Glazunov Theme and Variations op. 72 RARE RECORDING

Pianist: Elena Glazunova She was the adopted daughter of Glazunov, practically living in his house most of her young life, including the dire early years of the Soviet Union, and later she attended St. Petersburg Conservatory for Piano. She was in the same class as Shostakovich, and they were friends. Later Elena would prove to be a great advocate of Glazunov’s music, performing his piano concertos all over Europe, and being a musician in her own right. This is one of several recordings she made of his music. In 1900, Glazunov found a Finnish folk song that he really liked a lot, and so composed these series of variations on the tune. He considered publishing it as “Variations on a Finnish Folk Song“ but decided not to since at the time that would have been politically dicey to support Finland so openly while they were resisting Russian rule. This theme is also found in his Finnish Fantasy op. 88, which was written a number of years later when it was more acceptable to show his sup