Gliere’s Heritage
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ukraine recently hosted a soirОe dedicated to the 130th birth anniversary of Reinhold Gliere, a well-known composer, conductor, and professor.
Gliere is the author of five operas and seven ballets. He also composed symphonic and chamber music, romantic songs, and original scores for theater productions. Gliere left a huge artistic legacy, but his most well-known works are the ballet Red Poppy, a symphonic poem based on Taras Shevchenko’s Testament, and a concerto for voice and orchestra. The composer educated a large number of excellent pupils. It used to be said that all the best known ex-USSR musicians were students of Gliere or his pupils.
In 1894 Reinhold Gliere graduated from the Kyiv School of Music, which was later renamed in his honor. In 1913 he became the first Rector of the Kyiv Conservatory.
“We dedicated this year’s festival ‘Shevchenko’s Month of March’ to the 130th birth anniversary of Gliere,” says Serhiy Volkov, principal of the Gliere School. “As a matter of fact, our patron was born on January 11, but because this is the time of winter exams and vacations, we decided to postpone the celebrations until spring. There is a tradition in our school dating back to V. V. Pukhalsky: all departments report to the public in March on their completed work. Recently we unveiled a Gliere memorial plaque on our school’s facade. The ceremony was attended by Gliere’s descendants, his granddaughter Senta Gliere and her son Kirill.
“Today, the Gliere School employs 207 full-time teachers and 115 part-time instructors, who work at the National Opera and the Philharmonic Society. We teach 650 students and have our own studio that trains our young replacements.
“We prepared a special program for the embassy concert, which included the works of Gliere and composers who made a significant contribution to the establishment of our institution, namely, Peter Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Since Borys Liatoshynsky, Ihor Shamo, and Ivan Karabyts were Gliere’s disciples, it was logical that their works were also performed at the soirОe.”
The concert in fact revealed the very powerful potential of this Kyiv-based educational institution. Among the performers were some international contest winners: violinist Viktor Andreichenko, flutist Denis Smirnov, pianist Anton Hryshanin, and tenor Ivan Berezovsky.
