Dmitry Kabalevsky

Dmitry Kabalevsky
Dmitry Kabalevsky

Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (Russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский; 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1904 – 14 February 1987) was a Russian composer.

He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably best known in the West for the "Comedians' Galop" from The Comedians Suite, Op. 26.

Contents

Life

Kabalevsky was born in Saint Petersburg. His father was a mathematician and encouraged him to study mathematics; however, in early life he maintained a fascination with the arts, and became an accomplished young pianist, including a three year stint as a pianist in silent theaters.[1] He also dabbled in poetry and painting. In 1925, against his father's wishes, he accepted a place at the Moscow Conservatory, studying composition under Nikolai Myaskovsky and piano with Alexander Goldenweiser. In the same year he joined PROKULL (Production Collective of Student Composers), a student group affiliated with Moscow Conservatory aimed at bridging the gap between the modernism of the ACM and the utilitarian "agitprop" music of the RAPM. He became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in 1932.

During World War II, he wrote many patriotic songs, having joined the Communist Party in 1940, and was the editor of Sovetskaya Muzyka for its special six-volume publishing run during the war. He also composed and performed many pieces for silent movies and some theater music.

In 1948, when Andrei Zhdanov declared his resolution on the directions that Soviet music should take, Kabalevsky was originally on the list of named composers who were the most guilty of formalism; however, due to his connections with official circles, his name was removed.[2] Another theory states that Kabalevsky's name was only on the list because of his position in the leadership of the Union of Soviet Composers.[3]

In general, Kabalevsky was not as adventurous as his contemporaries in terms of harmony and preferred a more conventional diatonicism, interlaced with chromaticism and major-minor interplay. Unlike fellow composer Sergei Prokofiev, he embraced the ideas of socialist realism, and his post-war works have been characterized as "popular, bland, and successful," [4] though this judgement is attributed to many other composers of the time,[5] and some of Kabalevsky's best-known "youth works" date from this era (the Violin Concerto, the first Cello Concerto).

Perhaps Kabalevsky's most important contribution to the world of music-making is his consistent efforts to connect children to music. Not only did he write music specifically directed at bridging the gap between children's technical skills and adult aesthetics, but during his lifetime he set up a pilot program of music education in twenty-five Soviet schools. Kabalevsky himself taught a class of seven-year-olds for a time, teaching them how to listen attentively and put their impressions into words. His writings on this subject were published in the United States in 1988 as Music and education: a composer writes about musical education.

He was awarded a number of state honors for his musical works (including three Stalin Prizes). Kabalevsky had become quite a force in musical education. He was elected the head of the Commission of Musical Esthetic Education of Children in 1962 as well as being elected president of the Scientific Council of Educational Esthetics in the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR in 1969. Kabalevsky also received the honorary degree of president of the International Society of Musical Education. Kabalevsky wrote for all musical genres and was consistently faithful to the ideals of socialist realism. In Russia, Kabalevsky is most noted for his vocal songs, cantatas, and operas while overseas he is known for his orchestral music. Kabalevsky frequently travelled overseas; he was a member of the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace as well as a representative for the Promotion of Friendship between the Soviet Union and foreign countries.

His notable students included Leo Smit.

He died in Moscow on 14 February 1987.

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.
first class (1946) - for the 2nd quartet (1945)
second class (1949) - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1948)
second class - for the opera "Taras Family" (1950)
  • USSR State Prize (1980) - for the 4th Concerto for Piano and Orchestra ("Prague") (1979)
  • Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1966) - for "Requiem" for soloists, two choirs and orchestra (1962)
  • Lenin Komsomol Prize (1984)

Works

  • see List of compositions by Dmitry Kabalevsky

Sources

  • Anon. "Obituary: Dmitry Kabalevsky". The Musical Times 128, no. 1731 (May 1987): 287.
  • Daragan, Dina Grigor'yevna. 2001. "Kabalevsky, Dmitry Borisovich", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians edited by S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan. Also in Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 23 October 2007) (Subscription Access)
  • Schwarz, Boris. 1983. Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, enlarged edition 1917-1981. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253339561
  • Maes, Francis. 2002. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar. Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans and Erica Pomerans. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520218159

Footnotes

  1. ^ CLASSICAL MUSIC ARCHIVES: Biography of Dmitry Kabalevsky
  2. ^ Maes 2002, p.310
  3. ^ Schwarz 1983, p.219
  4. ^ Anon. 1987.
  5. ^ Schwarz 1983[citation needed]

External links

(1966)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kabalevsky, Dmitry — ▪ Russian composer in full  Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky  born Dec. 17 [Dec. 30, New Style], 1904, St. Petersburg, Russia died Feb. 14, 1987, Moscow       Soviet composer of music in a nationalistic Russian idiom, whose music also found an… …   Universalium

  • Dmitri Kabalevsky — Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ru. Дмитрий Борисович Кабалевский) (December 30, 1904 ndash; February 18, 1987) was a Russian Soviet composer.Kabalevsky is regarded as one of the great modern composers of children s music. [Daragan 2001.] He… …   Wikipedia

  • Piano Concerto No. 1 (Kabalevsky) — The Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor , Op. 9 by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904 1987), was written in 1928. Its first performance was given with the composer himself as pianist in Moscow on December 11, 1931. The concerto consists of three… …   Wikipedia

  • Piano Concerto No. 2 (Kabalevsky) — The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor , Op. 23 by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904 1987), was composed in 1935, and revised in 1973. Its first performance was given in Moscow on May 12, 1936. It consists of three movements:*I. Allegro moderato… …   Wikipedia

  • Dmitri Shostakovich — Shostakovich redirects here. For the conductor and son of Dmitri Shostakovich, see Maxim Shostakovich. Dmitri Shostakovich in 1942 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich Russian pronunciation: [dmʲitrij ˌdmʲitrɪjevʲiʨ ʂɨstɐˈkɔvʲɪʨ] (Russian:… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history …   Wikipedia

  • performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …   Universalium

  • List of Russians — This is a list of people associated with Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and Russia of today. For a long time Russia has been a multinational country, and many people of different ethnicity contributed to its culture, to its glory, and to its… …   Wikipedia

  • 1987 — This article is about the year 1987. For the number, see 1987 (number). For other uses, see 1987 (disambiguation). Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1950s  1960s …   Wikipedia

  • Requiem — For other uses, see Requiem (disambiguation). Requiem Mass for Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at the Catholic Church of St. Catherine, Saint Petersburg, 1914. A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead (Latin: Missa pro… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”