1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905
1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910
1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915
1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920
1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925
1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930
1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935
1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940
1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945
1946 | 1947 | 1948
1949
             
In 1949 the country was celebrating the 150 birthday of Russia's greatest and most loved poet Alexander Pushkin.
Alexander Pushkin has, over the years, inspired some of Russia's greatest composers. In 1949 Reinhold Gliere added to the long list of Pushkin-inspired music his Bronze Horseman ballet which choreographer Rostislav Zakharov staged in Leningrad and then in Moscow.
Just like in Pushkin's eponymously-titled poem, the main characters' line is juxtaposed to the theme of Petersburg, a wonderful city Czar Peter the Great erected on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. The city of Peter and the bronze statue built to perpetuate his memory were the two high points of the whole ballet which opened with an anthem extolling the great city…
I love thee, Peter's proud creation Thy princely stateliness of line The regal Neva coursing, patient, "Twixt sober walls of massive stone; The iron lacework of thy fences, The wistful, moonless, lustrous nights Dusk-clothed but limpid… Oft it chances, That in my chamber 'thought a light I write or sit a book perusing, Whilst, luminous, the streets lie dozing Beyond, great, empty blocks… Up higher, "Gainst sky, the Admiralty spire Is cleanly etched…
The Bronze Horseman ballet was awarded the much-coveted, Stalin Prize.
Another prizewinner was composer Dmitry Kabalevsky for his Concerto for violin and orchestra.
The concerto, just like everything else Kabalevsky ever wrote, is comfortably in line with the traditional quasiclassical format. Unlike the foremost 20th century composers, Kabalevsky never indulged in experimentation and, therefore, was always the darling of the Soviet Communist party.
The war against the so-called "formalists" was still raging on and Dmitry Shostakovich, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Sergei Prokofyev and Aram Khachaturian had to correct their "mistakes" and prove to the party and the people their ability to write music understandable to all… Fully aware of the impending punishment awaiting those who dared to disobey, the great composers were doing their best to please the authorities. Many of them started writing music for films. Aram Khachaturian wrote a rousing score for the movie the Battle of Stalingrad recreating one of the greatest battles of the Second World War. For this the "reformed" formalist was awarded the Stalin Prize.
Dmitry Shostakovich was writing music for the Meeting On the Elbe, another film about the war. The solemnly-monumental Peace Song was the sole highlight of the generally mediocre movie.
The authorities appreciated the composer's effort making him a member of the Soviet peace Committee and allowing him to attend the American Congress of scientists and cultural leaders for peace.
To avoid the broadsides of politically-motivated criticism, Shostakovich and Prokofyev had to sideline serious music and write all kinds of politically correct cantatas and oratorios. Prokofyev did turn out a sonata for cello, though, literally forced to do so by his young cellist friend Mstislav Rostropovich. Madly in love with music, the 22 year old Rostropovich, was literally breathing new vigor into the composer, still hurting from months of official lambasting. On December 6, Mstislav Rostropovich unveiled the new sonata teaming up on stage with the venerable pianist Svyatoslav Richter.
Composer Nikolai Myaskovsky made the following entry in his diary after attending the premiere:
"Yesterday Rostropovich and Richter played Prokofyev's sonata for cello - a wonderful, utterly amazing composition…"
On May 15 the Small Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic opened in an old mansion on the city's central Nevsky avenue. In the early 19th century the mansion belonged to Vasily Engelgardt, a well-known patron of the arts and a great fan of music. The foremost Russian composers came down to showcase their work, Ferenz Liszt played there and the great singer Pauline Viardot would also come over to entertain the city's music buffs. The house was later acquired by a trading company and now, almost a century on, its newly-renovated hall was reverberating again to the sounds of chamber concerts held here by the Leningrad Philharmonic. During the opening concert they played music by the 19th century Russian classic Mikhail Glinka whose name was eventually given to the new venue.
Meanwhile, young Russian musicians continued creating a stir at international competitions. 1949 was especially lucky for Moscow Conservatory students with the 19 year old violinist Igor Bezrodny winning the first prize at the Jan Kubelik competition in Prague, and pianist Bella Davidovich coming first in the Chopin contest in Poland.
Bella Davidovich didn't take long to gain the status of a world celebrity. During the Sixties she emigrated to the United States where she taught at Julliard and played in the world's most prestigious venues, always in love with Chopin's music…
In 1949 the whole country was preparing to celebrate the 70th birthday of Josef Stalin. Painters, poets and composers were going out of their way to extol the "endless wisdom of the Great Helmsman." Several collections of songs about Stalin were published. In all, more than 600 equally laudatory songs were written during the long rule of one of the greatest dictators of all time
The totalitarian art was spreading like brushfire but it was still unable to stifle sprouts of real music which, unfortunately were few and far between. Isaak Dunayevsky wrote the soundtrack for the Ivan Pyryev 1949 comedy The Cuban Cossacks. Even though the movie was putting too much gloss on the life lived by the Soviet collective farmers, the music was so great that the film still remains a big success on Russian television .
 
THE RUSSIAN MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY is prepared for you by Olga Fyodorova.


BACK TO MAIN PAGE