Alexander Alexandrovich Davidenko (Russian: Александр Александрович Давиденко; 13 April 1899 – 1 May 1934) was a Soviet composer.

Biography

Born into the family of a telegraph operator, his father died when he was 8 years old. He was sent by his stepfather to a church seminary as a child from where he escaped later and started an independent life. In 1918-19 he studied at the Odessa Conservatory under

Witold Maliszewski Witold Maliszewski (, ; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a professor of Warsaw Conservatory. Biography Maliszewski was born in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). He graduat ...

and made his first attempts at composition. In 1919 he took part in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

as a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

soldier. In 1921 he studied at the Kharkov Music Institute, then until 1929 at the Moscow Conservatory under

Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (23 June 1956), born Reinhold Ernest Glier, was a Russian and Soviet composer of German and Polish descent. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of RSFSR (1935) and People's Artist of USSR (1938). Biography ...

. He also studied under Alexander Kastalski at both the conservatory and the Moscow Synodal Academy. After completing his studies, he was an aspirant at the Moscow Conservatory from 1929 to 1932. In 1923, Davidenko worked as a music educator in an orphanage for homeless children. From 1924 he worked regularly with various workers' choirs, including the Nogin Choir since 1930. In 1925, Davidenko took part in an expedition to Chechnya, where he recorded about 100 songs and dances; He arranged 30 of them for piano (1926) and also used this material later. In 1925 he set to music the poem On the Back of Tired Horses Red Regiment by

Nikolai Aseev Nikolai Nikolayevich Aseyev ( rus, Никола́й Никола́евич Асе́ев, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ɐˈsʲejɪf, a=Nikolay Nikolayevich Asyeyev.ru.vorb.oga; July 10, 1889 - July 16, 1963) was a Russian and Soviet Futu ...

, which achieved a certain level of popularity. In 1925, Davidenko and other students founded the Production Collective of Students of the Moscow Conservatory (PROKOLL), which he directed with Viktor Bely and Boris Shekhter until 1929. The group also included young composers such as

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

and

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

. In 1927, as a collective of composers, they produced the music for the stage play The Path of October. Davidenko and other core leaders of the PROKOLL became members of the

Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians or RAPM () was a musicians' creative union of the early Soviet period. It was founded in June 1923, by Lev Shul'gin, Aleksei Sergeev, and David Chernomoridikov. RAPM's members advocated "mass songs" ...

(RAPM) in 1929, where he edited the magazine For Proletarian Music until 1932. Davidenko died unexpectedly, immediately after the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

demonstration, in which he took an active part. At his funeral, a choir of students from the Moscow Conservatory and amateur performance participants performed his songs. He was buried at the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

. A memorial plaque was erected for Davidenko on Arbat Street, building 51, where the composer lived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidenko, Alexander 1899 births 1934 deaths Soviet composers Russian male composers Soviet conductors (music) 20th-century Russian conductors (music) Moscow Conservatory alumni Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery