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Leokadiya Aleksandrovna Kashperova (; 16 May 1872 – 3 December 1940) was a Russian pianist and Romantic composer. She was the piano teacher of composer
Igor 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 20th-century c ...
.


Life


Early life and education

Leokadiya Kashperova was born in
Lyubim Lyubim ( rus, Люби́м, p=lʲʉˈbʲim) is a town and the administrative center of Lyubimsky District in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located by the Obnora River (a tributary of the Kostroma River). Population: History Known since 1546, it ...
, near
Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...
in 1872. She graduated first in 1893 from the St Petersburg Conservatoire at the culmination of her studies in
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...
’s piano class, and a second time, in 1895, after studying composition with Nicolai Soloviev, conducting her cantata ''Orvasi''.


Professional musical life

Over the following years, she composed works which included a symphony, a piano concerto, choral works, chamber music, piano solos and art-songs. Her works received public recognition, for example, ''The Russian Musical Gazette'' noted in 1912: "Her gifts as a composer are a most welcome phenomenon of St Petersburg’s musical life". For some time, she hosted regular musical evenings at her apartment in St Petersburg on Tuesdays. In 1907 she undertook concert tours, to Berlin and twice to London. ''The Times'' (London, 1907) observed that "Mlle Kashperova’s music shows a decided talent, very attractive in its tunefulness, grace and Russian fitfulness of mood".


Bolshevik revolution and later life

In 1916, Kashperova became a teacher at the
Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...
; there she met
Sergei Andropov Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latins, Latin ''gens'' Gens Sergia, Sergia or Sergii of Roman Kingdom, regal and Roman Republic, republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honour of ...
, who was her student and a Bolshevik Leader, and in the same year they married. However, when the
February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
began, the Smolny Institute was being used as the headquarters for the revolution, so to save themselves from being arrested the couple left
Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
to
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
. From 1918 to 1920 she moved to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
(due to the Bolshevik success), but rarely performed until her final solo recital, an all-Beethoven programme, was given on 30 November 1920. From then to her death, she composed in secret and became forgotten by the Soviet public. By the time she died she was mostly remembered by Stravinsky who called her "antiquated and a blockhead".


Selected compositions

* 2 Sonatas for piano & cello Op 1 (in G, op 1 no 1, and in E minor, op 1 no 2) * Evening & night chorus a cappella * In the midst of nature (suite for piano solo) * Trio Violin, Violoncello Piano a-Moll * Sredi prirody (''"Amidst Nature"'') * Vecher i nochʹ (''"Evening and Night "'') * Piano Concerto in A minor op. 2 * Songs of Love: 12 Romances soprano and piano * Symphony in B minor op. 4 full orchestra * The Eagle and the Snake: Ballad for low voice and piano


Legacy

In January 1910 Kashperova recorded seven piano rolls for the reproducing piano
Welte-Mignon M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832. Overview From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical mu ...
, six pieces by
Mily Balakirev Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ( , ; ,BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian, BGN/PCGN romanization: ; ALA-LC romanization of Russian, ALA-LC system: ; ISO 9, ISO 9 system: . ; – )Russia was still using Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in E ...
and one with own piano pieces.Gerhard Dangel and Hans-W. Schmitz: ''
Welte-Mignon M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832. Overview From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical mu ...
Reproductions. Complete Library Of European Recordings For The Welte-Mignon Reproducing Piano 1905-1932''. Stuttgart 2006. . p. 462
In 2002, while doing his
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
at Oxford, Graham Griffiths found Kaspherova's name while researching Stravinsky. Soon, she became his main focus of research. He gave an interview to the BBC about Kashperova of which, after a lengthy period of neglect of Kashperova's music, during
International Women’s Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights, women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, r ...
2018,
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
broadcast the final movement of Kashperova's Symphony in B minor (1905). Leokadiya Kashperova was featured as BBC Radio 3's
Composer of the Week ''Composer of the Week'' is a biographical music programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. It is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday at 4pm for an hour, with each week's programmes being a self-contained series of fi ...
for the week commencing 12 December 2022. Kashperova's symphony was subsequently published by
Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British Music publisher (sheet music), music publisher, purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass instrument, brass, string instru ...
. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of her birth day, Boosey & Hawkes released five short video documentaries regarding Graham Griffith's research into and revival of her music. With renewed interest in Kashperova's works, more orchestras have performed her Symphony in B minor, such as: *
BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...
(UK Premiere), conducted by
Jane Glover Dame Jane Alison Glover (born 13 May 1949) is a British conductor and musicologist. Early life Born in Helmsley, Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover, MA ( TCD), was headmaster of Mon ...
in March 2018 *
Theater Magdeburg Theater Magdeburg is the principal theatre organization in Magdeburg, Germany, the capital of the state Saxony-Anhalt. It was formed in 2004 with the merger of two theatres, the Theater der Landeshauptstadt (Theatre of the state capital) and the ' ...
(German Premiere), conducted by Anna Skryleva in September 2019 * Philharmonisches Orchester Bremerhaven, conducted by Marc Niemann in October 2021 * New York Repertory Orchestra (USA Premiere), conducted by David Leibowitz in April 2022 * Orchestra of the City, conducted by Chris Hopkins in February 2024 *
Oakville Symphony Orchestra The Oakville Symphony is a Canadian orchestra performing in Oakville, Ontario. History The Oakville Symphony was founded in 1967 by Kenneth Hollier, a local musician and educator with the original mission statement to “make music for the ple ...
(Canadian Premiere), conducted by Lorenzo Guggenheim in April 2024 * Hochschulsymphonieorchester München, conducted by
Marcus Bosch Marcus Bosch (born 28 October 1969) is a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in Aachen, held the position at the Staatstheater Nürnberg from 2011, and with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock from 2020. He is the artistic dire ...
in April 2024 *
São Paulo Municipal Symphony Orchestra The São Paulo Municipal Symphony Orchestra ( Portuguese: ''Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo''), also known as OSM, is one of the artistic bodies of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo. Currently under the direction of Roberto Minczu ...
(Brazilian Premiere), conducted by Roberto Minczuk in May/June 2024 *
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1947, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at the Centennial Concert Hall. Including travelling performances, the WSO presents an average of ...
, conducted by Daniel Raiskin in November 2024 * Detroit Symphony Orchestra , conducted by
Jader Bignamini Jader Bignamini (born 1976 in Crema, Lombardy, Italy) is an Italian conductor and clarinetist. Biography As a child, Bignamini became interested in the clarinet. He formally studied music at the Conservatorio Nicolini Piacenza. He joined the Orc ...
in June 2025


See also

*
List of women composers by birth date Women composers of Western classical music are disproportionately absent from the music textbooks and concert programs that constitute the patriarchical Western canon, even though many women have composed music. The reasons for women's absence a ...
* Vladimir Kashperov (uncle of Leokadiya Kashperova)


References

;Notes


External links

*
Biography by Freia Hoffmann, at Sophie Drinker Institut
In German
A playlist created by Dr. Graham Griffiths about Leokadiya Kashperova, uploaded by Boosey & Hawkes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashperova, Leokadiya 1872 births 1940 deaths Classical composers from the Russian Empire Pianists from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Igor Stravinsky Russian classical pianists Russian women pianists Russian women classical composers Russian music educators Russian women music educators Women classical pianists