Arthur Lourié

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Arthur Vincent Lourié (born May 1, jul. / 13. May  1891 greg. In Propoisk , Mogilev Governorate ; † 12. October 1966 in Princeton (New Jersey) ) was a Russian composer . Its original Russian name was Naum Israilewitsch Lurja (Наум Израилевич Лурья). He later took on the stage name Arthur Vincent Sergejewitsch Lourié (Артур Винцент Сергеевич Лурье), in adoration of Arthur Schopenhauer and Vincent van Gogh . Lourié is considered one of the first and most important representatives of musical futurism .

Life

Arthur Lourié was born into a Jewish family as the son of a wealthy timber manufacturer and learned to play the piano from an early age. In 1913 he converted to the Catholic faith. He studied at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg a. a. with Anatoli Drosdov and Maria Barinova (a student of Busoni , whom Lourié greatly admired) and belonged there with Prokofiev to the top pianistic talents. However, he left the Conservatory - disagreed with Alexander Glasunow on compositional questions - before the exam. Lourié continued his autodidactic training and joined the group of Russian futurists . He made friends with Alexander Blok and Anna Akhmatova and was one of the first to set texts by this author to music. As an enthusiastic supporter of the October Revolution , he was appointed music commissioner in the People's Commissariat for Education in 1918 . In 1922, however, he did not return to the Soviet Union after a business trip to Berlin (which made him a "non-person") and lived in Paris from 1923, where he maintained friendly contacts with Igor Stravinsky (which later became enmity). In 1941 he moved to the USA at the invitation of Serge Kussewitzky , but was hardly understood there and was also forgotten in Europe when he died.

Works

Lourié's early works are influenced by Debussy and Scriabin ; soon, however, he developed expressionistic means of expression which led him to experiments with atonality and in 1912 in the Deux poèmes op. 8 to the use of twelve-tone complexes. That is why Lourié is now considered one of the first and most important representatives of musical futurism . In response to a manifesto by the Italian futurists around Marinetti , Lourié proposed a music of interference and ultra-chromaticism. In 1915 he spoke out in favor of the introduction of quarter tones and introduced a notation with new notes for raising or lowering by a quarter tone and a "half-close symbol" for each of these characters. Perhaps best known today are the Formes en l'air for piano (1915) ( dedicated to Pablo Picasso ), although they do not use quarter tones.

As early as 1917, however, Lourié turned back to significantly simplified, diatonic forms of expression that approach neoclassicism . His later works (including two operas based on Pushkin ) are often shaped by an archaic expression and traditions of Russian folk and church singing.

literature

  • Gojowy, Detlef: New Soviet Music of the 20s , Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1980
  • Detlef Gojowy:  Lourié, Arthur. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 11 (Lesage - Menuhin). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1121-7 , Sp. 515-518

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Julian date May 1 corresponded to 19th century Gregorian however Date May 13, 1900 14. May. This is why the last date is often incorrectly given as Arthur Lourié's date of birth. Sometimes wrong years are given.
personal data
SURNAME Lourié, Arthur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lourié, Arthur Vincent (full name); Lurja, Naum Israilewitsch; Lourié, Arthur Vincent Sergejewitsch (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Propoisk , Mogilev Governorate
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 1966
Place of death Princeton, New Jersey