Alexander Borodin

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Alexander Borodin was a Russian composer and chemist of the Romantic era, born in 1833 in Saint Petersburg. He was the illegitimate son of a Georgian nobleman. He was taught at home and studied at the Medical-Surgical Academy, after which he became a professor of chemistry. Music remained his second profession, which he practised in his spare time or during illness. Borodin belonged to The Five, a group of composers who wanted to write a uniquely Russian classical music. He became a pupil of Mily Balakirev.

Music and breakthrough

His best-known works are his symphonies, his two string quartets, the symphonic sketch In the Steppes of Central Asia and the opera Prince Igor, with the Polovtsian Dances in it. Prince Igor remained unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov completed the opera after his death. His First Symphony was first performed in 1869. Franz Liszt made sure that the symphony was also heard in Germany in 1880. Borodin died suddenly at a ball in 1887.

Influence

His music has a strong melody and rich harmonies. In 1953 the musical Kismet used his music in songs such as Stranger in Paradise, And This Is My Beloved and Baubles, Bangles, and Beads. In this way his classical work ended up in the popular music of the twentieth century.

Listening