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Aleksandr Borodin: Syntheses and Symphonies
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14180 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
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1 / 1988 |
1,921 Words |
| Author
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George B. Kauffman
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Aleksandr Borodin's musical compositions are relatively few--three symphonies (the last incomplete); a symphonic poem; about a half dozen pieces of chamber music; some piano works; less than twenty songs and choral works; and an unfinished opera, Prince Igor. Nevertheless, his reputation as one of the great masters of Russian music is unchallenged, and his melodies resonate in the memories of millions in such songs as "Stranger in Paradise." In the words of British music scholar Sir Henry Hadow, "No musician has ever claimed immortality with so slender an offering--yet if there be, indeed, immortalities in music, Borodin's claim is incontestable."
Like his musical works, Borodin's scientific output was also meager. Yet, little known to most of his musical admirers, he left behind a respectable body of scientific discoveries, largely in the fields of organic and physiological chemistry.
A lifetime problem for Borodin was the competition for his time between his musical and scientific activities. Time spent on composition (which he regarded merely as his avocation) reduced the time available for research, and vice versa, while the excessive hours required for his miscellaneous professional duties in the areas of education and social service infringed upon both his musical and research activities. Thus Borodin's conflict was caused by his lack of time for his multifarious activities rather than by any innate opposition between music and chemistry. In a letter to his wife he wrote, "The lectures are now in full swing, the experiments in the laboratory are in great demand; then there are exams, commissions, conferences. … There is no time to breathe." To a friend he complained of his lack of time for composition. "Days, weeks, months, whole winters go by without a chance to get seriously to work. ... During the winter I can only compose when I am too ill to give my lectures. So my friends, reversing the usual custom, never say to me 'I hope you're well' but 'I do hope you are ill.'"
Borodin's scientific colleagues criticized his musical activities, while his musical friends disparaged his scientific work. While still a student, Borodin was often warned by his mentor, Professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Zinin, who had won worldwide fame for his synthesis of aniline, a compound used in the manufacture of dyes and drugs: "Mr. Borodin, it would be better if you gave less thought to writing songs. I have placed all my hopes in you and want you to be my successor one day. You waste too much time thinking about music. You cannot hunt two hares at the same time."
Borodin's Life
Aleksandr Porfir'evich Borodin was born in St. Petersburg (now Leningrad) on November 12, 1833. He was the illegitimate son of Luka Gedianov, an Imeretian prince, and Avdot'ia Antonova, the wife of an army doctor. Borodin received his family name (Borodin) and patronymic (Porfir'evich) from Gedianov's valet, Porfirii Borodin, whose wife, Tatiana Borodina, was listed in the birth registry as Aleksandr's mother. Aleksandr's legal parents were serfs of his real father, and therefore young "Sasha" Borodin was legally his father's serf, a not uncommon situation in Russia at the time. Neither of his actual parents acknowledged him as a son; his mother always referred to herself as "Auntie," the name with which he addressed her in all his letters.
Borodin's interests
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