Konstantin Romanovich Eiges (surname sometimes spelt Eyges,

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 ...

Константин Романович Эйгес, 24 May (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

)/ 5 June 1875 – 2 Dec 1950) was a Russian composer, teacher, and pianist.

Early life

Eiges was born in Bogodukhov (now Bohodukhiv in

Kharkiv oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

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 ...

), to

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish parents, the doctor Ruvim Manasiyevich (also known as Roman Mikhailovich) Eiges (born

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, 1840) and his wife Sofiya (Shifra) Iosifovna, née Eltsin. He was one of ten children, many of whom went on to artistic or academic careers; Vladimir Eiges (1877-1949) was a professor of mathematics, Aleksandr (1880-1943), also a mathematician, was an authority on

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, Veniamin (1888-1956) was an artist, Yekaterina (1890-1958) was a poet and sometime girlfriend of Sergei Esenin.

Career

Eiges attended

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 ...

between 1900 and 1905, where his teachers included

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (; born Mikhail Mikhailovich Ivanov; 28 January 1935) was a Russia, Russian and Soviet Union, Soviet composer, conductor and teacher. His music ranged from the late-Romantic era into the 20th century era. ...

(composition),

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 ...

(counterpoint) and Adolf Yaroshevsky (piano).Powell (n.d.) He was a colleague of

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 ...

and

Nikolai Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (; – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immediately after his death, he is now becoming recognized as one of the most significant Russian com ...

. His pupils included Alexei Stanchinsky. Most of his compositions are for piano solo, though he also wrote songs and chamber works, a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''The Song of Oleg the Wise'', and a

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

, ''The Snowstorm''. Eiges wrote numerous essays on music and philosophy, including essays on

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and Alexander Skriabin.

Family

Eiges was the father of the composer Oleg Eiges (1905-1992) and the artist Sergei Eiges (1910-1944).

References

;Notes ;Sources *Powell, Jonathan (2015). "The piano Music of Konstantin Romanovich Eiges." Booklet accompanying CD ''Konstantin Eiges: Piano Music'',

Toccata Classics Toccata Classics is an independent British classic music label founded in 2005. The founder of Toccata Classics is Martin Anderson, a music journalist. The label was founded primarily to promote unrecorded works by lesser-known composers, inc ...

, TOCC0215, pp. 2–11. * Powell, Jonathan (n.d.)
"Eiges [Eyges
/nowiki>, Konstantin Romanovich"">yges">"Eiges [Eyges
/nowiki>, Konstantin Romanovich" in ''Grove Music Online'' accessed 2 August 2015 .

External links

* 1875 births 1950 deaths 19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire 19th-century male musicians from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian classical composers 20th-century Russian male musicians Composers for piano Russian Jews Jewish classical composers Jewish classical pianists Moscow Conservatory alumni People from Bohodukhiv Pupils of Sergei Taneyev Russian classical pianists Russian male classical pianists Russian male classical composers Russian music educators Russian Romantic composers {{Russia-musician-stub