Boris Koutzen was a Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

-American 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....

ist 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...

 and music educator.

Biography

Koutzen was born in Uman

Uman

Uman is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. The city rests on the banks of the Umanka River at around , and serves as the self-governing administrative center of the Umanskyi Raion ....

, Southern

Southern Federal District

Southern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its territory lies mostly on the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Its population was 13,856,700 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of...

 Russia

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...

. He began composing at the age of six and studied 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....

 with his father. In 1918 his family moved to Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, where Boris entered the Moscow Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory

The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...

 to study violin with Leo Zetlin, and composition with Reinhold Glière

Reinhold Glière

Reinhold Moritzevich Glière was a Russian and Soviet composer of German–Polish descent.- Biography :Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine...

. That same year, he won the national competition for the position of first violin in the State opera

State Opera

State Opera may refer to any of following:* Bavarian State Opera* Berlin State Opera* Hamburg State Opera* Staatsoper Hannover* Hungarian State Opera House* Vienna State Opera* Prague State Opera...

 House Orchestra, and later joined the Moscow Symphony Orchestra

Moscow Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1989, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra comprises 80 musicians, including graduates from such institutions as the Moscow Conservatory, Kiev Conservatory, and Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The orchestra is produced by Stas Namin, and conduced by Konstantin Krimets. It has recorded over 100...

 under Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...

.

In the fall of 1923 Koutzen came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and became a member of the first violin section of the Philadelphia orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

 under Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

. From 1937 until 1945 he was a member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra

NBC Symphony Orchestra

The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...

 under Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...

. Mr. Koutzen was head of the violin department of the Philadelphia Conservatory from 1925-1962. In 1944 he joined the faculty of Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

, where he taught violin and conducted the Vassar orchestra until 1966.

Selected works

Stage

• You Never Know, Comic Opera in 1 act (1960)

Orchestral

• Valley Forge (1931)
• From the American Folklore, Concert Overture (1943)
• Divertimento (1956)

1. Pop Concert
2. At the Ballet
3. Holiday Mood
   • Elegiac Rhapsody (1961)
   • Solitude, Poème-nocturne
   • Symphony in C
   • Fanfare, Prayer, and March

Band

• Symphonic Rhapsody

Concertante

• Symphonic movement (Mouvement symphonique) for violin and orchestra (1931)
• Concerto for cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn and string orchestra (1934)
• Concert Piece for cello and string orchestra (1946)
• Concerto for viola and orchestra (1949)
• Morning Music for flute and string orchestra (1950)
• Concertino for piano and string orchestra
• Concerto for violin and orchestra

Chamber and instrumental music

• Légende for violin and piano (1928)
• Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (1928)
• String Quartet No. 1
• Nocturne for violin and piano (1930)
• Duo concertante for violin and piano (1944)
• Music (Serenade) for saxophone, bassoon and cello (1945)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1945)
• Holiday Mood for violin and piano (1948)
• Foundation of Violin Playing (1951)
• Sonata for violin and cello (1952)
• Landscape and Dance for woodwind quintet (1953)
• Pastorale and Dance for violin (or clarinet) and piano (1965)
• Trio for flute, cello and harp (1965)
• Melody with Variations for violin (or clarinet) and piano (1966)
• Music for Violin Alone (1968)
• Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano (1970)
• Piano Trio (1977)
• Poem for violin solo and string quartet
• Sonata for solo violin

Keyboard

• Enigma for piano (1929)
• Sonatina for piano (1931)
• Fervent Is My Longing, Choral Prelude for organ (1935)
• Eidólons, Poem for piano (1953)
• Clown's Reverie and Dance for piano (1958)
• Sonnet for Organ (1965)
• Sonatina for 2 pianos (1944)

Choral

• An Invocation for women's voices and orchestra (or piano) (1958); words by John Addington Symonds
  John Addington Symonds
  John Addington Symonds was an English poet and literary critic. Although he married and had a family, he was an early advocate of male love , which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships. He referred to it as l'amour de l'impossible...
  
  
• Concerto for chorus and orchestra
• The Fatal Oath

External links