Aside from the famous ones, who is your favorite Soviet composer?

[relm1]

Should a 21st century composer who adheres to the soviet values be included in this list?  I don't know if any exist but this is more about how difficult it is to define exactly what is a soviet composer.

[Cato]

Easy:

VYACHESLAV OVCHINNIKOV!


https://www.youtube.com/v/0AfNVrVmCGs


https://www.youtube.com/v/ACymze0Max4


https://www.youtube.com/v/D3REhHukPng


https://www.youtube.com/v/YFpj_oMHTaQ

[arpeggio]

Aside from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, who is your favorite Soviet composer?  I'll define Soviet composer as a composer whose reputation relies prominently between works composed during 1917-1992.   So Khachaturian qualifies but Russian born Airat Ichmouratov (b. 1973) would not.

There are many Russian composers that I have a regard for who are not mentioned above.  I have no idea which of them are not famous.  Even if they are not famous in the west they may still be famous in Russia.

[Wanderer]

Aside from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, who is your favorite Soviet composer?  I'll define Soviet composer as a composer whose reputation relies prominently between works composed during 1917-1992.   So Khachaturian qualifies but Russian born Airat Ichmouratov (b. 1973) would not.

Under those parameters, Nikolai Medtner.

[Jo498]

But Medtner's case closely parallels Rachmaninoff in such that he wanted nothing to do with the Soviets and basically left as soon as it was convenient (1921).

[Florestan]

But Medtner's case closely parallels Rachmaninoff in such that he wanted nothing to do with the Soviets and basically left as soon as it was convenient (1921).

Yes. Bortkiewicz too.

I believe it's high time that the OP clarify once and for all what he means by "Soviet composers".

[Roy Bland]

Kabalevsky:IMHO his Piano Concertos are major opus
http://kabalevsky.ru/page/language-en-de-fr

[Maestro267]

Alfred Schnittke, without question. Other favourites include Boris Tishchenko, Aram Khachaturian, Gavriil Popov. I own a couple recordings of Weinberg's music, but I have yet to have that huge eureka moment with his music.

[Mirror Image]

Alfred Schnittke, without question. Other favourites include Boris Tishchenko, Aram Khachaturian, Gavriil Popov. I own a couple recordings of Weinberg's music, but I have yet to have that huge eureka moment with his music.

Just out of curiosity, what have you heard of Weinberg's? Interesting choice with Tishchenko, I've got to get back into his music as I still have many of those Northern Flowers recordings that I haven't even listened to yet. I never could get into Khachaturian and I've heard a lot music from him through the years.

[relm1]

I remember there was a compilation of rare Soviet symphonies that included these but I'm not familiar with them.  Any good?

Rostislav BOIKO (1931-) No 2
Revol BUNIN (1924-1976) No 6
Revaz GABICHVADZE (1913-) for strings, piano & timps
Boris PARSADANIAN (1925-) No 2
Arif MELIKOV (1923-) No 2

[MusicTurner]

I remember there was a compilation of rare Soviet symphonies that included these but I'm not familiar with them.  Any good?

Rostislav BOIKO (1931-) No 2
Revol BUNIN (1924-1976) No 6
Revaz GABICHVADZE (1913-) for strings, piano & timps
Boris PARSADANIAN (1925-) No 2
Arif MELIKOV (1923-) No 2

I've got those works except the Gabichvadze, and I guess they are all on you-tube. But I don't remember the exact ongoings in them. However, as far as I remember, they are all very decent composers, Melikov and Parsadanian being the most ambitious, Boiko adhering to an effective, at times perhaps too, popular style. And though a symphonist, Bunin is perhaps better known for the Violin Concerto, recorded by Kogan.

[71 dB]

Boris PARSADANIAN (1925-)

That's a funny "The king of a fairytale" name.  "Parsa" means asparagus in Finnish.

[Cato]

Speaking of SERGE PROTOPOPOV...

I am in contact with a young pianist from Belgium named Valere Burnon who is a great promoter of Protopopov's music.  Through his teacher - and I do not yet know how the man did this - he has come across an Opus 32 Five Preludes by Protopopov.

Those who know only the article on Wikipedia or the few other sources may be surprised by that opus number, as the impression is given that the composer gave up composing after c. 1930 and only about a dozen works remained extant.

Anyway, Valere Burnon wrote to me this morning that he will soon ( "am Ende des Monats") be able to record a CD with those preludes and other works by Prokofiev and Debussy.

That's a funny "The king of a fairytale" name.  "Parsa" means asparagus in Finnish.

Could that "Parsa" be related to the word "Parsnip" (a root vegetable) in English?

[71 dB]

Could that "Parsa" be related to the word "Parsnip" (a root vegetable) in English?

A lot of food related words in Finnish language seems to be of Russian origin (спаржа in this case) which is very close to "parsa" if you consider the first "s" missing as Finnish words rarely start "sp..." (Spain => Espanja, but spatial => spatiaalinen)

Parsnip is palsternakka in Finnish. 

[Florestan]

Parsnip is palsternakka in Finnish. 

Wow! In Romanian it's păstârnac which, if you ignore the diacritics, looks very similar. 

I just checked its etymology and it's closely related to Hungarian paszternák, Serbo-Croatian pastrank and German pastinak.

Fascinating stuff, at least or me.

[Maestro267]

Just out of curiosity, what have you heard of Weinberg's?

Symphonies Nos. 8, 12, 17 & 18. I know full well I have a long way to go with most of these composers I mentioned.

[Mirror Image]

Symphonies Nos. 8, 12, 17 & 18. I know full well I have a long way to go with most of these composers I mentioned.

Very nice. May I suggest check out the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies next. I think you'll really enjoy these.

[North Star]

Wow! In Romanian it's păstârnac which, if you ignore the diacritics, looks very similar. 

I just checked its etymology and it's closely related to Hungarian paszternák, Serbo-Croatian pastrank and German pastinak.

Fascinating stuff, at least or me.

There's also Boris, painted with his brother Alex here by their father, Leonid Pasternak.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastinaca
The etymology of the generic name Pastinaca is not known with certainty. The name may be derived from the Latin word pastino (or pastinare), meaning "to prepare the ground for planting of the vine" (or more simply, "to dig") or the Latin word pastus, meaning "food", liberally translated as "Earth-food.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsnip#History

Like carrots, parsnips are native to Eurasia and have been eaten there since ancient times. Zohary and Hopf note that the archaeological evidence for the cultivation of the parsnip is "still rather limited", and that Greek and Roman literary sources are a major source about its early use.[5] They warn that "there are some difficulties in distinguishing between parsnip and carrot (which, in Roman times, were white or purple) in classical writings since both vegetables seem to have been sometimes called pastinaca, yet each vegetable appears to be well under cultivation in Roman times"

Could that "Parsa" be related to the word "Parsnip" (a root vegetable) in English?

According to the Institute for the Languages of Finland, it is derived from asparagus, via Italian sparagio and Russian spárža.



Thread duty: Schnittke and Weinberg are my favourite composers who worked in Soviet Russia, after the big two.

[71 dB]

Wow! In Romanian it's păstârnac which, if you ignore the diacritics, looks very similar. 

I just checked its etymology and it's closely related to Hungarian paszternák, Serbo-Croatian pastrank and German pastinak.

Fascinating stuff, at least or me.

Yeah, that is fascinating! Pretty damn close. 

[71 dB]

Very nice. May I suggest check out the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies next. I think you'll really enjoy these.

Considering how much I like Weinberg's Symphonies 2, 10, 12, 19, 20 and 21, the ones I own and know it's almost scary to think I haven't even heard the "good stuff" yet. 
I fear I will be disappointed after all this hype especially for the 5th...