Myaskovsky’s 27 symphonies: An introduction.

For those unfamiliar with the name of Nikolay Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, Raymond Bisha’s podcast presents the composer’s calling card as the ‘father of the Soviet symphony’. Having lived from 1881 to 1950, Myaskovsky spent all his life under the restrictive influence of Joseph Stalin, yet managed to produce 27 symphonies that preserved his individual voice. This release contrasts the Symphony No. 1 (1908), that earned Myaskovsky the Glazunov Scholarship at the St Petersburg Conservatory, with his Symphony No. 13, written 25 years later with darker tones reflecting the troubled world in which he lived.