Dmitri Kabalevsky

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Dmitri Kabalevsky
Dmitri Kabalevsky

'Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky' (Russian Дмитрий Борисович Кабалевский) (December 30, 1904 Saint Petersburg - February 18, 1987 Moscow) was a Russian Soviet composer.

He is regarded as one of the great modern composers. He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures.

Contents

[edit] Life

Dmitri's 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, also dabbling in poetry and painting. In 1925, against his father's wishes, he accepted a place at the Moscow Conservatory under Miaskovsky, and became a professor in 1932. During World War II, he wrote many patriotic songs, having joined the Communist Party in 1940. He also composed and performed many pieces for silent movies and some theatre music.

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 Sergey Prokofiev, in later years he embraced the ideas of socialist realism, and his post-war works reflect this. Indeed, he was awarded a number of state honours for his musical works (including at least two Stalin Prizes).

[edit] Works

[edit] Operas

[edit] Concertos

  • Violin Concerto (op. 48 in C major, 1948)
  • 4 Piano Concertos (op. 9 in A minor, 1928; op. 23 in G minor, 1935; op. 50 "Youth" in D major, 1952; op. 99 "Prague", 1975)
  • 2 Cello Concertos (op. 49 in G minor, 1949; op.77 in C minor, 1964)

[edit] Other works

  • Four Symphonies (op. 18 in C♯ minor/A major, 1932; op. 19 in C minor/E♭ major, 1934; op. 22 "Requiem" in B♭ minor for chorus and orchestra, 1933; and op. 54 in C minor, 1956)
  • Two String Quartets (op. 8 in A minor, 1928; op. 44 in G minor, 1945)
  • Three Piano Sonatas (op. 6 in F major, 1927; op. 45 in E♭ major, 1945; op. 46 in F major, 1946)
  • One Cello Sonata (op. 71 in B♭ major/minor, 1962)
  • 24 Little Preludes (op. 38, 1924), based on Russian folk songs by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
  • 5 Studies in major and minor for the cello (op. 67).

Kabalevsky wrote many popular light orchestral works such as The Comedians Suite and Suite for Jazz Orchestra (both 1940). He also wrote several songs, including settings of poems by Alexander Blok and ten of William Shakespeare's sonnets.

[edit] External links

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