Igor Markevitch
Encyclopedia
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, Italian, and French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
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...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Origin
Igor Markevich was born in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, to an old family of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna ennobled in the 18th century. The family was descended from a Jewish merchant (converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the 17th centuty), and eventually produced many notable individuals.
A son of the pianist Boris Markevitch and Zoya Pokitonov, Markevitch moved with his family to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1914 and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1916. Alfred Cortot
Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...
discovered his musical ability and advised him to go to Paris in 1926 for training as a composer and pianist at the École Normale
École Normale de Musique de Paris
The École Normale de Musique de Paris is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, France. The school was founded by Auguste Mangeot and pianist Alfred Cortot in 1919...
, where he studied under Cortot and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
.
Career
Markevich gained recognition in 1929 when he was discovered by Serge Diaghilev, who commissioned a Piano Concerto from Markevitch and desired him to collaborate on a ballet with Boris KochnoBoris Kochno
Boris Kochno was a Russian poet, dancer and librettist. He was close with Karol Szymanowski who gave him as a gift a Russian translation of the chapter The Symposium from Efebos, the composer's unpublished novel. Szymanowski also dedicated four poems to him...
. In a letter to the London Times Diaghilev hailed Markevitch as the man who would put an end to 'a scandalous period of music ... of cynical-sentimental simplicity'. The ballet project came to an end with Diaghilev's death on 19 August 1929, but Markevitch's works were accepted by the publisher Schott
Schott
- People :People with the surname Schott:* Basil Schott, Byzantine Catholic archbishop* Ben Schott, author of Schott's Miscellanies & Schott's Almanac* Charles Anthony Schott, a German scientist* Cécile Schott, the real name of electronic musician Colleen....
and he continued to produce at least one major work per year during the 1930s, being rated among the leading contemporary composers. He started being hailed as "the second Igor" — the first Igor being Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
.
Markevitch collaborated on a ballet, Rébus with Leonid Massine (1931) and another, L'envol d'Icare
L'envol d'Icare
L'envol d'Icare is a score written as a ballet by the Ukrainian composer Igor Markevitch in 1932–33. It is notable for featuring a group of instruments tuned a quarter-tone above the rest of the orchestra, and for its use of polyrhythms.-History:The work was intended as part of a ballet, with...
(1932) with Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar ; 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.-Biography:Lifar was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...
; neither was staged, though both scores were performed as concert works. L'envol d'Icare, based on the legend of the fall of Icarus
Icarus
-Space and astronomy:* Icarus , on the Moon* Icarus , a planetary science journal* 1566 Icarus, an asteroid* IKAROS, a interplanetary unmanned spacecraft...
, which Markevitch himself recorded in 1938 with the Belgian National Orchestra, was especially radical, introducing quarter-tones in both woodwind and strings. (In 1943 he recomposed the work under the title Icare, eliminating these, rescoring and simplifying the rhythms.) Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
once described Markevitch as "...the most striking personality in contemporary music..." and cited him as an influence on his own composing. An independent version of L'envol d'Icare for two pianos and percussion, which Bartók heard, is believed to have influenced Bartók's own Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion.
Markevitch continued composing as war approached but not long after completing his last original work, the Variations, Fugue and Envoi on a Theme of Handel for piano, in October 1941 he fell seriously ill. After recovering, he decided to give up composition and focus exclusively on conducting. His last compositional activities were the revision of L'envol d'Icare and arrangements of other composer's music, of which the version of The Musical Offering
The Musical Offering
The Musical Offering , BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick II of Prussia , to whom they are dedicated...
by J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
is especially notable.
Markevitch made his debut as a conductor at age 18 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
. As a conductor, he was well respected for his interpretations of the French and Russian repertory and of twentieth-century music. He settled in Italy . During the Second World War he was active with the partisan movement
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
.In 1947 he married and settled in Switzerland.His musical career as a conductor brought him all over the world. He was permanent conductor of the Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris, and in 1965 he worked for the Spanish RTVE Orchestra
RTVE Symphony Orchestra
The RTVE Symphony Orchestra , also known as the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra is a Spanish radio orchestra servicing RTVE, the Spanish national broadcasting network....
.he was also the permanent conductor of the Monte Carlo orchestra.
In 1970, after ignoring his own compositions for nearly 30 years, he conducted often his own music and thereafter a slow revival of his original works began.
He died suddenly from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Antibes on March 7, 1983.
Family
His brother Dimitry MarkevitchDimitry Markevitch
Dimitry Markevitch was a Russian concert cellist, researcher, teacher and musicologist. He studied under Gregor Piatigorsky and founded the Institut de Hautes Etudes Musicales in Switzerland...
was a notable musicologist and cellist.
Markevitch's first wife was Kyra Nijinska, a daughter of the ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
. They had one son, Vaslav, before divorcing.
His second wife was Donna Topazia Caetani, the only child of Don Michelangelo Caetani dei Duchi di Sermoneta and his wife, the former Cora Antinori, who ran the boutique of the Paris decorating firm Jansen. Their son is the conductor Oleg Caetani
Oleg Caetani
Oleg Caetani is a conductor of Ukrainian and Italian descent. He is the son of Igor Markevitch and Donna Topazia Caetani, Markevitch's second wife, who is descended from a Roman family that included the early 14th-century Pope Boniface VIII. Caetani has chosen to use his mother's family name to...
, who was chief conductor and artistic director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
. Markevitch also had two daughters with Topazia, Allegra (born 1950) and Nathalie (born 1951).
At the end of his life, he became the companion of pianist Carlotta Garriga.
Compositions
- Noces – suite for piano (1925)
- Sinfonietta in F major (1928-9)
- Piano Concerto (1929)
- Cantate for soprano, male chorus & orchestra (1929–30) (text by Jean CocteauJean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
) - Concerto Grosso (1930)
- Partita for piano and small orchestra (1930–31)
- Serenade for violin, clarinet and bassoon (1931)
- Rébus – ballet (1931)
- Cinéma-Ouverture (1931)
- Galop for 8 (or 9) players (1932)
- L'envol d'IcareL'envol d'IcareL'envol d'Icare is a score written as a ballet by the Ukrainian composer Igor Markevitch in 1932–33. It is notable for featuring a group of instruments tuned a quarter-tone above the rest of the orchestra, and for its use of polyrhythms.-History:The work was intended as part of a ballet, with...
– ballet (1932); recomposed as Icare (1943) - Hymnes for orchestra (1932–33) (revised version 1980 with ad lib contralto and extra movement orchestrated from no. 3 of Trois poèmes of 1935)
- Petite suite d’apres SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
for small orchestra (1933) - Psaume for soprano and small orchestra (1933)
- Le paradis perdu, oratorio (1934–35) (text by Markevitch after John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
) - Trois poèmes for high voice and piano (1935) (texts by Cocteau, PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, Goethe); No.3 orchestrated 1936 as Hymne à la mort, incorporated 1980 into Hymnes for orchestra - Cantique d’amour for orchestra (1936)
- Le nouvel âge, sinfonia concertante for orchestra with 2 pianos (1937)
- La Taille de l’homme – 'concert inachevée' for soprano and 12 instruments (1938–39, unfinished, but Part I complete and performable)
- Stefan le poète – 'impressions d’enfance' pour piano (1939–40)
- Lorenzo il magnifico, sinfonia concertante for soprano and orchestra (1940) (texts by Lorenzo de Medici)
- Variations, Fugue et Envoi on a Theme of HandelHANDELHANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
for piano (1941) - Le Bleu Danube, valse de concert on themes by Johann StraussJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
(1944) - 6 Songs of MussorgskyMussorgskyMussorgsky can refer to:*The Mussorgsky family of Russian nobility;*Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer belonging to that family.*Mussorgsky , a 1950 Soviet film about the composer...
arranged for voice and orchestra (1945) - The Musical OfferingThe Musical OfferingThe Musical Offering , BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick II of Prussia , to whom they are dedicated...
by JS Bach arranged for triple orchestra (1949–50)
Theory
- Historical, analytical and practical studies of Beethoven symphonies (Die Sinfonien von Ludwig van Beethoven: historische, analytische und praktische Studien; published by Edition Peters, Leipzig, 1982) - popular literature for conductors, although disputed.
Sources
- The New York Times
- Tempo 133/4 (September 1980) Igor Markevitch double issue.
External links
- Igor Markevitch biography at Boosey & HawkesBoosey & HawkesBoosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
- Igor Markevitch biography
- František Sláma (musician)František Sláma (musician)František Sláma was a significant Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music.-Biography:...
Archive. More on the history of the Czech Philharmonic between the 1940s and the 1980s: Conductors