Victor Berkovsky
Encyclopedia
Viktor Semyonovich Berkovsky ' onMouseout='HidePop("74079")' href="/topics/Zaporizhia">Zaporizhia
- July 24, 2005, Moscow
) was a Soviet
and Russia
n bard
.
. During the Great Patriotic War (WWII), he was evacuated with his family to Novokuznetsk
, where his mother, Etel Viktorovna Gerts, was a prominent cardiologist and head of the cardiology department in a hospital for wounded soldiers. His father, Samuil Mikhaylovich Berkovsky, was drafted and mobilized on the first day of the war, serving in the infantry.
After graduating from high school in 1950, Berkovsky left for Moscow, where he received a degree from Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
. In 1955, Berkovsky came back to Zaporizhia to work in the "Dneprostal" factory. In order to better learn his profession, Berkovsky voluntarily chose to work as a factory worker, and by 1962 he became head of the factory's technological department.
In 1962, Berkovsky returned to Moscow for PhD studies at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He received a PhD degree in 1967, and stayed on at the institute first as an instructor, and later as associate professor.
), "Песня шагом, шагом" (text by Novella Matveeva), "Ну что с того, что я там был" (text by Yuri Levitansky), "Сороковые роковые" (text by David Samoylov
), "Лошади в океане" (text by Boris Slutsky
), "Вспомните, ребята!", "Песенка про собачку Тябу", "Альма-матер" (text by Dmitry Sukharev), "Контрабандисты" (text by Eduard Bagritsky
), "На далекой Амазонке" (text by Rudyard Kipling
, translated by Samuil Marshak
), "Черешневый кларнет" (text by Bulat Okudzhava
), "Под музыку Вивальди" (music composed in collaboration with Sergei Nikitin, text by Velichansky), "Снегопад" (text by Yunna Morits
), and many others.
Viktor Berkovsky worked closely with Sergey Nikitin on composing music for the theater and movies, such as "Мэри Поппинс", "Коньки", "Морские ворота" (text by Yuri Vizbor
), "Большая докторская сказка", "Али-Баба и 40 песен персидского базара", and songs for the children's show "Будильник" (texts by Daniil Kharms
).
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
- July 24, 2005, 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...
) was a Soviet
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....
and 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...
n bard
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
.
Early years and education
Berkovsky was born on July 13, 1932 in Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSRUkrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
. During the Great Patriotic War (WWII), he was evacuated with his family to Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk is a city in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Novokuznetsky District, but it is not administratively a part of it...
, where his mother, Etel Viktorovna Gerts, was a prominent cardiologist and head of the cardiology department in a hospital for wounded soldiers. His father, Samuil Mikhaylovich Berkovsky, was drafted and mobilized on the first day of the war, serving in the infantry.
After graduating from high school in 1950, Berkovsky left for Moscow, where he received a degree from Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
National University of Science and Technology "MISIS" is Russia's primary technological university in the field of steelmaking and metallurgy. It was established in 1918 as a part of the Moscow Mining Academy. In 1930, it became independent...
. In 1955, Berkovsky came back to Zaporizhia to work in the "Dneprostal" factory. In order to better learn his profession, Berkovsky voluntarily chose to work as a factory worker, and by 1962 he became head of the factory's technological department.
In 1962, Berkovsky returned to Moscow for PhD studies at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He received a PhD degree in 1967, and stayed on at the institute first as an instructor, and later as associate professor.
Music career
Practically all his life Berkovsky composed music. He wrote the music for about 200 songs. Many of these became very popular in the Soviet Union: "Grenada" (text by Mikhail SvetlovMikhail Arkadyevich Svetlov
Mikhail Arkadyevich Svetlov , born Scheinkman , was a Soviet Russian poet.-Biography:Svetlov was born into a poor Jewish family. He has been published since 1917. A member of Komsomol since 1919, Svetlov was sent to the First Congress of Proletarian Writers in Moscow in 1920 and took part in the...
), "Песня шагом, шагом" (text by Novella Matveeva), "Ну что с того, что я там был" (text by Yuri Levitansky), "Сороковые роковые" (text by David Samoylov
David Samoylov
David Samoylov , pseudonym of David Samuilovich Kaufman . He is a notable poet of War generation of Russian poets, and considered one of the most important Russian poets of the post-World War II era.-External links:* * *...
), "Лошади в океане" (text by Boris Slutsky
Boris Slutsky
Boris Slutsky was a Soviet poet of Russian language.Lived his childhood and youth in Harkov. In the year 1937 entered the law institute of Moscow, and since1939 studied also at the Institute of literature "Maxim Gorky" till 1941....
), "Вспомните, ребята!", "Песенка про собачку Тябу", "Альма-матер" (text by Dmitry Sukharev), "Контрабандисты" (text by Eduard Bagritsky
Eduard Bagritsky
Eduard Bagritsky , real name Dzyubin , was an important Russian and Soviet poet of the Constructivist School.He was a Neo-Romantic early in his poetic career; he was also a part of the so-called Odessa School of Russian writers...
), "На далекой Амазонке" (text by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, translated by Samuil Marshak
Samuil Marshak
Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak was a Russian and Soviet writer, translator and children's poet. Among his Russian translations are William Shakespeare's sonnets, poems by William Blake and Robert Burns, and Rudyard Kipling's stories. Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of [Russia's ]...
), "Черешневый кларнет" (text by Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He was one of the founders of the Russian genre called "author song"...
), "Под музыку Вивальди" (music composed in collaboration with Sergei Nikitin, text by Velichansky), "Снегопад" (text by Yunna Morits
Yunna Morits
Yunna Morits , is a Soviet and Russian artist of many talents primarily known as a poet, was born in Kiev, USSR in a Jewish family. Her father Pinchas Moritz, was imprisoned under Stalin, she suffered from tuberculosis in her childhood, and spent years of hardship in the Urals during WWII...
), and many others.
Viktor Berkovsky worked closely with Sergey Nikitin on composing music for the theater and movies, such as "Мэри Поппинс", "Коньки", "Морские ворота" (text by Yuri Vizbor
Yuri Vizbor
Yuri Vizbor was a well-known Soviet bard and poet as well as a theatre and film actor.-Summary:...
), "Большая докторская сказка", "Али-Баба и 40 песен персидского базара", and songs for the children's show "Будильник" (texts by Daniil Kharms
Daniil Kharms
Daniil Kharms was an early Soviet-era surrealist and absurdist poet, writer and dramatist. One of his pseudonyms, which was signed in Latin alphabet, was Daniel Charms.- Life :...
).