Scriabin’s Color Symbolism in Music

by Ursula Rehn Wolfram, Interlude

In my last article I discussed Čiurlionis’ genius, single-handedly introducing Symbolism to his native Lithuania. Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) in contrast, lived and worked within well-established artistic traditions in Russia, in which the various avant-garde movements in music and art from Western Europe had flourished. By 1893, the works of Verlaine, Mallarmé, Maeterlinck, Poe, Ibsen, Strindberg had been translated into Russian as had Schopenhauer’s work ‘Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung’ (The World as Will and Presentation). Kant and Nietzsche were also widely read in Russia at that time.

Alexander Scriabin

Initially a literary-philosophical movement, Russian Symbolism grew from these western European roots, and took different forms in the musical circles of St. Petersburg and Moscow. St. Petersburg, always more directed to and open towards the west — Czar Peter the Great had founded the city as a ‘Window to the West’ — produced many great operatic composers, such as Glinka, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, whose opera ‘The Golden Cockerel’ can be considered to follow the Symbolist tradition. The Moscow School, more oriented towards ‘Old Russia’ and its mystical past, primarily focused on instrumental music with composers such as Scriabin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. Scriabin wrote mainly for the piano, with — among his oeuvre — ten sonatas, 83 preludes, 101 piano pieces; five symphonies, one piano concerto. He frequented the Symbolist literary circle in Moscow, whose greatest theoretician was Andrej Belyi.

Title Page For Scriabin’s – Symphonie Prométhée

In 1904 Scriabin participated in the Fourth Philosophical Congress in Geneva, whose main topics were the works of Fichte and Bergson. In his annotated notes of the various lectures, Scriabin focused on the ideas of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, in particular on Nietzsche’s ‘Zarathustra’ and the concept of the ‘Űbermensch’ – Nietzsche’s ‘Superman’. In his later years, he would see himself as a ‘Superman’, who would lead like a prophet, evoking Baudelaire’s concept of the role of the poet, and would liberate humanity through the ‘mystery of music, color, dance, and scents’ – through the experience of true ‘synesthesia’. Artistic creation for him became a state of ‘mystical ecstasy’ similar to a divine revelation. His symphonies from then on carry titles such as ‘poèmes/poems’ e.g. ‘Le divin poème/The divine poem’, Symphony No. 3; ‘Le poème de l’Extase/Poem of Ecstasy’ op. 54’, Symphony No.4, 1908; ‘Prométée/Prometheus’, ‘Le poème du feu/Poem of Fire’, Symphonie No. 5, 1911 for piano, choir and color piano. 

With this Prometheus composition, Scriabin enters the realm of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, the concept of the ‘total work of art’, where music, colors (the predominant force), word elements and philosophy all work together. The piano in ‘Prometheus’ embodies the Promethean spirit, which shows man defying the gods in bringing fire to the earth, for which Scriabin invented a new tonality, the so-called ‘Promethean or mystic chord’ – a six-note synthetic chord, outside of major and minor chords. Many of his subsequent works include the use of this chord, with derivations emerging from its transpositions.

Many composers of the 20th and 21st centuries also have used this chord in various ways, especially as the use of dissonant sonorities became more prevalent.

Colors then, in the Color Piano are assigned specific roles, i.e., as the tones change, the colors also change. For example: F# is not just a chord assigned the color ‘blue’, but at the same time a mood, voilé, mystérieux/veiled, mysterious; ‘yellow’ not only uses the chords of D, G#, C, F#, B, E, but conveys a happy mood, plus animé, joyeux/more lively, happy. ‘Red’, voluptueux presque avec douleur/voluptuous almost with distress, is the color of ecstasy. Scriabin’s choices of colors were not by happenstance, but followed the color-theory of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), who had based his theories on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s ‘Farbenlehre/Color Theory’, published in 1810.

Scriabin’s Color Piano Keys

Inspired by his Prometheus, Scriabin continued to explore the ideas of a ‘mystery’, linking music, poetry, and dance, leading to the redemption of humanity through a symphony of sound, light, color, and scents which would envelop the listener and bring him to a state of ecstasy. For Scriabin, colors had become the means – color as sound-intoxication and color-intoxication as sound. In the final analysis, he did not become a painter-composer like Čiurlionis, Schoenberg, Satie or Hindemith, or a composer like Mussorgsky with his ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ – but remained a philosopher-composer.

Elsa Esnoult - Souviens-toi [CLIP OFFICIEL]

Qui n’a jamais connu un amour de vacances… c’est le thème du nouveau titre d’Elsa Esnoult, « Souviens-toi » extrait de son album « 5 ». Avec beaucoup de sensibilité et de sensualité, Elsa nous chante les regrets d’une histoire d’amour trop courte. Tourné sur les plages de Love Island, ce clip nous ramène en vacances pour notre plus grand plaisir…

The Blues and Classical Music harmonics...

My next-to-last instalment on Harmony, this time exploring the blue harmonies of George Gershwin, and their effect on Classical Music. _________________________________________________________________ Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue:    • George Gershwin -...   Gershwin Piano Concerto:    • George Gershwin P...   Porgy & Bess:    • Bess, You Is My W...   Debussy Petite Negre:    • Debussy "Le petit...   Ravel Piano Concerto:    • Ravel: Piano Conc...   Shostakovich Jazz Suite No 2:    • Suite for Jazz Or...  

“That’s What Friends are For” by Elton John, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and others.

Live at the amfAR New York Gala 2011 Learn more and donate: https://www.amfar.org amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, kicked off fashion week with its annual New York Gala on February 9, 2011, raising more than $1.5 million for AIDS research. President Bill Clinton, Diane von Furstenberg, and amfAR Founding International Chairman Dame Elizabeth Taylor were honored with amfAR Awards of Courage for their vital and distinctive contributions to the global struggle against HIV/AIDS. Awards were presented by Chelsea Clinton, Barry Diller, and Sir Elton John, respectively. The black tie benefit marked 25 years of amfAR, and featured a special reunion performance of “That’s What Friends are For” by all of the original artists: Elton John, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder (see video below). This marked the first time the four had performed the song together since the 80s—they originally recorded it in 1985 as a benefit single for amfAR, raising $3 million for the Foundation. The evening also included performances by David Garrett and Karen Elson. Also in recognition of amfAR’s 25 years, special tributes were made to the Foundation’s co-founders, Mathilde Krim, Ph.D., and Dame Elizabeth Taylor. amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver, Richard Gere, Rosie O’Donnell, Julianna Margulies, Alan Cumming, Maggie Rizer, and Michelle Yeoh also participated in the program. The evening was presented by Hublot, and co-sponsored by M*A*C Viva Glam.

Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla, dead at 54 – reports

Published January 13, 2023, 10:02 AM

by Robert Requintina

Priscilla Presley (left) and daughter Lisa Marie (Instagram)

Rest in peace.

Singer Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of music icon Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, died following a cardiac arrest on Jan. 12. She was 54.

Hours before her demise, Priscilla took to Instagram to ask for prayers for her daughter after she eas rushed to the hospital on Thursday. Her post read: 

“My beloved daughter Lisa Marie was rushed to the hospital. She is now receiving the best care. Please keep her and our family in your prayers. We feel the prayers from around the world, and ask for privacy during this time. – Priscilla Presley”

Lisa Marie Presley (Facebook)

Fans prayed for Lisa Marie, the only child and daughter of Elvis and Priscilla.

Lisa Marie had four children. She was married and divorced four times, including pop star Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage.

Elvis Presley and daughter Lisa Marie in her younger years (Facebook)

It was TMZ, a popular entertainment website in the US, which initially reported about the death of the musician.

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“TMZ broke the story … Lisa was rushed to the hospital after her housekeeper found her unresponsive at her Calabasas home. Her ex-husband, Danny Keough, was there and performed CPR on her until paramedics arrived and took over — they administered at least one dose of epinephrine during resuscitation efforts,” TMZ reported.

Elvis and Priscilla with baby Lisa Marie (Facebook)

Lisa Marie debuted in the music scene with her album “To Whom It May Concern” in 2003. It reached No. 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 album chart.

The Prodigal Pianist

 by Frances Wilson, Interlude

Alan Rusbridger

The adult ‘returner’ pianist

I’m a returner pianist – and maybe, if you’re reading this article, you are too and therefore what follows will resonate with you. Or perhaps you are thinking of taking up the piano again after a long absence (as I did), in which case you should definitely read on…..

I played at a piano club recently and during the coffee break someone asked me if I was “a professional pianist”. This gave me a momentary glow of pride and ego – evidently I had played well and “made an impression” – and I know that many amateurs dream of reaching the dizzy heights of ‘professional standard’ in their playing. It’s one of the things that keeps us motivated to practice; alone with that box of wood and wires we dream of playing to a full house at the Wigmore or Carnegie Hall.

So I replied that no, I was an amateur pianist, an adult ‘returner’ and that I had given up the piano at the age of nineteen when I left home to go to university, returning to it just shy of my fortieth birthday with an all-consuming passion for the instrument, those who play it and its vast and varied literature.

When you tell people you’ve taken up the piano again they always ask, “Are you any good?” And I never know quite what to say. Some days when my spirit and fingers are in sympathy with each other, I think I make a reasonable sound. On other days, spirit and fingers aren’t on speaking terms and the result is fumbling, dismal, depressing.
– Alan Rusbridger, journalist and amateur pianist

The world of the adult amateur pianist is a curious one – at once rich, vibrant and varied, but also obsessive, anxious and eccentric and when I put out a call for contributions to this article, I was deluged with responses as varied, fascinating and moving as the literature of the instrument we play. What follows are just a few of the responses, but what they demonstrate is that, while there are some obvious common threads, the reasons for returning to and playing the piano are often deeply personal and hugely meaningful, and that a passion for the piano is all-consuming. Never forget that the word “amateur” derives from the Old French word meaning “lover of” from the Latin amator: all the amateur pianists I meet and know play the piano because they love it and care passionately about it. Love drives commitment to the instrument – amateur pianists are possibly the most dedicated practicers – and many amateurs are absorbed by a compelling need to get better, to progress, to master. It’s a lonely road to travel, but those who commit to the journey do so willingly, and it’s an ongoing process, one which can provide immense satisfaction, stimulation and surprising creativity.

Amateur pianists at La Balie piano summer course

That is not to say that professional pianists don’t love the piano too – of course they do, otherwise they wouldn’t do it, but a number of concert pianists whom I’ve interviewed and know personally have expressed a certain frustration at the demands of the profession – producing programmes to order, the travelling, the expectations of audiences, promoters, agents etc, which can obscure the love for the piano. Because of this, professionals are often quite envious of the freedom amateur pianists have to indulge their passion, to play whatever repertoire they choose and to play purely for pleasure.

Now, back to those inspiring adult returners…..

My primary reason for returning was that both my parents had lived the last ten or twelve years of their lives with advancing dementia, as well as some second degree relatives. I thought the best way to really work my brain was to go back to playing music. The secondary reason was to help relieve stress which was something my piano teacher had told me I would need at some point in my life……For me, having started to suffer the lacunar strokes in my family history which have a type of dementia related to them, I keep hold on the fact that the part of the brain that works with music is usually the last to fail. I still feel that playing the piano is probably one of the best avenues to take to keep working the brain. Apart from that I simply love playing again.
– Eleanor

It was the death of an uncle which prompted me to return to the piano. He was very musical, and after he died my other uncle asked me whether I would like his piano, a rather fine Steinway grand which had been in the family for ages. However, grand pianos are somewhat incompatible with the three bedroom semi in which I live, but it did remind me how much I’d enjoyed the piano. I was lucky enough to be left some money in his will, and with that I bought a Yamaha upright with silent system fitted. I wanted a proper acoustic, but I have young children so a silent system means I can practice at night after they are in bed. I have lessons once a fortnight and they are completely indispensable for my enjoyment.
– Sarah

I studied music at university and did two years of a performance major but struggled with various chronic injuries and dropped out as a result (I had two operations and had seen many medical specialists in attempt to resolve these problems). I then “sold my soul” to capitalism and started a business, following which I continued along a corporate career. I had always dreamed of getting back into playing but my schedule was punishing and not at all conducive to playing. I started to play again and unfortunately ended up with RSI (tennis elbow) which swiftly ended my return to playing. Then a few years later I managed to extricate myself from the corporate world and…..I managed to start playing again and although I had some niggles from the RSI, was able to play around 0.5 – 1 hrs a few days a week. I also started going for lessons with [a teacher who] focussed very much on reducing tension…..and I realised how much of my injuries came down to poor technique and tension. I wish a greater emphasis had been placed on this when I was a music student because while [my teacher] helped me find a much more natural, comfortable way to play, it was already too late and my RSI flared up again to the point where a few minutes of playing would leave me in agony for days. It was devastating after so long of trying to be in a position to have the time to play that I wasn’t able to. A few years later (whilst consistently seeing medical specialists and trying various approaches) I managed to have a breakthrough in which I was able to slowly start playing again, a few minutes every second day and was able to gradually build up. This was a useful exercise in that I had to be more focussed on practising effectively given the limited time available. Despite being told by numerous doctors that I wouldn’t play again, I’m now able to play for up to an hour on some days. This has been sufficient to learn some new repertoire and to perform in some amateur meet-up groups which has really been a wonderful experience. In fact, once I was able to let go of the inner critic (as a former music student, the inner critic remains highly developed even though one’s technical ability wanes without practice!), I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed playing. It would have never have occurred to me all those years ago when I dropped out of university that I’d be able to derive so much enjoyment out of playing as an amateur.
– Ryan

I originally started piano lessons aged 13, of my own volition; I’d had one of those 80s electronic keyboards that were all the rage back then, and wanted to progress to something more substantial. My progress was very slow, however, and ultimately not very fulfilling. I managed to pass my Grade 1 but found the exam experience stressful. I think a lot of it had to do with the prescriptive way children are typically taught: everything was just scales, sight reading and set pieces that weren’t especially fun or engaging to play. Nearly twenty years later, I was in a piano bar on holiday, and the pianist was playing modern music set to piano. It was beautiful, and I felt a sense of regret that I had abandoned such a beautiful instrument. On returning home, I did a spot of research and found that digital pianos had come on a long way in the intervening years and were now touch-sensitive with weighted keys and even a sustain pedal. I took the plunge, ordered a decent model (the Yamaha P115) and signed up for lessons with a local teacher. It’s been a wonderful decision, and I have fallen in love with playing. It’s still small steps, but I practice regularly and have actively witnessed improvement in my own playing.
– Colin

I discovered classical music as a teen (Bach) and started taking lessons. I wanted to be a composer, and eventually became a composition major at a local university. Having started late, and not having received family support and good advice from those who did support me, I let my insecurities defeat me, and I ended up getting a degree in English. Decades later, we inherited a spinet from a relative, and I found my passion once again. I finally have a good teacher, and am making progress toward being the pianist I wanted to be.
– Bob

My piano journey has been relatively straightforward compared to some of the accounts of other adult returner pianists, but we are all on our own personal path, some of us supported by teachers, others choosing to “go it alone”, but all driven by a common, consuming passion for the piano.

Forgotten records: How Beethoven Lost a Symphony

Witt’s Jéna Symphony

by Maureen Buja 

  

Friedrich Witt

In 1909, in the papers of the Academic Concert of the University of Jena, the music director found complete parts for a Symphony in C. Written on the 2nd violin part was ‘par Louis van Beethoven’ and, on the cello part, ‘Symphonie von Beethoven.’ This followed what Beethoven himself had written – that he had once attempted a Symphony in C major modelled on Haydn’s Symphony No. 97 before he wrote what we now know as his Symphony No. 1. This work fit that description perfectly.

The work was published under Beethoven’s name by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1911. It wasn’t until the discovery of another copy of the work by the scholar H.C. Robbins Landon that the situation became clear. The work that Robbins Landon discovered in Göttweig Abey was clearly signed by Friedrich Witt and he used that to convince the world that Witt was the composer, and not Beethoven. A second copy of the work found at Rudolstadt, also signed Witt, helped confirm the identification.

Walter Goehr (photo by Julia Crockatt)

Friedrich Witt (1770-1836) was a composer who was born the same year as Beethoven and had his own career as a composer and a cellist. From 1789 to about 1796 he was in the orchestra of the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein. While Witt was at the court, Haydn sent copies of his Symphonies Nos. 93, 96, 97, and 98 to Wallerstein, thus giving Witt material for the Jena Symphony. After he wrote his oratorio Der leidende Heiland, the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg appointed him as Kapellmeister in 1802. From 1814, when the court chapel was dissolved, to 1836 he was Kapellmeister at the Würzburg theatre and wrote operas for them, of which few survive.

The Jena Symphony probably dates from sometime between 1792-93 when Haydn’s symphonies arrived at Wallerstein and 1796.

When you listen to the work with Beethoven’s name attached, you immediately hear in the opening the characteristic rhythmic emphasis that Beethoven had in so many of his works. However, as the work continues, we aren’t so convinced. The work has been described as ‘a splendid example of symphonic writing from a time when this form was achieving both prestige and popularity with a growing music-loving public.’ We really have a work that reflects the state of the symphony after the death of Haydn and before Beethoven’s innovations in his Eroica symphony.

Friedrich Witt: Symphony in C major, “Jéna” – I. Adagio – Allegro Vivace

This recording was made in 1952 with The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra led by Walter Goehr. Walter Goehr (1903-1960) studied with Arnold Schoenberg in Berlin and became a conductor before being forced to leave Germany in 1937, becoming music director for the Gramophone Company (later EMI). He was a busy conductor for EMI and, after the war, for other European recording companies. He also taught conducting, was a music arranger, conducted for the BBC, and was a composer in his own right, including writing film scores.

Eric Whitacre: His Music and His Life

 

Eric Whitacre (1970-present)

Biography

Eric Whitacre (1970-present), accomplished composer, conductor and lecturer is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation.

Life and Music

His published works – of which Sleep, Cloudburst, Lux Aurumque and Water Night are amongst the most popular choral works composed this decade - have sold over a million copies worldwide. Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, Eric’s cutting edge musical, has won the ASCAP Harold Arlen award, the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award and 10 Ovation Award nominations.

His Virtual Choir projects have given him a worldwide following on YouTube, marking a new digital age for classical music.

“Whitacre is that rare thing, a modern composer who is both popular and original" (The Telegraph).

Eric Whitacre conducts Eric Whitacre, with the cream of young British Singers – Laudibus – and his own professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, features Whitacre’s enchanting choral works including Lux Aurumque (Virtual Choir), Sleep, Seal Lullaby, Water Night and Five Hebrew Love Songs.

The Essentials of Jean Philippe Rameau

10 of Claude Debussy’s greatest pieces of music

Debussy’s greatest masterpieces. Picture: Alamy

By Siena Linton, ClassicFM

 

From lazy woodland creatures on a hot summer’s day to the plains of southern Spain, Claude Debussy is the unparalleled master of evocative musical imagery.

Forever entwined in the imaginations of his admirers with lethargic fauns, and idyllic woodlands thick with summer haze, Claude Debussy was classical music’s answer to the impressionist art movement which took Paris by storm in the mid to late 19th century.

As Monet, Cézanne and Renoir were masters of the visual arts, so Debussy was a master at crafting intricate and mesmerising soundscapes, transporting his audiences to dream-like worlds with his musical reveries.

1. Petite Suite (1907)

   Originally written for piano with four hands, Debussy’s Petite Suite was orchestrated by his colleague Henri Büsser in 1907. Made up of four movements, the first evokes a picturesque seaside vista. Titled ‘En bateau’, or ‘Sailing’, it’s easy to imagine boats and dinghies bobbing over gently rocking waves, as a flute melody soars over sighing strings and harp glissandos.

   
   

2. Jeux (1913)

   Debussy’s Jeux is a one-of-a-kind piece of music. Premiered in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1913, just two weeks before Stravinsky’s riot-inducing Rite of Spring, it was described by the composer as a ‘danced poem’. The piece was written at the request of dynamic ballet duo Sergei Diaghilev and legendary choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, to be performed by Diaghilev’s company, Ballets Russes. It follows a vague storyline of a boy, two girls, and a tennis ball, which goes ultimately unresolved – much like many of Debussy’s harmonies.

   
   

3. Ibéria (1912)

   The second movement of Images pour orchestre, ‘Ibéria’ consists of three movements itself, each depicting images of Spain: its streets and paths, the scents of night, and the ‘morning of a festive day’. It’s an adventurous musical wonderland of jingling percussion, clacking castanets and chiming church bells, evocative of the sunny Iberian peninsula.

4. La fille aux cheveux de lin (1910)

   Debussy wrote two books of solo piano preludes, the first in 1909-1910 and the second in 1912-1913. By far the best known, is La fille aux cheveux de lin, or ‘The Girl with the Flaxen Hair’. With a performance marking meaning ‘very calm and sweetly expressive’, it’s a short and simple work that, over the course of just a few minutes, perfectly depicts the soft innocence that is often associated with golden hair in fine art.

5. Rêverie (1884)

   Debussy’s Rêverie is another one of those beautifully dream-like solo piano pieces that cements its composer as one of the 20th-century greats. With gently oscillating motifs, contrasting rhythms in the left and right hands, and plenty of rubato, the music creates a blissful sense of floating and weightlessness.

   
   

6. Pelléas et Mélisande (1902)

   Although he began to write several, Pelléas et Mélisande is the only opera that Debussy completed. As a young composer Debussy was in awe of Wagner’s operas, traveling to the Bayreuth Festival to see them. And yet, as he told a friend, he had to be careful not to allow the 19th-century opera titan’s works to influence him too much: he had seen fellow French composers attempt to imitate the style, and thought it “dreary”. And so Pelléas et Mélisande is the perfect melting pot of laissez-faire French impressionism and Wagnerian drama.

7. La mer (1905)

   La mer, which translates to ‘The Sea’, was first performed in Paris in late 1905. Inspired by artists’ depictions of the sea rather than the sea itself, one of the criticisms following an icy reception at the premiere was, “I do not hear, I do not see, I do not smell the sea”. Other critics wrote that it did not depict the sea, but rather “some agitated water in a saucer”. Nevertheless, on consecutive performances the piece was much more favourably received, and remains a favourite among the world’s top orchestras to this day.

8. Clair de lune (1905)

   Think of relaxing piano music, and Debussy’s gorgeous ‘Clair de lune’ probably comes to mind. It’s the third, and most famous, movement from Suite bergamasque, which Debussy began writing in 1890 and ultimately finished in 1905. So the story goes, Debussy didn’t originally want these early pieces made public, but eventually accepted a publisher’s offer – and thank goodness he did.

   
   

9. Deux Arabesques (1891)

   Debussy wrote his Deux Arabesques for solo piano while still in his 20s, between 1888 and 1891. Despite the composer’s young age, the whimsical and dream-like character his music would come to be known and loved for can already be heard, carving the way for French Impressionism in music.

10. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

    Beginning with one of the most iconic orchestral flute solos ever written, Debussy wrote Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun’) in 1894. His inspiration was a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, in which a faun awakes from his afternoon slumber and recounts a series of rendezvous with forest nymphs. Debussy’s meandering score and rich orchestration captivates his audience and brings them to the heart of the forest on a balmy summer’s day, to hear the tales of the faun’s afternoon amidst the heady pinewood scents, floating through the breeze.

    
    

Rimsky-Korsakov’s estate devastated by fire, destroying over 1,000 valuable artefacts

Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov’s estate was engulfed in flames over the weekend. Picture: Governor of the Pskov region Mikhail Vedernikov

By Sophia Alexandra Hall, ClassicFM

@sophiassocials

 

Said to have been caused by careless builders, a fire at Rimsky-Korsakov’s estate has done untold damage, destroying thousands of artefacts belonging to the 19th-century Russian composer.

This weekend, a fire broke out in the estate and memorial museum of 19th-century composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Over half of the exhibits have been destroyed in the blaze, which has devastated more than 1,000 artefacts.

Born in the town of Tikhvin, 200km east of St Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov was a prolific composer, scoring a considerable body of nationalistic music including orchestral, choral, and operatic works.

He is particularly notable for being one of ‘The Five’, a collection of five Russian composers including Modest Mussorgsky, and Alexander Borodin, who led the way in creating a distinct national style of classical music.

Rimsky-Korsakov died in 1908 in the now fire-damaged estate, which he had purchased as a home for his children. The estate is in the west Russian village of Lyubensk, in the Plyussky District of Pskov Oblast. Reports of the fire originally emerged from the governor of the district, Mikhail Vedernikov who posted a photo of the fire on his Telegram [social media] account, saying the damage was “significant”.

Read more: Tchaikovsky’s house destroyed by Russian army in north-east Ukraine

The fire is said to have been started due to “the negligence of builders” who were repairing the roof of the museum using a ‘hot work’ technique – construction that uses open flames. Starting on the roof, the fire spread “very quickly” throughout the building according to Vedernikov, engulfing the estate before firefighters were able to arrive. No one was injured in the blaze.

The Pskov regional Investigative Committee – of the Russian Investigative Committee – is reportedly investigating the instigating factors of the fire, and interviewing eyewitnesses in order to establish the full story.

According to the local press office, firefighters were able to save half of the museum’s exhibits, but thousands of artefacts were destroyed. Of the valuables saved, emergency workers were able to retrieve a real silver trophy and a real gold pen, as well as furniture, books, magazines and shelves.

Vedernikov wrote on Telegram that, “[the museum] is an object of cultural heritage and federal significance”, and the governor seems committed to ensuring the preservation of the remaining exhibits.

“Together with our colleagues from the Government,” the official writes, “we will do our best to restore the estate.”