Tikhon Khrennikov
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Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (Russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников) (June 10 [O.S. May 28] 1913 – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, leader of the Union of Soviet Composers, and film actor, who was also known for his political activities. He wrote three symphonies, four piano concertos, two violin concertos, two cello concertos, operas, operettas, ballets, chamber music, incidental music and film music.[1]
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[edit] Life and career
Tikhon Khrennikov was the youngest of ten children, born into a family of horse traders, in the town of Yelets, Lipetsk Oblast in central Russia.
He learned guitar and mandolin from his family members, and sang with a local choir in Yelets. There he also played with a local orchestra and studied piano. As a teen he moved to Moscow. From 1929 to 1932, he studied composition at the Gnessin Music College under Mikhail Gnessin and Yefraim Gelman. From 1932 to 1936, he attended Moscow Conservatory. There he took composition under Vissarion Shebalin, and studied piano under Heinrich Neuhaus. As a student, he wrote and played his Piano Concerto No. 1, and his graduation piece was the Symphony No. 1.
His first symphony was conducted by the British conductor Leopold Stokowski.[2] He became popular with his series of songs and serenades which he composed for the 1936 production of "Much Ado About Nothing" and the Moscow Vakhtangov Theatre.[2] A year later his two brothers were arrested by the Soviet authorities on trumped up charges; Khrennikov retained the best lawyer he could and against all odds one of his brothers was saved while the other vanished in the Gulag.[2]
Having "adopted the optimistic, dramatic and unabashedly lyrical style favored by Soviet leaders",[3] Khrennikov shot to fame in 1941, with his Song of Moscow from his music score for the popular Soviet film They Met in Moscow (Свинарка и пастух) (also known in English as "Swineherd and Shepherd")[4], for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize. In 1941, Khrennikov was appointed Music Director of the Central Theatre of the Red Army, a position he would keep for 25 years.
In 1948, Andrei Zhdanov appointed Khrennikov Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a job he would keep until 1991, and for which he is most remembered. Khrennikov is mentioned negatively in the biographies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich, composers whom he criticized for "formalism" in a speech at a Soviet composers' convention in 1948. Khrennikov claimed that the speech had been written beforehand for him by those in the Kremlin.[2] Although part of a ruthless system, he is credited by some for protecting and helping many Soviet composers (he advocated for Prokofiev and Shostakovich to receive the Stalin Prize in 1950), as well as other musicians and musical institutions in the Soviet Union. He was frequently denounced for being unduly influenced by his Jewish spouse Klara Vaks and for protecting Jews, some of them composers sought by Stalin's secret police.[2] Stalin's approval clearly gave him a certain freedom and when required to write negative references he would reply instead that the composer whose censure was sought had been advised of the risk involved in the pursuit of "formalism" or "moderninsm" or whichever other "ism" was under attack, as if the composer concerned had already suitably adjusted his behaviour.[2]
Khrennikov remained Secretary of the Soviet Composers Union until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Khrennikov was an active concert performer through his entire life, playing his piano concertos as well as his songs and other compositions. He collaborated with the violinist Leonid Kogan and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, and they gave premieres of his cello concerto and two violin concertos. Among his popular film scores were Six O'Clock in the Evening After the War (В шесть часов вечера после войны) (1944), True Friends (1954) (Верные друзья), and Hussar Ballad (1962) by director Eldar Ryazanov. He also wrote critically acclaimed music for the ballet "Napoleon Bonaparte" (Наполеон Бонапарт). In the 1980s Khrennikov resumed composition with renewed vigor. In his Symphony No. 3 Khrennikov used serialism, which he had denounced in earlier years.
His music career was complemented by his stellar political career as a Member of Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR since the 1950s. From 1962, Khrennikov was a representative in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. During his career, Khrennikov had personal meetings with Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, and Mikhail Gorbachev, among other political figures of the former Soviet Union.
Khrennikov's memoirs were published in 1994 after the fall of the Soviet Union. He died in Moscow aged 94 and will be laid to rest near his parents' tomb in his native town of Yelets.
[edit] Recognition
- 1942: Stalin Prize
- 1946: Stalin Prize
- 1952: Stalin Prize
- 1963: People's Artist of the USSR
- 1967: State Prize of the USSR
- 1974: Lenin Prize
- 2003: UNESCO Mozart Medal
[edit] Quotations
| “ | Khrennikov had to take part in repressions against Shostakovich during the enforcement of the "Party line" in music, but unlike the leadership of the Soviet Writers Union, he was never involved in political reporting on his colleagues. [5] | ” |
| “ | Khrennikov not only survived Stalin's repressive reign but lived in comfort under the succession of Soviet rulers and post-Soviet presidents that followed: Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin. He remains an influential musical figure: he is a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and has been chairman of the Tchaikovsky Competition for the last 25 years. In his native city of Yelets, his home has been turned into a museum and an arts school, and a statue has been erected in his honor. His socialist realist works are regularly performed and his songs remain as popular as ever. Khrennikov's long and improbable career began in 1948, when Stalin personally picked him to lead the Union of Soviet Composers. His first accomplishment on the job was an attack on abstract, "formalist" music in a speech at the First Congress of Composers in 1948, two months after the infamous Resolution of the Central Committee that condemned the "formalism" of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and others. "Enough of these symphonic diaries - these pseudo-philosophic symphonies hiding behind their allegedly profound thoughts and tedious self-analysis," he proclaimed. "Armed with clear party directives, we will stop all manifestations of formalism and popular decadence.[6] | ” |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Tikhon Khrennikov at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b c d e f The Economist obituary September 1, 2007 p. 73
- ^ Quoted from: "Tikhon Khrennikov, Prolific Soviet Composer, Dies at 94" (Fee required), The New York Times (2007-08-15). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ^ Film: They Met in Moscow (aka.. Svinarka i pastukh) at the IMDb: [1]
- ^ Zalessky: Stalin's Empire. (Залесский К.А. Империя Сталина. Биографический энциклопедический словарь. Москва, Вече, 2000)
- ^ Vadim Prokhorov: Andante - June 24, 2003
