- Boris Blacher
Boris Blacher (OldStyleDate|19 January|1903|6 January -
30 January 1975 ) was a German composer.Life
Blacher was born when his parents were living within a Russian-speaking commmunity in the
Manchuria n town ofNiuzhuang (hence the use of theJulian calendar on his birth record). He spent his first years inChina and in the Asian parts ofRussia , and in 1919, he eventually came to live inHarbin . In 1922, after finishing school, he went toBerlin where he began to study architecture and mathematics. Two years later, he turned to music and studied composition withFriedrich Ernst Koch .His career was interrupted by
National Socialism . He was accused of writing degenerate music and lost his teaching post at theDresden Conservatory .His career was resumed after 1945, and he later became director of the Music Academy of Berlin, and is today regarded as one of the most influential music figures of his time. His students include
Aribert Reimann ,Isang Yun ,Maki Ishii ,Fritz Geißler ,Giselher Klebe ,Heimo Erbse ,Klaus Huber , Francis Burt andGottfried von Einem .Boris Blacher was married to the pianist Gerty Blacher-Hertzog. Their daughter is the German actress
Tatjana Blacher .Works
Works include:
* Concertante Music for Orchestra (1937)
* Symphony (1938)
* String Quartet No. 2 (1940)
* Orchestral Variations on a Theme by Paganini (1947)
* Violin Concerto (1948)
* "Hamlet " (1949) - Ballet in a Prologue and three scenes after Shakespeare by Tatjana Gsovsky
* Preußisches Märchen (1949/52) - Ballet-opera in five scenes
*Lysistrata (1950) - Ballet in three scenes afterAristophanes
* Piano Concerto No. 2 (in variable metres) (1952)
* Viola Concerto, Op. 48 (1954)
* "Der Mohr von Venedig" (1955) - Ballet in a Prologue, 8 scenes and an Epilogue after Shakespeare by Erika Hanka
* "Tristan " (1965) - Ballet in seven scenes by Tatjana Gsovsky
* "Anacaona" (1969) - Six Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson about the Indian QueenAnacaona
* Poem for large orchestra (1974) - dedicated to Tatjana Gsovskyee also
*
Degenerate music External links
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2809 Boris Blacher] page on
Boosey & Hawkes website
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Oct03/Blacher.htm Boris Blacher] A Centenary Sketch by Dr David C F Wright
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