Pianophilia

Vladimir Sergeyevich Ivannikov was born in 1906 in Orsha (Belarus). As a child, he learned to play piano under the guidance of his mother, a pianist. Later, he enrolled in the Dnipropetrovsk music school, in the piano class of K. Kaluga. In 1929, he enrolled in the Gnesin Music School in Moscow. Here, his professors were M. F. Gnesin (composition) and G. I. Litinsky (polyphony). He graduated in 1931.

As a young composer, he wrote mostly choral works and popular songs, as well as a number of songs/choruses based on poems by Russian and Soviet poets. As well, he did a great deal of work with the folk musics of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Poland.

In the 1940s, he composed the oratorio 'Warsaw' for chorus and orchestra, a work dedicated to the liberation struggle of the Polish capital. In 1963, he completed a ballet based on Anton Chekhov's 'The Black Monk.'

After the war years, he focused on pedagogical pieces and instrumental music. Amongst these works was a children's ballet 'What is Your Appetite?' Instrumental works include five piano sonatas, five piano sonatinas, chamber pieces, and many children's songs.

Ivannikov's work has always been marked by sincerity. The melodies in his songs always accurately convey the nature of the image he's set out to display, as well as reflecting a deep knowledge of folk culture. In the fields of harmonic and tonality, one can feel his creativity and impeccible taste.

fleubis wrote:Here are those Bortkiewicz Op.23 Songs, Alex was asking about. It's 21 megs, so maybe someone can download it & shrink it.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cwv4vv