Sergei Vladimirovich Protopopov (; ,

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 ...

– 14 December 1954, Moscow) was a

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 ...

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

composer and music theorist.

Life

After studying medicine at the

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, he attended the

Kiev Conservatory The Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music (), formerly Kyiv Conservatory, is a national music tertiary academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Its courses include postgraduate education. History The Kyiv Conservatory was founded on 3 November 1913 at ...

where he pursued studies of music with theorist

Boleslav Yavorsky Boleslav Leopoldovich Yavorsky (; 22 June 1877 – 26 November 1942) was a Soviet and Russian musicologist, music teacher, administrator, and piano, pianist. Through his teachings and editorial positions he heavily influenced Soviet music theor ...

. He graduated in 1921 and started working as a conductor. During 1938–43, he taught at the Moscow University. He was associated, as many composers of the

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

, with the

Association for Contemporary Music Association for Contemporary Music (ACM) (, ''ASM - Assotsiatsiya Sovremennoy Muzyki'') was an alternative organization of Russian composers interested in avant-garde music. It was founded by Nikolai Roslavets in 1923. ACM ran concert series and p ...

. Due to the ideological incompatibility of avant-garde with the contemporary regime supporting socialist realism, his works were mostly unknown following 1931.

Works

Both in his compositions and in his teaching, Protopopov was a strong supporter of Yavorsky's theories of modal rhythm and

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be ...

. He also maintained a close relationship with him. Protopopov's compositions include three piano sonatas and some vocal works with piano. The piano sonatas were strongly influenced by late Scriabin. Using simultaneously sounding semitones, he created a specific harmony. Technically, they are very demanding for the interpreter, as well as for the instrument—they employ full standard range of piano, sometimes going even beyond that. The piano sonatas are often notated in three staves, and for simplicity accidentals take effect only at the given note.

List of works

Piano works

* Op. 1. Sonata No. 1 * Op. 5. Sonata No. 2 * Op. 6. Sonata No. 3

Works for voice and piano

* Op. 4. ''Dve skazky na narodnyy tekst'' * Op. 7. ''Skazka o divnom gudochke'' * Op. 8. ''Le Printemps de la vie'' * Op. 10. 2 Songs * Op. 11. 2 Love-Songs

Other works

* Op. 3. ''Des Lebens Frühling'' for voice and piano trio * together with Yavorsky: 5 Folk songs for mixed choir

References

* Powell, Jonathan. "Protopopov, Sergey Vladimirovich", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. *

External links

* *

Biography at All Music Guide A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

The Musical Legacy of Sergei Protopopoff by Anton RovnerProtopopov at Last Fm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protopopov, Sergei Vladimirovich 1893 births 1954 deaths Russian male composers Russian music theorists Russian avant-garde Russian music educators Composers from Moscow 20th-century Russian composers 20th-century Russian classical pianists 20th-century Russian musicologists Russian male classical pianists 20th-century Russian male musicians