The Glory of Russian Masterworks – Lecture 2: The “Mighty Fistful” vs. Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev: Russia has provided us with some of the most exciting and original music in the repertoire today. Vibrant colors, explosive energy, and passionate emotional drive characterize the works of these composers. Yet this tradition seemed to spring from nowhere barely 150 years ago, expanding meteorically in breadth and national confidence over an amazingly short period. As she explores the riches of Russian concert works, popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines lecture and piano demonstrations to also trace the turbulent historical movements that acted both as backdrop and engine for this fascinating musical evolution.

British-born Franklin has been a featured speaker for organizations including the Library of Congress and heard on NPR, exploring intersections among classical and jazz music, film scores, and the fine arts.

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The nascent nationalism of such composers as Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mussorgsky was beginning to shape the future of Russian concert music.

Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky strove to keep all his colleagues happy while negotiating the tricky diplomacy of new ethnic-influenced styles versus old European classicism. His Piano Concerto No.1 was excoriated by Anton Rubinstein’s brother Nicholas, but now is a cornerstone of the concert repertoire. Franklin compares Tchaikovsky’s “Little Russian” symphony with such works as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade and Borodin’s gorgeous Polovtsian Dances.