J Joe Townley We must remember, Borodin died way too young. He completed this piece, but he left his third symphony unfinished, as well as Prince Igor (I've heard that he wrote as much music for Igor as Wagner did for The Ring). His students and friends did what they could with the incomplete scores, but could not match his vision!
5610winston You know your music history pretty well. Rimski-Korsakoff describes in his autobio how after Borodin died suddenly of a heart attack RK and Glazunov went into his flat which was occupied by half-dozen or so cats (Borodin loved cats) and found hundreds of scraps of music scores, hand-drawn staffs w/ music notes on the backs of napkins, menus, and just about anything Borodin could lay his hands on. They had to make sense out this chaotic mess and they did an admirable job. RK assigned G the job of arranging and orchestrating the overture so most of what you hear is G's handiwork, while RK set about to organize and orchestrate the scraps he found. It's a fascinating tale and the results, of course, are phenomenal.
I had not seen this reply before tonight. Thank you. His achievements are especially remarkable when you consider that in addition to the cats, his flat was infested with a parade of family members (sometimes sleeping on top of the piano) and professional acquaintances from the Chemistry department, including Mendeleev, and that his flat was bisected by the access hall to a student dormitory. Most of my music history comes from liner notes from old LP's and CD's.
Totally agree! I was sitting at my pc one day and put this version on. About 6 repeats later I thought I should listen to something else. It held me captive for 6 listens!! What a piece of music!!!!!!
That is a fair critic actually. If the listener feels starving for more then the composer did not exploit the material fully. Incidentally this is how commercial pop songs work with the masses, a few seconds of musical idea floating in the middle of nothing, and not developed or contrasted with another theme, then ends abruptly or in a downramping volume loop. The listeners is frustrated and repeats the piece over and over. Exactly as you did, you are a true product of the consumer society.
I fear I may have commented here before..who cares. What an absolutely beautiful piece of music. Really need to pay my respects, to Borodin, Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky(!!), Tchaikovsky et al. one day. St. Petersburg here I come!
I live in the middle of a huge city. All I ever see are buildings, houses, cars and freeways, shopping centers, 3 million people everywhere. This beautiful music is like a vacation for my sanity every time I hear it. Someday...I'll go there.
In fact there is a kind of magic in this music. I have felt it for the firs time when I first heard Borodin's Price Igor... and later on Korsakov's Sheherazade! I'm from Portugal (Europe) but I feel kind of homesick when I hear this.. funny isn't it?
Carol: there's no there, there. It's ... eerie, beautiful, strange and empty and full, all at once. I can never listen to this without remembering it, the music is so perfectly evocative
Gilda, I am a contra-bassist in two orchestras here in Arkansas, and have played this piece several times. You have done a wonderful job of post-production on this video. Thank you!
My wife and I travelled from Beijing on the Trans Mongolian Railway through Mongolia to join the Trans Siberian Railway four days by train from Moscow! This music is shot full of the vast country that we saw!! Marvellous!
@@fazertace6837 It was a stroke of luck! We went to a presentation with a friend of ours just to keep her company! There we got the urge to go! It is the highlight of our travelling life! We will always be thankful that we went!
We Asians usually think that "Central Asia" refers to the region where the five Stan countries are located, and the region you past on the K3 line of Beijing-Ulaanbaatar-Moscow railway is precisely not Central Asia, but North Asia and Siberia. If you take K9797/9795 from Beijing to Almaty, you will pass through Central Asia... welcome to asia
@@slavish_superiority And you would be correct. Central Asia is most certainly made up of the five Stan countries of the Former Soviet Union, AND Afghanistan, at a minimum, but also Pakistan, depending on the viewpoint. Having worked in Central Asia extensively, this is also the view of most of the western world. Russians, however, view things somewhat differently.
@@padgit8r486 I should be right. We East Asians such as China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Turks, Persian，etc., divide geography based on thousands of years of traditions such as way of life, inter-ethnic exchanges, folk traditions, beliefs, language, writing, natural law, tribes, states, and international alliances. Westerners are not qualified enough to judge our culture. The Russian concept of Asia, derived from the last 300 years of colonial expansion, is even less convincing.
Just love this version by the berlin Orchestra. Weird how there are like 1000s of different versions of each piece of Classical music yet you can just spot the versions you like. I think i like the speed of this one. Can't put it into words but it just has a playful feel. Steady but not rushed. Like they are in no big hurry to get where ever they are going. Just enjoying the journey.
Thank you so much for this exotic video and the magical music of Borodin. The oboe haunting and melancholy with transitions to adventurous plucking traveling strings, and the deeper bassoon, crescendos and the handsome Asian rider coincide nicely. The central melody is romantic and lovely as the traditionally dressed Asian girl we get a glimpse of; the French Horn and oboe so warm and haunting. 💔❤️ a recorder at the end? Wonderful. Thank you so much for your posting this incomparable video and music!
There are people that live this way! No cars, no cell phones, no laptops! And quiet. None of the background noise we don't even notice until the rare occasions we get away from it. All the way around beautiful video.
First, I want to respectfully send my greeting to my Mongolian brothers. Much respect to your bravery and intelligence. Because of the Mongols, Russia and China became united and large. The Mongol Empire among the greatest in the world. Mongolia shares a prominent seat in the history of humanity. Ignore hypocrites who cast stones on the great Mongolian people.
Mongolia did have an influence on China for a short while - but China absorbed the Mongols - China is after all China. The Mongolian Empire was large but it's influence cannot be compared to that of the Egyptian:Persian:Greek: Roman: China - under it's first Emperor Chin; who unified the ten states of China and of course the British Empire - which later became the Commonwealth. Of the magnificent Empires of India, the far East and the Americas I am aware but have insignificant knowledge to comment in a manner which would do them justice - except to say; all these Empires were built on the backs of the bones of the ordinary men who were it's soldiers and the misery of the peoples they conquered. The UK has been enriched greatly by people from our former colonies who have settled here - as can be seen by the 2012 Olympic Games:)
Tahuan Tinsuyo You got it Tahuan. Saw Dust is little more than a mindless troll with a two digit IQ. His sole purpose is to spread misery on this planet. Pay it no mind.
I love this music. I also love Borodin's two symphonies and Prince Igor as well. But this is not what I imagine when I think of my steppes. This is what I imagine when I think of Russia, although I've never been there.
+Achbold Battogtokh Well said: This is what "we westerners" (!) imagine when we think of the vast lands of the steppe. Very idyllic, and lightyears from reality. But that imagination helped to give birth to this insanely beautiful music.
Two-and-a-half symphonies, actually. And give his String Quartet no. 1 a listen. It is almost a symphony in itself, with way too much music to be played by a bigger ensemble. And the Scherzo for Borodin's third symphony was originally sketched for string quartet. Look for the Scherzo in D Major.
Native people living and practicing their native culture and customs. Their own myths and rites, tradition in one word. Untainted by outside interference and multiculturalism implemented against their own will. An example to the world and raises awareness about how a pure state is still attained when nations souls are being destroyed and people losing their own identity and race.
You are on the wrong side of history. Culture is dynamic and ever changing. Do you possibly think that every "pure" culture sprung out of nothing? Every culture is influenced and adapts. The pendulum is swinging to your backwards ways of late, but there will be a swing back soon enough as the world sees that isolation is a losing proposition. If I pegged you incorrectly, feel free to ignore my comment. I get the impression you are upset about Islam and similar affronts. I very much understand your consternation and wish our cultural clashes could be wished away so easily and every culture could extirpate it's worst values, but that's not realistic. I don't have the answers for our battle against fanatics, but we are losing our humanity at every turn. Please, be careful in what you are wishing for and feel comfortable embracing. Sometimes you have to just take the bad for the overall good. Wishing you the best.
Rather Notsay You appear from your writing to be thoughtful. Would love to pick your brain more. Sadly, RU-vid is awful for that. If you are open to explaining your world view to me and listening to my points in a more specific and nuanced way I would look forward to that. More often than not, as you allude to, people are pompous and perhaps I'm guilty of that in this case. I am loathe to respond to your rebuttal here if it turns out you don't end up responding. Hope to hear from you one way or another so I can clarify my comments and learn your perspective and thus the perspective of those similar to you. Cheers
Rather Notsay Very fair assessment! While the phrase is rather glib, I used it out of expediency and feel that it is still close to the truth. The recent swing to more right-wing thought is too far of a swing from balance and moderation and will do more harm than good with the power of 10 to 20 years of hindsight. In any case, I look forward to your discourse and I can figure out a way we can exchange email or some other way to communicate. Best wishes and enjoy your travels!
Four seemingly disparate themes coming together to provide one of the most evocative musical travel logs in the history of music! High praise for the selection of video to match this outstanding performance! Makes me want to spend my next vacation traveling the steppe and living in a yurt!
I seem to have received a number of negative votes on my comments that this is one of the finest musical travel logs ever written, that the plodding pizzicato appears perfectly to mimic the sway of the bactrians and their riders at 2:07 , and that Borodin masterfully blended two deceptively simple themes into one of the glories of ninteenth century music so ethereal as to transcend the efforts of Liszt and Richard Strauss and Tchaikovski working as a team. I stand by my previous statements!
I love the high notes with which this work begins. A great piece to play for high-schoolers who need to be weaned from the drivel which is pumped into them by mainstream corporate media. Hoomeyow!!
7 лет назад
Congratulations to all who built your soul here listening to this gift.
Thank you. I recall this as a child, being played at the Winter Gardens by my local orchestra under its Romanian conductor, Constantin Silvestri, who turned a small, regional ensemble into a world-class symphony orchestra. Happy memories - like Silvestri, the Staatskapelle takes this reflective piece quite slowly under Maestro Sanderling.
Beautiful country! Reminds me muchly of the American West where I have lived the last 50 years of my life- but far vaster in scope. Often have dreamed of visiting the area, but life has passed me by with that alas, not completed. Excellent music, excellent photography! Thanks for posting this...
Estos sin duda el tipo de civilizaciones que perduraran en la Tierra, ya que viven de ella con un minimo de perturbacion ecologica, no saben como me gustaria heber o pertenecer a un publo asi, saludos.
I just read your comments, and I agree with them. I would add that the violins playing high harmonics in the beginning gives it an ethereal quality that suggests the a morning mist to me. Incidentally another place where a plodding pace is very successfully depicted is in the ox cart section of Pictures at an Exhibition in the Ravel orchestration; the string basses let you visualise the plodding of the oxen perfectly.
Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Kurt Sanderling. Thanks... I haven't heard a better version than this one. Many versions are played too fast. Not this one. Sanderling takes his time for us to dream... However your video doesn't show the merchandises caravan protected by soldiers as suggested in the symphonic poem at 3:17. This is a story about the Silk road with trade between Europe and Asia. Many caravans have been attacked by pirates, but not in this symphonic poem. All is smooth.
The UNESCO History of the Civilizations of Central Asia, published in 1992, defines the region as "Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, northern and central Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the former Soviet Central Asian republics."
@@hansproebsting7391 . It's a particular caste who infest politics and banking that's been the problem for centuries and an Egyptian pharaoh who could have solved the problem thousands of years ago.
+ Gilda Tabarez GREAT job on this! I can see you spent a lot of time collecting video snippets and still photos to go the music. The result is Grade AAA! Excellent!
Sorry, if i seem to be flogging a "dead horse" , but just wanted to point that there was a region called mughalistan (Mughal being the asiatic term for mongol) which is synonymous with the region called "Turkestan" just west of today's mongolia And thanks once again for the wonderful video !!!
This may amuse some listeners/viewers. I do know the difference between a steppe as a geophysical descriptive noun, and a step, as in an elevated foothold to enter or leave an architectural structure. Up until I viewed this video and saw the title, I always thought the title the composer gave this piece was On the Steps of Central Asia, to give the listeners the musical picture of being at that part of the world where one is about to enter Central Asia, and I also thought the music conveyed that image so magnificently. Now my perception, and imagination will react differently whenever I hear the piece.
Look, there is beauty in all parts of the world. The ugly parts come from the 5-letter word 'greed', whether it be political or in the name of any religion. Lay all that garbage aside, and love the music for the music, not whatever the geographical implications might infer. Such magnificent music, and a great visual accompaniment. Thank you for your creative work on the video, and for the choice of music. Excellent!!!
Gilda, thank you for introducing me to this exquisite music and the wonderful video you so industriously assembled. Ignore the negative remarks, you have far more positive ones that you should take to heart, because for people like me (an artist) (Rusty Walker) - I am exploring classical music and you have given me a gift.. I think that the Sundar Ramchandran remarks should be welcome and are not "nitpicking." I found the geographical speculation interesting, and in no way diminishes your wonderful post and great selection of images that fit the extraordinary music,=. Breathtaking. Thank you again, Gilda!!
Possibly, the reindeer as also the man with the wolf scene seem to have their natural settings in the eastern / north eastern outskirts of mongolia / eastern sibera (if at all) whch is typically associated with the far east which is quite distant from the land of steppe, desert, mountains and depressions that we typically associate with the region. The rest of the video seems in place and it is great
And as i mentioned, the rest of the video (except the reindeer and possibly the tribal petting a wolf scene) ,including the music (which is superb !!!) is very apt And i suppose, by Arabian, you mean "Central Asian" as in "Arabian nights" which was actually set in the Persian / Central Asian region
Eat your hearts out, all you western European wannabes! None of you ever wrote anything like this: two simple themes woven into the most glorious musical travel log in the literature. Tchaikovsky and Liszt and Strauss working as a team couldn't do it better!The syncopation of the pizzicato is almost perfectly in sync with the off-beat sway of the riders against the steps of the bactrians. Makes you wonder if Borodin ever took a ride on one? Video illustrates the music very well. Great playing!
I like your comment. Great music and great video. However, I also feel the music evokes a profound melancholy of the Russian soul which cannot be captured on a deep level except by an internal art like music. Meanwhile, people are arguing about geography, reindeer, etc. Like T.V., the Internet is often Democracy at its worst.
And Central Asia begins just east of caspian(not much more than 500 + kms from the borders of caucasus?) in the turkmen/uzbek/kazakh regions.And the horse train may have been Central Asian rather than "chinese"(monks,traders ..). And it somehow fits with the idea of russian expansionism into this region in the period when the music was supposed to be composed, the slave markets of khiva etc and the "Great Game".Also,the theme seems to fit the theme of the poem "The Golden road to Samarkhand" .
Please, please, please! Let us just enjoy the magnificent music! Or is it not enough for you?... Qué disconformes estamos siempre los humanos cosas tan sencillas y meritorias como el placer que otras personas, desconocidas además, nos permiten mediante estos videos tan enriquecedores. Saben algo? Parecen argentinos: critican lo bueno y se "tragan" lo malo encantados de la vida! Y yo soy argentina pero trato de no ser así. Chau!
one day by various professional circumstances I found myself on a taxi ride to the Genghis Khan mausoleum and I looked out the window and wow there I was and all I could though about was that I wanted to be there my whole life
