sketch with the inscription “Quartet V” at the top. When, even before his illness, friends told Reingold Moritsevich that he needed to rest, he, pointing to this sketch, replied: “This is why I’ll rest.”
“...A composer is obliged to study until the end of his days, improve his skills, develop and enrich his understanding of the world, go forward and forward...”,
- Gliere wrote these words at the end life path. He was guided by them all his life.
website, from various sources
Born into the family of a hereditary brass instrument maker, Moritz Glier, owner of a workshop who moved from the city of Kliegenthal.
In 1894, Reinhold Gliere graduated from the Kiev Music College in violin class and entered the Moscow Conservatory in violin class. In 1900 he graduated from the conservatory. During his studies, he actively communicated with the composer S.V. Rachmaninov, musician A.A. Sulerzhitsky, singer M.A. Slonov, composer N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.I. Taneyev. On April 29, 1900, Reinhold Glier received Russian citizenship.
In 1901, he began teaching musical theoretical subjects at the Moscow Gnessin Sisters Music School, where S.S. studied with him. Prokofiev and N.Ya. Myakovsky.
On January 11, 1901, at a concert of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (IRMS), a string octet composed by Reinhold Gliere was performed.
In 1906 - 1908, he went to study conducting with Oskar Fried in Germany and, returning to Russia, began performing, performing his own works.
On February 20, 1910, Reinhold Gliere performed at the symphony meeting of the IRMS as a conductor, performing his 2nd symphony dedicated to S.A. Koussevitzky.
On November 17, 1912, his first theatrical premiere of the pantomime ballet “Chrisis” took place on the stage of the International Theater.
In 1913 - 1920 he received the title of professor at the Kyiv Conservatory in composition and orchestral classes.
In 1914 he became director of the Kyiv Conservatory.
In 1920 -1941, Reinhold Gliere received the title of professor at the Moscow Conservatory in the classes of polyphony and composition, where he studied with B.A. Alexandrov, L.K. Knipper, A.V. Mosolov, N.P. Rakov, A.I. Khachaturian.
In 1920-1922 he was the head of the music section of the Moscow Department of Public Education and an employee of the music department of the People's Commissariat for Education. During the same period, he was a member of the ethnographic section of Proletkult.
In 1923, at the invitation of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Azerbaijan SSR, he came to Baku and wrote the opera “Shahsenem”, staged at the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theater in 1927.
January 11, 1926 in the Music Studio named after Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko premiered the pantomime ballet “Cleopatra” by Reinhold Gliere, the libretto for which was written by Nemirovich-Danchenko based on “Egyptian Nights” by A.S. Pushkin.
On June 13, 1927, the Bolshoi Theater premiered his ballet “The Red Poppy,” the first Soviet ballet “on a modern theme.”
In 1937, Reinhold Glier wrote the “Solemn Overture” based on Russian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, and Uzbek melodies.
In 1938 he became chairman of the Moscow Union of Soviet Composers (USC).
On November 23, 1938, in the Great Hall, K.A. Erdeli with the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of L.P. Steinberg performed for the first time the Concerto for Harp and Reinhold Gliere, dedicated to her.
In 1939 - 1948 he became chairman of the Organizing Committee of the USSR Sports Complex.
In 1941 he created the overtures “On Slavic Folk Themes” and “Friendship of Peoples” based on folk music.
On May 12, 1943, in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, the famous Concerto for voice and orchestra was performed by N.A. Kazantseva and the Big Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by A.I. Orlov.
Reinhold Glier was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946, 1948 and 1950.
On June 27, 1949, his ballet “The Bronze Horseman” based on the work of A.S. was staged. Pushkin at the Bolshoi Theater.
On May 30, 1956 the last public speaking Reinhold Gliere at his author's concert in the city Teacher's House.
Soviet composer, conductor, teacher, public figure.
Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1925).
Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1927).
People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1934).
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1935).
People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1937).
People's Artist of the USSR (04/17/1938).
Doctor of Art History (1941).
In 1900 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory (class of composition by M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, harmony by A.S. Arensky and G.E. Konyus, polyphony by S.I. Taneyev). He taught theoretical disciplines at the Moscow Gnessin Music School, among his students were N.Ya. Myaskovsky and S.S. Prokofiev.
On January 10, 1913, the Governing Senate awarded Gliere the title of personal honorary citizen.
Since 1913 - professor (since 1914 - director) of the Kyiv Conservatory in the composition class (among his students are B.N. Lyatoshinsky, L.N. Revutsky and others).
In 1920-1941 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of composition (among his students were An.N. Alexandrov, A.A. Davidenko, L.K. Knipper and others).
In 1924-1949, the Glier String Quartet worked in Moscow.
He owns the first Soviet repertoire ballet on a modern theme ("The Red Poppy", production 1927, Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, 2nd edition 1949, Leningrad, Opera and Ballet Theater named after S.M. Kirov; since 1957 it has been under the name "Red Flower" "). Among Gliere's other ballets, The Bronze Horseman (post. 1949, Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov) based on Pushkin's poem is popular.
Author of 5 operas, including works that contributed to the formation of a national musical culture Azerbaijan ("Shahsenem", production 1927, Baku) and Uzbekistan ("Leyli and Majnun", co-authored with T. Sadykov, production 1940, Uzbek Opera and Ballet Theater, Tashkent; "Gyulsara" co-authored with T. Sadykov, production 1949 , ibid.). He wrote a number of works for orchestra (3 symphonies - 1900, 1907, 1911, several program symphonic works - "Cossacks" based on the painting by I.E. Repin, 1921, concerts with orchestra: for harp - 1938, voices - 1943, cello - 1947, horns - 1951), as well as many chamber instrumental and vocal cycles and individual pieces. Author of the music for the anthem of St. Petersburg.
In 1938-1948 - Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR.
He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 3).
Name R.M. Glier is worn by: Kiev Music College (Kyiv/Ukraine), children's music schools (Moscow, Kaliningrad/Russia, Tashkent/Uzbekistan, Markneukirchen/Germany, Alma-Ata/Kazakhstan).
prizes and awards
1905 - M.I. Prize Glinka for the First Sextet (nominated by Glazunov, Lyadov, Balakirev).
1912 - M.I. Prize Glinka for the symphonic poem “Sirens”.
1914 - M.I. Prize Glinka for the Third Symphony (“Ilya Muromets”).
1937 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor - for the musical drama “Gyulsara”.
1938 - Order of the Badge of Honor.
1945 - Order of Lenin - “for outstanding services in the field of musical art and in honor of the 70th anniversary.”
1946 - Stalin Prize, first degree - for Concerto for coloratura soprano and orchestra.
1948 - Stalin Prize, first degree - for the Fourth String Quartet.
1950 - Stalin Prize, first degree - for the ballet “The Bronze Horseman” (1949).
1950 - Order of Lenin - “for outstanding services in the field of musical art and in honor of the 75th anniversary.”
1955 - Order of Lenin - “for outstanding services in the field of musical art and in honor of the 80th anniversary.”
Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"
Reinhold Gliere is a composer who became the founder of Soviet ballet. “The Red Poppy” and “The Bronze Horseman” spread the fame of Gliere throughout the world. Despite the tone, his works have always been particularly lyrical. But the composer never stopped there. He literally gave his life to music, performing at concerts until the very end and never ceasing to strive for perfection in his craft.
Since childhood life Reinhold Gliere was associated with music. He was born on January 11, 1875 in Kyiv. The boy’s father came here from the German town of Klingenthal and opened a brass instrument workshop, which he himself called a “wind instrument factory.” Little Goldichka, as his mother affectionately called him, did not miss a single opportunity to visit his father’s workshop and hear the voice of some new instrument.
Reingold constantly shared with his parents his impressions of the melodies he heard, as well as his intention to become a musician. But this news did not please the family at all, because the father needed a receiver that would collect instruments, and not play them.
“It was hard to study when my relatives were against me becoming a “musician,” and when there were neither good teachers nor the means to take lessons even from mediocre musicians... I myself found teachers who taught me mostly for nothing.” .
At ten years old Reinhold Gliere picked up his first violin, and at fourteen began writing his first pieces: first for piano, and then for violin. Music fascinated him more and more and, despite the protests of his parents, in 1891 he entered the Kiev Music School.
But this year became significant for Gliere thanks to another important meeting. On December 21 and 22, 1891, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky arrived in Kyiv. And the Kiev Music School was organizing the composer’s concert. Gliere managed to see Tchaikovsky for a few moments, but this meeting and the concert of the great master made an incredible impression on him.
“For the first time in my life I witnessed such applause, such triumph. And for the first time I felt that music brings joy not only to a narrow circle of amateurs; that musical experiences can capture and unite a wide mass of listeners; that the composer’s art can win universal recognition and love”
After graduating from music school in 1894, Reinhold Gliere goes to Moscow to continue his studies at the conservatory. He successfully passed the exam and, although he was unable to meet Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, whom he had long dreamed of meeting, he ended up taking classes with the no less talented Anton Stepanovich Arensky.
“I remember how once, after playing one of my cool preludes, he looked at me seriously and asked: “Are you in love?” He even looked for expressions of living feelings in our school works.”
In Moscow Reinhold Gliere found himself in the center of the musical elite. Here he met Sergei Rachmaninov, to whom he later brought his works and often received not the most flattering reviews about them. Gliere listened to Rachmaninov and admired his talent.
“He played amazingly, possessing the highest skill of hypnotic influence on listeners. Even then he was a true piano wizard.”
IN recent years During his studies, Gliere was still able to take lessons from Taneyev, who taught strict style and fugue. It was he who gave the future composer that clarity of form. He dedicated a string sextet, written in 1898, to his teacher, in which the composer’s interest in folk art first manifested itself. And after graduating from the conservatory, the name of Gliere was carved on a marble plaque at the entrance next to the names of Taneyev, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin.
Having finished my studies, Reinhold Gliere plunged into teaching and soon married one of his students, whose name was Maria Robertovna Rehnquist. They got married, and a year later the composer became the father of two daughters - Nina and Leah. In the same year, Gliere and his family left for Germany, where he continued to write works, which he regularly sent back to his homeland.
Gliere spent seven years abroad. His music has been played in many concert halls in Europe and the USA. In 1913, the composer received an offer to take the place of professor of composition at the Kyiv Conservatory, and a year later he headed it. During these years, such Ukrainian composers as Lev Revutsky and Boris Lyatoshinsky studied there. Thanks to Glier, concerts of many outstanding musicians took place in Kyiv - Sergei Koussevitzky, Jascha Heifetz, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Grechaninov.
In 1920, Gliere moved to Moscow and taught at the conservatory until 1941. Among his students were many future Soviet composers and musicians: Nikolai Rakov, Igor Sposobin, Leonid Polovinkin, Lev Knipper, Aram Khachaturian, conductor Boris Khaikin. Once Sergei Prokofiev even said:
“Somehow it turns out that no matter which composer you ask, he turns out to be Gliere’s student - either direct or grandson.”
Gliere with Ippolitov-Ivanov and L. Stokowski in Moscow
It was with Reinhold Gliere that the formation of Soviet ballet began. In 1927, his ballet “Red Poppy” about the friendship of the Soviet and Chinese peoples premiered at the Bolshoi Theater. This production was awarded the State Prize and was even shown on the stage of the Green Theater of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation, in front of an audience of ten thousand.
“The ballet “Red Poppy” can safely be called a work of Soviet classics,” the newspapers wrote.
Despite the political overtones of the ballet, it attracted the attention of Western critics. Sol Hurok, an American impresario and producer, invited Glier to the States in 1930 with the offer of an eight-week tour:
“I believe that your visit can be an event in the musical world of America.”
But Gliere never went to the USA. During World War II he continued to write, and returned to the chamber-instrumental genre.
“We must begin work on major compositions related to images, feelings, themes prompted by the Great Patriotic War... We have a responsibility to give the Motherland music that would lift the spirit, arouse patriotic feelings, and be an effective weapon...”
In 1943 the famous Fourth String Quartet was written. Later, a concert for coloratura soprano and orchestra appeared, which the composer wrote under the strong impression of the horrors of war. Gliere's family was in evacuation, where he had only a piano in the canteen of the Union of Composers of Sverdlovsk, but it was this situation that helped bring to life works that came from the depths of the composer's soul and sang his love for life.
After the end of the war Reinhold Gliere continued to perform in concerts and write music for new ballets, including The Bronze Horseman and Taras Bulba. But all this time he was haunted by his “Red Poppy” and in 1954 the composer began to rewrite it for the fourth time. In the latest version, the ballet, called “Red Flower,” included not eight, but twelve scenes. With this work, he was overwhelmed with memories of the premiere, and he relived those joyful moments, remembering everyone who was involved in the very first production.
Reinhold Gliere and his wife
In 1956, Gliere's health began to deteriorate. Many began to notice his fatigue at rehearsals and concerts. On May 30, the composer took the stage for the last time with a conductor’s baton in the city Teacher’s House. Then the orchestra played an overture on Slavic themes, a ballad from the opera “Shahsenem”, a suite from the ballet “Red Poppy”, romances “Oh, if only my sadness” and “We sailed with you” and fragments from “The Bronze Horseman”.
On the night of June 3–4, the composer suffered a heart attack. The doctors prescribed him rest and, according to his relatives, he immaculately followed all the instructions, until one night his daughter saw him again at work. He sat on his bed, surrounded by sheet music. Then Gliere replied:
“I promised to finish the proofreading by tomorrow morning, otherwise I would let the publishing house down. I can't lie"
June 23, 1956 at 8 o'clock Reingold Moritsevich Gliere passed away. A sheet of music paper with many pencil sketches and the inscription “Quartet V” remained on the piano stand. A work that the composer never managed to complete. Gliere ended his life with the words:
“A composer is obliged to study until the end of his days, improve his skills, develop and enrich his understanding of the world, and move forward and forward.”
