Alla Pavlova
Encyclopedia
Alla Pavlova is a Russia
n composer
of Ukrainian
origin, best known for her symphonic work. Pavlova currently resides in Brooklyn
, New York
.
era, the Pavlova family was transferred to Moscow
in 1961, where Alla studied music in the Gnessin State Musical College
. She studied with Armen Shakhbagyan, a composer with a reputation established in the 1970s, and paid special attention to the works of Anna Akhmatova
. This influenced a good part of her production until the 1990s.
Following her graduation in 1983, Pavlova moved to the Bulgaria
n capital of Sofia
, where she worked at the Union of Bulgarian Composers and the Bulgarian National Opera. She returned to Moscow three years later.
From 1986, Pavlova worked for the Russian Musical Society Board in Moscow, before relocating to New York
in 1990.
. During the first half of the 1990s her compositions alternated between lieder and small works for piano
. In 1994, Pavlov produced her first major work, Symphony nº. 1 Farewell Russia. Symphony nº. 1 seeks to convey the melancholic burden and feelings of pain felt by the composer on leaving her home country. The work is articulated in a single movement, and comprises an ensemble
consisting of two violin
s, a cello
, a piano, a flute
, and a piccolo
, which was recorded in Russia by soloists of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
barely two days after its opening.
Pavlova waited for four years to compose her first symphonic work, barely four minutes long for piano and strings, motivated by the death of Shakhbagyan. She returned to take refuge in lieder, composing pieces like Miss me... but let me go at the beginning of September 2001. The same way that Cristóbal Halffter
saw his composition Adagio en forma de Rondó changed by the terrorist attacks of September 11
, Pavlova was shocked by these attacks, especially as she lived quite close to ground zero
. She decided to rededicate the song to the memory of the victims.
Her first symphonic work following the Elegia, the Symphony nº. 2 for the New Millennium (1998), was arguably her most ambitious work to date: Even before being reviewed four years later, it was brought to CD by Vladimir Fedoseyev
, who would later become one of Pavlova's representatives to Russia, having played and recorded the Fourth Symphony, in a move that firmly established the reputation of Pavlova in Russia.
, is characterized for its intense expressive reach and is considered her masterpiece. Faithful to her policy of revision, Pavlova continued to work on this piece, adding a guitar
as a colorful element.
Work on this Symphony continued in 2002, as well as a second concert work, a monologue with solo violin in which she again used a string orchestra. Pavlova worked the two following years in her first incidental accomplishment, that of the ballet
Sulamith, which carries to stage a story by Aleksandr Kuprin
of biblical inspiration, the execution of which extracted a symphonic suite spanning three quarters of an hour.
Pavlova's most recent compositions are her Fifth Symphony (2006), Sixth Symphony (2008) and Thumbelina Ballet Suite (2008/2009), which have been released by Naxos.
, Shostakovich
, Rachmaninov, etc.), and each of her works seem crossed by the topic of uprooting and exile.
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 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...
of Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
origin, best known for her symphonic work. Pavlova currently resides in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Soviet life
During the SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
era, the Pavlova family was transferred 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...
in 1961, where Alla studied music in the Gnessin State Musical College
Gnessin State Musical College
The Gnessin State Musical College and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music is a prominent music school in Moscow, Russia...
. She studied with Armen Shakhbagyan, a composer with a reputation established in the 1970s, and paid special attention to the works of Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
. This influenced a good part of her production until the 1990s.
Following her graduation in 1983, Pavlova moved to the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n capital of Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, where she worked at the Union of Bulgarian Composers and the Bulgarian National Opera. She returned to Moscow three years later.
From 1986, Pavlova worked for the Russian Musical Society Board in Moscow, before relocating to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1990.
Lieder and chamber music
Following her arrival in New York, Pavlova compiled a collection for her daughter Irene consisting of simple pieces for piano inspired by the fairy tales of Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
. During the first half of the 1990s her compositions alternated between lieder and small works for piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. In 1994, Pavlov produced her first major work, Symphony nº. 1 Farewell Russia. Symphony nº. 1 seeks to convey the melancholic burden and feelings of pain felt by the composer on leaving her home country. The work is articulated in a single movement, and comprises an ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
consisting of two 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....
s, a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, a piano, a flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, and a piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, which was recorded in Russia by soloists of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953...
barely two days after its opening.
Pavlova waited for four years to compose her first symphonic work, barely four minutes long for piano and strings, motivated by the death of Shakhbagyan. She returned to take refuge in lieder, composing pieces like Miss me... but let me go at the beginning of September 2001. The same way that Cristóbal Halffter
Cristóbal Halffter
Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina is a Spanish composer. He is the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter.-Life:...
saw his composition Adagio en forma de Rondó changed by the terrorist attacks of September 11
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, Pavlova was shocked by these attacks, especially as she lived quite close to ground zero
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
. She decided to rededicate the song to the memory of the victims.
Her first symphonic work following the Elegia, the Symphony nº. 2 for the New Millennium (1998), was arguably her most ambitious work to date: Even before being reviewed four years later, it was brought to CD by Vladimir Fedoseyev
Vladimir Fedoseyev
Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseyev is a Russian conductor.Fedoseyev graduated from the Gnessin State Musical College 1957, and Moscow Conservatory 1972. From 1974 artistic director and chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio 1974-1999. He has also served as principal...
, who would later become one of Pavlova's representatives to Russia, having played and recorded the Fourth Symphony, in a move that firmly established the reputation of Pavlova in Russia.
Specialization in the Grand Forms
Besides supporting her prestige, the Second Symphony supposes an important point of inflection in the career of Pavlova, as she abandoned chamber music in successive works in favor of large orchestral compositions. In 2000, she sealed this change of orientation with the monumental Symphony nº. 3; this work, inspired by a New York monument to Joan of ArcJoan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, is characterized for its intense expressive reach and is considered her masterpiece. Faithful to her policy of revision, Pavlova continued to work on this piece, adding a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
as a colorful element.
Work on this Symphony continued in 2002, as well as a second concert work, a monologue with solo violin in which she again used a string orchestra. Pavlova worked the two following years in her first incidental accomplishment, that of the ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
Sulamith, which carries to stage a story by Aleksandr Kuprin
Aleksandr Kuprin
Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin , was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his story The Duel . Other well-known works include Moloch , Olesya , Junior Captain Rybnikov , Emerald , and The Garnet Bracelet...
of biblical inspiration, the execution of which extracted a symphonic suite spanning three quarters of an hour.
Pavlova's most recent compositions are her Fifth Symphony (2006), Sixth Symphony (2008) and Thumbelina Ballet Suite (2008/2009), which have been released by Naxos.
Works
Her music takes as its inspiration the great Russian masters of the 20th century (ProkofievSergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Rachmaninov, etc.), and each of her works seem crossed by the topic of uprooting and exile.
- "Lullaby for Irene" for piano, violin (or flute) and vibraphone (19721972 in music-Events:*January 17 – Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Boulevard"*January 20 – The début of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at The Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties,...
) - Two Songs to Verses by Anna AkhmatovaAnna AkhmatovaAnna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
for soprano and piano (19741974 in music-January–April:*January 3 – Bob Dylan and The Band kick off their 40-date concert tour at Chicago Stadium. It's Dylan's first time on the road since 1966.*January 17...
) - "We Are the Love" to verses by Alla Pavlova for (mezzo-)soprano and piano quartet (1974)
- "The Dream" to verses by Anna Akhmatova for soprano and piano (19791979 in musicSee also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
) - Impressions after Fairy-Tales by H. C. AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
for piano (19901990 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
) - Winter Morning to Verses by Alexander Pushkin for soprano, cello and flute (19931993 in musicThis is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
) - Prelude for piano "For My Mother" (19941994 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
) - "Summer Pictures for piano (1994)
- Symphony No. 1 "Farewell, Russia" for chamber orchestra (1994)
- The Old New York Nostalgia Suite for piano (19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
) - "Miss Me ... But Let Me Go" for violin, cello, two guitars and mezzo-soprano (19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
) - "I Loved You", masterpieces of Russian poetry for mezzo-soprano, violin and piano (19981998 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
) - Elegy for piano and string orchestra (1998)
- Symphony No. 2 "For the New Millennium" (1998)
- The Old New York Nostalgia Suite for string orchestra, percussion, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and trumpet (1998)
- Symphony No. 3 (20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) - Symphony No. 4 (20022002 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
) - Monolog for violin and string orchestra (2002)
- Suite from "Sulamith" (20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
-20042004 in musicSee also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
) - "Sulamith", ballet (2003-20052005 in music-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
) - Symphony No. 5 (20062006 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
) - Symphony No. 6 (20082008 in music2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...
)
Biography
- Naxos - Alla Pavlova
- Membership of New York Women Composers
- http://www.allapavlova.com
Music
Other
- Gnessin State Musical College, where Pavlova studied in Russia.