Borodin - Petite Suite - No. 7: Nocturne

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) wrote little enough -- an opera, a couple of symphonies, a tone poem for orchestra, a couple of string quartets, a string quintet for chamber musicians, and a handful of songs for voice and piano -- and next to nothing of any substance for the piano alone. The largest of his piano works is the Petite Suite, seven brief movements composed over a period of five years, dedicated to the Countess Louise de Merci d&and published in 1885. Following Borodin&death in 1887, Glazunov edited and orchestrated a number of his works, including the Petite Suite. In Borodin&autograph, the score bears the dedication "Petit poeme d&d&jeune fille" (Little poems on the love of a young girl). Each movement of the work also has a brief explanation following it. The austerely liturgical first "Au couvent" (At the Convent), "The Church&vows foster thoughts only of God"; the shyly charming second Intermezzo, "Dreaming of Society Life"; the grandly joyous "Mazurka I," "Thinking only of dancing"; the lyrically romantic "Mazurka II," "Thinking both of the dance and the dancer"; the voluptuously lyrical "Reverie" (Dreams), "Thinking only of the dance"; the sensually chaste Serenade, "Dreaming of love"; and the closing romantic Nocturne, "Lulled by the happieness of being in love." Clearly, Borodin has a specific program for the whole work, a work that is part dance, part dream, and all love. Audio generated by Pianoteq 6 (Steinway D Classical Recording AB)