Rubinstein (Rubinshteyn), Anton Grigoryevich was born in Vikhvatini, Ukraine [Podoliya] on 16 or 28 November1829 and he died in Peterhof [now Petrodvorets) on 8 or 20 November 1894). He was a Russian pianist, composer, conductor and teacher. He was the brother of Nikolay Rubinstein. He was one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century; his playing was compared with Liszt s. He was also an influential, if controversial figure in Russian musical circles, and an exceptionally prolific composer.
Rubinstein composed assiduously during all periods of his life. He was able, and willing, to dash off for publication half a dozen songs or an album of piano pieces with all too fluent ease in the knowledge that his reputation would ensure a gratifying financial reward for the effort involved. But only the Melody in F op.3 no.1 for solo piano achieved lasting popularity (testified to by the 12 pages of arrangements of this piece, for various instrumental and vocal combinations, in the catalogue of the British Library). Some of the songs achieve a certain distinction, and in his quartetto music a movement here or there (such as the Scherzo from the String Quartet no.3) sometimes rises above the commonplace. But both here and in his numerous attempts at large-scale works, there are, too often, signs of haste. As Paderewski was later to remark, 'He had not the necessary concentration of patience for a composer'. For example, good ideas in the Symphony no.2 ('Ocean') are developed in a trivial manner and this and other similar works reveal his fatal facility as a note-spinner. He was prone to indulge in grandiloquent cliches at moments of climax, preceded by over-lengthy rising sequences which were subsequently imitated by Tchaikovsky in his less inspired pieces.
Together with an uninhibited use of the diminished 7th chord, these characteristics are lavishly displayed in all four piano sonatas. Only the second-movement Allegretto con moto, a charming little march-scherzo, from the Third Piano Sonata, Rubinstein's own favorite, is altogether free from padding and very considerable reliance upon Mendelssohn and Schumann; an instance of Chopin's influence is to be found in the scherzo of the Fourth Sonata, in which the rhythm is directly taken from the scherzo of Chopin's Bb minor sonata.
His greatest success as a composer came in a brief middle period which started with the Fourth Piano Concerto in D minor (1864) and finished with the opera Demon ('The Demon', 1871, first performed in January 1875). Between these works are sandwiched two important orchestral works, Don Quixote, which Tchaikovsky thought was 'very interesting and well done' although 'episodic' in construction, and Ivan IV Grozniy, 'a wonderful piece' in Tchaikovsky's opinion; Tchaikovsky arranged both works for piano duet. Ivan IV Grozniy was given its first performance on 2/14 November 1869 by none other than Balakirev, who greatly admired it.
For financial reasons, Rubinstein preferred to publish his music abroad because, not only would it in consequence have increased sales, but Russia did not belong to any international copyright convention, therefore, the locations of the publishers in Germany or the Austrian Empire are given, unless the works were published only in Russia or are known to have been first published there. Often works were published both in Russia (with the copyright being ceded to the publisher for distribution within the Russian Empire), and also, more or less simultaneously, abroad
The groups of songs, whether: to German texts or, to Russian texts, which, included German translations in the German speaking countries, were published there as 'Lieder'. In Russia, the same songs (to Russian texts) were normally published as 'Romansi', but occasionally, if published by a Russian publisher who held world rights to the songs, the importance of the German market might dictate that settings of Russian texts with German translations were published as 'Lieder', especially if the publisher had a branch in Leipzig and had made arrangements to publish there. Because of the confused position, the English title 'Songs' is given for Rubinstein's collections
During the course of his working career, Rubinstein's compositions were published by no fewer than 21 different firms in eight locations, as follows:
Outside Russia:
History
