Vadim Nikolayevich Salmanov (4 November 1912, in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

– 27 February 1978, in Leningrad) was a Soviet composer and pedagogue. Salmanov learned to play the piano as a child from his father who was a professional metallurgical engineer. Exposed to composers from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, Salmanov quickly grew fond of music and was quickly enrolled in music theory courses at the age of six. However, following the passing Salmanov's father, he went to work at a factory and soon became interested in the topic of hydrogeology. At 18, he was about to attend the Leningrad Conservatory when he decided to study

hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rock (geology), rocks of the Earth's crust (ge ...

instead, eventually working as a geologist until 1935 when he finally decided to attend the Conservatory where he studied composition with

Mikhail Gnesin Mikhail Fabianovich Gnessin (; sometimes transcribed ''Gnesin''; 2 February .S. 21 January18835 May 1957)Sitsky, Larry. (1994) ''Music of the Repressed Russian Avant-Garde, 1900–1929,'' pp. 242–243 & 247 Westport, CT: Greenwood Press was a R ...

following his attendance at a piano concert by Soviet pianist

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (19 October 191614 October 1985, born Samuil) was a Soviet pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. His sister Elizabeth, three years his junior, was a violinist. His daughter Elena ...

. After graduating, he worked as a composer until the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when he enlisted in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

and served from 1941 to 1945. After the war, he returned to his pedagogical work, teaching at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1946 to 1951, as well as creative work and began to set poems by Blok and Yesenin relating to the war. Later on in his life, Salmanov set poems by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

and

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

as well as by Soviet poets. Salmanov's Symphony No. 1 in D minor was written in 1952 and dedicated to the conductor

Yevgeny Mravinsky Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky () (19 January 1988) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, and music pedagogue; he was a professor at Leningrad State Conservatory. Biography Mravinsky was born in Saint Petersburg. The soprano Yevgen ...

, who would go on to record all of four of Salmanov's symphonies. The work uses Slavic folk melodies and a motto theme heard at the beginning of the first movement recurs in the Finale. His Symphony No. 4 was likewise dedicated to Mravinsky. He also taught at the

Leningrad 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 members ...

, his alma mater.

Awards

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

(1962) *

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achiev ...

(1972)

Compositions

Aside from symphonies, Salmanov's compositions also include six string quartets (1945–71) and two violin concertos (1964, 1974), among other forms.

Symphonic works

* ''Forest'',

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 ( ...

(1948) * Symphony no. 1 (1952, dedicated to

) * Symphony no. 2 (1959) * Children's Symphony (1962) * Symphony no. 3 (1963) * Symphony no. 4 (1976, dedicated to

)

Ballet

* ''Man'' (1968)

Oratorio

* ''The Twelve'' (1958)

Orchestral Works

* Russian Capriccio (1950) * "Slavic round dance" (1954) * ''Poetic Pictures'', symphonic suite after Andersen (1955) * "Welcome Ode" (1961) * Violin Concerto No. 1 (1964) * ''Big City Nights'' for violin and chamber orchestra (1969) * "Cheering" (1972) * Violin Concerto No. 2 (1974)

Chamber instrumental compositions

* Six string quartets (1945, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1971) * Two Sonatas for Violin and Piano (1945, 1962) * Two trios (1946, 1949) * Piano Quartet (1947) * Sonata for cello and piano (1963) * ''Monologue'' for cello and piano (1970, orchestrated 1972)

References

1912 births 1978 deaths Soviet composers Soviet male composers Composers from Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni

External links

*
Brief biography and list of works
at Onno van Rijen's Soviet Composers site {{Authority control