Dmitri Viktorovich Pokrovsky was a Russian folk music researcher and musician best known for his efforts to rediscover authentic, often near extinct rural musical traditions, from many different regions of Russia and re-enacting them with the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble.

Biography

In the early 1970s, Dmitri Pokrovsky was a student of conducting at Moscow’s Gnessin Pedagogical Institute

Gnessin State Musical College

The Gnessin State Musical College and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music is a prominent music school in Moscow, Russia...

 of Music, from which he graduated in 1972. Frustrated with the then manner of interpretation of Russian folk music, he developed a new approach to its performance which went against the established patterns and rules. His inspiration came after hearing a performance in a remote village in 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...

, which embedded within the oldest of traditions. In the sound made by a group of old women singing, Pokrovsky head songs passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. These songs were extraordinary, complicated, dense in form, and the performance style was unknown in towns and cities. These were the authentic performance style of traditional Russian folk songs.

Pokrovsky set out imitating this traditional style with a goal was to preserve and transmit it to a new generation of performers and audiences. Dmitri was one of the first musicians in Russia who undertook to bridge the gap between the old and new musical vocabulary

Pokrovsky has lectured at America’s Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 and the Omega Institute, and was a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, USA. Directing his Ensemble, Pokrovsky wrote numerous scores for films and was an active musical director in Russian theatre. In 1988, Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 honoured Pokrovsky with the Government Award, the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

’s highest recognition for artistic excellence, a testament to the scholarship, musicianship and vitality with which he and the Ensemble had preserved Russian tradition, culture and customs.

In 1996 he died aged 52 from aortic rupture

Traumatic aortic rupture

Traumatic aortic rupture, also called traumatic aortic disruption or transection, is a condition in which the aorta, the largest artery in the body, is torn or ruptured as the result of trauma. The condition is frequently fatal due to the profuse bleeding that results from the rupture...

.

Education

• 1978-1980 - All Union Institute of the History of Art; Moscow, USSR. Graduate work in musicology. Principal teacher: Evgenny V. Hippias.
• 1967-1972 - Russian Academy of Music (formerly the Gnessin Institute); Moscow USSR. Masters of Art in Orchestral Conducting and Traditional Folk Instruments. Principal Teachers: Conducting: Alexander Posdniakov, Orchestration: Serguei Gochekov, Piano: Berta Kremenstein
• 1966 - Private study in Orchestral Conducting with Boris Haikin
• 1961- 1965 - Musical College of the October Revolution : Bachelor of Arts in Orchestral Conducting and Performance Balalaika. Assistant of conductor in Vladimir Loktev Ensemble

Employment

1973 to 1996

• Founder and Artistic Director of the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble, a group of performers and ethnomusicologists dedicated to researching and recreating Russian village music, dance and rituals.

• 1992-1996 Visiting Professor; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Music, Tradition and Cultural Politics in Russia.

• 1990-1991 Artistic Director; “Russian-American Christmas Revels”, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC

• 1982-1990 Director; Folklore and Ethnographic Workshops of Moscow State University

• 1984 Guest Composer and Conductor; “Boris Godunov”, Taganka Theater, Moscow, Russia.

• 1978-1982 Guest Composer and Conductor for Original Scores; State Cinematographic Symphony, Moscow, Russia

• 1977 Guest Composer; Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Tbilisi, Georgia.

• 1972-1976 Professor; Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, Russia. Designed the Academy’s curriculum in traditional instruments.

• 1970-1975 Teacher; Musical College of the October Revolution, Moscow, Russia. Instrumentation and Conducting Techniques.

• 1965- 1970 Artistic Director; Balalaika Ensemble of the Moscow Philharmonic

Honours

• USSR State Prize
  USSR State Prize
  The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
  
  for Literature and Arts, 1988.
• President: UNESCO International Folklore Organization of Russia
• President: National Center for Traditional Culture of Russia
• Board Member: Soviet Cultural Foundation
• Government Medal for Work in the Arts
• Laureate:All Russian Vocal Ensemble Competition

Recordings

• 1994 “Les Noces”, Elektra\Nonesuch Records. Explorer Series 79335-2
• 1991 “Wild Field”, Virgin Records, RW 4-91736
• 1990 “Holy Evening”, Bally Bally Records, BB 1257
• 1990 “Faces of Russia”, Trikont Records and Bally Bally Records, BB 1265
• 1988 “Earthbeat”, Living Music Records, LM 45678
• 1978 “Russian Polyphony”, Melodia Records, FILM SCORES
• 1983 “Nature in Danger” for Felix Pasternack and The State Documentary Studio of the USSR
• 1981 “Delayed Sunrise”: for Alexander Muratov and The Ukrainian State Film Studio.
• 1980 “The Magic Pitcher” : for Vladimir Tarasov and The Screen Studio of Soviet TV
• 1979 “The Lark”:for Victor Novotsky and The Screen Studio of Soviet TV THEATRE MUSIC
• 1985 “Pushkin and Natalie”: Hermitage Theater, Moscow, Russia. Artistic Director : Kama Ginkas
• 1984 “Lord of the Flys”: Maly Dramatic Theater, Moscow, Russia. Artistic Director: Lev Dodin
• 1980 “Boris Godunov”: Taganka Theater, Moscow,Russia. Artistic Director: Yuri Lubimov
• 1980 “Funeral in California”: Mo\Soviet Theater, Moscow, Russia.Artistic Director: Sergei Yursky
• 1978 “Truth is Good but Happiness is Better”: Mos\Soviet Theater, Moscow, Russia. Artistic Director: Sergei Yursky