Anton Arensky

Biography

Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving family in Novgorod, Russian Empire. His father was a doctor and amateur cellist, while his mother was a pianist; Arensky began piano lessons as a child and was composing songs and piano pieces by the age of nine. In 1879 he moved with his family to Saint Petersburg, where he studied composition privately with Karl Karlovich Zikke and then entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. There he studied composition and music theory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, graduating in 1882 with a gold medal.

After graduating, Arensky was appointed to the Moscow Conservatory, where he taught harmony, counterpoint and composition. His pupils included Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Reinhold Glière, Aleksandr Goldenweiser, Konstantin Igumnov, Georgy Konyus and Arseny Koreshchenko. During his Moscow years he also came into contact with Tchaikovsky and Sergei Taneyev, and his music increasingly reflected Tchaikovsky's influence rather than the nationalist idiom associated with Rimsky-Korsakov's circle.

In 1895 Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as director of the Imperial Chapel Choir, a position for which he had been recommended by Mily Balakirev. He remained in the post until 1901, after which he lived on a pension and continued to appear as a pianist, conductor and composer. His catalogue includes three operas, a ballet, two symphonies, concertos, orchestral suites, chamber works, piano music, choral music and songs.

Arensky died of tuberculosis at Perkjärvi, near Terijoki in the Russian-administered Grand Duchy of Finland, at the age of 44. He was buried in the Tikhvin Cemetery in Saint Petersburg. Rimsky-Korsakov later wrote critically of Arensky's personal habits, claiming that gambling and drinking had damaged his health.

The Antarctic Arensky Glacier was named after him by the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1987.

Music

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the most important influence on Arensky's mature musical language. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov famously wrote: "In his youth, Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later, the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten." The perception that Arensky lacked a strongly individual style contributed to the long-term neglect of much of his music, though his chamber works and some orchestral pieces continued to attract performers.

Arensky's best-known work is the Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a, for string orchestra. It originated as the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35, written in 1894 in memory of Tchaikovsky. The theme is based on "Legend", No. 5 from Tchaikovsky's Sixteen Songs for Children, Op. 54. The movement became sufficiently popular for Arensky to arrange it separately for string orchestra.

Arensky was particularly associated with chamber music. His Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32, was written in memory of the cellist Karl Davydov, and his chamber catalogue also includes two string quartets, a piano quintet and a second piano trio. He also wrote more than 100 piano pieces, including suites for two pianos, preludes, studies and character pieces.

Selected works

Opera

Сон на Волге (Son na Volge / Dream on the Volga), Op. 16 (1888), libretto by Anton Arensky after Alexander Ostrovsky's play Voyevoda; premiere: January 2, 1891 [OS December 21, 1890], Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre

Рафаэль (Rafael / Raphael), Op. 37 (1894), libretto by A. Kryukov; premiere: May 6 [OS April 24], 1894, Moscow Conservatory

Наль и Дамаянти (Nal' i Damayanti / Nal and Damayanti), Op. 47 (1903), after the Indian epic Mahabharata, libretto by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky after the poem by Vasily Zhukovsky; premiere: January 22 [OS January 9], 1904, Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre

Ballet

Egyptian Nights (Russian: Египетские ночи), also known as Une Nuit d'Égypte or Nuits égyptiennes (1900), divertissement-ballet in one act. It was originally composed for the Imperial Ballet in Saint Petersburg, with choreography planned by Lev Ivanov, but the production was not staged because of Ivanov's death before its completion.

Revived by Mikhail Fokine for the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre, 8 March [O.S. 24 February] 1908.

Revived by Fokine as Cléopâtre for the Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, 2 June 1909, with additional music by Alexander Glazunov, Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Taneyev and Nikolai Tcherepnin.

Orchestral

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in F minor, Op. 2 (1881)

Symphony No. 1 in B minor, Op. 4 (1883)

Suite No. 1 in G minor, Op. 7 (1885)

Intermezzo in G minor, Op. 13 (1882)

Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 22 (1889)

Suite No. 2, "Silhouettes", Op. 23 (originally for two pianos, 1892)

Suite No. 3, "Variations", Op. 33 (originally for two pianos, 1894)

Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a, for string orchestra (1894)

Fantasia on Themes of Ryabinin, Op. 48, for piano and orchestra (1899), also known as Fantasia on Russian Folksongs

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54 (1891)

Pamyati Suvorova (To the Memory of Suvorov, 1900)

Chamber

String Quartet No. 1 in G major, Op. 11 (1888)

Serenade, Op. 30, No. 2, for violin and piano

Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32 (1894)

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35 (1894), scored either for standard string quartet or for violin, viola and two cellos

Piano Quintet in D major, Op. 51 (1900)

Two Pieces, Op. 12, for cello and piano

Four Pieces, Op. 56, for cello and piano

Piano Trio No. 2 in F minor, Op. 73 (1905)

Piano

For solo piano unless otherwise specified:

Suite for Two Pianos No. 1 in F major, Op. 15 (1888)

Suite for Two Pianos No. 2, "Silhouettes", Op. 23 (1892), also orchestrated

Four Morceaux, Op. 25 (1893)

Six Essais sur des rythmes oubliés, Op. 28 (c. 1893)

Suite for Two Pianos No. 3, "Variations", Op. 33 (1894), also orchestrated

24 Morceaux caractéristiques, Op. 36, covering all 24 major and minor keys (1894)

Four Etudes, Op. 41 (1896)

Three Morceaux, Op. 42 (1898)

Six Caprices, Op. 43 (1898)

Près de la mer, six sketches, Op. 52 (1901)

Six Pieces, Op. 53 (1901)

Suite for Two Pianos No. 4, Op. 62 (1903)

Twelve Preludes, Op. 63 (1903)

Twelve Pieces for piano four hands, Op. 66 (1903)

Arabesques, Op. 67 (1903)

Twelve Etudes, Op. 74 (1905)

Choral

Cantata for the Tenth Anniversary of the Sacred Coronation of Their Imperial Highnesses, Op. 25 (1893)

The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Op. 46, cantata

Three Vocal Quartets, Op. 57, with cello accompaniment

The Diver, Op. 61, cantata

Solo vocal

Romances, Op. 17, for voice and piano

Arrangements of Arensky's music

Tempo di valse from the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54, arranged for violin and piano by Jascha Heifetz

Recordings

Arensky's music has been recorded by a number of soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras. The following selected recordings include orchestral, chamber and piano works: