Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov

Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov ( Russian Анатолий Николаевич Александров ; born 13 ^jul. / 25. May  1888 ^greg. In Moscow ; † 16th April 1982 ) was a Russian composer .

Life

Alexandrov came from a musical family. His mother was a pianist. From her Alexandrov received his first piano lessons. His family moved several times during his childhood, but had been living in Moscow again since 1906. It was at this point that Alexandrow's mother decided to look for a composition teacher for her son. On the mediation of Sergei Taneyev , he received lessons from 1907 first from Taneyev's student Nikolai Schiljajew , and from the following year from Taneyev himself. In 1910, Alexandrov entered the Moscow Conservatory , where he studied piano with Konstantin Igumnow (until 1915) and composition with Sergei Vasilenko . He completed his composition studies in 1916 with a gold medal. He then had to take part in the First World War as a soldier and later fought for the Red Army in the civil war. From 1923 on and from 1926 as a professor, he taught composition at the Moscow Conservatory. He only stopped teaching in 1964 when he retired. In the late 1920s, Alexandrov, a member of the Association of Contemporary Music (ASM), was heavily attacked by representatives of the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians (RAPM). This led to a temporary creative crisis, which came to an end with the dissolution of both organizations in the early 1930s. Alexandrov was married to a singer and led a quiet, withdrawn life. Although he had contact with numerous composers such as Nikolai Myaskovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich , he avoided the public. Nevertheless, Alexandrov received several state awards.

style

Alexandrow takes a stylistic middle position between Alexander Scriabin and Nikolai Medtner . His teacher Sergei Taneyev also had a great influence on his musical views. Although Alexandrov did not forego musical innovations, he always remained committed to the tradition of Russian music and never belonged to the avant-garde. The main focus of his work is his piano works and song cycles. His early work, which lasted until around the end of the 1920s, generally received the greatest attention in his work. During this time, Alexandrov was particularly keen to experiment and achieved almost impressionistic exotic sound effects. He often turned to mystical to ecstatic moods and went to the edge of tonality . However, when the officially desired aesthetic of Socialist Realism was proclaimed in 1932 , Alexandrov changed his style significantly. This meant a simplification of his musical language in harmonic and melodic terms. He especially turned to folk songs and used this in many works. From this time on, Alexandrov also occupied himself with the composition of educational piano music. Scriabin's influence waned significantly. Instead, his music now had a late romantic touch and used a clear tonal idiom. In the compositions of the last years of his life he looked back on his compositional career and preferred an introverted attitude. In the 1920s, Alexandrov was considered one of the leading composers of Russian piano music.

Works

• Orchestral works
  • Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 92 (1965)
  • Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 109 (1977/78)
  • Concert Symphony for Piano and Orchestra in B flat minor, Op. 102 (1974)
  • Overture on Russian Folk Tunes, Op. 29 (1915, rev. 1930)
  • Overture to two Russian folk tunes op.65 (1948)
  • Stage and film music
• Vocal music
  • "Two Worlds", opera (1916)
  • "The Forty-First", opera op. 41 (1933–35, unfinished)
  • "Béla", opera op. 51 (1940–45)
  • "The wild Bara", opera op. 82 (1954–57)
  • "Lewscha", children's opera op. 103 (1975)
  • numerous songs for voice and piano
• Chamber music
  • String Quartet No. 1 op.7 (1914, rev. 1921)
  • String Quartet No. 2 in C sharp minor op.54 (1942)
  • String Quartet No. 3 op.55 (1942)
  • String Quartet No. 4 in C major op.80 (1953)
  • Violoncello Sonata in G major op.112 (1981/82)
• Piano music
  • Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor op. 4 "Fairy Tale Sonata" (1914)
  • Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 12 (1918)
  • Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor op.18 (1920, rev. 1956 and 1967)
  • Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 19 (1922, rev. 1954)
  • Sonata No. 5 in G sharp minor op.22 (1923, rev. 1938)
  • Sonata No. 6 in G major, Op. 26 (1925)
  • Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 42 (1932)
  • Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, Op. 50 (1939–44)
  • Sonata No. 9 in C minor op.61 (1945)
  • Sonata No. 10 in F major, Op. 72 (1951)
  • Sonata No. 11 in C major, Op. 81 "Sonata-Fantasy" (1955)
  • Sonata No. 12 in B minor, op.87 (1962)
  • Sonata No. 13 in F sharp minor op. 90 "Fairy Tale Sonata" (1964)
  • Sonata No. 14 in E major, Op. 97 (1971)
  • Small Suite No. 1 op.33 (1929)
  • Small Suite No. 2 op.78 (1952)
  • Small Suite No. 3 op.101 (1973)
  • "Obsession passée", 4 fragments op. 6 (1911–17)
  • "Eight pieces based on motifs from songs of the peoples of the USSR " op. 46 (1937)
  • "Romantic Episodes", 10 pieces op. 88 (1962)
  • "Memories", 5 pieces op. 110 (1979)
  • "Visions", 2 pieces op. 111 (1979, unfinished)
  • numerous smaller pieces

Web links

• Works by and about Anatoli Nikolajewitsch Alexandrow in the catalog of the German National Library
• Catalog raisonné
• MIDI files and sheet music ( Memento from November 20, 2005 in the Internet Archive )