The guest of the latest edition of the programme Vis-a-vis of the Voice
of Russia was the famous Russian composer, Tikhon Khrennikov. Listeners
of the 32 language services and via the Internet were asked to send in
their questions to the composer. Here is an extract from the programme.
Tikhon Khrennikov, who is 86, is not offended when his colleagues call
him a surviving figure,  they
pronounce this with a kind intonation. He is not only one of the oldest
Russian composers but also a bright personality. For more than forty years
Khrennikov led the Union of Soviet composers but did not become a functionary.
He managed to keep his creative nature. And the conversation with the composer
was in fact a conversation about the history of Soviet music.
"In 1932 I graduated from the musical school Gnesiny in Moscow
and was admitted to the Moscow Conservatoire as a second year student.
In 1933 my career of composer began. I was asked to write music for an
anti-fascist play. Symphony Number 1 was my graduation work. It was a success
and the American conductor, Leopold Stokowski, immediately asked it and
the symphony was played across the world."
In 1948 by order of Stalin young and patriotical Khrennikov was appointed
the head of the Union of composers. The Soviet people and the leadership
liked Khrennikov's songs, mainly his music to the films made during the
war such as the films about loyalty and love: "The Pig-tender and
the Shepherd" and "At 6 o'clock in the evening after the war".
Tikhon Krennikov says: "The Pig-tender and the Shepherd"
was a very popular film at that time. After that film director Ivan Pyryev
gave me the scenario of the film "At 6 o'clock in the evening after
the war." It was 1942 during the battle of Stalingrad. And the film
featured a meeting of a loving couple on a bridge across the Moskva river.
They agreed to the meeting when the war was still raging. The film was
made in 1944 and the premiere was shown to troops on the frontline and
received great acclaim."
The war-time music by Khrennikov remains very popular.
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