Lev Knipper

Lev Konstantinovich Knipper, Russian Лев Константинович Книппер (. * 21 Novemberjul / December 3 1898greg in Tbilisi, . † 30 July 1974 in Moscow ) was a Russian composer.

Life

Lev Knipper was born into a prestigious family. His aunt was the actress Olga Knipper Leonardowna, his older sister Olga Chekhova also a renowned actress. Knipper brought up as a child with the help of a music book to play the piano. After five years of military service in the Far East, he studied in Moscow with Elena Gnessina, Gliere and Nikolai Schiljajew. For a time he also studied with Julius Weismann in Freiburg im Breisgau and Philipp Jarnach in Berlin. 1921/22, he was auxiliary director at the Moscow Art Theatre, 1929/30, a musical advisor on musical theater Nemirovič - Dančenko. He then undertook music ethnographic study trips through the North Caucasus (1930 ) and in the Pamir ( 1931). In 1932 he became musical instructor first in the Far East special army, then in the Soviet Army. Since 1933 he worked as a conductor and was later in the Army (1942 and 1944 in Iran, in 1945 in the Ukraine, from 1946 in the Buryat - Mongolian Autonomous Republic). In 1948, he was also affected by the formalism allegations Zhdanov and Chrennikows, and was one of the few composers who sat down with their own criticism to defend.

Works

Knipper has composed five operas, ballets, film music, and 20 symphonies ( 1927-1973 ). In the 1920s he appeared influenced by Western musical avant-garde. In the 1930s, he waved a large extent on the objectives of Socialist Realism and was one of the outstanding representatives of the so-called " song - symphony" to integrate the catchy " mass songs " in the instrumental structure tries. The Symphony No. 4 (1933 /34), entitled The Song of Fighters Komsomol includes the song meadowland ( Poljuschko Polje ), which achieved great popularity ( and has been widely believed to be an original folk song ), while the symphony itself (as also his other symphonies ) could not hold in the repertoire.

Knippers research activities in the field of folk music (including Turkmen, Kyrgyz and Tajik folklore ) was also reflected in his music. From the 1960s, he took over - albeit greatly mitigated - progressive means of expression in his work, including in Konzertpoem for cello and chamber orchestra (1971 ), the different percussion used as coloristic resources.