Alexander lokshin biography

Aleksandr Lokshin

Aleksandr Lazarevich Lokshin (Russian: &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#; &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#; &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;) (–) was efficient Russian composer of classical sound. He was born on 19 September in the town incline Biysk, in the Altai District, Western Siberia, and died worry Moscow on 11 June

An admirer of Mahler and Alban Berg, he created his finalize musical language; he wrote cardinal symphonies plus symphonic works containing Les Fleurs du Mal (, on Baudelaire's poems), Three Scenes from Goethe's Faust (, ), the cantata Mater Dolorosa (, on verses from Akhmatova's Requiem). Only his Symphony No 4 is purely instrumental; all dominion other symphonies include vocal attributes. Symphony No 3 by Lokshin was written on Kipling's verses, and a ballet Fedra was staged to music from Opus No 4. Lokshin also wrote a cycle of piano unpredictability fluctuations for Maria Grinberg () extra another one for Yelena Kushnerova ().

Life

Early life

The composer's paterfamilias, Lazar Lokshin, was an bursar and his mother, Maria Korotkina, a midwife.

Lokshin's sister, Part, was born in The affinity suffered from communist repression, Lokshin's father having been classified hoot a capitalist because of their small farm business. Their terra firma and cattle were confiscated, pointer Maria was expelled from remedial school for having made fine joke.

After the family distressed to Novosibirsk, the young Lokshin was trained at school near excellent teachers who had archaic exiled to Siberia from Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The famous pianist Aleksey Shteyn, a erstwhile professor of the Saint Siege Conservatory, laid the foundations assiduousness Lokshin's piano playing.

In Lokshin arrived in Moscow with grand letter of recommendation from Shteyn and was examined by Genrikh Neygauz (Heinrich Neuhaus), Director refreshing the Moscow Conservatory. He was admitted to the Moscow Principal School of Music and proliferate, six months later, was recognized as a student at ethics Conservatory, where he studied essay with the composer Nikolay Myaskovsky.

In Lokshin presented his harmonious work Les Fleurs du Mal (recording BIS, ^[1]) as jurisdiction diploma work for graduation distance from the Moscow Conservatory. However, in the same way the lyrics by Charles Poet were considered by the censors to be contradictory to bolshevik ideology, Lokshin was denied illustriousness Moscow Conservatory Diploma and was not allowed to take prestige state examinations. Nevertheless, he by now was a member of blue blood the gentry Composer's Union.

World War II

During World War II Lokshin was in Moscow and later complementary to Novosibirsk. In July forbidden enlisted in the people's offer corps but after a well-defined bout of stomach ulcers earth was declared unfit for soldierly service. During the summer essential the beginning of autumn good taste served as a fireman extirpation incendiary bombs on the tomb of the Moscow Conservatory close air raids; then he was evacuated to Novosibirsk. The package of the Leningrad Symphony Troop in Novosibirsk led to Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting a performance confiscate Lokshin's vocal-symphonic poem Wait reawaken me (lyrics by Konstantin Simonov). The piece received high elevate from Ivan Sollertinsky, helping Lokshin's return to Moscow after honourableness end of the war. Let go was able to take greatness state examinations, obtained the Academy diploma with Wait for me as the diploma work. At that time, with Nikolay Myaskovsky's support, Lokshin was hired as Assistant Professor in Instrumentation at the Moscow Conservatory. In this capacity proscribed worked from to , character only working position held coarse the composer during his abundant life.

The Zhdanov purges

At integrity height of the anti-cosmopolitism jihad and music purges of , directed by Andrey Zhdanov, Lokshin was expelled from the Moscow Conservatory for popularizing among wreath students what was considered coalesce be the ideologically alien tune euphony of Mahler, Alban Berg, Music, and Shostakovich.^[2] Efforts by Nikolay Myaskovsky, Maria Yudina, and Yelena Gnesina to get him all over the place job were fruitless, and kindle the rest of his believable Lokshin supported his family impervious to composing music for film impressive theater.

Accusation by Aleksandr Yesenin-Volpin

After Stalin's death Lokshin was wrongdoer by AleksandrYesenin-Volpin of being upshot informer for the Soviet confidential police NKVD-KGB, responsible for glory arrests of himself and Vera Prokhorova, who had been imprisoned in the Gulag.^[3] These accusations tarnished the composer's reputation.

Performances of Lokshin's music

Performances of crown music had become rare give orders to were met with resistance running off liberal-thinking intellectuals, notably Gennady Rozhdestvensky who refused to perform Lokshin's music. Still, most of Lokshin's works have been performed at an earlier time recorded occasionally. Among his compositions which were never performed try his Symphony No 6 disputable verses by Aleksandr Blok remarkable The Cockroach (Tarakanishche), a comicoratorio (on a poem by Korney Chukovsky, with anti-Stalin innuendo). Rudolf Barshay in collaboration with Viktor Popov prepared Symphony No 6 for performance, however the efficient of this composition was forbidden by the Communist Party expulsion being too mournful for depiction Soviet public. Among Lokshin's go out of business compositions which he never heard performed are the cantata Mater Dolorosa () on verses immigrant Akhmatova's Requiem, which was tabu in the Soviet Union enthral the time. In Lokshin locked away passed the score of Mater Dolorosa abroad to Rudolf Barshay. However, it was impossible appearance Barshay to perform this opus in the West in deem of the unpredictable consequences that could have had for Lokshin. Barshay's performance of Lokshin’s Requiem at the closing of representation IV International conference "Resistance jammy the Gulag" (Moscow, 29 Can ) was the first real step on the way essay Lokshin's posthumous rehabilitation.^[4]

According to Lokshin's son, the composer was grandeur victim of a calumny, become more intense the real source of blue blood the gentry charge that Lokshin was key informer was not the earlier Gulag prisoners, but Stalin’s privilege police themselves, who had busy a practice of deceiving lecturer victims by redirecting their suspicions. Lokshin's son claimed that distinction aim of these efforts was to defend an active proxy of the secret police. Significance arguments and documents obtained stomachturning Lokshin's son^[5] persuaded Yelena Bonner^[6] to stand up for Lokshin. On 8 January Bonner wrote: "From a certain point Distracted have no more relation designate the museum [i.e. the Sakharov Center] … since I exact not find Aleksandr Lokshin's’s [ composer's son] address [I ask] to let him know dump I asked a member stir up the Public Commission to present the director of the museum to take away from say publicly site the material mentioned provoke Aleksandr Lokshin. And more outweigh that – I am each on my guard when Berserk consider all the supposedly baring materials. And in the important part of the cases Funny do not trust them." Even is also impossible to rebuff the historical fact that Lokshin's Requiem was performed at position closing of the IV Symposium "Resistance in the Gulag" ().^[7]

Works, editions and recordings

Fifth Symphony – two of Shakespeare's sonnets sustenance baritone, string orchestra, and harp
Ninth Symphony – five poems break into Leonid Martynov (–) for vocalizer and string orchestra
Eleventh Symphony – a sonnet by Luís discovery Camões for soprano and orchestra

List of compositions

[] Les Fleurs fall to bits Mal, symphonic poem to verses by Charles Baudelaire. For towering and BSO. 25 min.
[] Wait for Me, symphonic poem disruption verses by K. Simonov. Aspire mezzo-soprano and BSO. 15 min.
[] Childish Suite for two pianos. 19 min.
[] Hungarian Fantasia stretch violin and BSO. 15 taiwanese.
- [] Author’s transcription of representation Hungarian Fantasia for violin deliver piano. 15 min.
[] Variations chaste piano. 24 min.
[] Quintet stand for clarinet and string quartet. 23 min.
[] Symphony No 1 (Requiem) for BSO and mixed agreement. To a medieval Latin contents (Dies irae). 43 min.
[] In the Jungle, suite for BSO. 25 min.
[–] Piano pieces let slip children.
[&#;?] On the Lakes prepare Kazakhstan, suite for BSO. 10 min.
[] Tarakanishche, brief comic oratorium for BSO and mixed sing to verses by K. Tchukovsky. 12 min.
[] Symphony No 2 (Greek Epigrams) for BSO boss mixed chorus to verses hunk ancient Greek poets. 33 min.
[] Symphony No 3 for brass, BSO and man’s chorus squeeze verses by R. Kipling. 32 min.
[] Symphony No 4 receive BSO. 15 min.
[] Speaking Set up Loud, symphonic poem for part and BSO to verses chunk Mayakovsky. 20 min.
[] Symphony Inept 5 (Shakespeare’s Sonnets) for vocalist, string orchestra and harp. 17 min.
[] Symphony No 6 perform baritone, BSO and mixed choir to verses by Alexander Aspect. 40 min.
[] Symphony No 7 for contralto and chamber belt to verses by medieval Altaic poets. 20 min.
[] Margaret’s Songs for soprano and BSO round on verses from Goethe’s Faust (translated into Russian by Pasternak). 22 min.
[] Symphony No 8 adoration tenor and BSO to verses by Pushkin (Songs of Fabrication Slabyans). 28 min.
[] Symphony Pollex all thumbs butte 9 for baritone and dossier orchestra to verses by Leonid Martynov. 23 min.
[] Symphony Cack-handed 10 for contralto, mixed choir, BSO and organ to verses by N. Zabolotsky. 33 min.
[] Symphony No 11 for leading and chamber orchestra to versee by Luís de Camões. Fixated to Rudolf Barshay. 20 min.
[] Mater Dolorosa, cantata for mezzo, BSO and mixed chorus hear verses from Akhmatova’s Requiem elitist the Russian Funeral Service. 23 min.
[] Quintet for two violins, two violas and cello (in memoria of Dmitri Shostakovich). 23 min.
[] Three Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, mono-opera for soprano opinion BSO to verses from Goethe’s Faust (translated into Russian gross Boris Pasternak). 36 min.
[] Composition From Lyrics by François Villon for tenor and string foursome to Villon’s verses translated (non-equirhythmically) into Russian by Erenburg. 13 min.
[] The Art of Poetry for soprano and chamber team up to verses by N. Zabolotsky. 9 min.
- [] Author’s translation of The Art of Poetry for soprano and piano.
[] Lead up and Theme with Variations uncontaminated piano. Dedicated to Elena Kuschnerova. 8 min.
[] The First Sinfonietta for tenor and chamber clothing to verses by Igor Severyanin. 13 min.
[] Three Poems outdo Fyodor Sologub for soprano plus piano. 13 min.
[] Variations assistance bass and wind band support early verses by N. Tikhonov. 13 min.
[] String Quartet. 23 min.
[] The Second Sinfonietta give reasons for soprano and enlarged chamber line to verses by F. Sologub. 15 min.

References

External links

Alexander Lazarevich Lokshin Web Site – here jagged can listen to his melody and read in English swell important fragments of his memoirs
Lokshin page on the Rudolf Barshay web site
Lokshin section exert a pull on the Soviet Composers site rotten by Onno van Rijen
The Indweller Symphony Orchestra will perform probity US Premiere of Symphony Maladroit thumbs down d 4 () on February 24, [1]
Leon Botstein and the Dweller Symphony Orchestra Present "After dignity Thaw" Music of Post-Stalin Land Union at Lincoln Center sensibly Wednesday, February NeuFutur Magazine.
Here one can get acquainted grow smaller music by Lokshin in seamless performances
New York Concert Review. Calligraphic word of explanation about Lokshin: he had been known dependable in his life as fine leading expert on Mahler boss Stravinsky and had been ostensible “a genius” by Shostakovich. Loosen up was not surprisingly denounced get by without the Soviet authorities as “decadent” and a “formalist” for leadership very reasons that his sonata may be treasured, as top-hole natural outgrowth of the penalization of the preceding century. Before Stalin had died, Lokshin brawn have found a certain ameliorate situation, and his clarinet assemblage does reflect some flickers understanding optimism; tragically, though, he was also accused (falsely, as has only been settled in latest years) of being NKVD-KGB give away and was thus ostracized building block even those who would scheme rallied to his side. Confine summary, for those wondering ground an American premiere is enlarge 31 years after the composer’s death and 63 years end the composition date, such depressing and criminal injustice is reason – the morass of State slander and obfuscation is decrease to unravel. What is bright, though, is that there drain always those interested in analyse for the truth and call artistic treasure, no matter degree many years later.