Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin, c. 1865
Alexander Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg in 1833 as the illegitimate son of the Prince of Georgia. He was raised by his mother and other female relatives, and his father provided for him financially and made sure that he received the best education. He studied the cello and musical composition, but he ultimately chose a career in science. Although today he is better known as a composer, in his time he was quite an accomplished doctor and chemist and highly regarded for his work in the field. As a result of being raised exclusively by women, he became an advocate for women’s education in the sciences and founded the School of Medicine for Women in Saint Petersburg.
“The Five”
Alexander Borodin, Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Borodin was chosen by Mily Balakirev to be part of a group of five composers tasked with creating a uniquely Russian style of music who we often call “The Five” or “The Mighty Handful”. The others were Balakirev himself, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Along with Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov remain the most popular of “The Five” still today. Interestingly enough, they all had careers other than music. Except for Borodin, the others worked for the military in different capacities.
“The Five” sought to differentiate themselves from the elite Conservatory composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who they viewed as too influenced by western music. In order to do this, they used traditional Russian village songs and dance melodies, church chant, long-winded melismatic peasant tunes, and various harmonic devices to give their music a distinctly Russian flavour.
Quartet No. 2
Ekaterina Protopopova, Borodin’s wife
Borodin is the only one of “The Five” to have composed chamber music, and his Second Quartet is probably his best known work in the genre. Being an amateur composer, he often took an extraordinary amount of time to finish works, but he wrote this quartet quickly during his summer holiday in 1881. He dedicated it to his wife Ekaterina Protopopova and it was most likely meant to be a gift to her for their 20th anniversary. The many beautiful conversational exchanges between the cello and first violin suggest a lover’s duet, especially in the first and third movements.
The quartet opens with a beautiful soaring theme in the cello, which is then echoed in the first violin. Throughout the movement, the music is affectionate suggesting the great love he felt for his wife. The scherzo movement is reminiscent of one by Mendelssohn and the music is sparkly and bubbly. It makes use of folk dances, lively rhythms, and catchy melodies. The emotional centre of the work lies in the slow Notturno third movement where the cello and first violin explore a tale of two lovers. And the finale is a unique movement clearly influenced by late Beethoven. First announcing two slow musical ideas, the first in the violins and the second in the viola and cello, the music turns lively and Borodin combines the two themes in strange and humorous ways that ultimately culminate in a joyous conclusion to this beautiful quartet.