Hello! Since we just watched The Rite of Spring, I figured it might be appropriate to have some works of music from the other Cultural Revolutions we’ve studied, as well as an additional piece composed roughly contemporaneously to compare with The Rite of Spring. Without any further ado, here they are:
Peter I: J. S. Bach, Harpsichord Concerto in d minor (BWV 1052) – Composed 1717-1723
Catherine I: G. F. Handel, Overture to Giulio Cesar in Egitto – Composed 1724-1725
Peter II: A. L. Vivaldi, Flute Concerto #2 in g minor (RV 439) “La Notte” – Composed 1728
Anna: G. P. Telemann, Paris Quartet #1 in g minor – Composed 1737-1738
Ivan VI: C. P. E. Bach, Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in F Major – Composed 1740
Elizabeth: J. C. Bach, Symphony #4 in D Major, Op. 18 – Composed 1750-1760
Peter III: F. J. Haydn, Cello Concerto #1 in C Major – Composed 1761-1765
Catherine II: W. A. Mozart, Piano Concerto #20 in d minor – Composed 1785
Paul I: J. Marsh, Symphony #6 in D Major – Composed 1796
Alexander I: L. v. Beethoven, Piano Concerto #5 in E♭ Major “Emperor” – Composed 1805
Nicholas I: M. I. Glinka, Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila – Composed 1837-1842
Alexander II: P. I. Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto #1 in b♭ minor – Composed 1874-1875
Alexander III: N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnol – Composed 1888
Nicholas II: S. V. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto #3 in d minor – Composed 1909
These works are all ones performed by huge orchestras/bands and, for lack of a better word, distinctly “orchestral.” I listened to the Soviet Internationale and the Soviet funeral march “You Fell Victim” to gain a better sense of what type of music was more accessible to common people (I’m assuming it was the well-off and not the proletariat that provided the patronage that allowed the orchestral music economy run). I have limited exposure to Russian choral traditions, but both works seemed (at least somewhat) similar to Orthodox choral music (much less somber in the case of the Internationale). I wonder if these two pieces of music are descendants of Orthodox choral tradition? The Internationale was certainly more orchestral in its music proper, but it would make sense that music made to represent the USSR – “for the people” in a sense – would have some basis in the music that the greatest portion of the population would have had exposure to (i.e. the beautiful sounding but incomprehensible choral music of Orthodoxy).
Yes, although the fact that most of these are performed by large orchestras is mostly due to authorial bias. I personally just like large orchestral works as opposed to small choral pieces, so that’s what I chose. I unfortunately don’t know enough about musicology to really understand the lineage of Soviet music either, although I would pose that (of the pieces I’m familiar with) they could be traced not to Orthodox church music but to peasant music of the 1860s, such as “Kalinka” and “Korobeininki.”