Nikolai Kapustin

Nikolai Kapustin Girschewitsch (Russian Николай Гиршевич Капустин; born November 22, 1937 in Gorlowka, Ukrainian SSR, today Horlivka, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist.

Life and work

Nicolai Kapustin studied piano with Awrelian Rubach ( pupil of Felix Blumenfeld who also Simon Barere and Vladimir Horowitz taught ) and later with Alexander Weiser gold at the Moscow Conservatory. During the 1950s, he gained fame as a jazz pianist, arranger and composer. He is so well versed both as a classical pianist as well as improvisational piano playing.

In his compositions he combines various influences by bringing jazz expressions in formal classical structures. A particular example is his Suite in the Old style op 28 (1977 ), which belongs to the sound world of jazz improvisation but also based on the principles of baroque suites such as the Partitas, is built for piano by Johann Sebastian Bach. Another example is his 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op 82, from 1997, and the Sonatina Op 100

Kapustin sees himself more as a composer than as a jazz musician. He says: " I ​​was never a jazz musician. I have never tried to be a real jazz pianist, but I had to be, for the sake of composing. I am not interested in improvisation - and what is a jazz musician without improvisation? All improvisation on my part of course, is written down and it has thus become much better; it let them mature. "

Among other things, his work includes 16 piano sonatas, six piano concerti, other instrumental concerti, collections of piano variations, études and concert studies. In the 2000s by the pianist John Salmon, Steven Osborne, Marc- André Hamelin, Konstantin Semilakovs and Myron Romanul were taken up various works.