Vyacheslav Artyomov

Vyacheslav Artyomov. Photo sourced from Wikipedia

Vyacheslav Petrovich Artyomov (Russian: Вячесла́в Петро́вич Артё́мов; born June 29, 1940 in Moscow) is a Russian and Soviet composer.

Biography

Vyacheslav Artyomov undertook simultaneous studies in physics and music, studying composition at the Moscow Conservatory under A. Pirumov and Nikolai Sidelnikov^[1] and piano with Tovi Logovinsky, graduating in 1968. He became a member of the Union of Soviet Composers and Association for Contemporary Music (ACM), and was active as an editor at the Moscow publishers "Musyka"^[1] for several years.

In 1975, he joined the improvisation group "Astreya" with the composers Sofia Gubaidulina and Viktor Suslin.^[1] In 1979, he was blacklisted as one of 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.

Music

Artyomov's compositions show his interest in the archaic ("Incantations", "Totem") and Christian motifs ("Requiem", "Ave, Maria") as well as Eastern meditation ("Awakening", "A Symphony of Elegies", "Moonlight Dreams"). As a young composer, he developed a profound interest, successively, in Russian folklore, traditional music of the East, the works of Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Messiaen, and the Polish avant-garde. But it was Arthur Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique, as well as the works of Edgar Varèse and Sinfonia by Luciano Berio that made the greatest and most lasting impression on him.

Artyomov considers music a science – concentration of soul experience – and, side by side with astrophysics, – one of two main fundamental sciences.

Selected Works

Symphony of the Way (tetralogy):
Way to Olympus, a symphony 1978–1984
On the Threshold of a Bright World, a symphony 1990, 2002, rev.2013
Gentle Emanation, a symphony 1991, 2008
The Morning Star Arises, a symphony 1993
Requiem, 1985–1988;
The Star of Exodus (trilogy):
In Memoriam,a symphony with violin solo 1968, 1984
In Spe, a symphony with violin and cello solos 1995–2014
Gurian Hymn, 1986
A Symphony of Elegies, 1977
A Garland of Recitations, 1975–1981
Tristia I, 1983
Pietà, 1992, 1996
Tristia II, 1997, 1998, rev. 2011
Latin Hymns:
Miserere mei, 2003
Ave,Maria, 1989
Salve Regina, 2003
Ave Maris Stella, 2003
Star Wind, 1981
Hymns of Sudden Wafts, 1983
Incantations, 1981
Moonlight Dreams, 1982
Maltese Hymn Ave, Crux Alba, 1994, 2012

Bibliography

Artëmov, Vjačeslav; V. Mud'jugina (2004): Vjačeslav Artëmov. Muzyka, Moskau. ISBN 5-7140-0177-X. [Booklet, Russian and English]

Notes

McBurney (1992)

References

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 2. London 2001
The International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003. Europa Publications. London 2003
Andreas Kloth (2009): Der russische Komponist Vjačeslav Artëmov: Ein Beispiel für die politisch und gesellschaftlich bedingte Rezeption nonkonformistischer sowjetischer Komponisten. Die Blaue Eule, Essen. ISBN 3-89924-244-0
Gerard McBurney "Vyacheslav Artyomov" in Contemporary Composers (Chicago & London: St. James Press, 1992)
M. Lobanova. Vyacheslav Artyomov: Tempo costante. Konzert fǖr Orchester. In Das Orchester, December 1993.
Robert Matthew-Walker (1997): The music of Vyacheslav Artyomov: an introduction. St Austell. ISBN 1-898343-06-3
M. John. Auf dem Wege zu einer neuen Geistigkeit. Verlag Ernst Kuhn. Berlin 1996
M. Tarakanov. Vyacheslav Artyomov in search of artistic truth. In: Tsenova, Valeria. Underground Music from the USSR. Harwood Academic Publishers. Amsterdam. 1997

External links

Text adapted from Wikipedia