B is for Borodin

Alexander Borodin

There's lots and lots of good Bs. Many, many composers could be listed here including the super heavy hitters (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms) as well as some brass player favorites (Bruckner, Berlioz, Bartok) and many others. But I have to go with Borodin in spite of all that wonderful up there.

Russian music from about 1850-1950 is a very interesting study. It arguably starts with Glinka, but I'd say his mere presence was more important than his actual music. But his influenced sparked the Mighty 5 (Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Cui) into writing in a highly romantic style that was firmly rooted in a folk / nationalistic ideal. I find all of their music a whole heck of a lot more interesting (not necessarily better or worse, just more interesting) than what most of the rest of Europe was doing at the time. After the 5 composed and set a style and made their money, a few of them went off to conservatories and started teaching young blood like Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Prokofiev, which led to the greatness of early 20th century music we all (or at least I all) know and love. We have the 5 to thank for it.

Another reason Borodin stands out to me is that he was not a highly trained musician. A few piano and composition lessons here and there, but he was a chemist that just happened to be amazing when it came to writing music. As somewhat of a split mind myself, I'm always happy to see a techie who does well in music.

His output wasn't huge, but everything there is good. A couple symphonies, a few string quartets, and his opera Prince Igor pretty much sums up what gets played these days. What sets Borodin apart from the rest of the 5 is his sense of lyricism. Writing a beautiful and simple melody is a delicate procedure and even some of the greats aren't that good at it. Borodin excels in this. Of special note (to me at least) is String Quartet 2, Mvt. 3. It's a beautiful nocturne by itself, but it also was used as the basis for the newish Disney short of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Matchgirl". What a piece of work that sucker is. One of the most poignant and complete pieces of short animation I've seen in a while. If you haven't seen it, do your best to track it down (make sure it has the Borodin track though, a few jokers on youtube have it edited with their own music choice over the top). If nothing else it's a bonus on "The Little Mermaid" DVD set, but that might not be for sale anymore knowing Disney.

I couldn't find a really nice, professional group doing 2-3, but I did find a group doing 2-1 and just a recording of 2-3 over a picture of Borodin. Also, follow this to learn more about The Little Matchgirl

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