Samuel Maykapar
Encyclopedia
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:...
, and author of outstanding piano practice pieces that became international grand classics. TaganrogCity.com
Childhood
Samuel Maykapar was born on December 18, 1867 in the city of KhersonKherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
, to Karaite Jewish
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
parents. Maykapar spent his childhood in the city of Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
and in 1885 he graduated from the Boys Gymnasium
Chekhov Gymnasium
The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named after him and transformed into a literary museum...
where he studied with Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. He also took private music lessons from Gaetano Molla
Gaetano Molla
Giuseppe Cesare Gaetano Molla was an Italian impresario, conductor, pianist, and opera director. Born in Milan, he first came to prominence as the chorus-master at La Scala. After touring with the opera company to Russia in 1863, he settled in Taganrog where he became director of the Taganrog...
, director of the Italian Opera in Taganrog
Taganrog Theatre
The Taganrog Drama Theater named after Anton Chekhov and decorated with Order of Honor was established in 1827 by governor Alexander Dunaev. The theater was subsidized by the Taganrog's City Council since 1828, and its first director was Alexander Gor...
.
Education
In 1885, he enrolled into St. Petersburg ConservatorySaint 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:...
while also studying law at Saint Petersburg University, graduating in 1891. A pupil of Beniamino Cesi
Beniamino Cesi
Beniamino Cesi was a celebrated Italian concert pianist and teaching professor of piano, who taught many of the most distinguished early 20th century pianists of the Neapolitan school, so that his influence spread very widely.- Training :Born in Naples, Cesi began his studies with his father, and...
and Nicolai Soloviev
Nicolai Soloviev
Nicolai Feopemptovich Soloviev sometimes Solovyov was a Russian music critic, composer, and teacher at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. His notable composition students include Samuel Maykapar, Mihkel Lüdig, and Artur Lemba...
, Maykapar received the St. Petersburg Conservatory's diploma in 1893 and further improved his piano skills under the direction of Theodor Leschetizky until 1898. During this time he gave numerous concerts in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Saint Petersburg
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...
, 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...
, Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
and other cities.
Career
Between 1898 and 1901, he gave concerts with Leopold AuerLeopold Auer
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.-Early life and career:...
in Saint Petersburg
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...
and Ivan Grzhimali
Jan Hřímalý
Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý (also seen as Ivan Voitsekhovich Grzhimali (Иван Войцехович Гржимали (13 April 1844 – 11/24 January 1915) was an influential Czech violinist and teacher, who was associated with the Moscow Conservatory for 46 years 1869-1915....
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 1901, he founded his own music school in the city of Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
. From 1903-1910, he lived in Moscow and toured Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
giving concerts. Maykapar was an active participant and the Secretary of Sergei Taneyev
Sergei Taneyev
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev , was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.-Life:...
's Scientific-Musical Circle in Moscow. In 1915 he became professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1927, for seven nights in a row, the composer performed 32 Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
sonatas in the Small Hall of the Conservatory as part of the Beethoven Centennial Celebrations. He composed over three hundred music pieces and wrote several scientific works.
Samuel Maykapar died 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...
on May 8, 1938. In his last book Years of Studies he looks back at his childhood and education in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
.