Lied des Schicksals

‘Thus fate knocks at the door!’ By paraphrasing what is perhaps the most famous motif in classical music, Alexander Glasunov joins a multitude of composers who considered their lives as predestined by fate in the manner of Ludwig van Beethoven.

In the case of Glasunov, the revolution of 1905 and his appointment as Director of the St Petersburg Conservatoire the same year could have provided the motivation for this ecstatic and opulent tonal soundscape bursting with exotic European colouring. The leitmotif, initially intoned with timidity, returns in the fi nale loud and ominous.