The Styrous® Viewfinder: Alexander Borodin

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June 12, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 386: Eugene Ormandy ~ 1812 Overture

Eugene Ormandy ~ 1812 Overture

vinyl LP front cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

On June 12, 1812, the French invasion of Russia led by Napoleon began; the invasion became known as The War of 1812.

Eugene Ormandy ~ 1812 Overture

vinyl LP back cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

I also did an entry about the 1812 Overture conducted by Antal Doráti that included real life cannons and bells (links below).

Eugene Ormandy ~ 1812 Overture

vinyl LP side 1 & 2

photos by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Tchaikovsky* – Overture "1812", Op. 49, composed by Tchaikovsky*

A - Borodin* – In The Steppes Of Central Asia, composed by Borodin*

Side 2:

Borodin* - Polovtsian Dances (From "Prince Igor"), composed by Borodin*
B1a - Dance No. 1
B1b - Dance No. 2
B1c - Dance No. 3
B1d - Dance No. 4
B2 - Moussorgsky*– Night On Bald Mountain, composed by Moussorgsky*

Companies, etc.

Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood

Credits:

Conductor – Eugene Ormandy
Orchestra – The Philadelphia Orchestra

Notes:

Jacket back lower right corner has "6" printed.
Pressed by Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood identified by the etched H in the deadwax.
Deep groove pressing rings, 69 / 71mm.
Gray 6-eye Columbia Masterworks labels, ɴᴏɴʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴀʙʟᴇ to the left of the spindle hole, in use from 6/1955- 6/1962

LP title located above spindle hole on the labels on both sides.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Other (Jacket back bottom right corner): 6
Pressing Plant ID (Runout etched): H
Matrix / Runout (Label side A): x"Lp" 45887
Matrix / Runout (Label side B): x"Lp" 45888
Matrix / Runout (Variant 1, side A): XXLP45887-1F I
Matrix / Runout (Variant 1, side B): XXLP45888-1AC H /
Matrix / Runout (Variant 2, side A): XXLP45887-1AD I
Matrix / Runout (Variant 2, side B): XXLP45888-1F H /IIIII
Matrix / Runout (Variant 3, side A): XXLP45887-1G H II
Matrix / Runout (Variant 3, side B): XXLP45888-1AL H I

The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy / Tchaikovsky*, Borodin*, Mussorgsky* – 1812 Overture
Label: Columbia Masterworks – ML 5392
Format: LP, Album, Mono, Hollywood Pressing
Country US
Released: Sep 1959
Genre:Classical
Style:Romantic

Viewfinder links:

1812 Overture articles

Alexander Borodin

Antal Doráti

Antol Dorati ~ 1812 Overture

Eugene Ormandy

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Net links:

Steve Hoffman ~ 1812 Overture with Real Cannons

Ravinia Backstage ~ How Hi-Fi Popularized Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (with cannons)

YouTube links:

Antol Dorati ~ 1812 Overture

Eugene Ormandy ~ 1812 Overture

Styrous® ~ Thursday, June 12, 2025

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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June 1, 2025

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

Mikhail Glinka ~ painting by Ilya Repin

Today is the birthday of Russian composer, Mikhail Glinka who was born on June 1, 1804, in the village of Novospasskoye, near the Desna River in the Smolensk Governorate of the Russian Empire now in the Yelninsky District of the Smolensk Oblast. He was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music.

Two of my favorite works by Glinka are the Oriental dance from Ruslan & Liudmila and his Nocturne in Eb major for solo harp (links below).

His compositions were an important influence on other Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who produced a distinctive Russian style of music; Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin. They never called themselves, nor were they ever called in Russia, 'The Five'".

The formation of the group began in 1856 with the first meeting of Balakirev and César Cui. Modest Mussorgsky joined them in 1857, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1861, and Alexander Borodin in 1862. All the composers in The Five were young men in 1862. Balakirev was 25, Cui 27, Mussorgsky 23, Borodin the eldest at 28, and Rimsky-Korsakov just 18. They were all self-trained amateurs.

In contrast to the élite status and court connections of Conservatory composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Five were mainly from the minor gentry of the provinces. To some degree their esprit de corps depended on the myth, which they themselves created, of a movement that was more "authentically Russian," in the sense that it was closer to the native soil, than the classic academy. Spurred on by Russian nationalist ideas, the Five “sought to capture elements of rural Russian life, to build national pride, and to prevent western ideals from seeping into their culture.

The circle began to fall apart during the 1870s, partially due to the fact that Balakirev withdrew from musical life early in the decade for a period of time. All of "The Five" are buried in Tikhvin Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

Mikhail Glinka grave in Tikhvin Cemetery.

In 1954 the Soviet Union issued a stamp honouring Glinka; in it he is depicted with Vasily Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin.

Mikhail Glinka postage stamp - 1954

Viewfinder links:

Mily Balakirev

Alexander Borodin

César Cui

The Five

Mikhail Glinka

Modest Mussorgsky

Alexander Pushkin

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Vasily Zhukovsk

Net links:

Britannica ~ Mikhail Glinka

Interlude ~ On This Day 15 February: Mikhail Glinka Died

The Kennedy Center ~ Mikhail Glinka

Tchaikovsky Research ~ Mikhail Glinka

YouTube links:

Glinka links (various)

Nocturne in Eb major

Oriental dance from Ruslan & Liudmila

Styrous® ~ Sunday, June 1, 2025

Music Notes
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Vasily Zhukovsk articles/mentions

mentions:

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

Vasily Zhukovsk 1783

portrait by Karl Bryullov

Literature

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César Cui articles/mentions

mentions:

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

César Cui - 1890

portrait by Ilya Repin

Music People

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Alexander Pushkin articles/mentions

mentions:

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

lexander Pushkin - 1827

Portrait by Orest Kiprensky

Music People

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Mily Balakirev articles/mentions

mentions:

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

Mily Balakirev - 1860

photographer unknown

Music People

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Mikhail Glinka articles/mentions

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

mentions:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka - 1840

painting by Karl Bryullov

Music People

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The Five articles/mentions

The Five composite

Mikhail Glinka & The Five

mentions:

Music People

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February 20, 2024

Roman Ryterband article/mentions

Chamber Music

mentions:

Alexander Porfirievich Borodin

Ken Russell ~ Gustav Holst's The Planets

Roman Ryterband

date & photographer unknown

Music People

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November 3, 2021

The Ventures articles/mentions

The Ventures ~ Tchaikovsky & the Nut Rocker

mentions:

Kismet & Alexander Borodin

Glenn Miller ~ Moonlight Serenade

Bobby Pickett ~ Monster Mash

The Ventures

date & photographer unknown

Music People

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July 11, 2021

Gordon MacRae articles/mentions

Kismet & Borodin

Gale Storm ~ I Hear You Knocking

U. S. postage stamps ~ Musicals

Gordon MacRae - 1953

publicity photo

December 17, 2020

Al Hirt articles/mentions

"Fats" Domino ~ Blueberry Hill

Arthur Fiedler ~ Pops Goes Christmas

Kismet & Alexander Borodin

Al Hirt - October 20, 1967

Indy 500

photo by Bill Haber/ Associated Press

Music People

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November 12, 2020

Alexander Porfirievich Borodin

Alexander Borodin

photo: Science Photo Library

On this date, November 12, Alexander Porfirievich Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1833. He was a Russian Romantic musical composer of Georgian ancestry and one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as "The Mighty Handful". Borodin is known best for his symphonies, his two string quartets, the symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera Prince Igor. These works became the basis for the Broadway musical, Kismet, which was also made into a film (link below).

Alexander Porfirievich Borodin

date & photographer unknown

Borodin was the illegitimate son of a 62-year-old Georgian nobleman, Luka Stepanovich Gedevanishvili, and a married 25-year-old Russian woman, Evdokia Konstantinovna Antonova. Due to the circumstances of Alexander's birth, the nobleman had him registered as the son of one of his Russian serfs, Porfiry Borodin, hence the composer's Russian last name. As a result of this registration, both Alexander and his nominal Russian father Porfiry were officially serfs of Alexander's biological father Luka. The Georgian father emancipated Alexander from serfdom when he was 7 years old and provided housing and money for him and his mother. Despite this, Alexander was never publicly recognized by his mother, who was referred to by young Borodin as his "aunt".

Ekaterina Protopova Borodina - 1840

photo by Andrey Denyer

He was educated at home by his mother and excelled in many subjects, particularly science. He also enjoyed learning new languages, and learned to speak English, French, and German fluently. At age eight, Borodin showed an interest in music and instruments after attending an army band performance. To his mother's surprise, Borodin was able to replicate the music he heard at the army band performance on the piano! After this experience, Borodin began studying piano, and taught himself how to play the cello. At age nine, he wrote his first composition called Héléne, a piece dedicated to the love of his life (at 9?).

Borodin's brilliance was not limited to music; when he was a teenager, he spent most of his time studying chemistry, firework-making, and galvanism. In 1850, at 17, Borodin entered the Medico-Surgical Academy where he studied botany, zoology, crystallography, anatomy and chemistry. He graduated in 1856 with the highest honors in his class. After graduation, Borodin worked as a physician, chemistry professor, and science-book-translator. He married pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, received a Doctorate degree, and even spent a summer analyzing mineral waters and their medicinal properties.

Ekaterina Protopopova

date & photographer unknown

He was a doctor and chemist by profession and training, he made important early contributions to organic chemistry. Although he is presently known better as a composer, he regarded medicine and science as his primary occupations, only practicing music and composition in his spare time or when he was ill. As a chemist, Borodin is known best for his work concerning organic synthesis, including being among the first chemists to demonstrate nucleophilic substitution, as well as being the co-discoverer of the aldol reaction. Borodin was a promoter of education in Russia and founded the School of Medicine for Women in Saint Petersburg, where he taught until 1885.

Alexander Porfirievich Borodin - 1888

Portrait by Ilya Repin

In 1862, Borodin made friends with composers Mily Balakirev, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, César Cui and Modest Mussorgsky. Under the guidance of Balakirev, Borodin began composing music while working as a full-time chemist and physician. That same year, Borodin joined his new composer friends to create a group we know today as "The Russian Five" (NOT the Russian ice hockey players). "The Five" dedicated themselves to composing music that was definably Russian and distinctly different than other music forms that were being composed and taught in European Conservatories. Borodin's music was highly influenced by Russian life, salon music, folk songs and dances, and was rich in lush, unusual harmonies.

Because Borodin was a part-time composer, a large majority of his compositions went unfinished or became lost. Prince Igor remained unfinished at the time of his death; parts of the opera were revised and completed by composers Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov.

Borodin suffered poor health, having overcome cholera and several minor heart failures. He died suddenly during a ball at the Medical–Surgical Academy on February 27, 1887, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg. The tomb of Borodin includes musical notation in the background with themes from Gliding Dance of the Maidens from Polovtsian Dances; Song of the Dark Forest; and the Scherzo theme from Symphony No. 3.

tomb of Borodin

date & photographer unknown

In 1954, Alexander Porfirievich Borodin was posthumously awarded a Tony Award for Kismet. The asteroid previously known by its provisional designation 1990 ES3 was assigned the permanent name (6780) Borodin, in honor of Alexander Borodin. (6780) Borodin is a main-belt asteroid with an estimated diameter of 4 km and an orbital period of 3.37 years.