Composers away from the main musical capitals

[guest224]

I have been reading a bit about a number of 19th century Russian composers, including Alexander Gorelov (1863-1937), Nikolai Kochetov (1864-1925) and Vassily Zolotarev (1863-??).  It seems they were very highly regarded in their time and circles, BUT they were not active in Moscow/St. Petersburg, but in "secondary" cities of the Russian empire, such as Kiev, Tbilisi, Astrakhan, Smolensk, Odessa, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Taganrog, Sverdlovsk, Perm, Minsk etc. 

Is this a peculiarly Russian problem? Or did the same hold true in other European countries - namely if you weren't writing in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Rome etc then you weren't likely to be noticed?

The Russians I mentioned - it seems they (and others, like Vassili Kalafati (1869-1942)) were taught by the best and won prestigious prizes in their time (Zolotarev reportedly won the Glinka prize for his 1st Symphony) so it seems sad that they were soon forgotten, just for want of being in the wrong cities and not close to the equivalent of PR-men and leading publishers.  Ditto Nikolai Kochetov (1862-1925) and Piotr Triodin (1887-1950).

[Neil McGowan]

I wonder if it was - in part - related to ethnic backgrounds?  For example, Odessa has always traditionally been a city with a robust Jewish community (and it remains so today). Perhaps Jewish composers would do better there?  The same was true for both Baku and Tbilisi during the USSR period, since they were well-known 'refusenik' cities - where composers 'out of odour' with the authorities in the bigger cities might flourish?

Also, especially prior to the Revolution, there was no especial taint from working in smaller cities, especially those with well-established intellectual communities such as Rostov on Don, or Odessa etc.

[kyjo]

Alexander Lokshin (20th-century Soviet composer of 12 symphonies, all vocal, some of which have been recorded on CD) was born in Siberia :o! He died in Moscow, though-I'm not exactly sure how much of his life he spent in the desolation of Eastern Russia ???.

[jimfin]

I think it's true anywhere, and a lot of composers moved from their small home towns to the main cities, Wallace from Waterford to London (eventually), etc. Elgar got patronised and considered a 'mere' provincial for a long time because he was active mainly on the festival circuit in the midlands.On the other hand, Delius lived happily in an obscure village and allowed Beecham to do all the work of promoting him.

[guest224]

I mentioned Zolotarev above, and so was please today to find that I do have a recording of a piece of his music:

The Prince-Lake - fragments from ballet (6 minutes 30 seconds long).  It's on the CD compilation Music of Belarus of the 20th Century (Музыка Беларусі XХ стагоддзя), itself part of the 13-CD set "Anthology: Music of Belarus, 17th-20th Century".  I hadn't noticed it was by him as hie is labelled under the Belarusian version of his name - Vasil Zalatarou!  The piece is very melodic, well worth listening to if you can get your hands on it.  I would say which other composers it calls to mind, but it doesn't, which is refreshing.  Maybe Liadov very slightly.

[kyjo]

Zolotaryev has long intrigued me, mainly due to the fact that he composed seven symphonies! See his impressive worklist: http://russiancomposers.org.uk/page1317.html

His Symphony no. 1, with its subtitle Symphony of Anger, is one I'd really like to hear ;D

Edition Silvertrust is preparing to publish Zolotaryev's first two strings quartets, apparently.

IMSLP holds a few of his compositions: http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Zolotarev,_Vasily

 :)

[guest145]

Alexander Lokshin (20th-century Soviet composer of 12 symphonies, all vocal, some of which have been recorded on CD) was born in Siberia Shocked! He died in Moscow, though-I'm not exactly sure how much of his life he spent in the desolation of Eastern Russia Huh.

A good summary of Lokshin's life can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Lokshin. It seems the relative neglect of his music has more to do with politics than location, or quality. He championed ideologically unacceptable foreign composers and he was also accused of being a KGB informant.

By the way, not all his symphonies are vocal -- No. 4 is purely instrumental.

[kyjo]

Thanks, Maris-very interesting! I am not a great fan of Lokshin's music; I find it rather on the arid side and vocalists are used a bit too much. The symphonies of his I've heard seem like Shostakovich's 13th and 14th symphonies with the interesting parts taken out. Not very uplifting music, I might add-maybe he was inspired by the barren Siberian wasteland while writing his music. I enjoyed the BIS disc of his non-symphonic orchestral works more than the symphonies; the writing is less dull and more approachable and colorful. I'll have to check out his Symphony no. 1 Requiem, which is on YT: I'll give Lokshin another go, but I doubt I'll get much enjoyment out of doing so...

[Neil McGowan]

Alexander Lokshin (20th-century Soviet composer of 12 symphonies, all vocal, some of which have been recorded on CD) was born in Siberia :o! He died in Moscow, though-I'm not exactly sure how much of his life he spent in the desolation of Eastern Russia ???.

The Russian-language version of Wikipedia gives more details. He was born in Biiysk, in the Siberian Altai Mts, but his parents apparently moved to Novosibirsk for the sake of their son's education (Biiysk being a very small town on the Biiy River). In 1936 Lokshin moved to Moscow and enrolled at the Moscow Conservatoire. He locked horns with the Comrades as early as 1939, when his vocal symphonic poem "Flowers" (based on Les Fleurs du Mal, by Baudelaire) enraged them - he was thrown out of the Conservatoire. By 1944 they partly forgave him, and arranged that he would sit an examination to procure his Diploma at last.  Even so, he'd been accepted at the Union of Composers in 1941.  During these years he had a day job, and wrote his next vocal-symphonic work "Wait For Me" by night.

He returned to Novosibirsk after sitting his Diploma, but by 1945 he was back in Moscow - now teaching orchestration at the Conservatoire.

In 1948 a peculiar (and only half-explained) incident occurred. Evidently three Siberian convicts lodged charges against Lokshin.  The seriousness of the charges was apparently heightened by the accusers being convicts (there are no details as to what these charges really were). It was all serious enough to wreck his career in Moscow, and he (voluntarily) returned to Siberia to continue his career there.  However, he was now famous enough to earn his career as a composer alone, and didn't have to take any parallel job to support himself.  A number of famous conductors thought enough of his works (Rozhdestvensky, Barshai) to conduct their premieres. Wikipedia notes that the charges in 1948 appear to have been fabricated by the KGB, who planted the whole thing.  His case was taken up by Elena Bonner, who worked to clear his name posthumously.  It's still not clear what the KGB would have gained from the incident.

A heart attack in 1986 effectively ended his career - although he was rehoused in Moscow as a result, so that he could have the best treatment.

[guest145]

The Russian-language version of Wikipedia gives more details

Thanks, Neil, for the additional information.

Kyjo, I agree with your assessment of Lokshin's music. While I have a few downloads in my collection, I find I rarely listen to any of them, as there are other so many other composers who capture my attention more readily. However, I'll keep the works, and perhaps one day will sit down and make a serious attempt at coming to terms with the music.

[guest224]

Dear Christopher
For Ho & Feofanov, Zolotaryov was 24-2-1873 Taganrog 25-5-1964 Moscow was a Rimsky's disciple.Please may you give more details about Byelorussian anthology?

Hello Toby - I'm so sorry but I don't really understand your comment?  "For Ho & Feofanov"?

[kyjo]

Christopher, he meant "from Ho and Feofanov" :)

[JimL]

Well, there was also Albert Dietrich in Oldenburg and Raff in Wiesbaden, then Frankfurt.  Although an argument can be made that wherever in Germany (or Prussia) there was a famous composer there was a musical capital as long as he lived.  :D

[Dundonnell]

The Russian-language version of Wikipedia gives more details

Thanks, Neil, for the additional information.

Kyjo, I agree with your assessment of Lokshin's music. While I have a few downloads in my collection, I find I rarely listen to any of them, as there are other so many other composers who capture my attention more readily. However, I'll keep the works, and perhaps one day will sit down and make a serious attempt at coming to terms with the music.

I made four Lokshin symphonies available here a few days ago-Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 8.

[guest224]

Christopher, he meant "from Ho and Feofanov" :)

Thanks!

X Christopher
Please could you give some details about cds Byelorussian Anthology?

Hi Toby - when I get access to a scanning machine, I will scan the booklet with details about all 13 CDs and put it on mediafire. But this won't be for a few weeks so please keep reminding me.  I will put up images of all my Belarusian CDs. Some are in Belarusian only.  Do you read Cyrillic?