Alexander Krein

Alexander Krein Abramovich (Russian Александр Абрамович Крейн; * 8.jul / October 20 1883greg in Nizhny Novgorod, .. † April 21, 1951 in Staraya Russa ) was a Russian composer of Jewish descent.

Family

His father Abram, who came from Lithuania to Russia in 1870, was a noted violinist and representatives of popular Jewish klezmer music. All seven of his sons received their first musical training from him and were musicians; Alexander and Grigory made ​​a name for himself as a composer, David gained a high reputation as a violinist. Of the three composers from the family, Alexander, his brother Gregory and his son Julian, Alexander presented the most extensive. He is now almost completely disappeared from the repertoire.

Training and life

As early as 1896, at the age of 14 years, Alexander Krein attended the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied cello with Alexander von Glehn and composition with Sergei Taneyev and in Boleslaw Jaworski. His first works were published in 1901 by Jurgenson. In the years before the Russian Revolution he was a member of the 1905 founded People's Conservatory in Moscow. In 1917 he became director of the artistic branch of Narkompros, in the music section of the newly established People's Commissariat of Education. In the 1920s, Krein was regarded as the leader of a Jewish national school in Russia, which mainly consisted of his brother Gregory and his nephew Julian. After the founding of the Soviet Union Krein has held a number of official posts in government art world. He died on 21 April 1951 in Staraya Russa.

Style

Krein integrated both secular and sacred Elemtente Jewish music in a relatively modern musical language that was influenced by French Impressionism as well as by the music of his friend Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. Krein's own Jewish heritage formed a constant source of inspiration; the title of a series of instrumental works lays witness to this, such as Hebraique Caprice, Op. 24, and Jewish Sketches for clarinet and string quartet. In 1921 he composed a Kaddish for tenor, chorus and orchestra. From the mid- twenties, he also wrote frequently music for theatrical pieces of the Moscow Jewish Theater. In addition, there are a number of works that are either strictly classical in the invoice or any Soviet nature. In this last category includes pieces such as his opera Zagmuk (1930 ), the lament in memory of Lenin (1925) and the ironically titled piece USSR, shock brigade of the world proletariat of ( 1925).

Selections

  • Prolog, op 2a, for viola and piano ( 1902-1911/1927 )
  • Five Preludes, Op 3, for piano ( 1903-1906 )
  • Poème Quator, opus 9, for string quartet (1909 )
  • Jewish sketches, op.12, for clarinet and string quartet (1909, new edition 2008 Edition Silver Trust )
  • Elegy, Opus 16, for Violin, Cello and Piano ( 1913)
  • 3 songs from the ghetto, op. 23, for soprano and piano: Let me sister (1916 ), Where are you? (1917 ), A Tear ( 1915-16 )
  • Hebraique Caprice, Op. 24
  • The Rose and the Cross, symphonic fragments, op.26 (1917 )
  • Kaddish, op 33, Symphonic cantata for tenor, mixed choir and orchestra ( 1921-1922 )
  • Symphony No.1, Op 35, for large orchestra ( 1922-1925 )
  • Piano Sonata (1925 )
  • 2 Hebrew songs, op 39, for voice and piano (1926 )
  • Grief -Ode, Op 40, for large orchestra ( 1925-1926 )
  • Arie, op 41, for violin and piano (1927 )
  • Ornaments, op 42, 3 Songs without Words for voice and piano ( 1924/1927 )
  • Jewish melody, Opus 43, for Cello and Piano ( 1928)
  • Zagmuk, opera (1929-1930)
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