Anton Arensky Biography

Antón Arensky

(Antón Stepanovich Arenski or Arensky; Novgorod, 1861-Tarioki, 1906) Russian composer, pianist and conductor.The son of amateur musicians, Anton Arensky studied first with Zikke, and later with Johansen and Rimski-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.At the age of twenty-one he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Moscow Conservatory.Since then he has pursued an upward career, performing for seven years as concert director of the Russian Choral Society.In 1895 he was recommended by Balakirev as his successor in the direction of the chapel of the Imperial Court of Saint Petersburg, a position he held until 1901.As a pianist he was one of the greats of the Russian Romantic tradition.

Anton Arensky

In 1891 he composed his first opera, A Dream on the Volga , with a text by Ostrovsky, premiered with great success in Moscow and for which he received high praise from Tchaikovsky.In fact, Arensky's work has a strong Tchaikovsky influence and, like his, he stayed away from the musical nationalism, so present at that time in Russia.Despite using folkloric tendencies, as in his first opera, they never completely took over his style.

In 1894 he created the opera in one act Raphael , composed for the first congress of Russian artists in Saint Petersburg.His third opera was Nal y Damayanti (1899), in which he retains a certain affinity with Tchaikovsky, but in which he reaches a more flowery character in the technique of the parts.With the ballet Egyptian Nights , whose plot was inspired by the figure of Cleopatra, it was a great success in London, where it premiered under the name Cleopatra .The cantata The Bakhchisary Fountain (with text by Alexander Pushkin) for soloists, choir and orchestra was also well received.

Although it has been less publicized than that of other Russian composers, Antón Arensky's production reached a very high level, especially in his short pages for piano and in his melodies for choir and solo voices.For piano he composed more than a hundred pieces with an eclectic style, that is, incorporating traditional melodic elements in a nationalistic setting, although with cosmopolitan notes.In his vocal music, taking into account both his collections of songs and his operas, he adopts a style between melodic and declamatory.For this he uses popular songs and ecclesiastical ways.

His instrumental music is also very extensive.For piano, his favorite instrument, he wrote several collections of pieces, as well as a concerto with orchestral accompaniment (opus 2), four suites for two pianos and six pieces for four hands.He composed a concerto for violin and another for cello, dedicated to the cellist Davidov, which is considered one of his most successful works.For small chamber ensembles it is necessary to mention his trio with piano (opus 32), two quartets for strings (opus 11 and 35) in G major and A minor, respectively, and the quintet in D for strings and piano (opus 51).

He also created an "intermezzo" for string orchestra (opus 13) and two symphonies.The second movement of the second string quartet, Variations on a children's song by Tchaikovsky , has come to occupy a place in the international repertoire, particularly in the version for string orchestra.The piano trio in D minor was also one of his favorite works for audiences and performers.He wrote a Treatise on Harmony (1891) and a Manual of Musical Forms (two volumes, 1893-1894,1914).

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