Hi, i ve recently "discovered" a wealth of "unsung" composers from the former USSR, through the Wartime Music series by the Northern Flowers label, and although most of them are not up there with guys like Prokofiev or Shostakovich in my opinon (nevertheless, worth checking), i think there are some who really should be getting much more recognition (specially compared to some other 20th century composers who are much better regarded).
The most obvious examples are Weinberg (Vainberg), polish who fled to the USSR in 1939, and Boris Tchaikovsky (not related to Piotr Ilich). These two stand out above the rest , or at least this is my impression. I need to give it some more time to listen to more of their stuff .
Weinberg s Symphony No.3 ... is it me or this is one of the most unfairly ignored symphonies of the 20th century?
And Tchaikovsky, Piano concerto, and so much of his huge catalogue ... how can these artists get so little recognition outside their homeland?
I agree with you about Vainberg. I've managed to hear most of his symphonies, and the best of them are fully the equal of the best of his friend and mentor Shostakovich. He's at his worst when he's trying to copy Shostakovich. Boris Tchaikovsky I don't know well enough - I'll follow your tip on his piano concerto.
I suspect timing and politics have everything to do with our general lack of knowledge of Soviet composers. Shostakovich, in particular, had an extraordinarily compelling personal story that has been - and still is - exploited by Cold Warriors trying to claim him for the "right" side. Also, Shostakovich was one of the handful of Soviet composers allowed out of the Soviet Union to promote their own, and by extension their country's, music. Stalin seems to have considered him to be by far the strongest and most "exportable" of Soviet composers, even if his leash had to be tugged a few times to bring him to heel. As far as the West was concerned, Shostakovich and Prokofiev were the faces of Soviet music, and few others got much of a look in (or out). In Vainberg's case, being Jewish didn't help much either.
To give you an idea about Boris Tchaikovsky, i ve seen the premiére recording of his Cello Partita and the performers are BT himself on piano and Mstslav Rostropovich, no other, on cello. The wealth of his work is pretty unusual.
http://www.boris-tchaikovsky.com/english.htm (http://www.boris-tchaikovsky.com/english.htm)
I really don t understand how , with so many concert goers (me being amongst those) complaining about how repetitive the symphonic and piano recital programs are these days, how can composers as great as these can still be unsung? Seems silly and unfair to me.
Sadly, I think the vast majority of concertgoers prefer musical comfort food. Those of us who subscribe to this site are definitely in the minority - but a vocal one.
Myaskovsky was the most prominent of the unsungs and the best, so far as I'm concerned. His cello concerto, violin concerto and some of his symphonies were excellent. And he was not unknown in the West. Stock commissioned a symphony from him (his 20th) for the 100th anniversary season of the Chicago Symphony.
Also on this list goes Gliere, whose horn concerto and symphonies are among the better works of the Soviet era. The Red Poppy Suite got a lot of play in the West, and Stokowski recorded some chopped up versions of the 3rd symphony.
There is a very good listing of Soviet era composers, their works and recordings here: http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/ (http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/)
Of course, many of the listed composers wrote more modern music than we prefer here in the Unsungs corner. Still, it is an interesting starting point for exploring Russian composers.
Interesting, I didn't know it was the 20th that Stock commissioned... a fine piece with a wonderful peroration at the end but it fell quite out sight until Svetlanov recorded it. No.21 in F-sharp minor has had much more attention relatively speaking including recordings by American orchestras. No.13 in B-flat minor, though never recorded (again) until the Svetlanov series, was also performed in the US I believe, unusually for Myaskovsky symphonies...
actually, according to the World Premieres PDF at CSO (http://cso.org/Page.aspx?id=11774), symphony no.21 was premiered by the CSO on 26 Dec. 1940 conducted by Frederick Stock. (Even that seems to be inaccurate according to Rijen's page (http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/miasopus.htm) - premiere was 16 November 1940, USSR State SO, Gauk. Symphony 20 also premiered 1940, 28 Nov. 1940, cond. Golovanov. It does seem from other sources that sym. 21 was indeed commissioned by the Chicago Sym. though... works by Myaskovsky premiered outside the USSR include, I think, piano sonata no.4 (premiered at a ISCM meeting?). (The US Premieres PDF at the same site above shows that Stock and deFauw were interested enough in Myaskovsky to give the US premieres- apparently? - of symphonies 12, 13, 15, 21 and the overture op.48, at least. Oh, and Straesser's symphony no.1 (out of topic), and Muradeli's symphony no.1 (historically famous, that. back in), and Vladigerov's violin concerto no.1, ... ...
I had luckily the occasion (in my city)- and unluckily the age - of hearing and seeing Boris Caicovskij performing his piano concerto on 27/11/1974 with Rudolph Barshai and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (no prodigious memory: I have a book recollecting the dates, up to a certain year).
That concert was an example of clever programming, as it comprised also:
Sciostakovich Six poems on Tzvetaeva verses op.143a, for alto and chamber orch.
Prokofiev (arr.Barshai) Visions Fugitives (15, from the original 20 for piano).
As two topics about Russians and/or Soviet are in course, maybe I will begin a topic about some individual composer.
I would like to add the name of Otar Taktakishvili (1924-1989) to this discussion. (A Georgian, but I believe he qualifies.)
He composed some beautiful music - perhaps equal to anything else written in the last century, and certainly at the top of the "Soviet period" catalog.
Taktakishvili composed four piano concertos, two violin concertos, two symphonies, chamber works. His vocal music (operas, oratorios, songs) are exquisite. The opera "Mindiya" is a special delight.
Find some Taktak recordings and discover something worthwhile - I did.
A resource:
http://www.georgian-music.com/free_music/taktakishvili.php (http://www.georgian-music.com/free_music/taktakishvili.php)
I heard first of Taktakishvili in 1993. Dutch Radio 4 had a program dedicated to listeners requests. Once a year a few pieces were selected - don't remember if by the producer or the listeners - to be played a second time. Taktakishvili's 2nd VC was among them. I was amazed by his genius for melody, form and drama! I still cherish my old recording.
Quote from: Amphissa on Monday 27 June 2011, 17:15Myaskovsky was the most prominent of the unsungs and the best, so far as I'm concerned. His cello concerto, violin concerto and some of his symphonies were excellent. And he was not unknown in the West. Stock commissioned a symphony from him (his 20th) for the 100th anniversary season of the Chicago Symphony.
Also on this list goes Gliere, whose horn concerto and symphonies are among the better works of the Soviet era. The Red Poppy Suite got a lot of play in the West, and Stokowski recorded some chopped up versions of the 3rd symphony.
Dave, re Myaskovsky, wasn't it the 21st that was commissioned for Chicago? And don't leave out Gliere's marvellous Harp Concerto. It's right up there with Reinecke for me as one of the greats in the repertoire.
apparently there are at least 2 violin concertos by Taktakishvili, the 2nd I think written after the LP of the 1st (which I haven't heard yet) was issued; a CD recording of both would be a good idea... if they don't fill out the disc there's Machavariani's concerto among others :)
If you are especially looking for Russian composers and their works, another good site - beside the one by Onno - is the following:
http://www.russiancomposers.org.uk/ (http://www.russiancomposers.org.uk/)
and by the way: If you search for "Russia" on my little site, you get all the violin concertos by Russian composers:
www.violinconcerto.de (http://www.violinconcerto.de)
Best,
Tobias
I suggest a lot of soviet composers (which there is a lot on my channel).
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov - Symphony No.1 (where the hell is his piano concerto?)
Revol Bunin - Symphony No.5 and his instrumental concertos (viola, violin, organ, and piano concerto)
Lucija Garuta - Piano works (some kind of a women rachmaninov)
Janis Medins - Dainas and piano concerto (dainas are some really sweet music)
Otar Taktakishvili - Piano Concerto no.1 and 2, Violin Concerto no.2
Evgeny Golubev - Piano Concerto no.3 and some string quartets (we have mentioned quite a lot from him)
Levko Revutsky - Piano Concerto no.2 and several piano works (romantic ukranian)
Alexander Arutiunian - Trumpet Concerto, Piano Concertino, Violin Concerto
Erik Arutiunian - Poem for violin and orchestra (wonderful orchestration !)
Pantcho Vladigerov - Piano Concertos (5), 2 violin Concertos and piano works written op.16 onwards.
Vesselin Stoyanov - Piano Concerto No.1 and 2 (very nostalgic)
Alexander Mosolov - Piano Concerto and several piano works from the early period, Symphony in e flat major (scriabinist avant garde, except for the symphony)
Nikolai Roslavets - Everything he wrote in avantgardism?
Oleg Eiges - Piano Sonata No.4 and Symphony No.15
Orest Yevlakhov - symphony no.3 (not so convincing, but deserves a first listening !)
Arno Babadjanian - Herosagan Ballade, Violin Concerto and cello Concerto (the vc is very khachaturian and the cc has a more personal style)
Vladislav Agafonnikov - Symphony in name of shebalin (the title says it all)
Shebalin - Symphony No.5
Nikolai Peiko - String Quartets
Leonid Afanasyev - Violin Concerto
Tikhon Khrennikov - Piano Concerto no.1 and 2, 3 Symphonies and Cello Concerto no.2
Nikolai Rakov - Piano Concertos 1 and 2, 2 violin Concerto no.2
Rodion Shchedrin - Piano Concertos No.1,2,3 (no.1 is an early work)
Alexi Machavariani - Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphonies No.1,2,5
Boris Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto, Cello Sonata and the Violin Concerto
Alexander Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Aqsin Ali-Zade - Rustic Suite and Symphony No.2
Alexander Flyarkovsky - Symphony to "coeval" (kind of reminds shostakovich 12th)
Nektarios Chargeishvili - Symphony
Samuel Feinberg - 3 Piano Concertos, Violin Sonata and all the piano sonatas
Anatoly Alexandrov - Piano Concerto, Piano Sonata No.3
Gaziza Zhubanova - Symphony No.1
Vladimir Tsytovich - Viola Concerto
Lydia Auster - Piano Concerto (second movement very similar to rachmaninovs 2nd pc 2nd movement)
Andrei Eshpai - 2 Violin Sonatas, Piano Concerto No.2, 4 Violin Concertos
Hermann Galynin - Piano Concerto No.1
Eduard Khagagortian - Symphony No.3
Victor Kosenko - 3 Piano Sonatas
Sergei Vasilenko - Symphony No.3 and Piano Concerto
Heorhy Maiboroda - Symphony No.3
Janis Ivanovs - Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony No.15,16
Gotfried Gasanov - Piano Concerto No.1
Some to mention..
Tony
Samuil Feinberg also recorded one of my favourite versions of the WTC
As for German (Hermann) Galynin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Galynin
Quite like his piano music, recorded by Olga Solovieva, who has also recorded Boris Tchaikovsky 's Piano concerto for Naxos (i actually like her interpretation more than the composer's).
I would add under Shebalin in my own opinion the very fine series of 9 string quartets. Unfortunately recorded for Olympia which no longer exists but perhaps Regis or some other label will re-release the set. Mostly "backward-looking" except maybe in some ways the 9th, but very strongly expressive and imaginative, I think.
I didn t know Olympia folded ... i have to say i came across most of these composers on a (think) russian download site ... i downloaded a few (i know that this site is against that, but i have no other way of knowing some of this stuff) and then bought a few of the Northern Flowers releases that i sw there ...
Oh, and re M. Weinberg's sym 3 (in that much-loved by me key of B minor ;) ), I borrowed a copy of the score years back for a couple of weeks; and was excited to see the announcement lately that a recording has been made- but still haven't heard it...
The new Chandos CD which includes Weinberg's 3rd symphony is superb in every way. And the symphony itself is a winning score - not without its darker moments, but with tunes a-plenty. Weinberg is fast becoming my favourite unsung Soviet composer.
Quote from: fyrexia on Tuesday 28 June 2011, 05:34
I suggest a lot of soviet composers (which there is a lot on my channel).
Tikhon Khrennikov - Piano Concerto no.1 and 2, 3 Symphonies and Cello Concerto no.2
Some to mention..
Tony
Tony- do you know of a recording (and availability) of Khrennikov's Cello Concerto No.2?
Quote from: fyrexia on Tuesday 28 June 2011, 05:34
Pantcho Vladigerov - Piano Concertos (5), 2 violin Concertos and piano works written op.16 onwards.
Surely he was Bulgarian?
good point, if we're expanding to Soviet-bloc this is going to become huge, even staying with music that is in the loose sense Romantic as we usually do.
Re:list in reply 12.
Also Vesselin Stoyanov (1902-1969) was Bulgarian.
and isn't "coeval" in that list rather a really painful English translation of a word that means something more like "my contemporaries"? (not one of the better or the worst ever offense ever on that line, of course.) Re Eiges, just saw his father (Konstantin's) name at Sibley (urresearch.rochester.edu ) ... interesting. (2 Skazki, op.12, now also at IMSLP :) )
I mentioned the bulgarians, since bulgaria was under the "soviet sphere of influence".
As for the Khrennikov. Probably i will re upload it on my channel. As for availablility , i do not have any idea.
My recording is from a recording of a recordingn elsewhere :/
Tony
as was the whole Soviet Bloc, in some sense, but not necessarily artistically (e.g. did Polish musical avantgardism - Bacewicz, Lutoslawski, ... only happen after the new Soviet musical loosened atmosphere? and is there historical evidence of a connection? an interesting question, I think.
Hi,
What do you think of Mikhail Leonidovich Starokadomsky (1901-1954)? I know he wrote a Concerto for Orchestra, an Organ Concerto and a Violin Concerto, and some chamber music as well, but the only thing I've heard of him is his Pieces for bassoon and piano (similar to Prokofiev, IMHO)... Anyone else?
Simon
It's interesting to see this thread so lively. When I was an honours music degree undergraduate, I chose to present my compulsory thesis on Soviet composers. This was the end of the 1970s when information (and music) was hard to come by. However, a letter from me in Russian to the Union of Soviet Composers yielded the result of a huge package of LPs and booklets (all in Russian) from Moscow that revealed a swathe of music and composers more or less unknown in 'the West' at this time (even the music of Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke - just for example - were still all but unheard outside the USSR).
Some of the composers not yet mentioned who have stuck-out for me include:
Yuri Falik (b 1936)(Russian)(there is a particularly fine Violin Concerto with former Leningrad Phil concertmaster Viktor Lieberman as soloist)
Jaan Rääts (b 1932)(Estonian)
Yuri Shaporin (Russian)(1887-1966)
Sergei Slonimsky (Belarussian)(b 1932)
Boris Tishchenko (Russian)(1939-2010)
A special mention (seconding an earlier post) for Nikolai Roslavets, whose works are gradually surfacing on CD and reveal a stunningly fine composer with a clear and original voice.
Jaan Raats is indeed a descent composer. I recomend his symphonies no.3 and 8.
Sergei slonimsky has written over 27 symphonies by day if i am not mistaken, although not type of composer.... his children pieces are excellent !
I have been wandering for years trying to find the piano music by Yuri Shaporin. And have only came to find his piano sonata no.2, performed by Maria Yudina. Its a typical soviet piano work, with hints of scriabin and myaskovsky.
Tony
Tishchenko has a lot of recordings. The Northern Flowers label has a few releases of his. And there is more odf these composer s music available than one would think. Olympia and Melodiya have a lot of releases. Digging a bit, i was surprised by the ampiount of discography available from coomposers as Boris Tchaikovsky, Weinberg, Tishchenko ...
Also, i think Weinberg spent most his life in the USSR , as he fled from Poland in 1939 if i remember correctly. Russians seem to have adopted him as a "soviet period" composer.
Quote from: imirizaldu on Thursday 07 July 2011, 14:22
Also, i think Weinberg spent most his life in the USSR , as he fled from Poland in 1939 if i remember correctly. Russians seem to have adopted him as a "soviet period" composer.
As a Polish Jew, Weinberg had to get out of Poland. Sadly he was the only one of his family to succeed and the whole of the rest of his family perished at the hands of the Nazis. Shostakovich recognised the young composer's promise and took him under his wing, as well as advocating performances of Weinberg's music. I'm not sure he ever returned to his home country.
Sad ... I have recently discovered Weinberg and i am so impressed.
Regarding all these composers, i have come to find a lot of recordings , old an new of many of the ones mentioned in this thread.
i still don t know what the policy is on this site regarding downloads, so i have not posted any.
QuoteSergei Slonimsky (Belarussian)(b 1932)
A fine composer! As far as I know he was born in Leningrad/St. Petersburg and has spent most of his life there. I'm wondering why he's listed in the above post as Belarussian? Did his family come from there?
Weinberg's immediate family did not survive, but he was temporarily in the USSR with a famous relative (Solomon Mikhoels), I believe (or with his support?) - who in turn was murdered by the secret police, I believe... - then Weinberg was temporarily himself in prison indeed because... - well, see this Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mieczyslaw_Weinberg) on Weinberg, e.g.
Quote from: Latvian on Thursday 07 July 2011, 15:16
QuoteSergei Slonimsky (Belarussian)(b 1932)
A fine composer! As far as I know he was born in Leningrad/St. Petersburg and has spent most of his life there. I'm wondering why he's listed in the above post as Belarussian? Did his family come from there?
Yes, silly me - I was mixing-up his name (although not his music) with Valentin Silvestrov (he's the Belarussian), who is enjoying a fair degree of success in Europe nowadays.
Anyone has idea of where are the Scores by Medin's piano concert or his symphonies?
Which Medins? Jekabs Medins' piano concerto (kokle un orkestram) (1952) can be found in reduction and full score at the National Library of Latvia (website https://lira.lanet.lv (https://lira.lanet.lv) ). Jazeps' symphony no.3 can also be found there (record 169 out of 217 in a search under the surname "Mediņš" in their catalog.)
Varvera Gaigerova; there is greatness there awaiting discovery. Hear this recording for a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVjNzFFbpkc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVjNzFFbpkc)
Can Myaskovsky today really be counted as unsung?
Myaskovsky's been extensively recorded - like Raff or Draeseke - but how often does his music feature in the concert hall? In my experience, almost never.
True, true... Hrm. I see at least one scheduled performance of Myaskovsky in 2015 but unsurprisingly, it's in Moscow, of his 9th string quartet in April 2015. He's fared a little better in recent years - a very (very, very...) little - now, it seems, back to Russia only, perhaps. Pity.
... I see I missed even knowing that Gergiev was conducting Myaskovsky's 4th symphony in Rotterdam last month (even though he mentioned it on Facebook... well, I've been distracted, very...) . Well, I'm glad that the 4th hasn't been relegated to the "record once and forget" category... :)
Myaskovsky's 6th was performed a couple of years ago in London. His music pops up much more than you think, but when it does it is smaller works such as the cello sonatas and string quartets. I've actually performed Myaskovsky, as a violinist in a string orchestra organized by Gunther Schuller. We did the wonderful Sinfonietta No.2 (B minor), but since it was Schuller, he of course had to change something. (Schuller is infamous for making editorial changes in works where he thinks the composer went wrong.) I give Schuller credit for programming a great and underserved composer, but he took a big cut in the Finale, explaining to us that he felt it was repetitive.
Indeed. But he's still (relatively) unsung.
("Sinfonietta No.2" in B minor- now there's an accurate but confusing designation, since Op.32 No.1 is -not- the first sinfonietta :) )
That Rotterdam Philharmonic program was really quite inspired. Janacek's Taras Bulba, Prokofiev's 1st Violin Concerto with Lisa Batiashvili, and the Myaskovsky 4th Symphony. I'm normally not a huge fan of Gergiev, but the performance of the Myaskovsky 4 was good, with the kind of intensity required to pull off this muscular work.
That said, some of Myaskovsky's music is melodic and lyrical in the best tradition of romanticism, while other works have more complex harmonies and are less melodic. The 4th is among the latter, so it falls outside the purview of UC. Those who are interested can find it over at the other site.
Well, that's one of the more blatant ways of, if I may say, spitting in Franz Liszt's eye - for I can imagine what he would have thought of such a definition of what Romanticism was, and wasn't... but we have our definitions, and he had his, it's true, and what did he know?
I am no great fan of Liszt, but I certainly did not intend to spit in his eye. :o
I really believe the definition here is getting too narrow. Pretty much any modern composer would term Myaskovsky's transitional and late works romantic, due to the smooth textures, linear melismas and the prevalence of slurs. If we adhere to such a definition with consistency, composers like Florent Schmitt and Alexander Scriabin will be off limits.
Quote from: Amphissa on Tuesday 07 October 2014, 22:24
That said, some of Myaskovsky's music is melodic and lyrical in the best tradition of romanticism, while other works have more complex harmonies and are less melodic. The 4th is among the latter, so it falls outside the purview of UC. Those who are interested can find it over at the other site.
Come on. I agree with Minacciosa, this is getting too restrictive.
Amphissa's views are his own, not those of the moderators. UC's take on "defining" the romantic in music is unchanged (it's here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3681.0.html)), and is always tempered with a healthy amount of flexibility.
Sigh. I've been slapped down by the mods for wanting to upload music that is clearly melodic and lyrical, like Poulenc's piano concerto. Now I'm slapped around for my caution.
According to the official UC definition of acceptable works, "the restrained employment (if at all) of dissonance, a reliance on 19th century models of harmony and construction and the fundamental importance of melody. Mere tonality, without strong elements of these other characteristics, does not qualify music as being romantic in style."
This is not one of Myaskovsky's later works. The 4th is an early work and you will be hard pressed to find a shred of melody anywhere in it. And although it is not especially dissonant, the harmonies are complex and the piece is largely atonal.
However, if the UC mods decide, after listening to it, that it is appropriate for this forum, I'll gladly add it here.
Composed 1917-18 (in part on the WW1 front, I believe, or just after?); premiered 1925; published 1926. It -is- just a bit late for our 1915 cutoff, I admit. His marginally more popular 5th symphony (recorded at least a half-dozen times, I think, to once (twice?) for symphony 4) - whose own considerable anxious, troubled elements can pass under the radar in some performances, I think - forms something of a (relatively) happier - not twin (they're neither formally nor otherwise alike) but- ... something? Hrm. :)
I hope anyone who's familiar with e.g. Walker's biography of Liszt, especially certain parts of The Weimar Years, will understand what I meant with my reference above.
Myaskovsky's 5th and 6th were much more in the romantic tradition than the 4th. And both have enjoyed multiple recordings. To my knowledge, the only commercial recording of the 4th was Svetlanov's, so this performance by Gergiev is a welcomed rarity.
It was not my intention to re-open the debate here at UC regarding the scope of the forum's purview. I do not have a problem with the definition. There are always going to be works that straddle the line, no matter where the line is drawn. IMO, Myaskovsky's 4th does not straddle the line. I find it interesting with some compelling ideas and a distinctive sound world. It is not dissonant to my ears. But not a romantic work.
If Mark and Alan hear it differently, I'll gladly add it tio the UC archive.
I vaguely recall being informed of a plan (from a little while back- mid-1990s maybe?) to record symphonies 4, 14 and 20- at the time the only ones unavailable even on broadcast tapes (some commercially never-recorded symphonies of his were available in that form, anyway; not those three) - on a CD on the label "Boheme Music" out of Moscow - but for whatever reason- maybe the Svetlanov series' appearance, and I would guess that reason - well, that disc seems not to exist. So yep...
A very unsung (Bulgarian, not Soviet- is that too outside of this category?... but Soviet-period and Soviet Bloc) composer by whom I've encountered recordings of only a few orchestral works but who seems to have written at least a half-dozen string quartets, etc. would be Boian Georgiev Ikonomov (1900-1973)... I'm definitely curious about the chamber music. I think some local (and not so local...) libraries here have his 2nd string quartet and 2 wind trios of his, which I'll see if I can interloan. Will report back if I succeed in having a look (especially if my impression leads me to a belief that it belongs within R-UC rather than NR-UC. (R != NR... no no, no math/compsci obscure puns today...) (Hrm. In particular, nearby SUNY Oneonta, which is - or was last I checked - on the limited list of institutions which interloans with my local library - has a copy of his 2nd string quartet (in A, Op.16, pub. 1937.) I'll put in a request for that sometime soon. Right now trying to scan or typeset works by Raff & Moór that I've also interloan/borrowed/etc., but, long story.)