Re: Russian & Soviet Composers - Part 3
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:17 pm
Thank you very much! "Moderate" Gozenpud is always welcome!
I like to be proven wrong, especially when the results equate to new discoveries in Russian music, and I must thank Duirton [Davide] for his research and subsequent re-discovery of these works by Avraamov. Davide asked me many months back about the works of Avraamov and I said I was not aware of any piano related works [although did mentioned that a full works list of Avraamov had yet to be complied]. After considerable research he was able to locate manuscripts of the attached works, which would appear to now be the only surviving instrumental works from this period by the composer.
Arseny Mikhailovich Avraamov. Born 1886, Maly Nesvetay: died 1944, Moscow. Theorist, folklorist and composer. He studied at the Moscow Music Teachers College from 1908-11 with Koreshchenko, Protopopov and Taneyev.
He became commissar of arts in the Ministry of Education in 1917: was also one of the organisers of the PROLETKULT and head of the musical and ethnographic departments.
From 1918-26 he researched the music of the peoples of Russia and the orient. Taught briefly at the Rostov-on-Don conservatoire (1920-22), and the Moscow Conservatoire (1934-36), then settled in Nalchik (1936-41) collecting folklore and nurturing the musical culture of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. From 1941-43 he was artistic director of the Russian Folk Chorus. Avraamov also experimented with the use of non-traditional instruments and with a 48-note scale. He also conducted research on “ultra-chromaticism with omni-tonality” and developed a theory of micro-intervals that when demonstrated in Stuttgart and Berlin provoked much discussion. He was also in the forefront of the creation of sound movies.
These pieces were written for Avraamov’s daughter, who was a violinist. When she is died in 1972 from a car accident, many of Avraamov’s manuscripts were discarded by his relatives as they did not appreciate what papers they were throwing away !!! Although these three works do not follow his later avant-garde style, they are reminders of a lost heritage of a very unique composer. Only these three pieces survived from the 1930s..... apart from the orchestral works.
Out of interest I’ve posted both copy of the manuscript and a clean type-set version created by Davide. And my thanks to Davide for his determination and diligence in tracking down these “lost” works, as well as beautifully creating fresh printed scores for PP members [another 1st for this site].
Malcolm & Davide
Romance for Violin & Piano
Russian Dance for Piano
Suite in Olden Style for Violin & Piano