Borodin Symphony no 1

 Day 82

Borodin Symphony no 1 in e flat

Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Gerard Schwartz

It comes as something of a surprise to find how small Borodin’s output is. He suffered like other Russian composers of the time from a chronic inability to complete pieces - most notable Prince Igor, which needed the help of Rimsky and Glazunov to put into a shape ready for performances. I played the overture to the opera recently and was reminded that it was really a piece by Glazunov based on ideas by Borodin.

I’ve played the second symphony a couple of times but this was the first time I had heard the first symphony. It shares many of the same characteristics as its better known successor, most notably some real rhythmic surprises, particularly in the scherzo movement. The rhythmic displacement within the fast triple time really puts you off your sense of metre and must be a nightmare to play. A single wrong entry and the whole piece could easily fall apart.

I can see why this symphony is not as well known as number 2.While the melodic line is always attractive it lacks the real melodic charm of that work. It also has to be said that Borodin does overture the off-beat/syncopated repeated note accompanying figures which do start to get tiresome. At one point the horns have to play the same offbeat note in octaves at a fast tempo for several pages. That must be a real test of concentration. And the end is rather perfunctory, a surprise after a real build up. 

I think that nobody but a Russian could have written this music. There are traces of Schumann, particularly in the finale, and Weber is another influence but the personality of the score is entirely Russian. Considering that Borodin’s training was in Chemistry it is a remarkable achievement for a young and inexperienced composer. I do wonder what the original performers (the premier was conducted by Balakirev) must have made of those rhythmic twists and turns - surely they must have struggled. I doubt whether they would have ever played anything so rhythmically challenging.