"Shcherzo. Alegretto" genre: Chamber Music
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	Streichquartett Nr.5 D-moll op.70 (1899), watch more information under "song story" link.
	CD: A. Glasunov - Streichquartett Nr5 d-moll Credits: A. Glasunov
	Story Behind the Song Another composer personifying the greatness of Russian music in the 19th century and afterwards was Alexander Glazunov, one of the most respected musicians of his time, even outside Russia. He too was at first very close to the "Novators" and was highly regarded by them despite the many decades which separated them in age. His genius gained him the nickname of the "Russian Brahms". Leaving on one side the earlier contrasts between the St Petersburg "Novators" and the Moscow school of composition centred on Tchaikovsky, he developed a style of his own containing elements of both schools, and blended the melodic characteristics of Russian folklore with Western European musical forms and traditional counterpoint writing. Glazunov took a close interest in chamber music, writing seven important string quartets, of which the fifth in D minor is the most eminent. The composer displays his contrapuntal abilities straight away in the first movement, where a rugate is heard above an elegiac melody, unfolding with great expressive energy. This melody from the Andante is made into the main idea of the Allegro section. Passion, emotional breadth and tonal fullness characterize this first movement. It contrasts with the elegance and gracious tone of the Scherzo, the Trio striking a positively pastoral note. Lyrical depth of feeling is expressed in the Adagio third movement with its deep, heartfelt sighs. The Finale is a headlong current, now on the tonal surface, then retreating to the background as the accompaniment to a cantilena-like melody. As a whole this quartet radiates the "musical evolutionary force" which the Russian critic and music writer Vladimir Stasov so admired in Glazunov.

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