Question by Anna Miniskayeva: Did Soviet composers include anyone different from Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian ?
And what are their masterpieces ?
The music education in SR Vietnam does not include classical music, grandpa.
Matt Leonhardt : Can’t you just read the question ? SOVIET COMPOSERS, not Russian composer !
Answers and Views:
Answer by rdenig_male
A couple that come to mind are Kabelevsky – his ballet The Red Poppy is good, the full score including a ‘take off’ of decadent Western dance music – and Miaskovsky – his symphonies in particular are well worth hearing.
Later. Oops, of course, Gliere wrote the Red Poppy. Put it down to senility. Kabelevsky was Colas Breugnon and The Comedians.
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
Tomek says
Tchaikovsky wasn't a Soviet composer – he died before October Revolution
del_icious_manager says
Here are a few of the more important ones and their key works:
Arno Babadzhanyan (1921-83) – Armenian
Symphony for Timpani and Strings; Piano Trio in F-sharp minor
Edison Denisov (1929-96) – Russian
Cello Concerto; 'Peinture'; 'Le soleil des Incas'; Symphony No 1
Rheinhold Glière (1875-1956) – Russian of Belgian ancestry
Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra; Harp Concerto; Ballet: 'The Red Poppy'; Symphony No 3 (Il'ya Muromets)(all but last one written in Soviet era)
Sofia Gubaidulina (b 1931) – Tartar (Works written before dissolution of Soviet Union in 1990)
Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings; 'In croce'; 'Offertorium' (violin concerto); 'Seven Words'; 'Stimmen … Verstummen …';
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-87) – Russian
Cello Concerto No 2; 'The Comedians' (maybe not a masterpiece, but his best-known work); 'Romeo and Juliet'; Symphony No 3 (Requiem)
Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) – Russian
6th (written before formation of the Soviet Union) and 27th Symphonies; Cello Concerto
Arvo Pärt (b 1935) – Estonian (Works written before his emigration from the Soviet Union in 1980)
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten; Credo; Nekrolog; Perpetuum mobile; Symphony No 3; Tabula rasa
Nikolai Roslavets (1881-1944) (Works written between 1917 and his suspicious death in 1944)
Chamber Symphony; 2 Viola Sonatas; 2 Violin Concertos
Alfred Schnittke (1934-98) – Russian of German ancestry
Cello Sonata; Concerto Grosso No 1; 'Moz-Art à la Haydn'; Passacaglia; 'Pianissimo'; Requiem; 4 String Quartets; Symphonies 1-5; Viola Concerto; 4 Violin Concertos
Rodion Shchedrin (b 1932) – Russian (Works written before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990)
24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano; Ballet: 'Anna Karenina'; Ballet: 'Carmen-Suite'; Concerto for Orchestra No 2 (Chimes); Concerto for Orchestra No 3 (Old Russian Circus Music); Opera: 'Not Love Alone'; Polyphonic Notebook
Valentin Silvestrov (b 1937) – Ukrainian (Works written before dissolution of Soviet Union)
'Mysterium'; 'Silent Songs'; Symphony No 5
Lepo Sumera (1950-2000) – Estonian (Again, works written before dissolution of Soviet Union)
Island Maiden's Song from the Sea; Mushroom Cantata; Symphony No 3
Boris Tishchenko (b 1939) – Russian (Works written before dissolution of Soviet Union)
String Quartet No 3; 'Suzdal'; Symphony No 3; Violin Concerto No 2
Eduard Tubin (1905-1982) – Estonian (I have listed works written before his emigration to Sweden in 1944)
Ballet: 'Kratt'; Symphony No 3 (Heroic); Violin Concerto No 1
Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) – Russian (Works written before dissolution of Soviet Union)
Octet; 6 Piano Sonatas
Pēteris Vasks (b 1946) – Latvian (Works written before dissolution of Soviet Union)
Cantabile; Cor anglais concerto; Lauda
Mieczysław Weinberg (also known in Russian form Moisei Vainberg) (1919-1996) – (Polish) (as a Polish Jew, fled Poland to Soviet Union in 1942 – all the remainder of his family perished in Trawniki concentration camp)
Cello Sonata No 1; Sonata for Solo Viola; String Quartet No 7; Symphonies Nos 5-7, 12 ; Violin Concerto
Matt Leonhardt says
Can't believe no one's mentioned Tchaikovsky…
pno4tay says
The correction is correct. Reinhold Gliere wrote The Red Poppy. It contains the popular "Russian Sailors' Dance".
Kabalevsky is best known for his piano music, especially that for students, but there are also three piano sonatas (no 3 the best known, played and recorded by Horowitz) four piano concertos (no. 3 is the popular "Youth Concerto") and the ballet "The Comedians" and it has some fine music.
There is also Sofia Gubaidulina (sp?) and Tat'iana Salutrinskaya. Both of these are women. I can't think of anything by Gubaidulina off the top of my head other than a Chaconne for piano (I think she did some things for chorus and orchestra as well) but Salutrinskaya wrote some excellent pieces for young students along the lines of Kabalevsky.
ThaSchwab says
rdenig_male, The Red Poppy is by Reinhold Gliere.
CoachT says
No. In the 80+ years that the Soviet Union controlled that part of the world, they only produced three composers. [just kidding, lol]
How about this list of about 130 of them to start with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Soviet_comp…
Remember that "soviet" isn't one country – it was a group of countries in a system. We think about Russia first but there were some really great musicians out of the rest of the Soviet Block.
Remember that some, such as Václav Nelhýbel, are considered American composers but were born in the block and heavily influenced by that culture.
Alberich says
Help with your homework:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_composers
Alberich