Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Encyclopedia
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...
, 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...
and teacher.
Biography
Born in 1859 at GatchinaGatchina
Gatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...
, near St. Petersburg, where his father was a mechanic employed at the palace, Ippolitov-Ivanov studied music at home and was a choirboy at the cathedral of St. Isaac, where he also had musical instruction, before entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
in 1875. In 1882 he completed his studies as a composition pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
, whose influence was to remain strong.
Ippolitov-Ivanov's first appointment was to the position of director of the music academy and conductor of the orchestra in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
(Tiflis), the principal city of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, where he was to spend the next seven years. This period allowed him to develop an interest in the music of the region, a reflection of the general interest taken in the music of non-Slav minorities and more exotic neighbours that was current at the time, and that was to receive overt official encouragement for other reasons after the Revolution. One of his notable pupils in Tbilisi was conductor Edouard Grikurov
Edouard Grikurov
Edouard Grikurov was a Russian opera conductor. He conducted the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirov Opera Orchestra, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Maly Theatre of Leningrad....
.
On 1 May 1886, in Tbilisi, he conducted the premiere of the third and final version of Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)
Romeo and Juliet is an orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy, and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and wrote works based on The...
Overture-Fantasia.
In 1893 Ippolitov-Ivanov became a professor at the Conservatory in Moscow, of which he was director from 1905 until 1924. He served as conductor for the Russian Choral Society, the Mamontov and Zimin Opera
Zimin Opera
The Zimin Opera was founded by the Russian entrepreneur Sergei Zimin in Moscow, Russia in 1903.The company staged the premieres of such operas as Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel, Gretchaninoff's Beatris Sister and Ippolitov-Ivanov's Izmena...
companies and, after 1925, 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...
, and was known as a contributor to broadcasting and to musical journalism.
Politically Ippolitov-Ivanov retained a measure of independence. He was president of the Society of Writers and Composers in 1922, but took no part in the quarrels between musicians concerned either to encourage new developments in music or to foster a form of proletarian art. His own style had been formed in the 1880s under Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
, and to this he added a similar interest in folk-music, particularly the music of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, where he returned in 1924 to spend a year reorganizing the Conservatory in Tbilisi. He died in 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 1935.
His pupils included Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Moritzevich Glière was a Russian and Soviet composer of German–Polish descent.- Biography :Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine...
and Sergey Vasilenko. He died in Moscow.
Music
Ippolitov-Ivanov's works include operas, orchestral music, chamber music and a large number of songs. His style is similar to that of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov. With the exception of his orchestral suite Caucasian SketchesCaucasian Sketches
Caucasian Sketches is a pair of orchestral suites written in 1894 and 1896 by the Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. The Caucasian Sketches is the most often performed of his compositions and can be heard frequently on classical radio stations. The final movement of the Caucasian Sketches,...
(Kavkazskiye Eskizi, 1894), which includes the much-excerpted "Procession of the Sardar", his music is very rarely heard today.
As well as his entirely original works, Ippolitov-Ivanov completed Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's opera The Marriage
Zhenitba (opera)
Zhenitba is an unfinished opera begun in 1868 by Modest Mussorgsky to his own libretto based on Nikolai Gogol's comedy Marriage. This 1842 play is a satire of courtship and cowardice, which centres around a young woman, Agafya, who is wooed by four bachelors, each with his own...
.
He was named as a People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.- Nomenclature and significance :...
in 1922 and awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
.
Works
- Caucasian SketchesCaucasian SketchesCaucasian Sketches is a pair of orchestral suites written in 1894 and 1896 by the Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. The Caucasian Sketches is the most often performed of his compositions and can be heard frequently on classical radio stations. The final movement of the Caucasian Sketches,...
- Suite No. 1, Op. 10Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1, Op. 10 is an orchestral suite composed in 1894 and one of the most representative works by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov...
(1894) - Suite No. 2, Op. 42Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 2Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 2, Op. 42 is an orchestral suite by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov written in 1896, after he moved to Moscow...
(Iveria) (1896)
- Suite No. 1, Op. 10
- Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 46 (1908)
- Yar-khmel (Spring Overture), Op. 1 (1882)
- Violin Sonata, Op. 8 (published by D. Rahter of Leipzig, 1887, Score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection)
- Quartet for piano and strings, Op. 9
- String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 13 (published 1890 or so)
- Ballade Romantique for violin and piano, Op. 20 (published by Universal Edition in 1928)
- Symphonic Scherzo, Op. 2
- Three Musical Tableaux from Ossian, Op. 56
- Lake Lyano
- Kolyma's Lament
- Ossian's Monologue on Contemporary Heroes
- Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 37
- Vespers, Op. 43
- Jubilee March
- Armenian Rhapsody on National Themes, Op. 48
- Turkish FragmentsTurkish FragmentsTurkish Fragments, Op. 62 is an orchestral suite written in 1930 by Russian composer Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov. This suite is sometimes entitled as Orchestral Suite No. 3, even though there is no official numbering...
, Op. 62 (1930) - Turkish MarchTurkish March (Ippolitov-Ivanov)The Turkish March, Op. 55 is a composition by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, which was published in 1932 in Moscow.- Composition :...
, Op. 55 (1932) - An Episode from the Life of Schubert, Op. 61 (1920)
External links
- Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ippolitov-Ivanov
- Lyics for some of his songs at the Lied and Art Song Texts Page
- Brief Biography
- Free scores at the Mutopia ProjectMutopia projectThe Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...
