Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai (15 May 19258 November 2015) was a Soviet composer. He was awarded the title of

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

in 1981.

Biography

Eshpai was born at

Kozmodemyansk Kozmodemyansk () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Kozmodemyansk, Mari El Republic, a town in the Mari El Republic; ;Rural localities * Kozmodemyansk, Sovetsky District, Mari El Republic, a village in Mi ...

Mari ASSR The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Mari ASSR) ( Mari: Марий Автоном Совет Социализм Республик, ''Mariy Avtonom Sovet Sotsializm Respublik'') was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, succeeding ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

to a Mari father and Russian mother. 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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran, he studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

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 ...

from 1948 to 1953 under

Vladimir Sofronitsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky (or Sofronitzky; , ''Vladimir Sofronitskij''; – August 29, 1961) was a Soviet-Russian classical pianist, best known as an interpreter of Alexander Scriabin and Frédéric Chopin. His daughter is the Canadian ...

, and composition under

Nikolai Rakov Nikolai Petrovich Rakov (, ''Nikolaj Petrovič Rakov''; , – 3 November 1990), was a Soviet violinist, composer, conductor, and academic at the Moscow Conservatory where he had studied. He composed mostly instrumental works, for orchestra, chambe ...

Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (; ; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize five times. Early years Myaskovsky ...

and

Evgeny Golubev Yevgeny Kirillovich Golubev () (16 February 1910 25 December 1988) was a Soviet and Russian composer. Golubev was born and died in Moscow. He was taught by Nikolai Myaskovsky, and his students included Iosif Andriasov from 1958 till 1963, Alfred S ...

. He performed his postgraduate study under

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 ...

from 1953 to 1956. Eshpai was the son of the composer

Yakov Eshpai Yakov Andreyevich Eshpai (; in Kokshamary – 20 February 1963 in Moscow) was a Russian composer and music teacher. He studied under Georgi Conus at the Moscow Conservatory. He was ethnic Mari. He is partly noted for his work concerning the f ...

, and the father of the filmmaker

Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai (, born 18 April 1956, Moscow, Russia) is a (Russian and Soviet) film director, screenwriter and producer of Mari descent. Biography He is the son of the composer Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai, and the grandson of the c ...

. On 8 November 2015, Eshpai died in Moscow from a stroke at the age of 90.

Notable works

Stage

* ''Nobody Is Happier Than Me'',

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

(1968–1969);

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by V. Konstantinov and B. Ratser * ''Love Is Forbidden'',

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

(1973) * ''Angara'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

(1974–1975) * ''A Circle'', ballet (1979–1980)

Orchestral

* ''Symphonic Dances on Mari Themes'' (1951) * Symphony no. 1 in E minor (1959) * Symphony no. 2 in A major "Praise the Light" (1962) * Symphony no. 3 (1964) * Symphony no. 4 "Symphony-Ballet" (1980-1981) * ''Simon Bolivar'', Symphonic Poem (1982) * Symphony No. 5 (1985) * Symphony No. 6 "Liturgic" for mixed chorus, baritone (or bass) and symphony orchestra (1988) * Symphony No. 7 (1991) * ''Games'' (1997) * Symphony No. 8 (2000–2001) * Symphony No. 9 "Four Verses" for symphony orchestra, mixed chorus and narrators (1998–1999)

Concertante

* Piano Concerto No. 1 in F minor (1954) * Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor (1956) * ''Concerto Grosso'', Concerto for orchestra with solo trumpet, piano, vibraphone and double bass (1966–1967) * Piano Concerto No. 2 (1972) * Violin Concerto No. 2 (1977) * Viola Concerto (1987) * Cello Concerto (1989) * Clarinet Concerto (1995) * Flute Concerto (1992) * Violin Concerto No. 3 "Bartok Concerto" (1990–1992) * Violin Concerto No. 4 (1993) * Oboe Concerto (1982) * Concerto for trumpet, trombone and orchestra (1994–1995) * Double Bass Concerto (1994–1995) * Horn Concerto in F major (1995) * Tuba Concerto (2001) * Bassoon Concerto ''Opus Singularis'' (2001)

Other

* 3

violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple Baroque music, baroque form wi ...

s * piano compositions * songs

Notes

References

External links

Eshpai at Onno van Rijen's site

Eshpai at Peoples
1925 births 2015 deaths People from Mari El Mari people Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Soviet composers 20th-century Russian pianists 21st-century Russian composers 21st-century Russian pianists Male film score composers Russian ballet composers Russian classical musicians Russian classical pianists Russian film score composers Russian male composers Russian music educators Russian pianists Soviet classical musicians Soviet classical pianists Soviet film score composers Soviet male composers Soviet music educators Soviet pianists Albany Records artists Moscow Conservatory alumni Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" Soviet military personnel of World War II People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the RSFSR Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery {{Russia-composer-stub