Nikolai Lopatnikoff

Nikolai Lopatnikoff (originally Russian Николай Львович Лопатников / Nikolai Lwowitsch Lopatnikow ; born March 16, 1903 in Tallinn , † October 7, 1976 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) was a Russian-American composer, music teacher and university teacher.

Life

Europe

Lopatnikoff studied music theory and piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory until his family fled to Helsinki in 1917 before the Russian Revolution . In Helsinki he studied at the Sibelius Academy until 1920 .

His family had settled in Heidelberg in 1921 , from where he began to study engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and graduated with a diploma in 1927. At the same time he studied composition with Ernst Toch , Hermann Grabner and Willy Rehberg in Mannheim at the local conservatory and also in Berlin.

During this time the Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 5, the 2nd Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 15 and the symphony No. 1, Op. 12. This symphony was played by numerous orchestras in Europe and the USA and in 1932 the Philadelphia Orchestra toured. Like George Antheil , he composed pieces for the mechanical piano “ Welte-Mignon ” for the “Deutsche Kammermusik Baden-Baden 1927”, a follow-up event of the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 1926 . Aaron Copland , who heard this performance on July 16, 1927, introduced Sergei Kusewizki to it and thus initiated a contact that was decisive for Lopatnikoff's future. Kusevitsky commissioned an orchestration of the pieces and offered Lopatnikoff a collaboration. This resulted in a longstanding relationship in which numerous works by Lopatnikoff were premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra .

America

After having worked mainly as a composer in Berlin in the 1930s and from 1936 in London, he emigrated to the USA in 1939. He was appointed professor of composition at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford (Connecticut) , the Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains (New York) and ultimately at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh , PA . In 1944 he became a US citizen. Until his retirement in 1969 he taught music theory and composition at Carnegie Mellon. He then moved to New York , where he died in 1976.

His estate is in the Library of Congress . In 1963 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Catalog raisonné

• Four Little Piano Pieces, Op. 1
• Prelude and Fugue, Op. 2
• Prelude to a drama for large orchestra, Op. 3 (ca.1922)
• 1. Concerto for piano and orchestra in C major, Op. 5a, first performance in Karlsruhe, 1927
• Concerto for piano and orchestra, Op. 5b
• Deuxième quatuor, Quartet No. 2, Op. 6th
  • Deuxième Quatuor en ut pour deux violons, Alto et Violoncelle, Op. 6a; Leipzig: MP Belaïeff, 1933
• Sonatine pour piano, Op. 7 (1928); Paris: Édition Russe de Musique, 1928
• Duo for violin and violoncello, Op. 8th; Berlin: Édition Russe de Musique
• Sonate pour violon, piano et tambour militaire, Op. 9; Berlin: Édition Russe de Musique, 1928
• Introduction et Scherzo (for orchestra), Op. 10; Paris: Édition Russe de Musique
• Sonate pour Violoncelle et Piano (Sonata for Violoncello and Piano), Op. 11; Paris: Édition Russe de Musique
• 1st symphony, Op. 12; Mainz: Schott
• Deux danses ironiques, pour piano, Op. 13; Paris: Édition Russe de Musique
• 2. Concerto for piano and orchestra, Op. 15 (Dedicated to my parents); Mainz: Schott around 1950
• 5 Contrasts for Piano (Five Contrasts), Op. 16; Mainz: Schott around 1950
• 3 Pieces for Violin and Piano (Three Pieces for Violin and Piano), Op. 17, Mainz: Schott n.d.
• Dialogues: five pieces for piano, Op. 18 (1934); Mainz: Schott n.d.
• Danton, Opera in three acts, Op. 20 (after Georg Büchner )
• Danton Suite, Op. 21st
• Variations for Piano, Op. 22; Mainz: Schott around 1950
  • Girl's song; Evening peace; Evening course; Good night...; I fell ...; In April.
• Piano trio (Trio en la mineur pour piano, violon et violoncelle), Op. 23
• 2nd symphony, Op. 24
• Violin Concerto, Op. 26; New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1944
• Sinfonietta, Op. 27; New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1949
• Opus sinfonicum (for orchestra), Op. 28; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1951
• Sonata for piano No.1 in E major, Op. 29 (ca.1943); New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1946
• Concertino for orchestra, Op. 30; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1953
• Variations and Epilogue for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 31 (ca.1946); New York: Edward B. Marks Music Corporation, 1948
• Variations and Epilogue for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 31a
• Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano, Op. 32
• Concerto for 2 pianos, Op. 33; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1953
• Divertimento for orchestra, Op. 34; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1954
• Sonata for Violin and Piano No 2, Op. 32; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1951
• Concerto for 2 pianos and orchestra, Op. 33 (1949)
• 3rd Symphony, Op. 35; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1951
• Quartet No. 3 for Strings, Op. 36
• Intervals, 7 studies for piano, Op. 37; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1957
• Variazioni concertanti, op. 38, for orchestra; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1963
• Music for orchestra, Op. 39; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1960
• Music for Band, Op. 39a, Arranged by William A. Schaefer from the composer's op.39
• Festival Overture, Op. 40; New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1965
• Concerto for Wind Symphony Orchestra, Op. 41
• Fantasia concertante: for violin and pianio, Op. 42 (1962); New York: MCA Music, 1967
• Concerto for orchestra, Op. 43 (ca.1964); New York: CF Peters Corporation, 1964
• Divertimento da camera, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, violin, cello, percussion and piano, Op. 44
• Partita concertante, for chamber orchestra, Op. 45
• 4th Symphony, Op. 46

Works without opus no.

• Arabesque, for two pianos, four hands (ca.1948); New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1948
• Arabesque for violoncello or bassoon and piano (c. 1950); New York: Leeds Music Corporation, 1950
• Arietta, for violin and piano; New York: G. Schirmer, 1943
• CHASE, for unidentified treble instrument and piano
• Dance piece for piano (edited by Isadore Freed) (1956)
• Dance piece for piano; Bryn Mawr, PA: Theodore Presser Co., 1956
• Eksprompt [Impromptu] and Prelude (for piano solo)
• Elegietta for violoncello and piano (1934); Mainz: Schott
• Gavotte (for piano solo); Paris: Les Editions de la Sirène musicale, 1929
• Melting pot, ballet in six scenes
• Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra (ca.1949); New York: Music Press, 1947
• Time is Infinite Movement, for three voices (1947)
• Toccata for piano (original composition for mechanical piano Welte-Mignon ) (1927)
• Romans [Romance], for voice and piano (1923) based on a text by Akhmatova (Karlsruhe 1931)
• Romans [Romance], for voice and piano (1924) based on a text by Tiucher
• Scherzo (original composition for mechanical piano Welte-Mignon ) (1927)
• Variations and epilogue for cello and piano

literature

• Nikolai Lopatnikoff. Forecast and Review. New Life in Berlin . In: Modern Music VI / 4, 1929.
• Fred K. Prieberg: Lexicon of New Music . Freiburg: Alber-Verlag, 1958, p. 259 f.
• The music in past and present (MGG) , Volume 8, p. 1194, 1st ed. Kassel 1965 (the date of birth given there is incorrect).
• Nanette Kaplan Solomon: The solo piano music of Nikolai Lopatnikoff: 1903 - 1976 . Univ. Microfilms Internat., Ann Arbor, MI. Boston Univ., Diss. 1987.
• William Critser, Lester Trimble:  Lopatnikoff, Nikolai. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).

Web links

• Nikolai Lopatnikoff Collection, Library of Congress

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nikolai Lopatnikoff collection, Library of Congress Music Division, Washington, DC 20540 USA
2. ↑ Members: Nikolai Lopatnikoff. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 11, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Freiburg newspaper of February 23, 1927