The Imperial Family and Their Music

[ChristineM]

Perhaps a bit more up to date and slightly 'lighter' is Georgi Sviridov.   His 'Snowstorm' transports me very precisely to St Petersburg, 1900.

I absolutely adore Russian Orthodox Church music, but would be happy to die to the closing bars of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

tsaria

[Johnny]

One's musical tastes are not always a reliable predictor of one's political predilections... or for that matter one's character.

Ms. Rice is a concert pianist, her favorite piece being Mozart's piano concerto in D minor. I hoped the lady would have some character until I saw her in action.

Back to the topic, altough Prokofiev was already composing, I doubt if the IF ever heard any of his music. The three major Stravinsky ballets were also written before WWI, and although they were major sensations in Europe I also doubt it the IF ever listened to that stuff. Their tastes were much more conservative. Both Nicholas and Alexandra loved music. Nicholas adored Tchaikovsky. There's a story that he as a teenager would listen to rehearsals of Tchaikovsky's opera Queen of Spades while calling the theater on the phone from the palace. Pretty high-tech for the time He also loved Wagner and had his music done often at the Imperial theater.
Alexandra loved Wagner above all. She also listened to other kinds of music. During the war, she would have a Roumanian Gypsy orchestra play weekly concerts at the palace. I also read somewhere that after seeing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake thought the whole thing including the music to be awfully boring. Whether she stayed to the end, I don't know. By the way, she was an accomplished pianist herself. Before she was even married, her grandmother Queen Victoria would often ask her to play some Chopin or something to entertain her guests. She would do it, but she was terribly shy about it.

[helenazar]

I hoped the lady would have some character until I saw her in action.

Why?

Back to the topic 

[Kaie Karadjordjevic]

Tchaikovsky music is all about christmas, going to the ballet and watching things like sleeping beauty and the Nutcraker.
i'm not sure what music IF would have listened to, probably the great russian classics as well as other great classical composers

[s.v.markov]

I like to listen to pieces that were actually composed and performed for specific occasions in late Imperial Russian history. So far, I've collected the following on CD :

Coronation Cantata, by Alexander Glazunov (Op.56), first performed May 1896 as part of the celebrations for Nicholas II's accession, but somewhat overshadowed by events at Khodynka and hardly ever performed since. Available on the Chandos label and very fine!

The King of the Jews (Tsar Iudeyskiy), another cantata by Glazunov (Op.95), this time with libretto by none other than Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich ('KR'), a gifted poet, pianist and composer. The whole piece (nearly an hour) was first performed by a large orchestra, choir and soloists in the Hermitage Theatre in January 1914, with KR himself taking the part of Joseph of Arimathea. Also available on Chandos.

Coronation Cantata, by Jean Sibelius, first performed in Helsinki 2nd November 1896 in honour of Nicholas II, the former Chancellor of Helsinki University and Grand Duke of Finland.  Hardly (if ever) performed since. Sibelius was commissioned to compose the piece, which he did, probably against his will. There are political 'overtones' in the 30 minute piece, reflecting feelings of protest regarding Russian attitudes towards Finland. And there is an amusing story that the premiere of the piece was ruined by a drunken tuba player in the orchestra, who kept coming in at the wrong time and making disrespectful rasping sounds with his instrument!! It's probably only a story, as there is no tuba part in the score! Available on the Ondine label.

I could add Tchaikovsky's 'Moscow', which was performed at the coronation of Alexander III, and of course we know that Nicholas II was present at the premiere of the same composer's 'Sleeping Beauty'. At the end the Tsar said he thought it was 'quite nice' which offended Tchaikovsky very much!

Coming right up to date, there is a piece by John Tavener called 'Elizabeth Full of Grace' which celebrates jointly the canonisation of GD Elizabeth Feodorovna and the long life of Queen Elizabeth, mother of Elizabeth II. Available on Sony.

They're all worth listening to! I'm sure other people can add more to the list.

[hikaru]

Musorgsky, Sens-Sans, Mendelson, Rimsky-Korsajkov, Chaykowsky, Wagner, Shtrauss, Bize, Adan, Glinka, Dargomyzsky, Rubinstein, Shumann, Chopin, Delib, Dubois, Neidgardt etc.

[Johnny]

Musorgsky, Sens-Sans, Mendelson, Rimsky-Korsajkov, Chaykowsky, Wagner, Shtrauss, Bize, Adan, Glinka, Dargomyzsky, Rubinstein, Shumann, Chopin, Delib, Dubois, Neidgardt etc.

Not to mention Verdi!

Who is Neidgardt?

[TheAce1918]

Obviously Russian orchestrations, and traditional folk music...seing as how the children played the balalaika.  But I would also assume other European pieces as well. 

[etonexile]

I have a lovely fantascy of the Imperial children dancing about on the yacht to rag-time music...veddy new at the time...turkey trot,bunny hug,and such...

[TheAce1918]

I have a lovely fantascy of the Imperial children dancing about on the yacht to rag-time music...veddy new at the time...turkey trot,bunny hug,and such...

Like the Western, and American pop/Dixieland of the period?  That would be very interesting.  I've listened to whatever tracks I could get a hold of and not only are they wonderful, but they seem like radical departures from traditional European symphonic pieces.  Nevertheless, you can never go wrong with some good old fashion rag time!   

[etonexile]

Yes...I believe that rag-time music was accepted in Europe before it was in America...where it began. Ironic that ...The film,"Oh,What A Lovely War" has some great songs of the WWI period...I especially enjoy "The Moon Shines Bright On Charlie Chaplin",sung to the tune of "Redwing"...Tedders often has a jolly turn on the garden table to that piece...

[TheAce1918]

Are there any albums that you can reccomend?  I've tried to search for the Chaplin song, but to little avail.