Alexis Borison Abaza

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexis Borison Abaza (also: Aleksei Borissowitsch Abasa; * 1916 in China , † 1994 in San Francisco , United States ) was a composer, pianist and music teacher.

Life

1916 to 1972 time in Asia

Aleksei Borissowitsch Abasa was born in China to a Russian noble family who had emigrated to China and grew up there. His parents gave him a good education and sent him to a school in Harbin . In 1933 he decided to study music and went to Japan to study piano and music theory. There he attended master classes, first with Leo Sirota (1885–1965), who had studied in Vienna with Ferrucio Busoni , then with Leonid Kreutzer . He started his solo career as a pianist in 1935 at the age of nineteen with a concert in Tsientsin .

At the age of 22 he became the piano accompanist of violinist Alexander Mogilewski (1885–1953) in Tokyo. Abasa accompanied Mogilewski at his concerts in Japan and from 1938 to 1944 during recordings for Columbia Records in Tokyo. In 1944 he won the fourth North China composition competition with the symphonic poem Twilight . From then on, Abasa devoted himself more to composing. He strove for a Chinese national music. The influence of his friend Alexander Tscherepnin , whom he admired , became evident . In 1954 his works Chinese Dance with Drums for piano and Memories of China for violin were highly praised at the first Chinese composers' congress.

1973 to 1994 time in Europe and the United States

In 1973 he traveled to the Netherlands and began working with the music publisher AJ Heuwekemeijer. This made his works known in East and West. Together they mainly published piano works such as Chinese engravings , a collection of six piano movements, sonnets, prelude and fugue op. 55 and the children's album Ringelrei . In 1977 he went to the United States . In the United States, he Americanized his Russian name to Alexis Borison Abaza. In San Francisco he opened his own private music school where he taught himself. He also composed other piano works here such as Toccata and Fugue op. 43, Idyll and Fugue op. 52, the children's album Ponyritt, Lyrische Variationen op.73 and the Sonata quasi Fantasia op. 75. He published biographies of his teachers, the pianist Leonid Kreutzer and Leo Sirota. In 1982 and 1983 he was invited to the People's Republic of China to teach piano and composition master classes at the Shenyang Conservatory . He also gave a lecture called The Aesthetic Problems of Contemporary Music. In 1984 prominent musicians from eighteen countries founded The International Committee to Proffer the Pianofortemusic of Alexis Abaza. [International Committee to Promote Alexis Abaza's Piano Music]. The aim of the committee was to promote an international competition to determine the best performances of Abaza's piano works. Shura Cherkassky chaired the committee. Abaza was a member of the Pacific Musical Society of San Francisco [Pacific Musical Society of San Francisco] . He died in San Francisco in 1994.

Works (selection)

music

Oratorio

  • An Address at Gettysburg by Abraham Lincoln , Optimistic Requiem , oratorio for baritone, choir and orchestra

Piano works

  • Memories of China Fantasy for violin and piano. Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1981
  • Sixteen Little Piano Pieces based on Chinese Folk Melodies, Op. 22, published on July 26, 1982
  • Doraji, Korean folk song, improvisation for piano solo op.26, published on January 15, 1979
  • Toccata and fugue on a theme by Josquin Desprez op.43, published in Schagen bei Heuwekemeijer, published on May 28, 1985
  • Idyll and Fugue op.52, published on February 2, 1982
  • Prelude and Fugue, Op. 55 in A minor, 1977
  • Twincle, twincle, little star! for piano four hands. Alexis Borison Abaza Composer's Bureau, Published February 26, 1979.
  • Chinese engravings [Chinese engravings]: compositions and arrangements for pianoforte solo, op. 56. Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, published on January 14, 1977 I Violins at night [Violins at night] II Shinzyan folk-song [folk song from Shinzyan] III Blind flute player ; IV Girl with butterfly [girl with butterfly] V Mongolian dance [Mongolian dance] VI Dance with drums [dance with drums] .
  • Sonnet No. 1 Elegiac op.57 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977
  • Sonnet No. 2 Sunrise op.58 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977
  • Irene, Walzer op.59 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977
  • Sonnet No. 3 op. 60 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977
  • Sonnet Nr. 4 Violin-Sonnet op.61 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977
  • Pony Riding , Oriental Scenes , easy melodic pieces for piano op. 62. 24 oriental pieces
  • Tussen de schilderijen van Hendrik Valk [Between the paintings of Hendrik Valks] for piano for 2 hands for the 80th birthday of Hendrik van der Valks. op. 63 Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1977. op..63bis. Second version by the author. Published in Amsterdam by Heuwekemeijer, 1993
  • Ringelrei Piano Album No. 1 op. 68. Easy pieces for piano. Compositions and arrangements. Published in Amsterdam in Edition Heuwekemeijer, 1976
  • Toy-dance variations op.74, 1979
  • Sonata quasi fantasia op.75 for piano. Published in Amsterdam in Edition Heuwekemeijer, published on May 10, 1982
  • Chinese Ballad, op.76.Sixteen small piano pieces based on Chinese melodies, 1986
  • Air and variations, piano, op. 80. I Air II Nine Variations III Finale, published in Amsterdam in Edition Heuwekemeijer, 1977

Songs

  • Poems by Mao Tse-Tung for voice and piano, selected by Li Tiefu, 1964

Books

  • Пианист Леонид Крейцзер [pianist Leonid Kreutzer]. San Francisco Alexis Abaza Music Academy, 1979 (Russian)

literature

  • Abasa, Aleksei. In: Druziam ot Druzei No. 38, 1983. Union of Graduates from Harbins Educational Institutions.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Library: Druziam ot druzei . Strathfield, NSW: Soiuz okonchivshikh Kharbinskii KhSML, 1983 ( online [accessed November 25, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Словарь русской эмиграции А.В. Попова | Абаза - Ашер | MOCHOLA.ORG. Retrieved May 22, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Alexis Abaza. In: Druziam ot druzei. P. 12 , accessed on May 22, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Mao Tse-tung; an anthology of his writings. Introd. and general editing by Anne Fremantle. Retrieved November 25, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Memories of China: piece for violin with piano. 1981, accessed May 28, 2017 (undetermined).
  6. ↑ Memories of China = (Yi shu Zhongguo): op. 28. 1981, accessed on May 28, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Toccata and fugue op.43 for pianoforte: on the theme by Josquin Desprez. 1985, Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Chinese engravings: compositions and arrangements for pianoforte solo, op. 56. 1977, accessed on May 28, 2017 (Dutch).
  9. ↑ Chinese engravings: compositions and arrangements for pianoforte solo: op. 56. 1977, accessed on May 28, 2017 .
  10. ↑ a b c d e Sonnets: lyric pieces for pianoforte solo. 1977, Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Ringelrei. 1976, Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Sonata, quasi una fantasia in E flat minor, op.75: composition for the pianoforte. 1982, accessed May 28, 2017 (Dutch).
  13. ↑ Prelude & fugue, op.55, A minor. 1977, accessed May 28, 2017 (Dutch).
  14. ↑ Air and variations, op. 80, for pianoforte. 1986, Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Abaza, Alexis Borison
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abasa, Aleksei Borissowitsch (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Composer, pianist and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH China
DATE OF DEATH 1994
Place of death San Francisco , United States