GLAZUNOV: The King of the Jews

Golovschin, Igor, Moscow Capella, Moscow Symphony Orchestra

8.553575

Glazunov's incidental music to the play The King of the Jews (Tsar Iudeyskiy) was composed in 1913 for a religious drama written by the Grand Duke Konstantin, to be performed at the Hermitage by a group of army officers. He worked on the original score in the spring of 1913, completing it in the autumn, when he played the music through to the Grand Duke at the Pavlov Palace. The play was first performed in the Hermitage Theatre on 9thJanuary 1914, but the music was later played under Glazunov's direction in a number of cities. • The very Russian score that Glazunov provided for the drama begins with a serene Introduction leading to the first chorus, greeting Christ with hosannas. This is immediately followed by the strongly liturgical Song of the Disciples of Jesus. The Entr' acte before the second act is again markedly Russian in feeling. It is followed by the brass of the Levite trumpets and the act ends in tragedy. The Entr' acte to the first scene of the third act leads to a sombre march, while the second scene Entr'acte, opening strongly, ends on a more plaintive note. The Syrian Dance provides a note of relative exoticism, while the shepherd plays a pipe, rather than a musette. The music ends with the fervent Psalm of the Believers, the chorus that appealed so strongly to the officers of the Ismailov Regiment.

CD x 1

Naxos

05.08.96

730099457521