Mily Balakirev - Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1864-1897) {Neeme Järvi}

The first movement has several glitches as the CD got damaged. The other movements are fine.

Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (Russian: Ми́лий Алексе́евич Бала́кирев, 2 January 1837 [O.S. 21 December 1836] – 29 May [O.S. 16 May] 1910) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor known today primarily for his work promoting musical nationalism and his encouragement of more famous Russian composers, notably Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He began his career as a pivotal figure, extending the fusion of traditional folk music and experimental classical music practices begun by composer Mikhail Glinka. In the process, Balakirev developed musical patterns that could express overt nationalistic feeling. After a nervous breakdown and consequent sabbatical, he returned to classical music but did not wield the same level of influence as before.

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Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1864-1898)

1. Largo – Allegro vivo (0:00)
2. Scherzo. Vivo – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I (13:29)
3. Andante (20:45)
4. Finale. Allegro moderato (35:23)

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi

Symphony No 1 in C major was started in 1864 and, according to Rimsky-Korsakov in his autobiography, about one-third of the first movement had been written down in score by 1866. The rest of the work had been extemporized to his friends—Balakirev was a magnificent pianist. But the symphony was then laid aside and not taken up again until the early 1890s; it was finished by the end of 1897 and first performed the following year. It was begun, then, before Tchaikovsky had written any of his symphonies and not completed until after the death of Balakirev’s Moscow contemporary. But it shows no signs of its protracted conception and is one of the greatest nineteenth-century Russian symphonies.