Glière was born in the city of
Kiev in the
Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). He was the second son of the wind instrument maker Ernst Moritz Glier (1834–1896) from
Saxony (
Klingenthal in the
Vogtland region), who emigrated to the Russia and married Józefa (Josephine) Korczak (1849–1935), the daughter of his master, from
Warsaw. His original name, as given in his baptism certificate, was
Reinhold Ernest Glier. About 1900, he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to
Glière, which gave rise to the legend, stated by
Leonid Sabaneyev for the first time (1927), of his French or Belgian descent. He entered the Kiev school of music in 1891, where he was taught violin by
Otakar Ševčík, among others. In 1894, Glière entered the
Moscow Conservatory where he studied with
Sergei Taneyev (counterpoint),
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (composition), and
Jan Hřímalý (violin; he dedicated his Octet for Strings, Op. 5, to Hřímalý),
Anton Arensky and
Georgi Conus (both
harmony). He graduated in 1900, having composed a one-act opera
Earth and Heaven (after
Lord Byron) and received a gold medal in composition. Glière studied conducting with
Oskar Fried in Berlin from 1905 to 1908. One of his co-students was
Serge Koussevitzky, who conducted the premiere of Glière's
Symphony No. 2, Op. 25, on 23 January 1908 in Berlin. Back in Moscow, Glière returned again to the Gnesin School. In the following years Glière composed the
symphonic poem Sireny, Op. 33 (1908), the programme symphony
Ilya Muromets, Op. 42 (1911) and the ballet-pantomime
Chrizis, Op. 65 (1912). In 1913, he gained an appointment to the school of music in Kiev, which was raised to the status of conservatory shortly after, as
Kiev Conservatory. A year later he was appointed director. In Kiev, he taught among others
Levko Revutsky,
Boris Lyatoshinsky and Vladimir Dukelsky (who became well known in the West as
Vernon Duke). . From the
House-Museum of Bulbul in
Baku. In 1920, Glière moved to the Moscow Conservatory where he (intermittently) taught until 1941.
Boris Alexandrov,
Aram Khachaturian,
Alexander Davidenko,
Lev Knipper and
Alexander Mosolov were some of his pupils from the Moscow era. For some years he held positions in the organization Proletkul't and worked with the
People's Commissariat for Education. The theatre was in the centre of his work now. In 1923, Glière was invited by the
Azerbaijan People's Commissariat of Education to come to
Baku and compose the prototype of an Azerbaijani national opera. The result of his ethnographical research was the opera
Shakh-Senem, now considered the cornerstone of the Soviet-Azerbaijan national opera tradition. Here the musical legacy of the Russian classics from
Glinka to
Scriabin is combined with
folk song material and some symphonic orientalisms. In 1927, inspired by the ballerina
Yekaterina Vasilyevna Geltzer (1876–1962), he wrote the music for the ballet
Krasny mak (
The Red Poppy), later revised, to avoid the connotation of
opium, as
Krasny tsvetok (
The Red Flower, 1955).
The Red Poppy was praised "as the first Soviet ballet on a revolutionary subject". This is perhaps his most famous work in Russia as well as abroad. One number from the score, his arrangement of a Russian folk
chastushka song
Yablochko ("little apple") consists of an introduction, a basso statement of the theme, and a series of increasingly frenetic variations ending with a powerful orchestral climax. It is identified in the ballet score by its almost equally well-known name, the ''Russian Sailor's Dance
. It is probably his best-known single piece, and is still heard at symphony concerts around the world, frequently as an encore. The ballet-pantomime Chrizis
was revised just after The Red Poppy
, in the late 1920s, followed by the popular ballet Comedians
after Lope de Vega (1931, later re-written and renamed The Daughter from Castile''). After 1917 Glière never visited Western Europe, as many other Russian composers did. He gave concerts in
Siberia and other remote areas of Russia instead. He was working in
Uzbekistan as a "musical development helper" at the end of the 1930s. From this time emerged the "drama with music"
Gyulsara and the opera
Leyli va Medzhnun, both composed with the Uzbek composer
Talib Sadykov (1907–1957). From 1938 to 1948 Glière was Chairman of the Organization Committee of the
Soviet Composers Association. Before the revolution Glière had already been honoured three times with the
Glinka prize. During his last few years he was very often awarded: Azerbaijan (1934), the Russian Soviet Republic (1936), Uzbekistan (1937) and the USSR (1938) appointed him
Artist of the People. The title "Doctor of Art Sciences" was awarded to him in 1941. He won first degree
Stalin Prizes: in 1946 (
Concerto for Voice and Orchestra), 1948 (
Fourth String Quartet), and 1950 (
The Bronze Horseman). As Taneyev's pupil and an 'associated' member of the circle around the Petersburg publisher
Mitrofan Belyayev, it appeared Glière was destined to be a
chamber musician. In 1902 Arensky wrote about the Sextet, Op. 1, "one recognizes Taneyev easily as a model and this does praise Glière". Unlike Taneyev, Glière felt more attracted to the national Russian tradition as he was taught by Rimsky-Korsakov's pupil Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Alexander Glazunov even certified an "obtrusively Russian style" to Glière's 1st Symphony. The 3rd Symphony
Ilya Muromets was a synthesis between national Russian tradition and impressionistic refinement. The premiere was in Moscow in 1912, and it resulted in the award of the Glinka Prize. The symphony depicts in four tableaux the adventures and death of the Russian hero
Ilya Muromets. This work was widely performed, in Russia and abroad, and earned him worldwide renown. It became an item in the extensive repertoire of
Leopold Stokowski, who made, with Glière's approval, an abridged version, shortened to around half the length of the original. Today's cult status of Ilya Muromets is based not least on the pure dimensions of the original 80-minute work, but
Ilya Muromets demonstrates the high level of Glière's artistry. The work has a comparatively modern tonal language, massive
Wagnerian instrumentation and long lyrical lines. Despite his political engagement after the October Revolution Glière kept out of the ideological ditch war between the
Association for Contemporary Music (ASM) and the
Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians (RAPM) during the late 1920s. Glière concentrated primarily on composing monumental operas, ballets, and
cantatas. His symphonic idiom, which combined broad
Slavonic epics with cantabile lyricism, is governed by rich, colourful harmony, bright and well-balanced orchestral colours and perfect traditional forms. Obviously this secured his acceptance by Tsarist and Soviet authorities, at the same time creating resentment from many composers who suffered intensely under the Soviet regime. As the last genuine representative of the pre-revolutionary national Russian school, i.e. a 'living classic', Glière was immune to the standard reproach of "formalism" (mostly equivalent to "modernity" or "bourgeois decadence"). Thus the infamous events of 1936 and 1948 passed Glière by. Gliere wrote concerti for
harp (Op. 74, 1938),
coloratura soprano (Op. 82, 1943), cello (Op. 87, 1946, dedicated to
Sviatoslav Knushevitsky),
horn (Op. 91, 1951, dedicated to
Valery Polekh), and violin (Op. 100, 1956, unfinished, completed by
Boris Lyatoshinsky). Nearly unexplored are Glière's educational compositions, his chamber works, piano pieces and songs from his time at the Moscow Gnesin School of Music. He died in Moscow on 23 June 1956. == Gallery ==