Nikolai Petrovich Rakov (, ''Nikolaj Petrovič Rakov''; , – 3 November 1990), was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

violinist, composer, conductor, and academic 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 ...

where he had studied. He composed mostly instrumental works, for orchestra, chamber music and piano music, especially pedagogic works. In 1946, he received the Stalin Prize for his first

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, which became known internationally.

Life

Born in

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

, Rakov first studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

at the Rubinstein Music School in his hometown, and later

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 ...

at the

with

Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (23 June 1956), born Reinhold Ernest Glier, was a Russian and Soviet composer of German and Polish descent. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of RSFSR (1935) and People's Artist of USSR (1938). Biography ...

and Sergei Vasilenko. After graduating in 1931, he served as Glière's assistant at the Conservatory in the following year, before becoming a lecturer himself in 1935 and professor of

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

in 1943. Rakov's pupils included

Edison Denisov Edison Vasilievich Denisov (, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called " Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music. Biography Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia. He studied math ...

Boris Tchaikovsky Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky (; 10 September 1925 – 7 February 1996), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian composer, born in Moscow, whose oeuvre includes orchestral works, chamber music and film music. He is considered as part of the second generat ...

, Nikolai Peiko,

Andrei Eshpai Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai (15 May 19258 November 2015) was a Soviet composer. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1981. Biography Eshpai was born at Kozmodemyansk, Mari ASSR, Russian SFSR to a Mari father and Russian ...

, and

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

. In addition, he also gave concerts, as a violinist and as a conductor, and wrote several books on problems in orchestration. He received the Stalin Prize in 1946 for his

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

No. 1 in E minor (1944) and was named a

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 1975. He died in Moscow.

Style

Rakov was a staunchly conservative composer who exercised a solid grasp of orchestration and

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

; many of his works ventured only a little beyond the style of

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...

and Reinhold Glière, though his expressive range is far greater than the latter. Unabashed

tonality Tonality is the arrangement of pitch (music), pitches and / or chord (music), chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived ''relations'', ''stabilities'', ''attractions'', and ''directionality''. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or ...

, late Romantic harmonies, and flowing tunes were the hallmarks of his work, in which the Russian national idiom always took prominence. In his later works, Rakov began to show some interest in

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. Rakov devoted special attention to music for children and wrote numerous

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 ...

pieces for pedagogical purposes, as well as instructive

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 ...

. His music has been described as "well constructed, thematically appealing", with "attention to detail. Its expressive range is broad and notable for a vein of romantic lyricism in numerous slow movements. He was also capable of adding an element of lightly etched irony in his shorter works, a quality not typically associated with Soviet composers".

Works

Rakov's compositions are mostly instrumental. He composed music for orchestra, including four

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, a sinfonietta, suites ('' Mari Suite''), a

concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were ...

, four

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

s with

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

, two

s and a concertino, and a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

for

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

. His

includes

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 ...

oboe sonatas The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, clarinet sonatas,

sonatina A sonatina (French: “sonatine”, German: “Sonatine") is a small sonata. As a musical term, ''sonatina'' has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic sonata form, but is shorter and ...

s for violin, clarinet and harp (all with piano), pieces for

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and piano, and

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

s for four cellos. He composed

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er and romances for voice and piano. He composed music for piano solo, sonatas, sonatinas,

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

, preludes concert etudes and many smaller works. His pedagogic works for children include pieces in all keys.

Orchestral

* Symphony No. 1 in D (1940, rev. 1958) * Symphony No. 2 in F "Youth Symphony" (1957) * Symphony No. 3 in C "Little Symphony" for string orchestra (1962) * Symphony No. 4 (1973) * Sinfonietta in G minor for string orchestra (1958) * ''Mari Suite'' (1931) * ''Russian Overture'' (1947) * ''Concert Suite'' (1949) * Four piano concertos with string orchestra (1969, 1969, 1973, 1977) **Concerto № 1 in G major (one movement) **Concerto № 2 in C major (one novement) **Concerto № 3 for 2 pianos in C major, Op. 26 **Concerto № 4 for 2 pianos * Violin Concerto No. 1 in E minor (1944) * Violin Concerto No. 2 in A minor (1954–63) * Concertino in D minor for violin and string orchestra (1960) * Concert Fantasy in G minor for clarinet and orchestra (1968)

Chamber

* Two violin sonatas (1951, 1974) * Two sonatinas for violin and piano (1959) * Three pieces for violin and piano (1943) * Nine pieces for cello and piano (1959) * Two quartets for four cellos (1984, 1986) * Two oboe sonatas (1951, 1978) * Two clarinet sonatas (1956, 1975) * Sonatina for clarinet and piano (1963) * Three Sonatinas for harp and piano (1965, 1970, 1971) * Lieder and Romances

Piano solo

* Four piano sonatas (No. 1, 1959; No. 2, 1973) * Sonatinas (No. 1 in E minor, 1954; No. 4 in C minor; No. 16 in C, 1980) * Variations in B minor (1949) * Five ''Préludes'' (1936) * ''Watercolors'', nine pieces (1945) * 24 children's pieces in all keys (1961) * 20 ''Concert Études'' (1929–74) * ''The Legend''

Recordings

Several works by Rakov were recorded. The composer conducted his first symphony, and also his Violin Concerto No. 1 with Oleg Kagan as soloist, available on used LP sites. Conductors such as

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

and

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

recorded orchestral works, with violin soloists in the first concerto including

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian violinist, List of violists, violist, and Conducting, conductor. He was also Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of the ...

and Andrew Hardy. David Frühwirth and Milana Chernyavska recorded his compositions for violin and piano.

References

External links

Catalog of works (in English)

Nikolai Petrovich Rakov
musicalics.com

Broadcast from 1955 of Rakov's ''Scherzino'' for violin and piano
(British Library) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rakov, Nikolai 1908 births 1990 deaths People from Kaluga People from Kaluzhsky Uyezd Soviet classical composers Russian male classical composers Russian Romantic composers Russian male classical violinists Soviet composers Soviet male composers 20th-century Russian conductors (music) Russian male conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians 20th-century Russian classical violinists Moscow Conservatory alumni Recipients of the Stalin Prize People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the RSFSR