Alexander Borodin

Alexander Borodin belonged to a group of 19th-century Russian composers known as “The Five”. Strongly nationalist in feeling, they wanted to create an authentically Russian voice in classical music, liberated from the domination of Western European models. They found their spiritual inspiration in Russian folk music, which they studied and incorporated into many of their major works. Borodin, born in St. Petersburg in 1833, has proved one of the most enduringly popular, even though his output was small. His career as a research chemist, and later his involvement as a social activist (he strongly supported the women’s movement), took up a lot of his time, but he managed to finish two fine symphonies, two beautiful string quartets, and the best part of an opera,Prince Igor, which, after his untimely death in 1887, was finished by his colleagues Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. His music has been widely influential, from the French impressionists to Broadway, where two of his finest melodies were adapted for the musical Kismet.