Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov
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Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Ovchinnikov (Russian: Вячеслав Александрович Овчинников) (born May 29, 1936 in Voronezh) is a Russian/Soviet composer for symphony and film. He began composing at age 9 and entered the Moscow Conservatory at 15. Later he studied with Tikhon Khrennikov and Lev Ginzburg. He did symphonies and symphonic poems, but is perhaps best known as a film score composer, of which he has composed more than 40. Among his best known film works are Ivan's Childhood and Andrei Rublev for Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky is said to have been impressed by him stating that “I cannot imagine a better composer for myself than Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov.” He also did the music for Sergei Bondarchuk's film version of War and Peace.[1]
Ovchinnikov also had a successful career as a touring conductor from the 1970s. He was a professor at the University of Kansas in 1990-91.
