Presented at the Grieg Conference in Bergen May 30, 2015
Elena Biteryakova, Russia
Senior researcher, Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory
Russian musicians about Edvard Grieg. Vladimir Blok
Ekaterina Tsareva, professor of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, has claimed that “Edvard Grieg’s music became an integral part of Russian culture, because from the very beginning it was perceived in Russia as its own”. The first person who wrote about congeniality of Grieg’s music with the Russian soul and about the unbelievable admiration of Grieg’s music by the Russian public was Peter Tchaikovsky. His quotes of 1888 are often repeated in all Russian publications. According to Tchaikovsky, already in 1870s Grieg’s masterpieces were very well known and beloved in Russia. Today, in almost all Russian researches related to the names of Tchaikovsky and Grieg, it is highlighted that Tchaikovsky pointed Grieg out of the peers, and called “genius” Grieg only. This fact was also noted by Vladimir Blok in 1994.
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Paper Elena Biteryakova 2015