ALEXANDER BORODIN (1832-1887)

The last thing that Alexander Borodin would have expected was to win a Tony Award
and to have a melody he wrote hold top spot in the American hit parade for six
weeks. You think Im joking? Certainly Borodin would have done. Still 1954 was the
year. The song was Stranger In Paradise from the musical Kismet. The words of
the song were set to the opening tune of the Polovstian Dances from Prince Igor and
the show set to various tunes from the full range of Borodin oeuvres. It was
nauseating.
Tom Lehrer, mathematician, teacher, pianist, composer,
singer/songwriter and satirist (still alive, aged 87) did a send up. Its a lovely tune
but its borrowed from Borodin. The Tonys were awards for Broadway Theatre
(sorry, Theater) instituted in 1947. Kismet was an Arabian Nights musical where no
effort was needed to write the music as Borodin had provided all the musical sources
nearly a hundred years earlier. The show won three Tonys and a special
posthumous composer award to Borodin a mere 67 years after his death. He was
unavailable to make a tearful thank you speech.
Another interesting aside is that Borodin was a serf and is probably the only serf to
have become a composer. A serf, yes, but actually the illegitimate son of a Georgian
nobleman, Luka Gedevanov, who had undone a 24-year-old Russian woman,
Avdotya (or was it Avgotcha?). She appears to have been middle class and
comfortable and later on married an army doctor. As was the custom of the day
Borodin was registered as the son of one of the serfs, Porfiry Borodin and his wife.
His natural father died when Borodin was seven and at that time released from
serfdom. Avdotya brought up her son and a female cousin. There was the German
piano with the German housekeeper and French from the governess. At 13 he
started on English and later still wrote scientific essays in Italian after a year in Italy.
Quite the linguist. At the age of eight he showed an interest in military music and a
bandsman was engaged to teach him the flute. When he was 14 his mother took in
another boy, Mikhail Shchiglev and the two became lifetime friends. They learned the
piano together and played piano duet versions of Haydn, Beethoven and
Mendelssohn symphonies. One presumes that this was not a particularly highbrow
activity but just two kids playing the latest hits. As Mikhail learned the violin
Alexander taught himself the cello so that they could play chamber music together.
Music however was and would always be a pleasure pursuit.
At 14 also, Alexander discovered for himself what would turn out to be his lifes work.
It started with his making fireworks which was the start of his passion for chemistry.
At age 17 he entered the Medico-Surgical Academy where he studied botany,
zoology, crystallography and of course chemistry. I do not propose to discuss all of
the ologies and ographies, suffice it to say that chemistry and medicine were to be
his true professional vocation. He also managed some chamber music with friends
who were mostly German. They were into quintets especially those of Boccherini
and Georges Onslow. When he graduated in February 1856, two months before the
end of the Crimean War, he was posted to a military hospital where he undertook
pathology and therapy to become a house surgeon for three years. For him all of
this was a necessary step forward towards his goal of chemistry research. It was
during this period of military service that he met another officer and a raw recruit
composer, Modeste Mussorgsky. It was during this time that Borodins further

studies in medicine took him to Paris, Brussels and especially Heidelberg. Where he
was to meet a Russian woman, Ekaterina, to whom he would shortly get engaged
and eventually married. She was described as a brilliant pianist. On getting
engaged they indulged themselves in listening to The Flying Dutchman, Tanhausser
and Lohengrin for the first time. This was followed by a spell in Italy where they first
sojourned because of health issues of Ekaterina and where Borodin obtained work
from two eminent Italian chemists. Alexander and Ekaterina were also able to get
together to play piano and organ duets of Bach and he even played cello in the
orchestral pit of the Pisa opera. The die was cast. Here was a professional chemist
who indulged his passion for music in composition and playing. In September 1862,
now aged 30, Borodin returned to Russia and was appointed reader in chemistry at
the Medico Surgical Academy. To this were added chemistry lectures at the Institute
of Forestry and his income further supplemented by translating scientific books.
Soon after his return to Russia in 1862, Borodin got introduced to Balakirev and
again met Mussorgsky. The two were the last additions to the Five or Kuchkists to
add their Russian Monika. Borodin seemed to be just the material that Balakirev
needed, an amateur who had had no training and who could be the putty to be
moulded by Balakirev. One wonders what changes took place with Borodin at that
time. I have to confess I have no direct experience of any of his earlier output but
one gets the impression that there had been no previous sign of any nationalist
leanings. Yet the first work upon which he was to embark, his first symphony,
immediately displays its Russian provenance and one is left wondering from where
did this style spring. Moreover the suggestion to write a symphony was made by
Balakirev, a medium which would not exactly be in keeping with Balakirevs aims
although he himself would ultimately write two of them. Matthew has already made
mention that this is the earliest of Russian symphonies to come down to us bar that
of some anonymous nonentity that no-one has heard of. In fact, Anton Rubinstein
was four years older than Borodin and by 1852 he had produced two symphonies.
They can be found on the Marco Polo label but they are unlikely to get a public airing
unless an adventurous conductor like Vladimir Jurowski were to give it a go. I have
to add that the second, the Ocean symphony was revised several times and the final
incarnation was not written until the 1880s. The Borodin No. 1 in E flat is tightly knit
and owes something to Schumann and Berlioz (Queen Mab scherzo). The orchestra
is not large and yet the writing displays considerable power particularly with his use
of the timpani. Here we must remember that Borodin had had no training and little
time to devote to composition. It was Balakirev to whom he presented his drafts and
Balakirev who would advise on instrumentation and orchestration. He took complete
control but Borodin appears to have happily accepted him as a mentor.
The first symphony was five years in the composing and it took another two to get
performed. Now it doesnt matter a fig how well a work is written if, when performed,
the copyists cannot get it right and that is precisely what happened on the first
performance which was conducted by Balakirev. One might remember that Berlioz
had the same experience with his early Messe Solemnelle. Matthew has done the
dissection of the first symphony for us and I need say no more.
Hardly any sooner than the first symphony was given its first airing in about 1869
Borodin was starting on his second in B minor which is far better known. He had
already written some variations on a Czech theme supplied to him by Balakirev, an

operatic farce and some songs. The opera, called the Bogatirs, was adapted from
themes by Offenbach, Meyerbeer and Rossini and with such a compliment one can
hardly imagine it sounded particularly Russian. It had one performance only, at
which Borodin was not present, and got a revival in 1934 in the Soviet Union at the
time when Shostakovitch would have been having performed his Lady Macbeth of
Mtemsk. The two have one thing in common. They both got withdrawn.
Shortly after commencing his second symphony he was fired up by a spurious
legend The Story of Igors Army which was suggested to him by the critic, Stasov.
Said to have derived from the 11th century, it is likely to have been concocted in the
eighteenth century and was about as historically authentic as King Arthur and the
knights of the Round Table. This would however turn into his most famous work,
Prince Igor. It would occupy him on and off for the rest of his life. The immediate
problem was that there was no librettist to work it into shape and little plot to go on.
Yet, so excited was Borodin that he was writing both the words and the music himself
which didnt always fit the intended story. The music for Prince Igor was also
transplanted from other works he was writing and then abandoning. It was a musical
hotchpot because, at the same time, music he was originally intending for Prince Igor
found its way into the latest Borodin works, notably the second symphony. Which
were which we do not know but even the opening eight note motto of the symphony
has a feel of Prince Igor about it. The symphony is more powerful and decidedly
more Russian sounding than the first. The slow movement has a particularly airy
feel, like some Russian western. I once saw a television production of Johnny
Belinda, set in Nova Scotia, with the slow movement of the Borodin No 2 used as
background and very effective it was. We know from Matthews lecture that
Balakirev was still highly influential during the early writing of the Borodin second
symphony and his suggestions were still being taken up by Borodin. However, we
know also that Balakirevs hold was beginning to slip by the 1870s when he went
into musical purdah for five years and Borodin was out there on his own. He had
however other friends to encourage him, notably Rimsky-Korsakov, himself another
Kuchkist, and Glazunov. Their role was patiently to encourage and add little touches
of their own to help Prince Igor on its way.
Like the first, the second also took a few years to complete. In 1876, after it had
received no outing and had been put to bed, the Russian Music Society wanted to
perform it, much to Borodins surprise. The problem was that he couldnt find where
he had put the score. Eventually he did lay his hands on the two middle movements.
Still he found himself having to re-orchestrate the outer two movements. Some
composers clearly are not always as orderly as others. Well solicitors cant always
find their files either. I can identify.
Patience was certainly needed as his music remained subordinate to his
professional life. Here he was going up the tree of knowledge which included
experiments for which he has fame in the field of chemistry which rank alongside his
reputation as a composer. He was also assiduous in his campaign for women to
enter the medical profession and was instrumental in the founding of a womens
college at which he not only lectured but also acted as a treasurer for the female
alumni. He appears to have easily attracted women which troubled his wife
Ekaterina although by all accounts he was charmingly resistant to all approaches.
This had happened once before in Italy in the period of his engagement and now in

the late 1860s he was the object of infatuation by a twenty-two-year-old, Anna

Kalinina. I once referred to Prokofiev playing away. Borodins little peccadilloes seem
to have been one sided which he could enjoy but fend off. Compared to Prokofiev
these were just friendlies in the fixture list. Ekaterina had been a partial invalid from
when they met and remained to some extent out of action. In 1869 their difficulties
were eased by their adopting a seven-year-old as their daughter.
It was not till 1874 that Borodin picked up interest again in Prince Igor when he wrote
the extracts for which it is best known, the Polovstian March and the Polovstian
Dances. His attention now became diverted elsewhere. He began writing the first of
his two string quartets. Now this was the medium which was anathema to the Five
or rather, the other four. They had sought under Balakirev to avoid the influence of
western, meaning especially German, musical forms. Regardless, Borodin had
written two symphonies (Western musical form!); so had Rimsky even though his
would be later revised. Balakirev had two unfinished ones on the stocks to which he
would revert over twenty years later. The string quartet was a different kettle of
marmite. Its appeal was more to the formal and intellectual senses as opposed to the
melodious (Schubert excepted). So what was Borodin thinking of then? Well, one
should remember he was a chamber musician to begin with, his links going back to
Haydn and in this case in particular to a theme from a late Beethoven quartet. He
would have known also his Mendelssohn and Schumann. It was in his blood and
that was what he felt the need to express. Most string quartets are tight knit in their
construction and development. What comes through in Borodin is its overall lyricism.
In short, like Schubert before and Dvorak later, they sing. Despite that, each has the
contrapuntal hand of a past master. The second which followed is better known. It
is a string quartet like no other, a love song in its outpouring of melody which would
melt the hearts of all at the Palm Court Hotel. Borodin dedicated it to Ekaterina and
it was a possibly a reminder of their days in Italy and Heidelberg. It perhaps has
something may be a tad Italianate about it; a tad Russian also but no more than that,
a tad cloying some do feel.
Because of professional engagements Borodin became more stretched with his
travels. In the summer of 1877 he was to visit several laboratories at German
universities and while at Jena he took time out to visit Liszt who held court at
Weimar. To get Liszt on board was a passe partout. He was the Simon Cowell of his
day and knew a good thing when he heard it. Others who benefitted from Liszts
advocacy included Smetana and Berlioz. Liszt got things played including the
Borodin first symphony. In gratitude it was to Liszt that Borodin dedicated his short
orchestral piece In the Steppes of Central Asia written as an intended orchestral
tableau to celebrate the silver jubilee of Alexander II. The intended production never
took place, but the work has remained a favourite since. There would follow a
number of visits to Belgium in particular where he was the welcome guest of
Countess Mercy-Argenteau. His works were played and conducted by him in Lige,
Verviers and Antwerp and his reputation began to spread including to France where
he was made a member of the Socit des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs with
Saint-Sans.as one of his sponsors
In the eighties he again returned to Prince Igor and started work on a third
symphony. In 1885 he became infected from an outbreak of cholera and this led to
heart failure. He continued his life as before and recorded in a letter to his wife, the

difficulty of being at one and the same time both a Glinka and a civil servant,
scientist, commissioner, artist, government official, philanthropist, father of other
peoples children, doctor and invalid. His principal place of work was in St
Petersburg but the climate there was too inhospitable for Ekaterina who found that of
Moscow more salubrious. The bi-product of this was Borodin in regular commute
between work and home in particular to see to Ekaterina who was chair bound. She
could no longer lie down on a bed.
Borodin never finished Prince Igor nor his third symphony. The latter contained two
movements each of which had to be lovingly touched up by Glazunov. It remains for
some a satisfyingly complete work in much the same way as Schuberts Unfinished.
There is however a difference. I believe that Schubert in 1822, six years before his
death, was unable to finish his eighth because at that time he realized he lacked the
ability to culminate with a scherzo and finale which could match the genius and
intensity reached in the two extant movements. Borodin did have that ability but was
cruelly cut off from doing so. That is where the frustration line lies. As to Prince Igor,
there was something of Charlton Athletic about it, stop start, stop start with the goal
posts being continually moved all the time. Rimsky Korsakov would push for a few
new extracts to be played at his next concert after he had given them a bit of shoe
shine. This vast project was taking on the dimensions of the Chilcot Inquiry. It had
been an on-off affair for the best part of twenty years and now in 1887 Borodin had
the piano score for the overture. This he played over to Glazunov who claimed to
have orchestrated it note for note, purely from memory. Whilst this may seem difficult
to believe, it sounds just like Borodin. So it must be true or Glazunov and Rory
Bremner share the same DNA.
In 1887 Borodin was a guest at a fancy dress dinner and ball and was said to be
greatly enjoying himself dressed as a Cossack. It was during a dance that he
collapsed and died from a heart attack within seconds. He would have been aware
of his condition since the cholera infection and of the dangers but his life style had
not changed. Within six months of his death his beloved Ekaterina would also die.
In the early 1900s, Sir Henry Hadow, reckoned on there having been no more than
twenty works that Borodin wrote. A later Soviet musicologist managed to squeeze
another twenty or so early works songs, warts and all. Surprisingly little you may
think for a top rank composer but an enormous output for someone whose musical
composition was on the side. Still, make no mistake, he ranks as one of the greatest
natural master musicians of them all. After all he won a Tony Award, didnt he?