Name Edison Denisov Libretti L'ecume des jours Music director Baltazar's Feasts | Role Composer | |
 | ||
Compositions L'ecume des jours, L'ecume des jours, Signes en blanc, Signes en blanc, Pour Daniel, Pour Daniel, In Deo speravit cor meum, In Deo speravit cor meum, Three Preludes for Piano: I, Three Preludes for Piano: I, La Vie en rouge - Partie 2 : La Vraie Rigolade, La Vie en rouge - Partie 2 : La Vraie Rigolade, Sonata for Two Violins: I Introduction Allegro moderato, Sonata for Two Violins: I Introduction Allegro moderato, Symphonie: IV Adagio, Symphonie: IV Adagio, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: IV Gigue, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: IV Gigue, Le Soleil des Incas: IV Red Evening, Le Soleil des Incas: IV Red Evening, Bagatelles for Piano: IV, Bagatelles for Piano: IV, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: V Chaconne, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: V Chaconne, La Vie en rouge - Partie 3 : La Java des bombes atomiques, La Vie en rouge - Partie 3 : La Java des bombes atomiques, Saxophone Sonata: II Lento, Saxophone Sonata: II Lento, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: IV Agitato, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: IV Agitato, Le Soleil des Incas: I Prelude, Le Soleil des Incas: I Prelude, Le Soleil des Incas: V Damned World, Le Soleil des Incas: V Damned World, Death Is a Long Sleep (Variations on a Joseph Haydn theme), Death Is a Long Sleep (Variations on a Joseph Haydn theme), Five Paganini Caprices: V Caprice no 24, Five Paganini Caprices: V Caprice no 24, Sonata for Clarinet Solo: I Lento, Sonata for Clarinet Solo: I Lento, Sonata for Two Violins: III Fuga Allegro giusto, Sonata for Two Violins: III Fuga Allegro giusto, Saxophone Sonata: III Allegro moderato, Saxophone Sonata: III Allegro moderato, La Vie en rouge, La Vie en rouge, Three Pictures after Paul Klee: No 1 Diana in the Autumn Wind, Three Pictures after Paul Klee: No 1 Diana in the Autumn Wind, Bagatelles for Piano: VII, Bagatelles for Piano: VII, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: III Sarabande, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: III Sarabande, Sonata for Solo Violin: II Lento, Sonata for Solo Violin: II Lento, Symphonie: III Agitato, Symphonie: III Agitato, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: II Allegretto, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: II Allegretto, Variations for Piano, Variations for Piano, La Vie en rouge - Partie 4 : La Valse jaune, La Vie en rouge - Partie 4 : La Valse jaune, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra: III Tranquillo, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra: III Tranquillo, Bagatelles for Piano: VI, Bagatelles for Piano: VI, La Vie en rouge - Partie 7 : La Derniere Valse, La Vie en rouge - Partie 7 : La Derniere Valse, Bagatelles for Piano: V, Bagatelles for Piano: V, Sonata for Cello and Piano - op 40: I Recitativo, Sonata for Cello and Piano - op 40: I Recitativo, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra: II Agitato, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra: II Agitato, Sonata for Clarinet Solo: II Allegro, Sonata for Clarinet Solo: II Allegro, Sonata for Cello and Piano - op 40: II Toccata, Sonata for Cello and Piano - op 40: II Toccata, Con sordino, Con sordino, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: I Allemande, Partita for Violin and Chamber Orchestra: I Allemande, La Vie en rouge - Partie 1 : J'aimerais, La Vie en rouge - Partie 1 : J'aimerais, Es ist genug, Es ist genug, Three Preludes for Piano: II, Three Preludes for Piano: II, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: I Lento, Four Pieces for Flute and Piano: I Lento, Colin et Chloe (Suite from the opera 'L'Ecume des jours' after the novel by Boris Vian): The Molitor Skating Rink / On the Way to Chloe / The Wedding / Colin et Chloe / The Medical Quarter / Alice's Death / Epilogue, Colin et Chloe (Suite from the opera 'L'Ecume des jours' after the novel by Boris Vian): The Molitor Skating Rink / On the Way to Chloe / The Wedding / Colin et Chloe / The Medical Quarter / Alice's Death / Epilogue, La Vie en rouge - Partie 5 : Le Prisonnier, La Vie en rouge - Partie 5 : Le Prisonnier, Saxophone Sonata: I Allegro, Saxophone Sonata: I Allegro, Three Pictures after Paul Klee: No 3 The Child on the Platform, Three Pictures after Paul Klee: No 3 The Child on the Platform, Five Paganini Caprices: IV Caprice no 9, Five Paganini Caprices: IV Caprice no 9, Five Paganini Caprices: III Caprice no 20, Five Paganini Caprices: III Caprice no 20 Similar People Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke, Elena Firsova, Dmitri Smirnov, Vyacheslav Artyomov | ||
Edison Denisov: Piano Concerto (w/ score) (1975)
Edison Vasilievich Denisov (Russian: Эдисо́н Васи́льевич Дени́сов, April 6, 1929 – November 24, 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called "Underground"—"Anti-Collectivist", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music.
Contents
- Edison Denisov Piano Concerto w score 1975
- Edison Denisov Symphony No1 USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra Rozhdestvensky
- Biography
- Music
- Honours and awards
- Selected works
- References
Edison Denisov, Symphony [No.1], USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra, Rozhdestvensky
Biography
Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia into the family of a radio physicist, who gave him the very unusual first name Edison, in honour of the great American inventor. He studied mathematics before deciding to spend his life composing. This decision was enthusiastically supported by Dmitri Shostakovich, who gave him lessons in composition.
In 1951–56 Denisov studied at the Moscow Conservatory—composition with Vissarion Shebalin, orchestration with Nikolai Rakov, analysis with Viktor Zuckerman and piano with Vladimir Belov. In 1956–59 he composed the opera Ivan-Soldat (Soldier Ivan) in three acts based on Russian folk fairy tales.
He began his own study of scores that were difficult to obtain in the USSR at that time, including music ranging from Mahler and Debussy to Boulez and Stockhausen. He wrote a series of articles giving a detailed analysis of different aspects of contemporary compositional techniques and at same time actively experimented as a composer, trying to find his own way.
After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, he taught orchestration and later composition there. His pupils include composers Dmitri Smirnov, Elena Firsova, Vladimir Tarnopolsky, Sergei Pavlenko, Ivan Sokolov, Yuri Kasparov, Dmitri Kapyrin, and Alexander Shchetinsky. See: List of music students by teacher: C to F#Edison Denisov.
In 1979 he was blacklisted as one of the "Khrennikov's Seven" at the Sixth Congress of the Union of Soviet Composers for unapproved participation in some festivals of Soviet music in the West.
Denisov became a leader of the Association for Contemporary Music reestablished in Moscow in 1990. Later Denisov moved to France, where after an accident and long illness he died in a Paris hospital in 1996.
Music
The cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble Le soleil des Incas (1964), setting the poems by Gabriela Mistral and dedicated to Pierre Boulez, gave him an international recognition. This happened after the series of successful performances of the work in Darmstadt and Paris (1965). Igor Stravinsky liked the piece, discovering the "remarkable talent" of its composer. However, the piece was harshly criticised by the Union of Soviet Composers for its "western influences", "erudition instead of creativity", and "total composer's arbitrary" (Tikhon Khrennikov). After that, performances of his works were often banned in the Soviet Union.
Later he wrote a flute concerto for Aurèle Nicolet, a violin concerto for Gidon Kremer, works for the oboist Heinz Holliger, clarinettist Eduard Brunner and a sonata for alto saxophone and piano for Jean-Marie Londeix, that became highly popular among saxophone players.
His sombre but striking Requiem, setting a multi-lingual text (English, French, German and Latin) based on works by Francisco Tanzer, was given its first performance in Hamburg in 1980.
Among his major works are the operas L'écume des jours after Boris Vian (1981), Quatre Filles after Pablo Picasso (1986) and ballet Confession after Alfred de Musset.