Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and conductor.
Biography
Lyadov was born in St. PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
into a family of eminent Russian musicians. He was taught informally by his conductor father from 1860 to 1868, and then in 1870 entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
to study piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
. He soon gave up instrumental study to concentrate on counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
and fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
, although he remained a fine pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. His natural musical talent was highly thought of by, among others, Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
, and during the 1870s he became associated with the group of composers known as The Mighty Handful
The Five
The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie , refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin...
. He entered the composition classes of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
, but was expelled for absenteeism in 1876. In 1878 he was readmitted to these classes to help him complete his graduation composition.
Teacher
He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1878, his pupils including Sergei ProkofievSergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, Nikolai Myaskovsky
Nikolai Myaskovsky
Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of the Soviet symphony".-Early years and first important works:...
, Mikhail Gnesin
Mikhail Gnesin
Mikhail Fabianovich Gnesin was a Russian Jewish composer and teacher.-Life:Gnesin was born in Rostov-on-Don and came from a musical family. His sisters founded the Gnessin State Musical College , in Moscow in 1895. He studied at the St...
, Lazare Saminsky
Lazare Saminsky
Lazare Saminsky, born Lazar Iosifovich Saminsky, was a performer, conductor and composer, especially of Jewish music.-Life:...
and Boris Asafyev. Consistent with his character, he was a variable but at times brilliant instructor. Conductor Nikolai Malko
Nikolai Malko
-Biography:Malko was born in Semaky, Ukraine. His father was Ukrainian, his mother Russian. He studied philology at St Petersburg University. He published articles on music criticism in the Russian press and performed as a pianist and later a conductor. In 1906 he completed his studies in history...
, who studied harmony with him at the conservatory, wrote, "Lyadov's critical comments were always precise, clear, understandable, constructive, and brief.... And it was done indolently, without haste, sometimes seemingly disdainfully. He could suddenly stop in midword, take out a small scissors from his pocket and start doing something with his fingernail, while we all waited."
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
remarked that Lyadov was as strict with himself as he was with his pupils, writing with great precision and demanding fine attention to detail. Prokofiev recalled that even the most innocent musical innovations drove the conservative Lyadov crazy. "Shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking in his soft woollen shoes without heels, he would say, 'I don't understand why you are studying with me. Go to Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
. Go to Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
.' This was said in a tone that meant 'Go to the devil!'" Still, Lyadov told his acquaintances about Prokofiev. "I am obliged to teach him. He must form his technique, his style—first in piano music." In 1905 he resigned briefly over the dismissal of Rimsky-Korsakov, only to return when Rimsky-Korsakov was reinstated.
Glazunov, Belayev and Tchaikovsky
Lyadov introduced timber millionaire and philanthropistPhilanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Mitrofan Belyayev
Mitrofan Belyayev
Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev was a Russian music publisher, outstanding philanthropist, and the owner of a large wood dealership enterprise in Russia. He was also the founder of the Belyayev circle, a society of musicians in Russia whose members included Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Glazunov...
to the music of the teenage Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
. Interest in Glazunov's music quickly grew to Belyayev's patronage of an entire group of Russian nationalist composers. In 1884 he instituted the Russian Symphony Concerts and established an annual Glinka Prize. The following year he started his own publishing house in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. He published music by Glazunov, Lyadov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin at his own expense. In addition, young composers appealed for Belyayev's help. Belyayev asked Lyadov to serve with Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov on an advisory council to help select from these applicants. The group of composers that formed eventually became known at the Belyayev Circle.
In November 1887, Lyadov met Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
. Nearly seven years earlier Tchaikovsky had given a negative opinion to the publisher Besel about a piano arabesque Lyadov had written. Even before this visit, though, Tchaikovsky's opinion of Lyadov may have been changing. He had honored Lyadov with a copy of the score of his Manfred Symphony
Manfred Symphony
The Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58, is a programmatic symphony composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between May and September 1885. It is based on the poem "Manfred" written by Lord Byron in 1817...
. Now that he had actually met the man face-to-face, the younger composer became "dear Lyadov." He became a frequent visitor to Lyadov and the rest of the Belyayev Circle, beginning in the winter of 1890.
Later years
He married in 1884, acquiring through his marriage a country property in Polynovka estate, BorovichevskyBorovichi
Borovichi is the second largest town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. Population: -Geography:The town is located in the northern spurs of the Valdai Hills, east of Veliky Novgorod. It stands upon the Msta River. Just upstream Borovichi there are the famous rapids of Msta popular among...
uezd, Novgorod guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, where he spent his summers composing unhurriedly, and where he died in 1914.
Music
While Lyadov's technical facility was highly regarded by his contemporaries, his unreliability stood in the way of his advancement. His published compositions are relatively few in number through his natural indolence and a certain self-critical lack of confidence. Many of his works are variations on or arrangements of pre-existing material (for example his Russian Folksongs, Op. 58). He did compose a large number of piano miniatures, of which his Musical Snuffbox of 1893 is perhaps most famous.Like many of his contemporaries, Lyadov was drawn to intensely Russian subjects. Much of his music is programmatic
Program music
Program music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...
; for example his tone poems Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
Op. 56, Kikimora
Kikimora
Kikimora is a legendary creature, a female house spirit in Slavic mythology, fin: Kikke Mörkö , sometimes said to be married to the Domovoi...
Op. 63, The Enchanted Lake Op. 62. These short tone poems, probably his most popular works, exhibit an exceptional flair for orchestral tone color. In his later compositions he experimented with extended tonality, like his younger contemporary Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
.
It has been argued that Lyadov never completed a large-scale work. However, many of his miniatures have their place in the repertory. In 1905 Lyadov began work on a new ballet score, but when the work failed to progress, he shifted gears to work on an opera instead. Lyadov never finished the opera, but sections of the work found realization in the short tone poems Kikimora
Kikimora
Kikimora is a legendary creature, a female house spirit in Slavic mythology, fin: Kikke Mörkö , sometimes said to be married to the Domovoi...
and The Enchanted Lake.
In 1909 Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
commissioned Lyadov to orchestrate a number for the Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
-based ballet
Ballet (music)
Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...
, and on 4 September that year wrote to the composer asking for a new ballet score for the 1910 season of his Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
; however, despite the much-repeated story that Lyadov was slow to start composing the work which eventually became The Firebird
The Firebird
The Firebird is a 1910 ballet created by the composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
(famously fulfilled by the then relatively inexperienced Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
), there is no evidence that Lyadov ever accepted the commission.
Selected works
- Biryulki, 14 pieces for piano, Op. 2 (1876)
- Six Pieces for piano, Op. 3 (1876–1877)
- Prelude in D major
- Gigue in F major
- Fugue in G minor
- Mazurka in G major
- Mazurka in B major
- Mazurka in C major
- Four Arabesques for piano, Op. 4 (1878)
- Arabesque in C-sharp minor
- Arabesque in A major
- Arabesque in B-flat major
- Arabesque in E major
- Etude in A-flat major for piano, Op. 5 (1881)
- Impromptu in D major for piano, Op. 6 (1881)
- Two Intermezzi for piano, Op. 7 (1881)
- Intermezzo in D major
- Intermezzo in F major
- Two Intermezzi for piano, Op. 8 (1883)
- Intermezzo in B-flat major
- Intermezzo in B-flat major
- Two Pieces for piano, Op. 9 (1883)
- Valse in F-sharp minor
- Mazurka in A-flat major
- Three Pieces for piano, Op. 10 (1884)
- Prelude in D-flat major
- Mazurka in C major
- Mazurka in D major
- Three Pieces for piano, Op. 11 (1885)
- Prelude in B minor
- Mazurka in the Dorian Mode
- Mazurka in F-sharp minor
- Etude in E major for piano, Op. 12 (1886)
- Four Preludes for piano, Op. 13 (1887)
- Prelude in G major
- Prelude in B-flat major
- Prelude in A major
- Prelude in F-sharp minor
- Two Mazurkas for piano, Op. 15 (1887)
- Mazurka in A major
- Mazurka in A minor
- Scherzo in D major for orchestra, Op. 16 (1879–1886)
- Two Bagatelles for piano, Op. 17 (1887)
- Bagatelle in B-flat minor (La Douleur)
- Bagatelle in B major (Pastoral)
- Village Scene by the Inn, Mazurka for orchestra, Op. 19 (1887)
- Novellette in A minor for piano, Op. 20 (1882–1889)
- About Olden Times, Ballade in D major for piano, Op. 21a (1889)
- About Olden Times, Ballade in D major for orchestra, Op. 21b (1889)
- In the Clearing, Esquisse in F major for piano, Op. 23 (1890)
- Two Pieces for piano, Op. 24 (1890)
- Prelude in E major
- Berceuse in G-flat major
- Idylle in D-flat major for piano, Op. 25 (1891)
- Little Waltz in G major for piano, Op. 26 (1891)
- Three Preludes for piano, Op. 27 (1891)
- Prelude in E-flat major
- Prelude in B major
- Prelude in G-flat major
- Final scene from Schiller's Die Braut von Messina for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Op. 28 (1878, published 1891). This was his graduation piece.
- Kukolki (Marionettes) in E-flat major for piano, Op. 29 (1892)
- Bagatelle in D-flat major for piano, Op. 30 (1889)
- Two Pieces for piano, Op. 31 (1893)
- 'Rustic' Mazurka in G major
- Prelude in B-flat minor
- Muzikalnaya tabakerka (A musical snuffbox) in A major for piano, Op. 32 (1893)
- Three Pieces for piano, Op. 33 (1889)
- Prelude on a Russian theme in A-flat major
- Grotesque in C major
- Pastoral in F major
- Three Canons for piano, Op. 34 (1894)
- Canon in G major
- Canon in C minor
- Canon in F major
- Variations on a Theme by Glinka in B-flat major for piano, Op. 35 (1894)
- Three Preludes for piano, Op. 36 (1895)
- Prelude in F-sharp major
- Prelude in B-flat minor
- Prelude in G major
- Etude in F major for piano, Op. 37 (1895)
- Mazurka in F major for piano, Op. 38 (1895)
- Four Preludes for piano, Op. 39 (1895)
- Prelude in A-flat major
- Prelude in C minor
- Prelude in B major
- Prelude in F-sharp minor
- Etude and Three Preludes for piano, Op. 40 (1897)
- Etude in C-sharp minor
- Prelude in C major
- Prelude in D minor
- Prelude in D-flat major
- Two Fugues for piano, Op. 41 (1896)
- Fugue in F-sharp minor
- Fugue in D minor
- Two Preludes and Mazurka for piano, Op. 42 (1898)
- Prelude in B-flat major
- Prelude in B major
- Mazurka on Polish Themes in A major
- Barcarolle in F-sharp major for piano, Op. 44 (1898)
- Four Preludes for piano, Op. 46 (1899)
- Prelude in B-flat major
- Prelude in G minor
- Prelude in G major
- Prelude in E minor
- Two Pieces for piano, Op. 48 (1899)
- Etude in A major
- Canzonetta in B-flat major
- Polonaise in C major ("In Memory of Pushkin") for orchestra, Op. 49 (1899)
- Variations on a Polish Folk Theme in A-flat major for piano, Op. 51 (1901)
- Three Ballet Pieces for piano, Op. 52 (1901)
- in E-flat major
- in C major
- in A major
- Three Bagatelles for piano, Op. 53 (1903)
- Bagatelle in B major
- Bagatelle in G major
- Bagatelle in A-flat major
- Polonaise in D major for orchestra, Op. 55 (1902)
- Baba Yaga for orchestra, Op. 56 (1891–1904)
- Three Pieces for piano, Op. 57 (1900–1905)
- Prelude in D-flat major
- Waltz in E major
- Mazurka in F minor
- Eight Russian Folksongs for orchestra, Op. 58 (1906)
- Religious Chant. Moderato
- Christmas Carol 'Kolyada'. Allegretto
- Plaintive Song. Andante
- Humorous Song 'I Danced With The Gnat'./Allegretto
- Legend Of The Birds. Allegretto
- Cradle Song. Moderato
- Round Dance. Allegro
- Village Dance Song. Vivo
- Ten Arrangements from Obikhod (a collection of old Russian Orthodox liturgical chants), Op. 61 (1909)
- Stichira for the Nativity of Christ
- Tropar - Rozdestvo tvoe, Christe bozhe nash
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- Khvalite Gospoda s nebes
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- Volshebnoye ozero (The Enchanted Lake) for orchestra, Op. 62 (1909)
- Kikimora for orchestra, Op. 63 (1909)
- Four Pieces for piano Op. 64 (1909–1910)
- Grimace
- Gloom
- Temptation
- Reminiscences
- Dance of the Amazon for orchestra, Op. 65 (1910)
- From the Apocalypse, symphonic picture for orchestra, Op. 66 (1910–1912)
- Nénie for orchestra, Op. 67 (1914)