Joseph Yulyevich Achron, also seen as Akhron (Russian: Иосиф Юльевич Ахрон, Hebrew: יוסף אחרון) (May 1, 1886April 29, 1943) was a Russian composer and violinist, who settled in the United States. His preoccupation with Jewish elements and his desire to develop a "Jewish"

harmonic In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...

and contrapuntal idiom, underscored and informed much of his work. His friend, the composer

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 ...

, described Achron in his obituary as "one of the most underrated modern composers".

Biography

Achron was born in Lozdzieje,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Lazdijai Lazdijai () is a city ('' miestas'') in Lithuania located about east of the border with Poland. History It was established by Sigismund II Augustus in 1570 and granted Magdeburg Rights by Sigismund III Vasa in 1587. During World War II, Lazdija ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) to Julian and Bertha and began the study of the violin under his father, an amateur violinist, at the age of five. His first public performance followed three years later at age seven in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. This was followed by a prodigious childhood career including performances throughout

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Between 1899 and 1904 he studied violin under

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer (; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Auer was born in ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

under

Anatoly Lyadov Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (; ) was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor. Biography Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire, into a family of eminent Russian musicians. He was taught informally by his conductor s ...

, at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty member ...

. He joined the

Society for Jewish Folk Music The Jewish art music movement began at the end of the 19th century in Russia, with a group of Russian Jewish classical composers dedicated to preserving Jewish folk music and creating a new, characteristically Jewish genre of classical music. The ...

in 1911 and from that point occupied himself in theory and practice with the

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and in domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may origina ...

tradition. His first "Jewish" work, ''Hebrew Melody'', became immediately recognized through the interpretation of violinist

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

. In 1913, Achron became the head of the violin and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

departments at the

Kharkiv Conservatory Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky (or Kharkiv Conservatory or Kharkiv National I. P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts; Ukrainian: Харківський національний університет мистец ...

in Ukraine, and served in the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

between 1916 and 1918. In the years after World War I, he toured extensively as a concert artist in Europe, the Near East and Russia, performing over 1000 concerts between 1919 and 1922. During this period he was appointed head of the violin masterclass and chamber music department at the Leningrad Artists' Union. In 1922, Achron moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where together with Mikhail Gnessin he ran the Jewish music publishing company Jibneh. In 1924, Achron spent some months in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. In 1925, he emigrated to the United States and settled in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he taught the violin at the Westchester Conservatory. He performed his Violin Concerto No. 1 with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

in 1927. His

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

suite from H. Leivick's '' The Golem'', also written during this period, was chosen by the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

(ISCM) for performance in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1932. In 1934, he moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, where he composed music for films and continued his career as a concert violinist. He performed his Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1936 and his third – commissioned by Jascha Heifetz – with the same orchestra in 1939.

Atonality Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

and

polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...

are among the techniques used in his later works. His final work was the Concerto for solo piano, Op. 74. He died in Hollywood in 1943 and is buried in

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

. A year after his death the Joseph Achron Memorial Committee was formed, which included twenty well-known composers, instrumentalists, conductors and critics.New York Times Article
/ref> He was the older brother of the concert pianist and composer

Isidor Achron Isidor Yulyevich Achron (; – May 12, 1948) was a Russian-American pianist, composer and music teacher. Birth and early childhood Isidor Achron, youngest brother of Joseph Achron, was born on November 11, 1892, in Warsaw to Russian parents of ...

, who became Jascha Heifetz's accompanist for more than ten years.

Selected works

Orchestral

*''Hebrew Melody'', Op. 33, for violin and orchestra (1911) *''Hazzan'', Op. 34, for cello and orchestra (1912) *''2 Hebrew Pieces'', Op. 35 (1913) *''Dance Improvisation'', Op. 37 (circa 1913) *''Epitaph to the Memory of Alexander Scriabin'', Op. 38 (1915) *''Shir'', Op. 42, dance for clarinet and orchestra (1917) *''2 Pastels'', Op. 44, for violin and orchestra (1917) *''The Fiddle's Soul'', Op. 50 (1920) *Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 60 (1925) *''Konzertanten-Kapelle'', Op. 64, for violin and orchestra (1928) *Two Tableaux from ''Belshazzar'' (1931) *''The Golem'', suite for chamber orchestra (1932) *''Dance Overture'' (1932) *''Little Dance Fantasy'' (1933) *Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 68 (1933) *Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 72 (1937)

Choral

*''Epitaph (in memory of Skryabin)'', Op. 38, for four voices and orchestra (1915) *''Salome's Dance'', Op. 61, for mixed voices, piano and percussion (1925) / (1966) *''Evening Service of the Sabbath'', Op. 67, for baritone voice, four voices and organ (1932) - commissioned by Congregation Emanue-El of New York City, published by Bloch Publishing Company.

Chamber and instrumental

*''Suite No. 1 en Style Ancien (Première Suite en Style Ancien)'', Op. 21, for violin and piano (circa 1914) / (1923) *''Chromatic String Quartet'', Op. 26 (circa 1915) *Sonata No. 1, Op. 29, for violin and piano (circa 1915) *''Stimmungen'', Op.32, Two Pieces for violin and piano (circa 1915/16) *''Symphonic Variations and Sonata on a Palestinian Theme'', Op. 39, for piano (circa 1916) *''Suite Bizarre'', Op. 41, for violin and piano (circa 1917) *Sonata No. 2, Op. 45, for violin and piano (circa 1917) *''Children's Suite'', Op.57, for clarinet, string quartet and piano (circa 1925) *''Elegy'', Op. 62, for string quartet (1927) *''4 Improvisations'', Op. 63, for string quartet (1927) *''2 Pieces'', Op. 65, for viola and piano (1932) *''Statuettes'', Op. 66, for solo piano (1930) *''The Golem'', for cello, trumpet, horn and piano (1931) *Sinfonietta, Op. 71, for string quartet (1935) *''Concerto for solo piano'', Op. 74 (1941)

Miscellaneous

*''Spring Night'', ballet music for a short film (1935)

Notes

References

* Glanville-Hicks, P. "Achron, Joseph"
''Grove Music Online''
. Macy, L. ed. Retrieved March 26, 2006). * *

External links

Joseph Achron SocietyJoseph Achron Biography
Milken Archives

on Jewish Music Research Centre * {{DEFAULTSORT:Achron, Joseph 20th-century American classical violinists Russian classical violinists Jewish classical violinists American male classical violinists 20th-century classical composers Jewish classical composers Jewish American classical composers Violin educators American music educators Russian music educators American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Soviet emigrants to the United States Child classical musicians People from Lazdijai 19th-century Lithuanian Jews Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 1886 births 1943 deaths Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni