Anton Arensky

Anton Stepanovich Arensky (Russian Антон Степанович Аренский, scientific transliteration Anton Arensky Stepanovic; * 30 Junijul / July 12 1861greg in Novgorod, .. .. † 12.jul / February 25 1906greg in Perkjärvi at Terijoki ) was a Russian composer.

Life

Arensky grew up in a music-loving wealthy family, so he was able to employ as a child with a lot of music. After visiting the music school Russo in Saint Petersburg in 1879, he began composition (with Nikolai Rimsky -Korsakov ), and counterpoint and fugue at the St. Petersburg Conservatory to study. In 1882 he completed his studies extremely successful and was appointed the following year as a composition teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was in 1889 appointed professor. In this role, Arensky trained many students who would later be renowned composers (including Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin ). Mid-1880s suffered Arensky (not least because of an unhappy marriage ) difficult from a mental illness. In 1895 he resigned from all his positions and assumed the leadership of the Imperial Court Chapel in Saint Petersburg. This position had Arensky held until 1901. After that, he was working freelance, but received a good pension. His last years were overshadowed by a tuberculosis disease that would lead to his death, as well as trunk and gambling addiction.

Style

Arensky never developed a distinct personal style; initially were his works by his teacher Rimsky -Korsakov, influenced later by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Addition, however, can also be influences by Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann recognized, so that his works despite frequent use of folk melodies compared to its Russian peers (about Alexander Glazunov and Vasily Kalinnikow ) is not particularly " Russian" sound. Partial French elements can be identified. Generally avoided Arensky rather dramatic and strong conflicts and acknowledged the lyrical element a more important role. Sometimes, his works began to approach (especially for piano) salon music; also Arensky was often confronted with the charge of eclecticism. All this prompted Rimsky-Korsakov, probably to the verdict, Arensky would soon be forgotten. Many works of Arensky, however, evidence of such high quality that a more detailed work pays them well.

Works

• Orchestral works Symphony No.1 in B minor, Opus 4 (1883 )
• Symphony No.2 in A major op.22 (1889 )
• Suite No.1 in G minor op.7 (1885 )
• Intermezzo, Op 13
• Suite No.2 op.23 silhouettes (1892, originally for 2 pianos )
• Suite No.3 in C major op.33 Variations (1894, originally for 2 pianos )
• Piano Concerto in F minor Op.2 (1882 )
• Violin Concerto in A minor op.54 (1901 )
• Incidental music

• Dream on the Volga, opera op.16 (1888 )
• Raphael, opera op.37 (1894 )
• The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, cantata, Op 46 (1899 )
• Nal and Damayanti, opera op.47 (1903 )
• Songs

• String Quartet No.1 in G major op.11 (1888 )
• String Quartet No.2 in A minor ( Edit 1894, Block 2 for String Orchestra. Than variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky op.35a ) op.35 for violin, viola and two cellos
• Piano Trio No.1 in D minor op.32 (1894 )
• Piano Trio No.2 in F minor, op.73 (1905 )
• Piano Quintet in D major op.51 (1900)

• 5 Suites for 2 Pianos (No.1 op.15, 1884, No.2 op.23 silhouettes, 1892, No.3 in C major op.33 "Variations ", 1894, No.4 op.62, No.5 op.65 Children's Suite for Piano 4 hands)
• Smaller pieces