Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin (1833–1887) was a Russian composer, scientist, chemist and social activist. He received a versatile education at home. He completed studies at the St. Petersburg Medical Surgery Academy. He was a Doctor of Medicine, professor, head of a university department and academician of the Medical Surgery Academy. He was one of the organizers and teachers of Women’s Medical Courses.
Borodin’s friendship with many scientists, including Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev, Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechyonov and Nikolay Nikolayevich Zinin and his study of articles and essays of Vissarion Grigor’yevich Belinsky and Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen enhanced the formation of Borodin’s progressive social positions.
Having mastered the technique of composition by himself, in the 1860s Borodin became a member of the artistic union “The Mighty Handful.” The influence of Mily Alekseyevich Balakirev, art critic Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov, as well as Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky made it possible for Borodin’s musical aesthetic positions to emerge as following those of M. Glinka. During that time the composer wrote his First Symphony, opera-farce “The Bogatyri” and song «Spyashchaya knyazhna” (“The Sleeping Princess”).
The composer’s busy schedule with his scientific and teaching work and, at the same time, his strong insistence on high standards in his own music stipulated the lengthy duration of work on each of his compositions. Thus, the Second Symphony (labeled the “Bogatyr Symphony” by Stasov) was written during the course of two years, while the completion of the full score required a few more years. Borodin worked for 18 years on his opera “Prince Igor” (based on the early Russian text “The Lay of Prince Igor’s Regiment”), but did not complete it (the work was completed by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov who used Borodin’s musical material).
The musical legacy of Borodin is not large in quantity. His musical compositions were able to express his love for his native land, the idea of the greatness of the Russian people, the love of freedom and heroic images from Russian history. The epic breadth in the composer’s music is aptly combined with a profound lyricism.
Along with a sensitive penetration into the character of Russian folklore, the composer aspired to comprehend the art of the peoples of the East. Borodin’s most significant work is the opera “Prince Igor,” presenting the perfect image of national heroic epos in music. The composer became one of the founders of the genres of the Russian classical symphony and string quartet. He also became an innovator in the sphere of lyrical chamber vocalism. Among his compositions are the opera-farce “Boratyri,” the opera “Prince Igor;” music for orchestra, including three symphonies and the tone poem “In Central Asia;” works for chamber ensembles; works for piano and four-hand piano; songs and pieces for vocal ensembles.
