Grechaninov Takes on Cui and Wins

He was considered a revolutionary in the realms of sacred music, and his life nearly spanned an entire century living through the privations of the Bolshevik uprising, and eventually emigrating to the USA - Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Aleksandr Grechaninov.

After leaving the St Petersburg Conservatory, Grechaninov had a number of his early songs published. Some of these became very popular including Lullaby opus 1 no.5, which is sung in today's programme by Paul Robeson. However, the critic Cesar Cui, who had also published a book on Russian songs, categorised these works by Grechaninov as third rate. Grechaninov confronted Cui and found out that he'd never heard his songs, and subsequently demanded an apology from him.

During his early career, Grechaninov would have to rely on teaching young musicians in order to survive financially. Although at times he would disagree with the parents of his students, he would go on to compose a number of songs and piano works for children, including his twelve piano pieces Historiettes opus 118, and Six songs opus 31, including one about a trumpet-playing jackdaw.

During this early period in his career, Grechaninov started to turn his attention to sacred music, and he composed his first Liturgy of St John Chrysostom opus 12. He would go on to compose a number of works for the Church, and prove to be something of a revolutionary in this arena.