Alexis Rienzi

“ There is perhaps no other people in the world so musical as the Russian, and perhaps no other people whose body of national music approaches so near to the real psychology and philosophy of the nation's life, the people's joys and sorrows, aspirations and strivings, achievements and failures. For the Russian, music is a delight. ”

“ A commercial age encounters even more difficulty than the "Maiden" in understanding the subject of Russian music, because the music of Russia is almost, if not entirely, free from the sensual element. It is truly spiritual.
Russian vocal music is not suited to mechanical reproduction. It must be heard as a living thing, from a living artist. It is the offspring of the song of the long-suffering Russian people. And whoever knows the Russian songs will understand why Russian music is so truthful, so sincere, so heart-felt, so humanly appealing. ”

“ The development of Russian music consists of a continuous struggle between the ideas of the composers of Western Europe and the peculiar genius of national music. Almost every Russian composer shows traces of such a struggle. And it is when the national spirit dominates over the foreign, that the musical art of the country rises to its sublimest heights. ”

“ The workingman in the city, the mechanic, the servant, the student, the teacher,—all sing them, pouring into their strains their stifled longings for the ideal which is denied to them, but which unconsciously attracts them and beckons to them through the mist of life's grim realities. ”

“ While some European composers of fashionable music conquer the whole world with their productions almost before the ink on their manuscript is dry, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and even the father of Russian music, the great Glinka, waited many years for the appreciation which they so richly merited. ”

“ There is another composer whose name is extremely important in the consideration of the second period in the development of Russian music. Dargomyzhsky's career is in many ways like that of Glinka. He, too, at first, bowed to the influence of foreign models. He even imitated Glinka for some time. Among his many songs is one called the "Night Review," which is in structure similar to Glinka's song of the same name. One of his pieces, however, "Palladin," is a gem, and many think that it has never been surpassed in the treasure-house of songs. ”

“ The cult of the Russian national music, whose prophets were Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, and whose apostles were Balakirev, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov. Borodin, and Cui, was, and still is, religiously worshipped by a whole group of talented composers. Among them are men honored not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the West. Glazounov, Rachmaninov, Ilinsky, Kalinnikov, Grechaninov, Liadov, Arensky, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Taneyev—all these are the men whose works are slowly being revealed to the music-lovers of the world. ”

“ It is possible that, in the future, this music is destined not only to bathe in the sunlight of glory and success, but also to exert a tremendous influence upon the spiritual and moral tenor of our social life. ”

“ This may perhaps be explained by the fact that Russian creators of music are not possessed of commercial ability. A Russian composer, with few exceptions, will never dream of selling his opera before it is written. ”

“ Before the nineteenth century, music in Russia was introduced almost exclusively by German and Italian musicians and composers, who were brought over by the Court and the aristocracy. They did not care to study the national music of the country, but composed according to their own Western ideas. ”

“ The place to hear them in their purity is in some out-of-the-way village, far from the main roads of civilization. But it is when the villagers are engaged in "communal" work, especially during harvesting-time, that the harmony between the surroundings and the people and the strains that arise, is most complete. ”

“ He is not looking for managers, and "orders" and royalties. He begins to create when he feels the impulse to do so, when his feelings and his thoughts blend together and clamor for expression. The possibilities of marketing his work seldom occur to him. ”

“ Rubinstein was almost fanatically attached to the standards of the Western classical composers. He distrusted innovations, and not only avoided them, but actually opposed them. He wrote an interesting little booklet, which he called "Finita la Musica." ”

“ He wrote many operas, the best known among which are "Sniegurochka," "Mlada," "Pskovitianka," "Tale about Tsar Saltan," and "The Royal Bride." His efforts comprise, moreover, whole volumes of songs, duets, choruses, and cantatas. ”