Rodion Shchedrin
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Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin (Russian: Родион Константинович Щедрин, Scientific transliteration: Rodion Konstantinovič Ščedrin; born December 16, 1932) is a Russian composer. He was one оf the leading Soviet composers, and was the chairman of the Union of Russian Composers from 1973 until 1990 when he was dismissed. An important reason behind his dismissal was that he had composed an oratorio to commemorate Lenin.
He was born in Moscow into a musical family—his father was a composer and teacher of music theory. He studied at the Moscow Choral School and Moscow Conservatory (graduating in 1955) under Yuri Shaporin and Nikolai Myaskovsky. Since 1958, he has been married to the great ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, who is 7 years his senior.
Shchedrin's early music is tonal, colourfully orchestrated and often includes snatches of folk music, while some later pieces use aleatoric and serial techniques. In the west the music of Shchedrin has won popularity mainly through the work of Mstislav Rostropovich who has made several successful recordings.
Among his works are the ballets The Little Hump-backed Horse (1955), Carmen Suite (1967), based on the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet (the project had been turned down by both Shostakovich and Khachaturian), Anna Karenina (1971, on the novel by Leo Tolstoy), and Lady with a Lapdog (1985); the operas Not Only Love (1961), and Dead Souls (1976, after Nikolai Gogol's novel); piano concertos, symphonies, chamber and piano music and other works. He composed 24 Preludes and Fugues after he heard those of Shostakovich. Also remarkable is his Polyphonic Notebook.
As well as a distinguished compositional career (for which he was made a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1989 and received the Russian State Prize from President Boris Yeltsin in 1992), Shchedrin is himself a virtuoso pianist and organist, taking the piano part in person for the premieres of the first three of his six piano concertos. Following the collapse of the Soviet regime, Shchedrin has taken advantage of the new opportunities for international travel and musical collaboration, and now largely divides his time between Munich and Moscow.
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[edit] Works
[edit] Operas
- Not love only (Не толкько любовь)
- Boyarinya Morozova (Боярыня Морозова)
- Charming Stranger (Очарованный странник)
- Lolita (Лолита)
- Dead souls (Мервые души)
- Lenin oratory (Ораторио Ленина)
[edit] Ballets
- Humpbacked Horse, 1955
- Carmen, 1967
- Anna Karenina, 1968
- Seagull, 1979
- Lady with a Lapdog, 1985
[edit] Orchestral works
- Symphony No. 1, 1958
- Not Love Alone (symphonic suite from the opera), 1964
- Symphony No. 2, "Twenty-five Preludes for Orchestra," 1965
- Solemn Overture, 1982
- Seagull Suite, 1984
- Stihira, "Hymn for the Millenary of the Christianisation of Russia," 1987
[edit] Concertos and concertante works
- Piano Concerto No. 1, 1954
- Concerto for Orchestra No. 1, "Naughty Limericks," 1963
- Piano Concerto No. 2, 1966
- Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, "The Chimes," 1968
- Piano Concerto No. 3, 1973
- Piano Concerto No. 4
- Concerto for Orchestra No. 3, "Old Russian Circus Music," 1988
- Piano Concerto No. 5, 1999
- Cello Concerto, "sotto voce concerto," 1994
- Concerto cantabile for violin and orchestra, 1998
- Piano Concerto No. 6, 2003
[edit] Liturgical works
- The Sealed Angel (choral music after Nikolai Leskov), 1988
[edit] Solo piano
- Piano Pieces (1952-1961)
- Poem;
- Four Pieces from the ballet "The Humpbacked Horse";
- Humoresque;
- Imitating Albeniz;
- Troika;
- Two Polyphonic Pieces (Two Part Invention and Basso Ostinato)
- Piano Sonata, 1962
- Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues 1964-1970
- Polyphonic Notebook, twenty-five preludes, 1972
- Piano Sonata No. 2, 1997
- Diary, seven pieces, 2002
- Sonatine Concertante, 2005
- A la Pizzicato, 2005
[edit] Solo Violin
- Echo Sonata, Op.69 1984
