GLIÈRE Life&times

1875

LIFE: Reinhold Glier – later changed to Glière – is born in Kyiv on 11 January to Ernst Glier, a wind instrument maker from Saxony, and Józefa Korczak, who is of Polish descent. TIMES: The Russian Empire and Japan sign the Saint Petersburg Treaty, by which Japan cedes the island of Sakhalin in return for the Kuril Islands.

1904

LIFE: Now a teacher at the Gnesin School of Music in Moscow, Glière marries Maria Robertowna Renkvist. The couple go on to have five children, including two sets of twins.

TIMES: The playwright Anton Chekhov dies aged 44. A physician by trade, the Russian’s masterpieces for stage included The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters.

1923

LIFE: He travels to Azerbaijan as part of the bid to help the country’s ‘Soviet development’. The visit results in his folk-infused opera Shakhsenem, which is staged in Baku in 1927.

TIMES: Glumov’s Diary, the first film directed by Sergei Eisenstein, is shown as part of a theatre production. Five minutes long, the film begins with Eisenstein removing his cap and bowing.

1912

LIFE: Glière’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Ilya Muromets’ is given its premiere in Moscow, conducted by

Emil Cooper. TIMES: A strike against harsh working conditions at gold mines near the Lena River in Siberia leads to the ‘Lena Massacre’ when Imperial Russian Army soldiers open fire on protestors.

1943

LIFE: Nadezhda Kazantseva gives the first performance of Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, a work that later wins him the first of three Stalin Prizes.

TIMES: German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad marks a significant moment in World War II. Lasting five months, the battle is estimated to have resulted in around two million casualties in total.

1956

LIFE: After a long period of declining health and decreasing activity, he dies in Moscow on 23 June at the age of

81. He is buried in the Soviet capital’s Novodevichy Cemetery.

TIMES: The Soviet submarine Myest sinks after colliding with the destroyer Statny. The crew all perish, either trapped in the submarine itself or during their attempts to escape.