Lev Knipper
Encyclopedia
Lev Konstantinovich Knipper (Лев Константинович Книппер) ( in Tbilisi
– 30 July 1974 in Moscow
), a Russian composer of partially German descent and an active OGPU - NKVD
(Soviet secret police) agent.
Lev Knipper was the nephew of the actress Olga Knipper
(Anton Chekhov
's wife). His older sister Olga Chekhova
also became an actress and married Mikhail Chekhov.
During the Russian civil war
he fought in the White army and left Russia with the rest of baron Wrangel
forces in 1920. Upon his return from emigration in 1922 he was recruited by OGPU foreign département. There is no evidence that he denounced any of his fellow composers or musicians during the periods of repressions.
He studied music in Moscow with Reinhold Glière
and the Gnessin Music School. In the 20's, he worked at the Moscow Art Theatre
with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
and Konstantin Stanislavski
.
He wrote his Fourth Symphony in 1934, which includes the famous song Polyushko Pole
, with lyrics (dedicated to Kliment Voroshilov
) by Victor Gusev. The music became one of the Marching songs of the Red Army Choir
. Knipper did not suffer from the attacks of Andrei Zhdanov
, who censored other composers.
According to secret documents revealed in 2008, during the Second World War existed in the USSR a secret plan designed by the kremlin
in case that Moscow
would fall into Nazi hands. Under the elaborate plan, ballerinas and circus acrobats were armed with grenades and pistols and ordered to assassinate German generals if they attempted to organise concerts and other celebrations upon taking the city. Lev Knipper was charged with the responsibility of killing Hitler if he got the opportunity.
Knipper was prolific. He wrote 5 operas (including one on the The Little Prince
), 20 symphonies, ballets, pieces for piano and other film musics. He also studied ethnomusicology
in the Central Asia
n Republics and researched folk music from Turkmenistan
, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan
.
One of his most famed compositions is Полюшко-поле
(Polyushko Polye), known as "Meadowland", and also called "Song of the Plains".
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
– 30 July 1974 in 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...
), a Russian composer of partially German descent and an active OGPU - NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
(Soviet secret police) agent.
Lev Knipper was the nephew of the actress Olga Knipper
Olga Knipper
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova was a Russian stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898...
(Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's wife). His older sister Olga Chekhova
Olga Chekhova
Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, née Knipper — 9 March 1980, Berlin, Germany) was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary .- Biography :...
also became an actress and married Mikhail Chekhov.
During the Russian civil war
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
he fought in the White army and left Russia with the rest of baron Wrangel
Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...
forces in 1920. Upon his return from emigration in 1922 he was recruited by OGPU foreign département. There is no evidence that he denounced any of his fellow composers or musicians during the periods of repressions.
He studied music in Moscow 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...
and the Gnessin Music School. In the 20's, he worked at the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko was a Georgian-born Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer and theatre organizer, who founded the Moscow Art Theatre with his colleague, Konstantin Stanislavsky, in 1898.-Biography:Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko was born...
and Konstantin Stanislavski
Konstantin Stanislavski
Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski , was a Russian actor and theatre director. Building on the directorially-unified aesthetic and ensemble playing of the Meiningen company and the naturalistic staging of Antoine and the independent theatre movement, Stanislavski organized his realistic...
.
He wrote his Fourth Symphony in 1934, which includes the famous song Polyushko Pole
Polyushko Pole
Polyushka Polye is a Soviet Russian-language song.Polye means "field" in Russian, "polyushko" is a diminutive/hypocoristic form for "polye".- Soviet arrangements :...
, with lyrics (dedicated to Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
) by Victor Gusev. The music became one of the Marching songs of the Red Army Choir
Red Army Choir
The A.V. Alexandrov Russian army twice red-bannered academic song and dance ensemble , in short, the Alexandrov ensemble is a performing ensemble that serves as the official army choir of the Russian armed forces...
. Knipper did not suffer from the attacks of Andrei Zhdanov
Andrei Zhdanov
Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician.-Life:Zhdanov enlisted with the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1915 and was promoted through the party ranks, becoming the All-Union Communist Party manager in Leningrad after the assassination of Sergei Kirov in 1934...
, who censored other composers.
According to secret documents revealed in 2008, during the Second World War existed in the USSR a secret plan designed by the kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
in case that 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...
would fall into Nazi hands. Under the elaborate plan, ballerinas and circus acrobats were armed with grenades and pistols and ordered to assassinate German generals if they attempted to organise concerts and other celebrations upon taking the city. Lev Knipper was charged with the responsibility of killing Hitler if he got the opportunity.
Knipper was prolific. He wrote 5 operas (including one on the The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
), 20 symphonies, ballets, pieces for piano and other film musics. He also studied ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
in the Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n Republics and researched folk music from Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
and Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
.
One of his most famed compositions is Полюшко-поле
Polyushko Pole
Polyushka Polye is a Soviet Russian-language song.Polye means "field" in Russian, "polyushko" is a diminutive/hypocoristic form for "polye".- Soviet arrangements :...
(Polyushko Polye), known as "Meadowland", and also called "Song of the Plains".
List of symphonies
- Symphony No. 1 opus 13 (1927)
- Symphony No. 2 "Lyric" opus 30 (1928–1932)
- Symphony No. 3 "The Far-East Army" after Geseyev for soloists, male chorus, military brass band and orchestra opus 32 (1932–1933)
- Symphony No. 4 "Poem for the Komsomol Fighters" in D major after Guseyev for soloists, chorus and orchestra opus 41 (1933–1934)
- Symphony No. 5 "Lyric Poem" opus 42 (1933–1934)
- Symphony No. 6 in E major "The Red Cavalry" (1936–1938)
- Symphony No. 7 D Major "Military" (1938)
- Symphony No. 8 (1943)
- Symphony No. 9 (1945)
- Symphony No. 10 (1946)
- Symphony No. 11 (1946)
- Symphony No. 12 (1947)
- Symphony No. 13 (1947)
- Symphony No. 14 (1954)
- Symphony No. 15 for string orchestra (1962)
- Symphony No. 16 (1966)
- Symphony No. 17 ("Lenin") for soloists and orchestra (1970)
- Symphony No. 18 for female voices and orchestra (1971)
- Symphony No. 19 (1971)
- Symphony No. 20 for violin, cello and orchestra (1972–1973)
Honours and awards
- Order of the Badge of Honour
- Stalin Prize - 1946 and 1949
- People's Artist of the RSFSR - 1974