1855-1914
The Russian composer Lyadov is surrounded by stories, not necessarily to his credit.
1. He was kicked out of composition classes for not showing up to class.
3. He kept his personal life secret to the wider world.
If any are true, it reveals a composer who liked to do things his own way, in his own time. Lyadov was apparently also widely admired by all who knew his music, so he was above all a superior craftsman.
From what music I have heard from the composer, he prefers fantastical atmospheres, and is as colorful an orchestrator as the other famous Russian composers around him.
I have only heard one work of his performed live. His beautiful Enchanted Kingdom was programmed with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Scriabin's Poem of Fire, of which I sang in the chorus of the latter. Sandwiched between those two towering works of stretching modern compositional voices, the work sounded positively quaint. When told of the program we were to perform within, they mentioned the two major works and 'something from a little-known Russian composer'. This is his legacy.
Recordings and reviews currently on hand (Click below to visit):
1989: Orchestral Works (Batiz)
1991: Orchestral Works (Gunzenhauser)
1992: Orchestral Works (Dudarova)
1995: A Russian Birthday
2001: Orchestral Works
2005: Les Vendredis
2011: Symphonic Works (Svetlanov)
2017: Les Vendredis
2021: Choral Music