One year before he was assassinated by a bomb thrown at his feet, Tsar Alexander II decided to celebrate his twenty-five years at the head of the Russian Empire with a great event. For this purpose, several Russian musicians were summoned to provide the music for several short dramas that were to be staged in front of the Tsar and his court. Apparently, the only musician who responded to the summons was the composer and scientist Alexander Borodin, a musician member of The Five Group and holder of the chair of chemistry at the Russian Medical and Surgical Academy. The composer joined the celebrations with a short symphonic poem entitled "In Central Asia".
An immediate success
The great event envisaged by the Tsar never took place (the political situation was not the best, as can be inferred). But Borodin's work, first performed in St. Petersburg in April 1880 under the baton of Rimsky-Korsakov, became famous in its own right almost immediately. It was applauded in Russia and also in the rest of Europe, where it became known under the title " In the Steppes of Central Asia ".
The symphonic work is dedicated "with veneration" to the master of the symphonic poem, Franz Liszt, whom Borodin had met shortly before, in Weimar, to where he departed during a professional visit to Jena in his capacity as a man of science.
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| Alexander Borodin (1833 - 1887) |
Openly programmatic, the work illustrates the crossing of the steppes of Central Asia by a caravan of Asian merchants escorted by Russian soldiers, a frequent image, we imagine, after the eastward expansion of the Russian Empire by the assassinated Tsar.
Nothing could be more appropriate than Borodin's own words to describe the atmosphere evoked by the score, a scenario marked by an idyllic collaboration between conquerors and conquered —a politically correct review if it was meant to pay homage to the Tsar:
"In the silence of the monotonous steppes of Central Asia is heard the unfamiliar sound of a peaceful Russian song. From the distance, we hear the approach of horses and camels and the bizarre and melancholy notes of an oriental melody. A caravan approaches, escorted by Russian soldiers, and continues safely on its way through the immense desert. It disappears slowly. The notes of the Russian and Asiatic melodies join in a common harmony, which dies away as the caravan disappears in the distance."
The work lasts less than eight minutes.
The performance is by the Laurel Wind Orchestra conducted by Yoo Sejong.
