Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti;

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Александр Ильич Зилоти; 9 October 18638 December 1945) was a

virtuoso

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, conductor, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Alexander Siloti was born on his father's estate near Kharkiv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(then part of

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

). He studied piano at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

with Nikolai Zverev from 1871, then from 1875 under Nikolai Rubinstein, brother of the more famous Anton Rubinstein; from that year he also studied counterpoint under

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of musical composition, composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russian Empire, to a cultur ...

, harmony under

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

, and theory under Nikolai Hubert.Barber (2002), p. 5. He graduated with the gold medal in Piano in 1881. He received some lessons from Anton Rubinstein after the death of Rubinstein's brother, Nikolai. After Siloti's graduation it was decided that he would be sent to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

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on scholarship to further his studies with

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, co-founding the Liszt-Verein in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and making his professional debut on 19 November 1883. Returning to Russia in 1887, Siloti taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where his students included Alexander Goldenweiser, Konstantin Igumnov, Leonid Maximov, and his first

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

. During this period he also began work as editor for Tchaikovsky, particularly on the First and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

piano concertos.Kutateladze & Raaben ASilotiAsHeIs

Siloti married Vera Tretyakova, herself a pianist and the daughter of the wealthy industrialist and art collector Pavel Tretyakov. He left his post at the Conservatory in May 1891, and from 1892 to 1900 lived and toured in Europe with his wife and young children. He also toured

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1898. As a conductor Siloti gave the world premiere of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the composer as soloist in 1901. From 1901 to 1903, he led the Moscow Philharmonic; from 1903 to 1917, he organized, financed, and conducted the influential Siloti Concerts in St Petersburg, collaborating with the critic and musicologist Alexander Ossovsky. He presented Leopold Auer,

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Feodor Chaliapin,

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

Josef Hofmann Josef Casimir Hofmann (originally Józef Kazimierz Hofmann; January 20, 1876February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor. Biography Josef Hofmann was born in Podgórze (a district of Kraków), in Aus ...

, Wanda Landowska, Willem Mengelberg, Felix Mottl,

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungary, Hungarian conducting, conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter ...

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

and

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian Conducting, conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zadar, Zara, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now ...

, and local and world premieres by

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 influe ...

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, Glazunov,

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, Sibelius,

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

and others. Ballet impresario

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

first heard Stravinsky's music at one of the Siloti Concerts. In the generation prior to 1917, Siloti was one of Russia's most important artists, with music by Arensky, Lyadov, Blumenfeld, Szymanowski, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Taneyev and Tchaikovsky dedicated to him. In 1918, Siloti was appointed Intendant of the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

, but late the following year fled what had become

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for

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, finally settling in

in December 1921. From 1925 to 1942 he taught at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, performing occasionally in recital, and in November 1930 gave a legendary all-Liszt concert with

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. His many students included Ilmari Hannikainen, Bertha Melnik,

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...

, Gladys Ewart, Josef Raieff and Eugene Istomin. Siloti, who was one of the great practitioners of the art of transcription, wrote over 200 of these arrangements, as well as orchestral editions of the music of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi. Possibly his most famous transcription is the Prelude in B minor, based on a keyboard prelude by J. S. Bach. As a pianist Siloti made 8 piano rolls and 26 minutes of home-recorded discs. Carl Fischer has published a large anthology of his piano transcriptions, and Rowman and Littlefield has published the first full-scale Alexander Siloti biography. In 2014, the Alexander Siloti Archive at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

was donated by author and alumnus Charles Barber. In six linear feet, it contains all of the correspondence, documentation, music and manuscripts acquired for the writing of the Siloti biography called ''Lost in the Stars'', and for publication of the 'Alexander Siloti Collection' of piano music. His daughter, Kyriena Siloti, was a noted pianist and teacher in New York and Boston until her death in 1989, aged 94. Alexander Siloti is buried at the Russian Orthodox Convent Novo-Diveevo Cemetery,

Nanuet, New York Nanuet is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, New York, United States. The third largest hamlet in Clarkstown, it is located north of Pearl River, south of New City, east of Spring Valley, and west of West Nyack. ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * C. Barber, editor. "The Alexander Siloti Collection". New York, New York: Carl Fischer, 2003. * S. Bertensson. "Knight of Music." ''Etude'' 64:369, July 1946. * B. Dexter. "Remembering Siloti, A Russian Star." ''American Music Teacher'', April/May 1989. * J. Gottlieb. "Remembering Alexander Siloti." ''Juilliard Journal,'' November 1990. * L.M. Kutateladze and L.N. Raaben, eds., ''Alexander Il'yich Ziloti, 1863-1945: vospominaniya i pis'ma'' (Leningrad, 1963) * R.-A. Mooser. "The Siloti Concerts" in ''The Russian Life of R.-Aloys Mooser, Music Critic to the Tsars: Memoirs and Selected Writings'' (Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter, 2008), pp. 149–172. *

of Music. "Alexander Ilich Ziloti (1863-1945)". Moscow, 2016. Published in commemoration of Ziloti and his career at the Conservatory. n Russian * A. Ziloti. ''Moi vospominaniya o F. Liste'' (St Petersburg, 1911; ''My Memories of Liszt'', Eng. trl. Edinburgh, 1913 and New York, 1986). * ;Documents * Alexander Siloti Archive at Stanford: letters, photographs, diaries, memorabilia, music, research documents, Siloti Concert programmes, translations, family and professional documents. Deposited by author Charles Barber in 2014 * Alexander Siloti Collection at Univ of Maryland, College Park: music, scores, performance files, correspondence, books/notebooks, and miscellaneous documents. Deposited for daughter Kyriena Siloti after her death in 1989 * Letters by Alexander Siloti held by the State Archives in Leipzig, company archives of the Music Publishing House C.F.Peters (Leipzig).

External links

* *
Alexander Siloti Collection
at the

University of Maryland Libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siloti, Alexander 1863 births 1945 deaths Composers from the Russian Empire Conductors (music) from the Russian Empire Pianists from the Russian Empire Soviet musicians Russian male classical pianists Piano educators Soviet emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany People from Luhansk Oblast People from Kharkov Governorate Burials at Novo-Diveevo Russian Cemetery Pupils of Franz Liszt Pupils of Nikolai Zverev Moscow Conservatory alumni