Michael L. Geller
Encyclopedia
Michael Lazarevich Geller (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Михаил Ла́заревич Геллер) or Misha Geller (July 23, 1937 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...

, 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...

 - December 17, 2007 Vught
Vught
Vught is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is a town where lots of commuters live and has recently been named "Best place to live" by the Dutch magazine Elsevier.-Politics:...

, The Netherlands) was a Russian viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

 player and composer.

Moscow years (1937-1978)

Michael L. Geller was born in Moscow in 1937 in a Jewish family. He started to play the violin at the age of 7, but later on he developed a passion for the viola. He graduated from 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...

 in 1963 as a viola player and composer. He studied composition with Professor Evgeny Golubev
Evgeny Golubev
Evgeny Kirillovich Golubev was a Russian Soviet composer.He was taught by Nikolai Myaskovsky, and his students included Alfred Schnittke, who studied with him from 1953 until 1958 and Michael L. Geller...

 and Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...

 (orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...

).

As a viola player he was awarded the Gold Medal at the International Competition in Helsinki (1962). In 1966 he was a founding member of the Composer's Union String Quartet, together with Alexander Arenkow (violin), Dimitri Ferschtman (cello) and Sergei Pischugin (violin). When Russian string quartets have achieved international recognition they are given the name of a great Russian composer. The group won the First Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in 1969 and the name Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...

 was bestowed on them. With the Glinka Quartet Geller performed in many countries around the world, made a large number of records and recorded for radio and television.

From 1968 up until his emigration in 1978 he was a member of the Soviet Composer's Society in Moscow. He obtained commissions from the Russian Broadcasting Corporation to compose for the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and other symphony orchestras and to create chamber music, vocal cycles and a filmed opera for television titled The Women's Revolt with the cast of the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

, conducted by Mark Ermler
Mark Ermler
Mark Fridrikhovich Ermler was a Russian conductor.-Biography:Mark Ermler was born in Leningrad in 1932. His parents were Vera Bakun, a film set designer, and Friedrich Ermler, a film director. He began to study piano at age 5....

.

Especially acclaimed was his Sonata for Violin and Piano (1969), which was dedicated to its first performers: violinist Alexei Michlin (the Gold Medal winner of the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels in 1963) and Georgian pianist Ziala Kwernadze, laureate of the Vianna da Motta International Music Competition
Vianna da Motta International Music Competition
The Vianna da Motta International Music Competition was first constituted in 1957 in Lisbon in honor of José Vianna da Motta by his disciple Sequeira Costa, who remains its president; this inaugural edition was won by Naum Shtarkman. The competition, a member of the World Federation of...

 in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 in 1964). This composition was published by the Union of Soviet Composers
Union of Soviet Composers
The USSR Union of Composers or Union of Composers of the USSR , , was a professional organisation of composers in the Soviet Union...

 in 1976 and the record label Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...

 produced a record with this composition. Music critic N. Dolinsky is cited on the cover of the record:
…This composition is put together in a very modern fashion, as if written in a new language, full of expression and drama. The whole piece is constructed like a precise, graphical drawing, where every line, every hatching has its own distinct character… The monologues of the violin are particularly remarkable. They seem to fix your attention on the intense intellectual and creative process of the composer.

Life and work in The Netherlands (1978-1994)

In 1978 Geller and his family moved to The Netherlands. From 1978-1980 he played with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The NKO is part of the Stichting Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest , along with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra . The core of the NKO is a group of at least 20 string instrumentalists...

 as their principal violinist.

In 1980 he became a member of the re-formed Glinka Quartet together with Dimitri Ferschtman (cello), Zino Vinnikov (violin) and Kees Hulsman (violin), which successfully performed and recorded around the world.

Geller gave solo performances as a viola player and played with many European Orchestras. His most memorable performances were of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

´s Symphony Concertante with the violinist Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Jean-Jacques Kantorow is a French violin virtuoso and conductor.-Biography:Kantorow was born in Cannes, France. From the age of 13 he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with René Benedetti, and in 1960 won the first violin prize...

 and of Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...

´s Harold in Italy. The Rhein -Zeitung in Germany wrote about his performance there in 1982: He played with an exceptional delicacy of phrasing… conveying deep warmth and burning inspiration.

He took part in the performances of his own compositions, such as the duet for viola and cello Psalm Music for 8 Strings (D. Ferschtman, cello) with premiere at the Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...

 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 in 1979. The duet was also played by various European musicians and recorded in The Netherlands, Germany and France. Geller's performance of Fantasy for viola and piano (1980) was recorded with different pianists by several Dutch broadcasting organisations: KRO
KRO
KRO, or Katholieke Radio Omroep , is a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcasts the bulk of its television output on the Nederland 1 channel. KRO is also responsible for managing broadcasts made by the Catholic Church...

, VARA, AVRO.

1982 saw the premiere of his Dialogue for Viola and 12 instruments with the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, conductor Ernest Bour.

Geller composed for chamber ensembles, e.g. the String Quintet in commission of the Johan Wagenaar
Johan Wagenaar
Johan Wagenaar was a Dutch composer and organist.-Life:Born in Utrecht, out of wedlock, he was the son of Cypriaan Gerard Berger van Hengst and Johanna Wagenaar. Wagenaar's parents were of different social strata: his father was an aristocrat, while his mother was of more humble origins...

 Foundation in The Netherlands (1984). His compositions were performed in the UK, Croatia, France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.

He held teaching posts at the University Colleges for the Arts in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 and Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...

 in The Netherlands and at The Royal Northern College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...

 in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, UK. He served on the juries of several competitions such as The Julius Isserlis Scholarship of the Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...

 in England and gave Master Classes in Germany and the UK.

His successful career as a violist was abruptly ended by a sudden stroke. He was forced to stop performing, which led to his emotional decision to stop teaching as well.

Another passion (1992-1997)

After being forced to give up his career as a viola player, Michael L. Geller devoted himself to his other passion: Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

. He graduated from The International Acupuncture Institute in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 proficient in the ancient Chinese art of healing: Qigong
Qigong
Qigong or chi kung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation...

.
He worked as a doctor of acupuncture first in The Netherlands and later in Israel, where he was invited to work in co-operation with the Medical Insurance Leumit Health Fund
Leumit Health Fund
Leumit Health Fund is an Israeli HMO, founded in 1933 by the Revisionist Zionist Movement.-History:Leumit Health Fund was established in 1933 in Dr. Yaakov Vinshal's kitchen in Tel Aviv - Israel by physicians who had been dismissed from their work in the General Health Fund at the time of the...

 (1994–1997).

Winter 1997 Geller was struck by another severe stroke. He was forced to stop working and to get more rest.

Back to The Netherlands (1998-2007)

He returned to the Netherlands, recovered remarkably well from the physical effects of his stroke and started composing again. He worked as a composer full time and from 2003 onward he actively took part in the realization of his own musical projects.

His musical fairy-tale for children Mishka saw an enthusiastic reception in 2003.

His Chamber Opera The Daughters of Lot
Lot (Bible)
Lot is a man from the Book of Genesis chapters 11-14 and 19, in the Hebrew Bible. Notable episodes in his life include his travels with his uncle Abram ; his flight from the destruction of Sodom, in the course of which Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt; and the seduction by his...

(An Intimate Treatment of the Sacred Pages, libretto in English by Sandra Geller) for baritone, soprano, mezzo-soprano, piano and percussion is a personal vision on this episode in the Book of Genesis, featuring Lot, his wife and his daughters as the characters in a drama that enlivens the history of mankind. Performances took place in 2003 in churches and cathedrals throughout The Netherlands.

Michael L. Geller has always been inspired by the magic of the visual arts.
For the program Homage to Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...

he composed Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello and Russian Fantasy for cello and piano. His Ballad for Chamber Orchestra was inspired by the watercolors of Dutch - French painter Ary Scheffer
Ary Scheffer
Ary Scheffer , French painter of Dutch and German extraction, was born in Dordrecht.-Life:After the early death of his father Johann Baptist, a poor painter, Ary's mother Cornelia, herself a painter and daughter of landscapist Arie Lamme, took him to Paris and placed him in the studio of...

. De fresco's of Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca was a painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its...

 are the décor for his Opera - Ballet The Death of Adam and his oratorio Solomon.

Geller's admiration for Francisco de Goya is expressed in his composition for viola and piano Goya's Caprichos
Los Caprichos
Los Caprichos are a set of 80 aquatint prints created by the Spanish artist Francisco Jose de Goya in 1797 and 1798, and published as an album in 1799. The prints were an artistic experiment: a medium for Goya's condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which...

, where music leads you into the fascinating world of Goya’s sinister masquerade.

The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych painted by the early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch , housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1939. Dating from between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was about 40 or 50 years old, it is his best-known and most ambitious work...

 of Hieronymus Bosch is reflected in his composition Nebo for viola, piano and accordion. These two compositions were performed, accompanied by video impressions of the works of Goya and Bosch in the program Image, Mysticism & Music.

Famous images from Russian fairy-tales were shown as a video impression during the performance of Geller's composition for clarinet and piano Russian Fairy-tales.

His Chamber Opera Narcissus based on Ovid's myth of Narcissus, was inspired by Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

's painting Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Metamorphosis of Narcissus is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. This painting is from Dalí's Paranoiac-critical period. According to Greek mythology, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Unable to embrace the watery image, he pined away, and...

(libretto in English by Sandra Geller)

Geller's music also reflects his interest in literature and poetry. He composed romances on Russian, Bulgarian and Japanese poems. For the music theatre production Requiem for a Poet he composed music inspired by the poetry of Osip Mandelstam
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...

 and Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Moscow famine that followed it. In an attempt to save her daughter Irina from...

 in Dutch translation by Charles B. Timmer. His Symphony is inspired by The Old Man and the Sea, the novella by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...

. Chamber Comic Opera Madam Popov, is based on the story of 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...

The Bear (with libretto in English, written by composer).

The duet The Royal Bee is an expressive musical story, inspired by the phenomenon of the queen bee.

The premiere of his String Quartet Flashback, performed by the German Rubin Quartet in 2007, was the last performance attended by the composer.

Michael Geller died suddenly in December 2007 in his home in Vught, in The Netherlands.

Operas

  • The Women's Revolt. Comic opera in 5 episodes based on the stories by M. Sholochov (ca. 60 min), Libretto in Russian: C. Zenin
  • The Daughters of Lot (an Intimate Treatment of the Sacred Pages). Chamber opera in 5 episodes based on the Old Testament and inspired by the Biblical drawings by Marc Chagall (ca. 70 min), Libretto in English: Sandra Geller
  • Narcissus. A Chamber Opera in One Act based on Ovid's myth of Narcissus and inspired by Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus (ca. 75 min), Libretto in English: Sandra Geller
  • Madame Popov. Comic opera based on the one - act play by Anton Chekhov The Bear (ca. 70 min), Libretto in English: Michael L. Geller
  • The Death of Adam. Opera - ballet, inspired by the fresco of Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, Italy: The Death of Adam

Oratorio

  • MAGNIFICAT: Solomon, the King. Oratorio for Baritone mixed Choir and Orchestra. The composition is inspired by the fresco of Piero della Francesco in Arezetto, Italy: The Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba(Ca 30 min.) Text in English: Sandra Geller

Orchestral works

  • Divertimento for Violin and Orchestra
  • Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra
  • Dialog for Viola and Chamber Orchestra
  • Ballad Concertante for Chamber Orchestra
  • The Royal Bee Concertante for Flute (Violin) and String Orchestra
  • Goya's Los Caprichos (Homage to Francisco Goya) for Clarinet (Viola) and 12 instruments
  • Concertante for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra
  • Mishka. Musical Theatre for Children
  • Symphony The Old Man and the Sea for Orchestra, inspired by the novel of Ernest Hemingway.

Vocal Cycles

  • Romances on the texts of Japanese Poems for Soprano and Piano
  • Romances on the texts of Bulgarian poems for Soprano and Piano
  • Composition for Male Choir on the texts of two poems by Jevgeni Baratynski in Dutch translation of Peter Zeeman
  • Requiem for a Poet for Soprano, Baritone, Violin, Cello and Piano (Music Theatre based on the poems and memoirs by the Russian Poets Marina Tsvetaeva and Osip Mandelstam in Dutch translation of Charles B. Timmer).

Chamber Music

  • Psalm Music for 8 strings
  • Duo for Viola and Cello
  • Sonata for Violin and Piano
  • Fantasy for Viola and Piano
  • Russian Fantasy for Cello and Piano
  • The Royal Bee for Flute (Violin) and Piano
  • Russian Fairy-tales for Clarinet and Piano
  • Goya's Los Caprichos for Viola (Clarinet) and Piano
  • NEBO for Viola, Accordion and Piano
  • KWINTET for two Violins, two Violas and Cello
  • Flashback. String Quartet
  • Chagall. Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano
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