Musical History of Russian Orientalism
Content
A Russian Identity Crisis:
A Look inside the Roots of Orientalism in Russian Music
Quinn Fleming
250756125
1711/G
Prof. Ansari
Rogan Bogaert
Throughout the modern era, there has always been a rift in between Russia and the
generalized Western world. When European states began to solidify their national identities in the
nineteenth century, Russia found itself far too eager to differentiate itself from the rest of Western
Europe. The national sound that grew out of this sentiment and a host of other factors in Russia led to
a distinctly Eastern sound that was associated with the unknown expanse outside of Western borders.
How this came about is seemingly incidental, but ultimately unavoidable. Political campaigns that
constantly expanded Russia’s borders reflected on their music a desire to be seen a superior to other
identities, ethnic ties and cultural reception helped shape the Russian sound from the outside, as well
as the make-up of the nation and its history, ultimately led to the inevitable flavour of Orientalism in
Russian nationalist music.
The Russian state took advantage of many different utilities to expand and enhance the wellbeing of its position in the world, and the use of music as a means to elevate their perceived culture
was no exception. Russia was neighbours to many nations that were foreign to most European
citizens, and there was an ever-present distinction between “us” and “them” that grew bolder as
borders solidified. A country that will continue to have a strong habit of xenophobic propaganda, the
characters depicted in Russian composers pieces worked to elevate and diminish the societies of
which they represented. Many pieces portrayed the stereotypically ideal Russian man as a strong,
rational, and thoughtful masculine figure in a dominant role over the sensual, hedonistic, and
deceitfully siren-like Eastern woman. This is apparent in the two works Antar and Tamara,
constructed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev respectfully, each of is dominated by Oriental
themes. In the first work, the main character Antar has a theme that is heavy, masculine, and Slavic in
character despite no connection to Russia. The second theme for the antagonist Queen Gul Nazar, is
feminine and light in its oriental melodic contour. Rimsky-Korsakov was attempted to dull the
implicit misogyny to some extent, but the intention had still remained. 1 Balakirev’s Tamara followed
a similar nature, using melodic modes and repeating rhythmic idioms to represent the intoxicating
1 Maes, Francis, tr. Pomerans, Arnold J. and Erica Pomerans, A History of Russian Music: From
Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar Berkeley, (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press), 2002.
nature of the dangerous woman, as she lured honest men into her dwellings. Many of the comparisons
between Russia and the Orient throughout the period were analogous to the expansionist campaigns
under Alexander II’s reign. These contrasts were meant to serve as a reaffirming image back in Russia
to encourage the campaigns and reinforce the justifications used to invade (or appearing to “liberate”)
neighbouring cultures. This also led to an opportunity for Russian composers to write about themes
that would be too risqué or otherwise provocative for Russian audiences. Much like Shakespeare was
known to wright plays in parts of Europe beyond England; many composers had scenes of infidelity,
polygamy, and other suggestive themes take place under Oriental themes in a proverbial “sweeping
under the rug”. To suggest these themes take place in Russian society through art music would be
unpopular with the people and Governments of the time, regardless of their intentions. With the
increasing trend of Russian nationalism, the number of utilities artists and other nation building
individuals had at their disposal was numerous.
The methods of which Russia expanded during the nineteenth century as well as the movement of
people within its borders brought the influence of the Orient right to its backyard. The Orient, which
is roughly known by today’s terminology as the Middle East, was often romanticized as faraway lands
rife with merchant serfs and luxurious despots. Resting above the area between the Black and Caspian
Sea, the expansion of Russia under the rule of Alexander II into the areas of Turkey and Persia saw
many cultures and ethnicities annexed and dissolved into the nation. Unaffected by the political
changes around them, rural and working class citizens became inherently part of Russian culture by
default. Unlike the Western European expansion, which took the form of a wide array of smaller
colonies not bound by land around the world, Russia was “formed by a continual process of
aggrandizement into bordering territories. It occupied a single enormous landmass, and its various
peoples intermingled (and intermarried) to a much greater degree than in the Western European
empires.”2 The movement of people and culture in the nation led to an almost unavoidable influence
of Turkic, Persian, and Caucasian sounds in many of the great cities that The Mighty Handful (seen as
2 Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century: The Oxford History of
Western Music, (Oxford University Press), Jun 24, 2009.
the dominant purveyor Orientalism, following Glinka) resided. Many traditional Eastern folk songs
made their ways into Russian culture on the backs of nomadic musicians and migrating communities
that held onto their heritage after settling in cities and large towns. Considering the preference of
nationalist composers, especially those prescribed to the ideals of the New Russian School, weighed
heavily on the sounds of their small towns and the sounds of Russia’s cityscape, Orientalism soon
made its way into the very fabric of Russian identity and its music.
With the bordering shape of Russia incorporating an array of cultures, the identity of what it meant to
be Russian was being subconsciously altered, through Western reception and a growing sense of selfawareness. Although Russia had considered itself a Western nation in terms of technology and social
advancement, the large introduction of Russian music in late nineteenth century Paris saw many
Russian composer’s pieces skewed. The man who was responsible for much of Russian art-music’s
reception was Diaghilev, a Russian impresario. When asked why he had showcased primarily Russian
works that had an Oriental flare to them, he said that: “(…) in general, those that seemed most
primitive were most popular. The great favourites of 1909 were… the company's most, undiluted
example of opera-house barbarism. The audience jumped and shouted for joy.” 3 What was supposed
to be a showcasing of their prowess in the use of Orientalist styles had been mistaken for their own
nationalist styles. “Presented chiefly with oriental works, the Parisians, unprompted, considered them
to be "typically Russian." Understandably so: to them, Russia herself was part of the mysterious East,
of oriental "otherness."”4 Russia was viewed by the Western European countries in much the same
3 Abraham, Gerald. On Russian Music: Critical and Historical Studies of Glinka's
Operas, Balakirev's Works, Etc., with Chapters Dealing with Compositions by
Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glazunov, and Various Other
Aspects of Russian Music. (Faber & Faber), 2013.
4 Umetsu, Norio. Oriental Elements in Russian Music and the Reception in
Western Europe: Nationalism, Orientalism, and Russianness, (Slavic-Eurasian
Research Center) , Sapporo, Japan, 2013.
way as Russia viewed Middle Eastern countries. “The orientalist trope with which they filled their
music distinguished them from the composers of Western Europe, and gave them a means of
competing with the older, more established traditions of European music.” 5 To help further dilute their
cause, the ethnicity of the Russian people, including nobility and upper class, had familial ties to
Mongolian heritage and many other Asian countries. Growing too was the familiar modern divide
between Europe and Russia, as many established composers from the West traditionally marginalized
Russian composers, undermining Oriental music as a cheap side-show, apart from accredited art
music.6 Some harsher critics had gone so far as to say that the composers that adhered to the New
Russian School “had no choice but to claim legitimacy on the strength of their ethnicity.” 7
Contrastingly, the New Russian School firmly believed that they had conceived their musical heritage
independent from the West, and these two perceptions had only worked to escalate the divide. As a
result of the immersion in Oriental culture in homeland Russia, many Russian critics mocked
established European names when they tried to draw on eastern motifs, marginalizing it as a dull trick.
Extraneous factors that had the two entities showing face did not help to address the sense of
segregation, regardless of which side had seemingly been more authentic in its inauthentic
representations of the East. This geographical and ethnic line in the Russian South-West was
continually blurred by integration and assimilation of its people, and as the line faded, the
continuation of the Orient’s influence became exceedingly inevitable.
The sound of the far-East is certainly not one isolated in the works of Russian music, but in no other
culture had it been so predominant and engrained in the image of a nation apart from its origins. Many
Western composers had attempted to incorporate Oriental elements into their music, but only to fail to
truly capture its enchanting characteristics. What had ultimately led to the inevitable flavour of
5 Umetsu, Oriental Elements, 60.
6 Maes, Francis. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar.
(Berkeley ; University of California Press), 2002.
7 Umetsu, Oriental Elements, 61.
Orientalism in Russian nationalist music was a combination of the expansive make-up of the nation’s
population, ethnic and cultural aspects of Russian culture that was received in continental Europe, and
war-campaigning that had expanded Russia’s borders and the assimilation of cultures as a result of
that. The happening of this trait in Russian music is seemingly incidentally, but nonetheless
unavoidable. The distinctly Eastern sound that was so closely linked to the foreign tall-tales outside of
Western borders had grown from truly a nationalistic Russian sound. Quick to differentiate themselves
from the rest of Western Europe amidst the solidification of national identities in the nineteenth
century, Russia had used Orientalism as a means of navigating the widening rift between the
generalized Western world and itself.
Bibliography
Books:
Abraham, Gerald. On Russian Music: Critical and Historical Studies of Glinka's
Operas, Balakirev's Works, Etc., with Chapters Dealing with Compositions by Borodin,
Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glazunov, and Various Other Aspects of Russian
Music. Faber & Faber, 2013.
Umetsu, Norio. Oriental Elements in Russian Music and the Reception in Western
Europe: Nationalism, Orientalism, and Russianness. Slavic-Eurasian Research Center ,
Sapporo, Japan, 2013.
Maes, Francis. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar.
Berkeley ; University of California Press, 2002.
Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, David. Russian Orientalism: Asia in the Ussian
Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration. Yale University Press, 2010.
Maes, Francis, tr. Pomerans, Arnold J. and Erica Pomerans, A History of Russian
Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of
California Press, 2002.
Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century: The Oxford History of Western
Music, Oxford University Press, Jun 24, 2009.
A Look inside the Roots of Orientalism in Russian Music
Quinn Fleming
250756125
1711/G
Prof. Ansari
Rogan Bogaert
Throughout the modern era, there has always been a rift in between Russia and the
generalized Western world. When European states began to solidify their national identities in the
nineteenth century, Russia found itself far too eager to differentiate itself from the rest of Western
Europe. The national sound that grew out of this sentiment and a host of other factors in Russia led to
a distinctly Eastern sound that was associated with the unknown expanse outside of Western borders.
How this came about is seemingly incidental, but ultimately unavoidable. Political campaigns that
constantly expanded Russia’s borders reflected on their music a desire to be seen a superior to other
identities, ethnic ties and cultural reception helped shape the Russian sound from the outside, as well
as the make-up of the nation and its history, ultimately led to the inevitable flavour of Orientalism in
Russian nationalist music.
The Russian state took advantage of many different utilities to expand and enhance the wellbeing of its position in the world, and the use of music as a means to elevate their perceived culture
was no exception. Russia was neighbours to many nations that were foreign to most European
citizens, and there was an ever-present distinction between “us” and “them” that grew bolder as
borders solidified. A country that will continue to have a strong habit of xenophobic propaganda, the
characters depicted in Russian composers pieces worked to elevate and diminish the societies of
which they represented. Many pieces portrayed the stereotypically ideal Russian man as a strong,
rational, and thoughtful masculine figure in a dominant role over the sensual, hedonistic, and
deceitfully siren-like Eastern woman. This is apparent in the two works Antar and Tamara,
constructed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev respectfully, each of is dominated by Oriental
themes. In the first work, the main character Antar has a theme that is heavy, masculine, and Slavic in
character despite no connection to Russia. The second theme for the antagonist Queen Gul Nazar, is
feminine and light in its oriental melodic contour. Rimsky-Korsakov was attempted to dull the
implicit misogyny to some extent, but the intention had still remained. 1 Balakirev’s Tamara followed
a similar nature, using melodic modes and repeating rhythmic idioms to represent the intoxicating
1 Maes, Francis, tr. Pomerans, Arnold J. and Erica Pomerans, A History of Russian Music: From
Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar Berkeley, (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press), 2002.
nature of the dangerous woman, as she lured honest men into her dwellings. Many of the comparisons
between Russia and the Orient throughout the period were analogous to the expansionist campaigns
under Alexander II’s reign. These contrasts were meant to serve as a reaffirming image back in Russia
to encourage the campaigns and reinforce the justifications used to invade (or appearing to “liberate”)
neighbouring cultures. This also led to an opportunity for Russian composers to write about themes
that would be too risqué or otherwise provocative for Russian audiences. Much like Shakespeare was
known to wright plays in parts of Europe beyond England; many composers had scenes of infidelity,
polygamy, and other suggestive themes take place under Oriental themes in a proverbial “sweeping
under the rug”. To suggest these themes take place in Russian society through art music would be
unpopular with the people and Governments of the time, regardless of their intentions. With the
increasing trend of Russian nationalism, the number of utilities artists and other nation building
individuals had at their disposal was numerous.
The methods of which Russia expanded during the nineteenth century as well as the movement of
people within its borders brought the influence of the Orient right to its backyard. The Orient, which
is roughly known by today’s terminology as the Middle East, was often romanticized as faraway lands
rife with merchant serfs and luxurious despots. Resting above the area between the Black and Caspian
Sea, the expansion of Russia under the rule of Alexander II into the areas of Turkey and Persia saw
many cultures and ethnicities annexed and dissolved into the nation. Unaffected by the political
changes around them, rural and working class citizens became inherently part of Russian culture by
default. Unlike the Western European expansion, which took the form of a wide array of smaller
colonies not bound by land around the world, Russia was “formed by a continual process of
aggrandizement into bordering territories. It occupied a single enormous landmass, and its various
peoples intermingled (and intermarried) to a much greater degree than in the Western European
empires.”2 The movement of people and culture in the nation led to an almost unavoidable influence
of Turkic, Persian, and Caucasian sounds in many of the great cities that The Mighty Handful (seen as
2 Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century: The Oxford History of
Western Music, (Oxford University Press), Jun 24, 2009.
the dominant purveyor Orientalism, following Glinka) resided. Many traditional Eastern folk songs
made their ways into Russian culture on the backs of nomadic musicians and migrating communities
that held onto their heritage after settling in cities and large towns. Considering the preference of
nationalist composers, especially those prescribed to the ideals of the New Russian School, weighed
heavily on the sounds of their small towns and the sounds of Russia’s cityscape, Orientalism soon
made its way into the very fabric of Russian identity and its music.
With the bordering shape of Russia incorporating an array of cultures, the identity of what it meant to
be Russian was being subconsciously altered, through Western reception and a growing sense of selfawareness. Although Russia had considered itself a Western nation in terms of technology and social
advancement, the large introduction of Russian music in late nineteenth century Paris saw many
Russian composer’s pieces skewed. The man who was responsible for much of Russian art-music’s
reception was Diaghilev, a Russian impresario. When asked why he had showcased primarily Russian
works that had an Oriental flare to them, he said that: “(…) in general, those that seemed most
primitive were most popular. The great favourites of 1909 were… the company's most, undiluted
example of opera-house barbarism. The audience jumped and shouted for joy.” 3 What was supposed
to be a showcasing of their prowess in the use of Orientalist styles had been mistaken for their own
nationalist styles. “Presented chiefly with oriental works, the Parisians, unprompted, considered them
to be "typically Russian." Understandably so: to them, Russia herself was part of the mysterious East,
of oriental "otherness."”4 Russia was viewed by the Western European countries in much the same
3 Abraham, Gerald. On Russian Music: Critical and Historical Studies of Glinka's
Operas, Balakirev's Works, Etc., with Chapters Dealing with Compositions by
Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glazunov, and Various Other
Aspects of Russian Music. (Faber & Faber), 2013.
4 Umetsu, Norio. Oriental Elements in Russian Music and the Reception in
Western Europe: Nationalism, Orientalism, and Russianness, (Slavic-Eurasian
Research Center) , Sapporo, Japan, 2013.
way as Russia viewed Middle Eastern countries. “The orientalist trope with which they filled their
music distinguished them from the composers of Western Europe, and gave them a means of
competing with the older, more established traditions of European music.” 5 To help further dilute their
cause, the ethnicity of the Russian people, including nobility and upper class, had familial ties to
Mongolian heritage and many other Asian countries. Growing too was the familiar modern divide
between Europe and Russia, as many established composers from the West traditionally marginalized
Russian composers, undermining Oriental music as a cheap side-show, apart from accredited art
music.6 Some harsher critics had gone so far as to say that the composers that adhered to the New
Russian School “had no choice but to claim legitimacy on the strength of their ethnicity.” 7
Contrastingly, the New Russian School firmly believed that they had conceived their musical heritage
independent from the West, and these two perceptions had only worked to escalate the divide. As a
result of the immersion in Oriental culture in homeland Russia, many Russian critics mocked
established European names when they tried to draw on eastern motifs, marginalizing it as a dull trick.
Extraneous factors that had the two entities showing face did not help to address the sense of
segregation, regardless of which side had seemingly been more authentic in its inauthentic
representations of the East. This geographical and ethnic line in the Russian South-West was
continually blurred by integration and assimilation of its people, and as the line faded, the
continuation of the Orient’s influence became exceedingly inevitable.
The sound of the far-East is certainly not one isolated in the works of Russian music, but in no other
culture had it been so predominant and engrained in the image of a nation apart from its origins. Many
Western composers had attempted to incorporate Oriental elements into their music, but only to fail to
truly capture its enchanting characteristics. What had ultimately led to the inevitable flavour of
5 Umetsu, Oriental Elements, 60.
6 Maes, Francis. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar.
(Berkeley ; University of California Press), 2002.
7 Umetsu, Oriental Elements, 61.
Orientalism in Russian nationalist music was a combination of the expansive make-up of the nation’s
population, ethnic and cultural aspects of Russian culture that was received in continental Europe, and
war-campaigning that had expanded Russia’s borders and the assimilation of cultures as a result of
that. The happening of this trait in Russian music is seemingly incidentally, but nonetheless
unavoidable. The distinctly Eastern sound that was so closely linked to the foreign tall-tales outside of
Western borders had grown from truly a nationalistic Russian sound. Quick to differentiate themselves
from the rest of Western Europe amidst the solidification of national identities in the nineteenth
century, Russia had used Orientalism as a means of navigating the widening rift between the
generalized Western world and itself.
Bibliography
Books:
Abraham, Gerald. On Russian Music: Critical and Historical Studies of Glinka's
Operas, Balakirev's Works, Etc., with Chapters Dealing with Compositions by Borodin,
Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glazunov, and Various Other Aspects of Russian
Music. Faber & Faber, 2013.
Umetsu, Norio. Oriental Elements in Russian Music and the Reception in Western
Europe: Nationalism, Orientalism, and Russianness. Slavic-Eurasian Research Center ,
Sapporo, Japan, 2013.
Maes, Francis. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar.
Berkeley ; University of California Press, 2002.
Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, David. Russian Orientalism: Asia in the Ussian
Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration. Yale University Press, 2010.
Maes, Francis, tr. Pomerans, Arnold J. and Erica Pomerans, A History of Russian
Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of
California Press, 2002.
Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century: The Oxford History of Western
Music, Oxford University Press, Jun 24, 2009.
