Edison Vasilievich Denisov (russian: Эдисо́н Васи́льевич Дени́сов, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called " Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music.

Biography

Denisov was born in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a n ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

. He studied mathematics before deciding to spend his life composing. This decision was enthusiastically supported by

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

, who gave him lessons in composition. In 1951–56 Denisov studied at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

: composition with

Vissarion Shebalin Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin (russian: Виссарио́н Я́ковлевич Шебали́н; 29 May 1963) was a Soviet composer. Biography Shebalin was born in Omsk, where his parents were school teachers. He studied in the musical colle ...

, orchestration with

Nikolai Rakov , birth_name = Nikolai Petrovich Rakov , birth_date = , birth_place = Kaluga, Kaluzhsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union , education = , occupation = , organiz ...

, analysis with Viktor Tsukkerman and piano with Vladimir Belov. In 1956–59 he composed the opera ''Ivan-Soldat'' (Soldier Ivan) in three acts based on Russian folk fairy tales. He began his own study of scores that were difficult to obtain in the USSR at that time, including music by composers ranging from Mahler and

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

and Stockhausen. He wrote a series of articles giving a detailed analysis of different aspects of contemporary compositional techniques and at same time actively experimented as a composer, trying to find his own way. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, he taught orchestration and later composition there. His pupils included the composers Dmitri Smirnov,

Elena Firsova Elena Olegovna Firsova (russian: link=no, Еле́на Оле́говна Фи́рсова; also ''Yelena'' or ''Jelena Firssowa''; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian composer. Life Firsova was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Ol ...

Vladimir Tarnopolsky Vladimir Grigoryevich Tarnopolsky (russian: Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Тарнопо́льский, born April 30, 1955 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian composer. Biography Tarnopolsky studied composition at th ...

, Sergey Pavlenko, Ivan Sokolov,

Yuri Kasparov Yuri Sergeyevich Kasparov (born 8 June 1955, in Moscow, russian: link=no, Юрий Серге́евич Каспа́ров—his name is variously transliterated) is a Russian composer, music teacher and a professor at the Moscow Conservatory w ...

Dmitri Kapyrin Dmitri Yuryevich Capyrin (born 1960 in Moscow) is a Russian composer of contemporary classical music. He graduated from Lviv Conservatory in 1984. He lives in Moscow and works as a freelance composer. His music "successfully combines a variety ft ...

, and Aleksandr Shchetinskiy. In 1979, at the Sixth Congress of the

Union of Soviet Composers The Union of Russian Composers (formerly the Union of Soviet Composers, Order of Lenin Union of Composers of USSR () (1932- ), and Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR) is a state-created organization for musicians and musicologists created in 193 ...

, he was blacklisted as one of "

Khrennikov's Seven Khrennikov's Seven (russian: Хренниковская семёрка or Семёрка Хренникова) was a group of seven Russian Soviet composers denounced in 1979 at the Sixth Congress of the Composers' Union by its leader Tikhon Khren ...

" for unapproved participation in a number of festivals of Soviet music in the West. Denisov became a leader of the

Association for Contemporary Music Association for Contemporary Music (ACM) (russian: ACM - Ассоциация Современной Музыки, ''ASM - Assotsiatsiya Sovremennoy Muzyki'') was an alternative organization of Russian composers interested in avant-garde music. It w ...

reestablished in Moscow in 1990. Later he moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where after an accident and long illness he died in a

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end commune of the Val-de-Marne department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of the smallest communes of the Île-de-France by land area, but ...

hospital in 1996.

Music

Denisov's cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble ''Le soleil des Incas'' (1964), setting poems by

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

and dedicated to

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mo ...

, brought him international recognition following a series of successful performances of the work in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

and Paris (1965).

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

liked the piece, discovering the "remarkable talent" of its composer. However, it was harshly criticised by the

for its "western influences", "erudition instead of creativity", and "total composer's arbitrary" (

Tikhon Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also kno ...

). After that, performances of his works were frequently banned in the Soviet Union. Later he wrote a flute concerto for

Aurèle Nicolet Aurèle Nicolet (22 January 1926 – 29 January 2016) was a Swiss flautist. He was considered one of the world's best flute players of the late twentieth century. He performed in various international concerts. A number of composers wrote music ...

, a violin concerto for

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

, works for the oboist Heinz Holliger, clarinettist Eduard Brunner and a

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''canta ...

for

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B t ...

and piano for

Jean-Marie Londeix Jean-Marie Londeix (20 September 1932) is a French saxophonist born in Libourne who studied saxophone, piano, harmony and chamber music.Ingham, Richard (ed.)''The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone'' Cambridge University Press (1998) p. 169. Umb ...

, that became highly popular among saxophone players. His sombre but striking

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

, setting a multi-lingual text (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

) based on works by the German writer Francisco Tanzer, was given its first performance in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in 1980. Among his major works are the operas '' L'écume des jours'' after

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sull ...

(1981), ''Quatre Filles'' after

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

(1986) and ballet ''Confession'' after

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

Honours and awards

People's Artist of the Russian Federation People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Наро́дный худо́жник Росси́йской Федера́ции). The honorary title "People's Artist of the Russian Federation" is given no earlier than five years after the h ...

Honoured Artist of the RSFSR Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

* Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

* Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters

Selected works

*1956–9 ''Soldier Ivan'' (russian: Иван-солдат) opera in three acts after motifs from Russian folk fairy tales *1958 Sonata for Two Violins *1960 Sonata for Flute and Piano *1964 ''Le soleil des Incas'' (''Солнце инков''—''The Sun of Incas''), text by

for soprano, flute, oboe, horn, trumpet, two pianos, percussion, violin and cello *1964 ''Italian Songs'', text by

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

for soprano, flute, horn, violin and harpsichord *1966 ''Les pleurs'' (''Плачи—Lamentations''), text of Russian folksongs for soprano, piano and three percussionists *1968 ''Ode'' (in Memory of

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

) for clarinet, piano and percussion *1968 ''Musique Romantique'' (''Романтическая музыка—Romantic Music'') for oboe, harp and string trio *1968 ''Autumn'' (''Осень'') after Velemir Khlebnikov for thirteen solo voices *1969 String Trio *1969 Wind Quintet *1969 ''Silhouettes'' for flute, two pianos and percussion *1969 ''Chant des Oiseaux'' (''Пение птиц'') for prepared piano (or harpsichord) and tape *1969 ''DSCH'' for clarinet, trombone, cello and piano *1969 ''The Singing of the Birds'' for the ANS photoelectronic synthesizer *1970 Two Songs after poems by

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) was the first Russian writer awarded the ...

for soprano and piano *1970 ''Peinture'' (''Живопись—Painting'') for orchestra *1970 Sonate for alto saxophone and piano, premiered by Londeix at the 1970 World Saxophone Congress in Chicago. *1971 Piano Trio *1972 Cello Concerto * *1973 ''La vie en rouge'' (''Жизнь в красном цвете''—''The Life in Red''), text by

for solo voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion *1974 Piano Concerto *1974 ''Signes en blanc'' (''Знаки на белом—The Signs on White'') for piano *1975 ''Choral Varié'' for trombone and piano *1975 Flute Concerto *1977 Violin Concerto *1977 ''Concerto Piccolo'' for saxophone and six percussionists *1980 ''Requiem'' after liturgian texts and poems by Francisco Tanzer for soprano, tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra *1981 '' L'écume des jours'' (''Пена дней—The Foam of Days''), an opera after

*1982 ''Tod ist ein langer Schlaf'' (''Смерть—это долгий сон—Death is a Long Sleep'')—Variations on

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's Canon for cello and orchestra *1982 Chamber Symphony No. 1 *1982 Concerto for bassoon, cello and orchestra *1983 ''Five Etudes'' for Solo Bassoon *1984 ''Confession'' (''Исповедь''), a ballet in three acts after

*1985 ''Three Pictures after

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

'' for viola, oboe, horn, piano, vibraphone and double bass *1986 ''Quatre Filles'' (''Четыре девушки—The Four Girls''), an opera in one act after

*1986 Viola Concerto *1986 Oboe Concerto *1987 Symphony No. 1 *1987 Clarinet Quintet *1989 Clarinet Concerto *1989 ''Four Poems'' after G. de Nerval for voice, flute and piano *1991 Guitar Concerto *1992 ''History of Life and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christus'' according to St. Matthew for bass, tenor, chorus and orchestra *1993 Sonata for clarinet and piano *1993 Concerto for flute, vibraphone, harpsichord and string orchestra *1993 Completion of

's opera ''

Rodrigue et Chimène ''Rodrigue et Chimène'' (English: ''Rodrigo and Ximena'') is an unfinished opera in three acts by Claude Debussy. The French libretto, by Catulle Mendès,Langham Smith, Richard. Rodrigue et Chimène. In: ''New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmil ...

'' *1994 Chamber Symphony No. 2 *1994 Sonata for alto saxophone and cello *1995 ''Morning Dream'' after seven poems of Rose Ausländer for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra *1995 ''Choruses for Medea'' for chorus and ensemble *1995 Completion of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's opera-oratorio ''Lazarus oder Die Feier der Auferstehung'' (''Лазарь и торжество Воскрешения'') D689 *1995 Trio for flute, bassoon and piano *1995 Des ténèbres à la lumière (From Dusk to Light) for accordion. Publ.: Paris, Leduc, 1996. Dur. 15'. *1996 Symphony No. 2 (March) *1996 Three Cadenzas for Mozart's Concerto for flute and harp (April–May) *1996 Sonata for two flutes (May) *1996 Concerto for flute and clarinet with orchestra (July) *1996 ''Femme et oiseaux'' (''The Woman and the Birds'') homage to

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

for piano, string quartet and woodwind quartet (July–August) *1996 ''Avant le coucher du soleil'' for alto flute and vibraphone (the last work, completed 16 August).

References

Bibliography

* Armengaud J.-P. ''Entretiens avec Denisov, un compositeur sous le régime soviétique.'' P., 1993 * , , * Yuri Kholopov & Valeria Tsenova: ''Edison Denisov—The Russian Voice in European New Music''; Berlin, Kuhn, 2002 * * Brian Luce: ''Light from Behind the Iron Curtain: Anti-Collectivist Style in Edison Denisov's "Quatre Pièces pour Flûte et Piano;"'' UMI, Ann Arbor, 2000 * Peter Schmelz: ''Listening, Memory, and the Thaw: Unofficial Music and Society in the Soviet Union, 1956–1974,'' PhD Dissertation, University of California (

Richard Taruskin Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...

, advisor), 2002 * Peter Schmelz: ''Such Freedom, If Only Musical''. Oxford University Press, 2009 * Ekaterina Kouprovskaia : ''Edison Denisov'', monographie. Aedam Musicae, 2017 * Купровская Е. ''Мой муж Эдисон Денисов''. — М.: Музыка, 2014 * Ценова B. ''Неизвестный Денисов''. М., 1997 * * ''Свет. Добро. Вечность. Памяти Э. Денисова. Статьи. Воспоминания. Материалы''. М. 1999

External links

Official website dedicated to Edison Denisov (English, Russian & French)
*
Edison Denisov at wikilivres.ru (Russian & English)Edison Denisov at news.google.comEdison Denisov at books.google.comEdison Denisov at scholar.google.comEdison Denisov at jstor.org

List of works (Russian)

Brief bio at "Boosey & Hawkes"
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051101105529/http://website.lineone.net/~dmitrismirnov/DenisovLight.html Composer of Light by Dmitri Smirnov (English)br>Fragments on Denisov by Dmitri Smirnov & Elena Firsova (Russian)
* ttp://www.bruceduffie.com/denisov.html Interview with Edison Denisovby Bruce Duffie, May 16, 1991
Edison Denisov, the friend of our family
by Natalia Bondy ''(SpecialRadio, June 2016
russian text)
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Denisov, Edison 1929 births 1996 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Russian male musicians Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Honored Artists of the RSFSR Male opera composers Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Moscow Conservatory alumni People from Tomsk People's Artists of Russia Pupils of Vissarion Shebalin Russian male classical composers Russian opera composers Soviet male classical composers Tomsk State University alumni