Aleksandra Nikolayevna Pakhmutova (russian: Александра Николаевна Пахмутова ; born 9 November 1929) is a Soviet and Russian composer. She has remained one of the best-known figures in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and later

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

since she first achieved fame in her homeland in the 1960s. She was awarded the

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

in 1984.

Biography

She was born on November 9, 1929 in Beketovka (now a neighborhood in

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, and began playing the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and composing music at an early age. She was admitted to the prestigious

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 ...

and graduated in 1953. In 1956, she completed a post-graduate course led by composer

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 ...

. Her career is notable for her success in a range of different genres. She has composed pieces for the

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

(The Russian Suite, the concerto for the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and the orchestra, the Youth Overture, the concerto for the orchestra); the ballet Illumination; music for children (cantatas, a series of choir pieces, and numerous songs); and songs and music for over a dozen different movies from ''Out of This World'' in 1958 to ''Because of Mama'' in 2001. She is best known for some of her 400 songs, including such enduringly popular songs as ''The Melody'', ''Russian Waltz'', ''Tenderness'', ''Hope'', ''The Old Maple Tree'', ''The Song of the Perturbed Youth'', a series of the ''Gagarin Constellation'', ''The Bird of Happiness'' (from the 1981 film ''O Sport, You – the world!'', whose the song is subsequently very known in both

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

when performed by Russian singer

Vitas Vitaliy Vladasovich Grachev (russian: Виталий Владасович Грачёв; uk, Віталій Владасович Грачов, Vitaliy Vladasovych Hrachov; born 19 February 1979), known professionally as Vitas ( rus, Вит� ...

since 2003) and ''Good-Bye Moscow'' which was used as the farewell tune of the 22nd

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. '' Tenderness'' was used with great effect in

Tatyana Lioznova Tatyana Mikhailovna Lioznova (russian: link=no, Татьяна Михайловна Лиознова; 20 July 192429 September 2011) was a Soviet film director best known for her TV series '' Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (1973). Film career All ...

's 1967 film ''

Three Poplars in Plyushchikha ''Three Poplars in Plyushchikha'' (russian: Три тополя на Плющихе, Tri topolya na Plyushchikhe) is a 1968 romantic drama feature film directed by Tatyana Lioznova based on the story by Alexander Borschagovsky "Three Poplars in Sh ...

''. Her husband, the eminent Soviet-era poet

Nikolai Dobronravov Nikolai Nikolayevich Dobronravov (Russian: Николай Николаевич Добронравов; born 22 November 1928) is a Soviet and Russian poet and lyricist. He collaborates with his wife Aleksandra Pakhmutova. He has two higher educati ...

, contributed lyrics to her music on occasion, including songs used in three films. One of her most famous ballads is ''Belovezhskaya Pushcha'', composed in 1975, which celebrates

Białowieża Forest Białowieża Forest; lt, Baltvyžių giria; pl, Puszcza Białowieska ; russian: Беловежская пуща, Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a forest on the border between Belarus and Poland. It is one of the last and largest remaining pa ...

, a last remnant of the European wildwood split now between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. Another much-aired song was ''

Malaya Zemlya Malaya Zemlya (russian: Малая Земля, lit. "Small Land") was a Soviet uphill outpost on Cape Myskhako (russian: Мысхако) that was recaptured after battles with the Germans during the Battle of the Caucasus, on the night of 4 Febru ...

'', about a minor outpost where the then Soviet leader

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...

served as a political commissar during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Alexandra Pakhmutova found favor with the state establishment as well as the public. Reputedly Brezhnev's favorite composer, she received several Government Awards and State Prizes and served as the Secretary of the USSR and Russian Unions of Composers. She was named a

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

in 1990. Her name was given to

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

# 1889, registered by the planetary centre in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Personal life

In 1956, Pakhmutova married an actor and poet

. He was assigned by the radio officials to work with her as a lyricist on a children's tune "Little Motor Boat" (Lodochka motornaya). They have written a lot of songs for children but the couple didn't have children of their own.

Compositions

Songs

(Pakhmutova is accredited with composing over 500 individual songs and thus, only the most well-known are listed here) * " Надежда" ("Nadezhda") * " Песня о тревожной молодости" ("Song Of Restless Youth) * "Мелодия" ("Melody") * " Беловежская пуща" ("Belovezhskaya Forest") * " Нежность" (" Tenderness") * " Команда молодости нашей" ("Our Youth Team") * "Старый клён" ("Old Maple") * " Как молоды мы были" ("How Young We Were") * " Трус не играет в хоккей" (" No Coward Plays Hockey") * " И вновь продолжается бой" (" And the Battle Is Going Again")

Vocal Cycles

* Gagarin's Constellation * Songs about Lenin * Aiga Stars * Motherland * Hugging the Sky

Orchestral

* 1953: ''Russian Suite'' for symphony orchestra *"Ode to Lighting the Fire" (for mixed choir and symphony orchestra). *1957: Music for children: Suite "Lenin in our heart" *1972: Heroes of Sport (Written for the final credits of the Russian sports movie Moving Up)

Concerto

* 1955: Trumpet Concerto * 1972: Concerto for Orchestra (based on the ballet ''Illumination'', staged in 1974,

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

, Moscow).

Cantata

* Beautiful as youth, country *1953: Vasily Turkin *1962: Red Pathfinders *1972: Squad Songs

Overtures

* 1957: Youth *1958: Thuringia *1967: Merry Girls *1967: Russian Holiday, for the orchestra of Russian folk instruments

Instrumental

* The Rhythms of Time *Carnival *Auftakt *Robinsonade (from the film "My Love in the Third Year of Study") *Heart in the palm *A moment of luck *Morning big city *Elegy (from the film '' O Sport, You Are Peace!)''

Recordings

# 1971: Concerto for Orchestra in E Major ( USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, under

Evgeny Svetlanov Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (russian: Евгéний Фёдорович Светлáнов; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Russian conductor, composer and a pianist. Life and work Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting ...

) # 1985: Marshal Zhukov March (from film "Battle of Moscow," Central Military band of Ministry of Defence of USSR, under Colonel

Anatoly Maltsev Anatoly Ivanovich Maltsev (also: Malcev, Mal'cev; Russian: Анато́лий Ива́нович Ма́льцев; 27 November N.S./14 November O.S. 1909, Moscow Governorate – 7 June 1967, Novosibirsk) was born in Misheronsky, near Moscow, an ...

) # 2015: Concerto for solo Trumpet and Orchestra (Trumpet Records, Timofei Aleksandrovich Dokschitzer) # 2019: Anniversary Concert for Aleksandra Pakhmutova (Bolshoi Theater, under

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Плетнёв, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical fa ...

and

Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (russian: link=no, Юрий Абрамович Башмет; born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of A ...

)

Honors and awards

;Soviet and Russian *

№ 21035 (29 October 1990) – for outstanding contributions to the development of Soviet musical art and productive social activities *Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

№ ****** & № 460143 (6 November 1979 and 29 October 1990) * Order of St. Andrew (28 October 2019) * Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"; **1st class (9 November 2009) – for outstanding contribution to the development of national musical art, and many years of creative activity **2nd class (27 December 1999) – for great personal contribution to the development of musical art **3rd class (29 September 2014) – for great contribution to the development of domestic musical art and achieved creative success *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

, twice (1967, 1971) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(1986) *

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(12 June 2015) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1975) – for the songs of recent years (1971–1974) *USSR State Prize (1982) – for the music for the film "O Sport, You – the world" (1981) *

Lenin Komsomol Prize Lenin Komsomol Prize () was a Soviet annual award for the best works in science, engineering, literature or art carried out by young authors of age not exceeding 33 years. Komsomol was the abbreviated name of The Communist Union of Youth (Russi ...

(1966) – a song cycle about youth and the Komsomol Prize of the Union State of Russia and Belarus for literary and artistic works that make a significant contribution to strengthening the relations of brotherhood, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the countries – members of the Union State (10 March 2004) *Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1971) *

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (russian: Народный артист РСФСР, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchest ...

(1977) *

(1984) *Honorary Citizen of

(19 October 1993) *Honorary Citizen of

Bratsk Bratsk ( rus, Братск, p=bratsk) is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Etymology The name sounds like the Russian word for "brother" ("", ''brat''), and derives from the phrase 'br ...

(26 August 1994) *Honorary citizen of

(13 September 2000) ;Foreign * Order of Francysk Skaryna (Belarus, 3 April 2000) – for outstanding work on the development and strengthening of the Belarusian-Russian cultural relations ;Public * Order of St. Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess of Moscow, 2nd class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2008) *The title "Living Legend" by the national Russian award "Ovation" (2002) *The award "Russian National Olympus" (2004) , - ! colspan="3" style="background: red;" ,

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

, - , -

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pakhmutova, Aleksandra Nikolayevna 1929 births 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers Living people Musicians from Volgograd Moscow Conservatory alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Francysk Skaryna Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian women classical composers Russian classical composers Russian women composers Russian film score composers Soviet women classical composers Soviet women composers Soviet film score composers