Mark Kopytman

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Mark Kopytman was born in 1929 in the former Soviet Union, where he received his early training in piano and music theory and later went on to study medicine. After graduating from medical school and while practicing medicine, Kopytman studied composition with Prof. R. Simovich at the Lvov Academy of Music and with Prof. S. Bogatirev at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatoire in Moscow. After gaining his second PhD in 1958, Kopytman taught at the music academies of Moscow, Alma-Ata and Cisheneu. Several of his compositions, including the opera Casa Mare, won prizes and distinctions in competitions and festivals.

In 1972 Kopytman immigrated to Israel, where he was appointed Professor of Composition at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, a position which combined compositional and pedagogical pursuits. Kopytman served as Chairman of the Theory and Composition Department, and later as Dean and the Deputy Head of the Academy (1974-1994).

Kopytman's compositional classes raised dozens of composers who gave gone to hold prominent positions as composers and teachers all over the world. In 1979, Kopytman was invited to teach as a permanent Guest Professor at Hebrew University. He has since led seminars and master classes in composition, especially in heterophony, a main focus of his creative world, at universities and music schools throughout Europe and the United States.

During 1982—1983 and 1988 –1989 Kopytman was a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1985, Composer in residence at Canberra school of Music (Australia). In 1991 he established the Doron Ensemble for the performance of the 20th century music. The year 1991 saw him as a judge at Gaudeamus Competition for Composers in Holland, while 1992 provided the opportunity to lecture at the Seminar for Young Composers in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, and later in 1994, at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.

Since 1991 he lectured as Visiting Professor at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatoire in Moscow and 1995 he was invited to lead a seminar at the Brandenburg Colloquium for Contemporary Music (Berlin). In 1991 he was appointed as music adviser to the International Festival in St. Petersburg, and in 1992 –1993 he initiated the International Summer Courses and the International Composers Contest in Moldova. From 1992 he served as Composer in residence of the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. In 1998 he initiated and led the International Symposium "The Art of Composition – toward the 21st century" in Jerusalem.

During this period Kopytman developed a strong individual style, inspired by Jewish folklore and combined with economical use of recent innovations and characterized by a strong accent on melodic lines in the web of heterophonic splitting of textures. Numerous performances of his works have been held in the USSR, and later with increasing frequency, in Israel, Europe, the Unites States, South America, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, and most recently in the republics of the former USSR

His orchestral and chamber compositions have been performed at prestigious festivals, among them the Israel Festivals in 1975, 1976,1978 and 1979, the Testimonium 1983, the 1980, 1986 and 1997 World Music Days of ISCM, the Warsaw Autumn festivals of 1986, 1987 and 1989, the International Festival in Cologne (1989), The International Festival "Merzishor" in Moldova (1991, 1992), the "Musical Spring in St. Petersburg" (1991 –1993, 2000), the International Festivals in France (1993.1994), the Schlezwig Holstein festival (Germany,1994), Bartok World Music Days in Budapest (1999), the International Festival in Prague, "Wratislavia Cantans" in Poland (1995), Arthur Rubinstein Memorial Festival (Geneva, 1996), Biennale (Tel Aviv 1997), International Festivals in Geneva and Seoul (!997), Bohn (1999), Sofia (1999, 2000).

Kopytman is recipient of several prizes; among them the prestigious Koussevitzky International Record Critics award for his orchestral work Memory (1986), the Israel ACUM prize for his lifetime creative achievements (1992), and Israel Prime Minister Prize (2002).

1 Music
2 Compositions
- 2.1 Operas
- 2.2 Symphonic

[edit] Music

Mark Kopytman is one of Israel's foremost contemporary composers. His personal style is characterized by predilection for powerful dramatic gestures, pure melodic lines split into heterophony blending, variety of textures achieved through the super-imposition of multi-voice layers and by skillful handling of large orchestral masses. Jehoash Hirshberg, Israel Today

In Kopytman's hands, the heterophony flowers as a subtle and complex texture that occupies a mysterious middle ground between harmony and polyphony. His music is at once allusive and profound, dramatic and intimate, using new resources to echo timeless cultural and emotional concerns. Bernard Jacobson, The Philadelphia Stagebill

Kopytman's music is often characterized by a strong melodic orientation, clearly inspired by the Jewish oriental folk tradition. Within his personal compositional style, Kopytman has conceptualized the ancient word Heterophony, transforming it into a vital 20-th century technique. Nancy Usher, Tempo Magazine, London

Mark Kopytman's Dedication re-creates the human voice in mourning with startling effectiveness. The swaying, sliding Jewish lament – even to the vocal cracking – is most imaginatively done. Bernard Holland, New York Times

Kopytman's Eight Chapters (String Quartet #4) is composed as a series of short, diverse fragments that convey anger and rage, yearning and poetic aura. Wonderful piece… Ora Binur, Maariv, Tel Aviv

The title "Memory" does not begin to suggest the stirring effect this tightly constructed work produces. Its hard message was deeply moving. Gordon Sparber, Washington Post

At the same time Russian in the soft colors of the strings, very oriental in the vocal arabesques and rhythms, very modern in the orchestral writing, Memory perfectly integrates its various elements. This short and dense work imposed immediate sense of concentration and religious fervor. Pierre Macho, Journal de Geneva

The conclusion of the Cantus VI is apprehended as a sudden insight, as an image of inspired unattainable and religious beauty – beauty of transfigured suffering. The listener experiences the instant of a true inner piece, which is so rare (and therefore really unforgettable) in the music of nowadays. Julia Kreinin, IMI News

Mark Kopytman's Cantus II was a powerful piece, which sprang from folk music and grew in wonderfully exuberant and ingeniously orchestrated composition. Peter Halasz, Hungarian Music News, Budapest

The work's name "Voices" serves as a guide to anyone who opens his ears and his heart (which is even more important), for one who does listen enters a world of mystery and magic. Benjamin Bar-Am, Jerusalem Post

Cantus V is equally cantabile and full of virtuosity, evidently inspired by Jewish folk music, as well as very colorful and diverse. Aachener Volkszeitung, Germany

Kopytman's String Quartet #3 composed in Russia before his immigration 30 years ago has stood the test of the time, sounding as vigorous and appealing as when it was performed here for the first time. Uri Eppstein, Jerusalem Post

The Life of the World to Come (Circles) possesses rare beauty and an extremely suggestive poetic halo. Federico Manjeau, La Razon, Argentina

[edit] Compositions

[edit] Operas

Casa Mare (1966) -- ca. 114' Opera in two acts for soloists, choir & orchestra
Chamber Scenes from the Life of Susskind von Trimberg - (1982) ca.60" Chamber opera for soloists, choir, dancers & orchestra