Alexander Borodin became famous as the creator of the historical opera “Prince Igor”, which debuted at the Mariinsky Theaterin 1890. He also created symphonies, romances, quartets and concerts. At the same time, Borodin was not a professional composer: he believed chemistry to be the principal task of his life. Alexander Borodin traveled to international conferences with Mendeleev, conducted his own laboratory and even found a chemical reaction that was eventually named after him.
Alexander Borodin was born in St. Petersburg . His father, Luka Gedianov, hailed from a prominent and affluent Georgian family. The prince married late, the marriage was unsuccessful: after a few years the pair began to live apart, and Gedianov went from Moscow to St. Petersburg. In the capital, during one of the dancing evenings, the father fell in love with Avdotya Antonova, the daughter of a modest military man from Narva. Gedianov ordered their common son to be recorded as the kid of his servant called Borodin. According to archives, the future composer was a serf of his own father.
At first, Alexander Borodin grew up at the prince’s house. Avdotya Antonova resided in the adjoining rooms, but in front of outsiders her son called her “auntie . ” She distrusted boarding schools and insisted that Alexander Borodin be educated at home. The mother hired a tutor in French and German and taught her kid to read and count. Subsequently, the composer’s wife Ekaterina Borodina wrote: “His mother idolized him and spoiled him terribly. She loved cats very much and dubbed him “my hundred-ruble cat . ”
In 1839, Luka Gedianov began to suffer major health difficulties. In order to improve the status of his beloved and give her a comfortable living in the case of his death, Avdotya Antonova’s father planned a false marriage with military doctor Hans Kleike. A year later, Gedianov gifted her a four-story home not far from the Semenovsky parade field. Soon Antonova moved there with her kid. The windows of the home overlooked the area where the military practiced, and Alexander Borodin regularly heard a military symphony.
The future composer enjoyed the sounds of marches so much that he sought to pick them by ear on his personal piano. Sometimes Borodin begged permission to walk down to the parade ground: the musicians happily chatted to him and showed him their instruments.
The mother noted her son’s interest in music. Since 1841, the future composer had instruction in playing the flute, and a little later – piano and cello. Already at the age of nine, Alexander Borodin created his first piece of music – the polka “Helen”. He dedicated the work to his first sweetheart. She became Elena, an adult acquaintance of her mother.
In 1843, his father died. Shortly before his death, Gedianov handed his kid a free certificate. Mother soon went to live with a German language instructor, Fedor Fedorov. In 1846, he introduced Alexander Borodin to Mikhail Shchiglev, the son of a mathematics instructor at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. They decided to educate the students together: it was cheaper to engage teachers for each topic. Shchiglev recalled: “Fedorov persuaded my parents to send me to St. Petersburg, to Sasha Borodin’s family, so that it would be closer to going to the 1st gymnasium, where they wanted to send me, and so that I could prepare for the sciences together. Thus, I moved into the house of Borodin’s mother . ” Teachers in Russian, French and German, history, geography, mathematics, drawing and drawing came to the house. In terms of the complexity of the material, the program differed little from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum – Shchiglev’s father supervised the lesson plan. The students were also taught dance and music.
Alexander Borodin is a distinguished scientist and outstanding musician, who became a unique phenomenon in Russian reality of the 19th century. The academician, who produced a number of significant discoveries in the field of organic chemistry and regarded science and medicine to be his major vocation, became recognized as the writer of musical masterpieces known around the globe.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Porfirievich Borodin, born on November 12, 1833, was the illegitimate son of a representative of the princely family, Luka Gedevanishvili, a Georgian by ethnicity, and a young bourgeois Avdotya Antonova. From infancy until eight years, the youngster was regarded a serf of his father, and his parents were the serf servant Porfiry Borodin and his wife Tatyana.
When Alexander was seven years old, his father granted him his independence and secured a future for him and his mother, giving him a magnificent mansion. After the death of the prince, the boy’s upbringing continued in the household of his mother, who was given in marriage to a military doctor called Kleineke. Soon his stepfather died, and subsequently Borodin gained two more younger half-brothers – Dmitry and Evgeny, with whom he always maintained cordial connections.
Not having the right to obtain an education within the walls of a gymnasium, Borodin studied at home and earned expertise in numerous areas. The youngster was interested in music and showed an aptitude for composing. When he was nine years old, he produced a little dance piece and began to study the flute, cello and piano, and by the age of thirteen he became the creator of a full-fledged concert work inspired by the opera Robert the Devil by Giacomo Meyerbeer.
His enthusiasm for art was not restricted to music – the young composer loved to draw and was active in applied arts. At the same time, the youngster got interested in chemistry, a subject that helped him comprehend the composition and nature of intriguing events. Borodin did his initial investigations at home. Looking at this and anxious about the safety of the family, the mother decided that her son needed to study more.
With the aid of the clerks of the treasury chamber, Alexander was allocated to the merchant class, which allowed him to get an education. He graduated from high school and attended the Medical-Surgical Academy of St. Petersburg as a volunteer, where, while learning the profession of a doctor, he extensively studied chemistry under the supervision of Nikolai Nikolaevich Zinin.
Mikhail Shchiglev, conductor and composer
When Alexander Borodin was 13 years old, he created his first concerto for flute and piano. The composer performed the flute part, Shchiglev – the piano. The music teacher complimented the work and recommended the kid to continue writing. Soon Borodin composed a trio for two violins and cello. The mother published her son’s plays. The introduction read: “We ask readers to pay attention to the new wonderful composition of adagio for piano, written by A. Borodin. There is so much personality and creative strength in this short effort that we congratulate music fans in advance on their new ability . ”
However, music was not the sole pastime of Alexander Borodin. He transformed his room into an improvised chemical laboratory: there were jars of solutions on the windowsills, flasks, tubes and a burner on the table. The future composer studied books on chemistry, produced paints himself for a drawing class, and experimented with explosives. He chose to transform his interest into a profession: in 1850, Alexander Borodin attended the medical faculty of the Medical-Surgical Academy. This was not simple to do: the legislation did not enable former serfs to acquire higher education. Then the mother resorted to a trick. Avdotya Antonova negotiated an arrangement with an official in the Tver region, and he assigned Alexander Borodin to the merchants of the third guild. The composer first passed the matriculation tests at the First St. Petersburg Gymnasium, then the admission exams to the academy, and everything was fantastic.
Alexander Borodin was a keen student. To better study anatomy, he spent a lot of time in the room with anatomical preparations and read textbooks. His uncle Dmitry Alexandrov recalled: “He devoted himself to his studies at the academy with all his soul; it reeked of the absolutely cadaverous smell of a dissection room; I usually read, sitting in a chair with my feet on the windowsill. At home I virtually always wore a robe and shoes . ” In his third year, Alexander Borodin began studying with the famous chemist Nikolai Zinin. The scientist had a vast laboratory. The composer was permitted to be there at any time and perform his own experiments.
Chemistry and medicine
After graduating from the academy in 1856, Borodin served in a military hospital. Soon he defended his dissertation, obtained a PhD in medicine and began research work. The first scientific paper that exalted Alexander Porfiryevich was a study on the influence of mineral waters on the human body, made following a journey to the city of Soligalich, Kostroma region. It was written in such a vivid, intriguing style that it fascinated even people who were far from science. Borodin’s study helped to the development of a mineral water resort in Soligalich.
By that time, the scientist had already been transferred to Europe to strengthen his talents and absorb foreign expertise. For two years in Germany, spent surrounded by outstanding scientists – Eduard Junge, Ivan Sechenov , Sergei Botkin , Nikolai Zinin, Dmitry Mendeleev – Alexander Porfirievich participated in sessions of the scientific congress, where the concepts of “molecule” and “atom” were properly established.
During a foreign business trip, the scientist visited Italy, met local academics, and did chemical experiments with fluoride compounds at a student laboratory at the University of Pisa.
“The laboratory turned into a miniature chemical club, an impromptu meeting of the chemical society, where the life of young Russian chemistry was in full swing, where heated debates were held, where the owner, getting carried away himself and captivating the guests, loudly, passionately developed new ideas and, in the absence of chalk and a blackboard , wrote with his finger on a dusty table the equation of reactions, which were later given pride of place in chemical literature. It was a time of patriarchal cordial interactions between instructor and pupils.”
Alexander Borodin, biographical profile “Nikolai Nikolaevich Zinin”
While studying at the academy, Borodin did not forget about music. He took piano and cello lessons, and on weekends he and Mikhail Shchiglev went to evenings with Ivan Gavrushkevich. Famous musicians and composers gathered there: Alexander Serov, Joseph Gunke, Osip Drobish. Shchiglev recalled: “We did not miss any opportunity to play a trio or quartet anywhere and with anyone. Neither bad weather, nor rain, nor slush – nothing held us back, and I, with a violin under my arm, and Borodin with a cello in a flannel bag on my back, sometimes made huge ends on foot . ” In his fourth year at the academy, Alexander Borodin wrote the romances “Beauty Fish” and “Listen, my friends, to my song,” as well as the trio “How I Upset You.” The composer’s hobby was not approved by his chemistry teacher. Nikolai Zinin said: “Mr. Borodin, spend less time on romances. I pin all my hopes on you to prepare my deputy, and you all think about music and two birds with one stone . ”
In 1856, Alexander Borodin graduated from the Medical-Surgical Academy. He was appointed as a resident at the Second Military Land Hospital. However, the composer soon realized that the work of a doctor was not for him: Borodin fainted several times at the sight of seriously ill patients, and once during an operation he broke an instrument in the patient’s throat. He managed to get his bearings in time, and everything turned out okay. Alexander Borodin recalled: “The coachman fell at my feet; I could hardly resist answering him in the same way. Just think what would have happened if I had tied a piece of tongs in the throat of such a patient! Surely I would have been demoted and ended up in Siberia” . In the hospital, the composer met seventeen-year-old Modest Mussorgsky — they went together to the main doctor’s apartment a couple of times.
In April 1856, Borodin gained a job as Zinin’s assistant and held seminars with academy students. The musician decided to get serious about science and began preparing a dissertation “On the analogy of arsenic acid with phosphoric acid in their effect on the human body.” In 1858 he defended himself and earned a doctor of medicine. In the fall of the following year, “to improve in chemistry,” the academy dispatched Alexander Borodin to Germany.
In Germany, Alexander Borodin worked in the laboratory of the famous scientist Erlenmeyer. It was located in the academic city of Heidelberg, where physiologist Ivan Sechenov and chemist Dmitry Mendeleev lived at that time, doctor Sergei Botkin. The young scientists knew one other and regularly got together. Sechenov stated in his “Autobiographical Notes”: “Having learned that I passionately loved The Barber of Seville, he [Borodin] treated me to all the main arias of this opera and generally surprised us all very much by the fact that he could play everything we demanded without notes as a keepsake.
In 1860, Alexander Borodin, alongside Nikolai Zinin and Dmitri Mendeleev, attended the first international conference of chemists in Karlsruhe, Germany. On it, scientists first developed the concepts of an atom and a molecule.
A few months later, Borodin met pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, who came to Heidelberg to improve her health. They spent a lot of time together. Protopopova said: “His day was organized like this: from 5 in the morning until 5 in the evening – the chemical laboratory; from 5 to 8 our walks in the mountains. What good walks those were, what a lot we didn’t talk to him about then. From 8 or 9 pm until 12 there is music in the hall of the Hoffman boarding house . ” In 1861, Borodin first described the reaction of silver salts of carboxylic acids with halogens. This technique of changing chemical elements was named after him. In 1862, the chemist’s schooling concluded, and the pair returned to Russia, where they quickly were married.
Between music and science
In 1862, in the residence of his friend, therapist Sergei Botkin, Borodin met the famed composer Mily Balakirev. They started chatting about writing, and Balakirev invited the chemist to an evening of his musical group, which was eventually nicknamed the “Mighty Handful”. Composers included Modest Mussorgsky, Cesar Cuiand Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The musicians convened at Balakirev’s: they played their pieces and jointly improved them to the final rendition. After a few of evenings, Alexander Borodin became a permanent member of the circle.
Most commonly, the function of critic was filled by Balakirev, a teacher at the Free Music School he created. About his contact with Borodin, he wrote: “Our acquaintance was important for him because before meeting me he considered himself only an amateur and did not attach importance to his exercises in composition. It appears to me that I was the first one to inform him that his main business was composing . ” After a long break, Borodin began composing music again. He came up with the idea for the first symphony.
In 1863, Alexander Borodin commanded a new chemical laboratory at the Medical-Surgical Academy. The chemist was offered a departmental apartment on the level above: this way he could spend more time working. Borodin was one of the most popular professors at the educational institution.
“Borodin’s close, sincere relationship with his students was not limited only to the laboratory. Almost everyone who worked there was taken into his family as his closest pals; they regularly shared breakfast, lunch, and even supper with him when they stayed for a long period at the laboratory. Borodin’s residence was, one would say, perpetually wide open for all the young folks. After his students departed the institution, he continually troubled about the destiny of everyone.”
Personal life
While overseas, Borodin cared for the young musician Ekaterina Protopopova, who was getting treatment for chronic asthma in Germany. The girl, who had exquisite pitch, regularly played music in the company of the scientist, introducing him to the works of European composers. The couple spent a lot of time together, attended concerts in Baden-Baden, eventually fell in love with each other and decided to be married.
The wedding took place in the spring of 1863. The couple settled in St. Petersburg, in an apartment building on Bocharnaya Street. Due to persistent lung difficulties, the wife could not stay in the capital for a long period. Her excursions to Moscow, to her mother’s house, clouded the personal life of Alexander Porfiryevich.
Professor Alexey Dobroslavin, pupil of Alexander Borodin
Teaching required a lot of time, thus Borodin completed his first symphony just five years later – in 1867. At the debut at the Russian Musical Society, the orchestra was directed by Balakirev. The piece was welcomed warmly: the crowd cheered for a long time, and the composer was called to the stage multiple times. The symphony was highly complimented by the legendary pianist Franz Liszt. Alexander Borodin recalled: “You composed a wonderful symphony!” – barked the figure in a loud voice <…> The first movement is excellent, your andante is a masterpiece, the scherzo is delightful, and then this is wittily invented! .Soon after the debut, Borodin penned the romances “The Sleeping Princess”, “Old Song”, “False Note”, “The Sea Princess”.
In the late 1860s, the composers of the “Mighty Handful” shifted to the opera genre. Mussorgsky was working on Boris Godunov, Balakirev was working on Firebird, while Rimsky-Korsakov was finishing The Woman of Pskov. Alexander Borodin too fell to the prevalent mood: he invented the opera “Prince Igor”. The story was proposed to the composer by music critic Vladimir Stasov. Before commencing to create music, Borodin researched chronicles and historical materials, and journeyed to Putivl, the old Russian city from whence Prince Igor launched his battle against the Polovtsians. The composer himself composed the libretto . By 1870, the first portion, “Yaroslavna’s Dream,” was ready.
At the same time as the opera, the composer began creating a second symphony. However, the job moved slowly – Alexander Borodin was occupied in the laboratory. Moreover, in 1872, the scientist became a teacher of the first Higher Medical Courses in Russia. He had no time for music. Soon his wife Ekaterina Borodina got gravely ill: in order not to disturb her sleep, the composer almost ceased playing the piano.
Alexander Borodin returned to the opera “Prince Igor” only in 1874. The composer was the first to write “The Polovtsian March” and “Lament of Yaroslavna”. He finished most of the work in the summer of 1875 in Moscow, when he was visiting his wife’s family. Away from work, Alexander Borodin dedicated a lot of time to music: during this period “Polovtsian Dances”, the chorus of the first act and Konchak’s aria arose.
In 1876, Alexander Borodin completed his second symphony. The debut took place in February 1877 during a concert of the Russian Musical Society in St. Petersburg. Critic Vladimir Stasov immediately called the symphony “Bogatyrskaya”: “Borodin himself told me more than once that in the adagio he wanted to paint the figure of Boyan, in the first part – a meeting of Russian heroes, in the finale – a scene of a heroic feast with the sound of the gusli, with the rejoicing of the great people crowds . ” Alexander Borodin incorporated fragments of Russian folk songs to the symphony. The work was regarded ambiguously. The major passages were played on brass instruments: some critics thought it “monumental” , while others deemed it too “heavy” .
In 1880, Alexander Borodin created two string quartets, a symphonic image “In Central Asia” and began working on a third symphony. The composer’s friends urged him to finish the opera “Prince Igor”.
“He liked his chemistry above all else, and when I wanted to speed up the completion of his musical composition, I begged him to take it seriously, instead of replying he questioned: “Have you seen a toy store on Liteinaya, near Nevsky, on the sign of which it is written: “Fun” and that’s all”? To my remark: “What is this for?” – “But, you know, for me music is joy, and chemistry is business.”
Lyudmila Shestakova, sister of Mikhail Glinka
Alexander Borodin did not manage to finish either the third symphony or the opera “Prince Igor”. On February 27, 1887 he died. Soon after the chemist’s death, Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov sorted out Borodin’s papers and completed his opera “Prince Igor.” Rimsky-Korsakov recalled: “Some of its numbers were completed and orchestrated by the author <…> the rest were only in fragmentary sketches, and many did not exist at all <…> I knew the content of these actions firmly from conversations and joint discussions with Borodin . ” This version of the opera was first staged in 1890 at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater.
Death of Alexander Borodin
At the end of his life, Borodin was actively involved in social activity, was a member of many organizations, the leader of the student choir and symphony orchestra of the school, and participated in receptions and costume parties popular in the scientific community.
In 1880, the composer’s friend and tutor Nikolai Zinin died, and a year later his cherished colleague, Modest Mussorgsky, passed away. Hard work, personal losses and worry about his ailing wife left their imprint on Borodin’s physical and psychological health.
On February 27, 1887, at the celebration of Maslenitsa, Alexander Porfirievich had pleasure in the company of friends and colleagues, danced a lot and laughed. In the midst of the festivities, he halted mid-sentence and slumped dead on the floor. The reason of death of the brilliant scientist and composer was heart failure.
Borodin was interred at the Tikhvin Cemetery, in the necropolis of art masters of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. At the cemetery there is a monument with a picture based on the photo of the dead, surrounded by musical pieces of his works enclosed by molecular formulae.
Memory
For Borodin’s contribution to music, a symphony orchestra and a state quartet, as well as various music schools in Russian cities, were named in his honor. A steamer, a sanatorium and an aircraft are named after the composer. His bust was put in St. Petersburg. In 1993, a commemorative coin was minted on the anniversary of Alexander Porfiryevich.
The legacy of the renowned scientist and musician is preserved in documentaries, especially those from the “Geniuses and Villains” series. The teleplay “On the Threshold” is dedicated to Borodin and other members of the “Mighty Handful”. Anna Bulycheva and Tatyana Popova published novels on him.