Isaak Dunayevsky
Encyclopedia
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
as Dunaevski or Dunaevsky; – 25 July 1955) was the biggest 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....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
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 of the 1930s and 1940s, who achieved huge success in music for operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
and film comedies, frequently working with the film director Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov was a prominent Soviet film director who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1973...
. He is considered one of the greatest Soviet composers of all time and many of his songs are very well known and are held in high regard in Russia and former Soviet Union
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....
.
Biography
Poltava Governorate
The Poltava Governorate or Government of Poltava was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate which was split between the Chernigov Governorate and Poltava Governorate with an...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in 1900. He studied at the Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
Musical School in 1910 where he studied 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....
under Joseph Achron
Joseph Achron
Joseph Yulyevich Achron, also seen as Akhron was a Russian composer and violinist of Jewish origin, settled in USA. His preoccupation with Jewish elements and his desire to develop a 'Jewish' harmonic and contrapuntal idiom, underscored and informed much of his work...
. During this period he started to study the theory of music under Semyon Bogatyrev (1890–1960). He graduated in 1919 from the Kharkiv Conservatory. At first he was a violinist, the leader of the orchestra in Kharkiv. Then he started a conducting career. In 1924 he went 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...
to run the Theatre Hermitage. After that he worked in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(1929–1941) as a director and conductor of the "Music-Hall" (1929–34) and then moved to Moscow to work on his operettas and film music.
Dunayevsky wrote 14 operettas, 3 ballets, 3 cantatas, 80 choruses, 80 songs and romances, music for 88 plays and 42 films, 43 compositions for light music orchestra and 12 for jazz orchestra, 17 melodeclamation
Melodeclamation
Melodeclamation was a chiefly 19th century practice of reciting poetry while accompanied by concert music...
s, 52 compositions for symphony orchestra and 47 piano compositions and a string quartet.
He was one of the first composers in the Soviet Union
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....
to start using jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. His music was accessible to the masses, with melodious and memorable tunes that secured his success. He wrote the music for three of the most important films of the pre-war Stalinist era, Jolly Fellows, Circus
Circus (1936 film)
Circus is a 1936 Soviet melodramatic comedy musical film. It was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov at the Mosfilm studios. In his own words, it was conceived as "an eccentric comedy...a real side splitter."...
and the film said to be Stalin's favourite film Volga-Volga
Volga-Volga
Volga-Volga is a Soviet comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres around a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the...
, all directed by Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov was a prominent Soviet film director who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1973...
.
In a reply to the British book The World of Music, he listed the following as his chief works: The Golden Valley operetta (1937), The Free Wind operetta (1947), and music to the films Circus (1935) and The Kuban Cossacks (1949).
He died of a heart attack in Moscow in 1955. His last piece, the operetta White Acacia (1955), was left unfinished at his death. It was completed by Kirill Molchanov and staged on 15 November 1955, in Moscow.
A previously unknown opera libretto Rachel (1943) by Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
, was later found in his archive. The libretto was based on Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
's Mademoiselle Fifi
Mademoiselle Fifi
Mademoiselle Fifi may refer to:*Fifi D'Orsay , Canadian-American actress billed as "Mademoiselle Fifi"*Mademoiselle Fifi , a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant published in 1882...
and was published in a book by Naum Shafer (see references and links below).
A book of his essays and memoirs was published in 1961.
Honours
Dunayevsky was named a People's Artist of RussiaPeople's Artist of Russia
People's Artist of Russia, also sometimes translated as National Artist of Russia, is an honorary title granted to citizens of Russia.It succeeded both the all-Soviet union award People's Artist of the USSR , and more directly the local republic award, People's Artist of the RSFSR , after the...
in 1950. He was twice awarded the Stalin Prize (1941, 1951) and received two orders and many medals (including the Order of the Red Labour Banner, the Order of the Red Star, and the Badge of Honour).
Family
His brother Semyon (1906–1986) was a conductor; another brother, Zinovy (1908–1981), was a composer.Dunayevsky was married twice. He had a son Yevgeny (b. 1932) by his wife Zinaida Sudeikina, and another son Maksim
Maksim Dunayevsky
Maksim Isaakovich Dunayevsky is a popular Soviet/Russian film composer. Son of Isaak Dunayevsky.-Soundtracks:*D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers *The Trust That Has Burst *Mary Poppins, Goodbye *The Witches Cave...
(b. 1945) by his lover, the ballerina Zoya Pashkova. Maksim was also a well-known composer, and continues the traditions of his father in musicals and operettas.
Works
- The Tranquillity of the Faun, ballet (1924)
- Murzilka, ballet for children (1924)
- For Us and You, operetta (1924)
- Bridegrooms (Женихи), operetta (1926)
- The Knives (Ножи), operetta (1928)
- Polar Passions, operetta (1928)
- Million Langours, operetta (1932)
- Jolly FellowsJolly Fellows (1934 film)Jolly Fellows , also translated Happy-Go-Lucky Guys and Moscow Laughs, is a 1934 Soviet musical film, directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and starring his wife Lyubov Orlova, a gifted singer and the first recognized star of Soviet cinema....
(Весёлые ребята), film music (1934), including "SerdtseSerdtse"Serdtse" is in its version sung by Pyotr Leshchenko one of the most frequently performed Argentine Tango songs not sung in the Spanish language.-Title:...
" - Three Friends (Три товарища), film music (1935)
- Seekers of Happiness (Искатели счастья), film music (1936)
- CircusCircus (1936 film)Circus is a 1936 Soviet melodramatic comedy musical film. It was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov at the Mosfilm studios. In his own words, it was conceived as "an eccentric comedy...a real side splitter."...
(Цирк), film music (1936) - The Children of Captain GrantIn Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the Castaways is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–1868. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Édouard Riou. In 1876 it was republished by George Routledge & Sons as a three volume set titled "A Voyage Round The World"...
(Дети капитана Гранта), film music (1936) - The Golden Valley (Золотая долина), operetta (1937)
- Volga-VolgaVolga-VolgaVolga-Volga is a Soviet comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres around a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the...
(Волга-Волга), film music (1938) - The Roads to Happiness (Дороги к счастью), operetta (1939)
- My Love (Моя любовь). film music (1940)
- Moscow, suite for solo voices, chorus and orchestra (1941)
- The Wind of Liberty (Вольный ветер), operetta (1947)
- Cuban Cossacks (Кубанские казаки), film music (1949)
- The Son of the Clown (Сын клоуна), operetta (1950)
- Glory of the Railwaymen, cantata
- Our Homeland May Flourish!, cantata
- Ballet Suite for orchestra
- Suite on Chinese themes, orchestra
- Rhapsody on Songs of the people of the Soviet Union, jazz orchestra
- The Music Store, jazz orchestra
- String Quartet
- Song of the Fatherland, film music
- Requiem, narrator and quintet
- Song of Stalin, chorus and orchestra
- White Acacia (Белая акация), operetta (1955, completed by Kirill Molchanov)
Also:
- Songs
- Pieces for chamber orchestra
- Incidental musicIncidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for theatre and cinema