Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲinəf; ,

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

– 3 January 1956,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was a Russian Romantic composer.

Life

Gretchaninov started his musical studies rather late, because his father, a businessman, had expected the boy to take over the family firm. Gretchaninov himself related that he did not see a piano until he was 14 and began his studies at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

in 1881 against his father's wishes and without his knowledge. His main teachers there were

Sergei Taneyev Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Тане́ев, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author. Life Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russia ...

and

Anton Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (russian: Анто́н Степа́нович Аре́нский; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving ...

. In the late 1880s, after a quarrel with Arensky, he moved to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where he studied composition and orchestration with

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

until 1893. Rimsky-Korsakov immediately recognized Gretchaninov's extraordinary musical imagination and talent and gave him much extra time as well as considerable financial help. This allowed the young man, whose parents were not supporting him, to survive. Out of this came an important friendship, which only ended in 1908 with Rimsky's death. As such, it is not surprising that Rimsky's influence can be heard in Gretchaninov's early works, such as his String Quartet No. 1, a prize-winning composition. Around 1896, Gretchaninov returned to Moscow and was involved with writing for the theatre, the opera and the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. His works, especially those for voice, achieved considerable success within Russia, while his instrumental works enjoyed even wider acclaim. By 1910, he was considered a composer of such distinction that the Tsar awarded him an annual pension. Though Gretchaninov remained in Russia for several years after the Revolution, he ultimately chose to emigrate, first to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1925, and then, at the age of 75, to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1939. He remained in the U.S. the rest of his life and eventually became an American citizen. He died in New York at the age of 91 and is buried outside the church at

Rova Farms Rova may refer to: * Rova, Domžale, a village in the municipality of Domžale in Slovenia * Rova (Madagascar), a type of fortified royal complex found throughout the highlands of Madagascar * Rova of Antananarivo, a royal-palace complex in Antana ...

, a Russian enclave in Jackson Township,

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Music

Gretchaninov wrote five

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, the first premiered by Rimsky-Korsakov; four

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

s, the first two of which won important prizes, two

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musi ...

s, sonatas for violin, cello, clarinet, piano and balalaika, several

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s, song cycle ''

Les Fleurs du Mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

'', op. 48 (setting lyrics by

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

) and much other music. Like

Vladimir Rebikov Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov (russian: Влади́мир Ива́нович Ре́биков, ; May 31 S May 191866 – August 4, 1920) was a late romantic 20th-century Russian composer and pianist. Biography Born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, ...

's, his position in the history of Russian music was mainly transitional, his earlier music belonging firmly in that earlier Romantic tradition while his later work is influenced by some of the streams that also affected

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

and

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

. Sketches for an unfinished sixth symphony from the 1940s exist. He also composed a number of small scale piano pieces. Most of Gretchaninov's manuscripts reside in the Music Division of

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Selected works

Orchestral

Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 in B minor, Op. 6 (1894); premiered by

in Saint Petersburg on 26 January 1895 * Symphony No. 2 in A major, ''Pastoral'', Op. 27 (1908); premiered by Gretchaninov in 1909 in Kiev * Symphony No. 3 in E major, Op. 100 (1923); premiered by Gretchaninov in 1923(4?) in Moscow * Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 102 (1927); premiered by

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

& the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

on 9 April 1942 * Symphony No. 5 in G minor, Op. 153 (1936); premiered by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...

and the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

on 5 April 1939 * Symphony No. 6 (sketches, c. 1940s)

Concerti

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

Concerto, Op. 8 (1895) * ''In modo antico'', Op. 81, for violin & orchestra (1918) *

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Concerto, Op. 132 (1932) * Concerto for

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

and strings, Op. 159 (1938)

Other orchestral

* Concert Overture in D minor (1892) * Elegy in Memory of Tchaikovsky (1893) * Incidental Music to the play ''Tsar Feodor'' of Tolstoy (1898) * Incidental Music to the play ''The Death of Ivan the Terrible'' of Tolstoy (1899) * Incidental Music to the play ''Dreams'' of Danchenko (1899) * Funeral March (1905) * Rhapsody on Russian Themes, Op. 147 (1940) * ''Poème élégiaque'', Op. 175 (1944 or 1945) * ''A Grand Festival Overture'', Op. 178 (1946) * ''Poème lyrique'', Op. 185 (1947–48)

Opera

* ''

Dobrynya Nikitich Dobrynya Nikitich (russian: Добрыня Никитич) is one of the most popular bogatyrs (epic knights) from Russian folklore. Albeit fictional, this character is based on a real warlord Dobrynya, who led the armies of Svyatoslav the Grea ...

'', Op. 22 (1895-1901) after the story of the bogatyr

. * ''Soeur Béatrice'', Op. 50 (1908–10) * ''The Dream of the Christmas Tree'' Kinderoper, Op. 55 (1911) * ''Der Kater, der Hahn und der Fuchs'', Kinderoper, Op. 103 (1924) * ''The Wedding'', Op. 180 (1946)

Secular songs and choral music

* ''4 Mélodies'', for medium voice and piano, Op. 20 (1899) * ''Snowflakes (Снежинки, ''Snezhiniki'') – Song Cycle for Woman's Voice or Choir and Orchestra or Piano'', Op. 47 (1910) * ''Les Fleurs du mal – 5 Songs after Baudelaire'', Op. 48 (1909) * ''The Bee: 6 Children's Songs'', Op. 66 (1914) * ''Under the Waxing Moon'', 4 Songs from a Child's World after Poetry by Rabindranath Tagore, Op. 95 (1925) * ''Sonetti romani'', for voice and piano (Russian text by Vyacheslav Ivanov), Op. 160 (1939) ** ''Piazza di Spagna'', Op. 160, No. 1 ** ''Fontana della Tartaruga'', Op. 160, No. 2 ** ''Triton'', Op. 160, No. 3 ** ''Il tramontare del sole al Pincio'', Op. 160, No. 4 ** ''Fontana di Trevi'', Op. 160, No. 5 * ''Vers la victoire'', symphonic poem (1943)

Liturgical vocal/choral

* ''Liturgie Johannes Chrysostomos'' No. 1, Op. 13 (1897) * ''Liturgy of Christmas Eve'', Op. 19, for double mixed choir (1898) * ''Liturgie Johannes Chrysostomos'' No. 2, Op. 29 (1902) * '' Holy Week (Страстная седмица)'', Op. 58 (1911) * '' All-Night Vigil (Всенощное бдение)'', Op. 59 (1912) * ''Kvalite Boga'', Op. 65 (1915) * ''Liturgia Domestica'' (''Liturgie Johannes Chrysostomos'' No. 3), Op. 79 (1917) * ''Missa Oecumenica'', Op. 142 (1936) * ''Missa Festiva'', Op. 154 (1937) * ''Missa Sancti Spiritu''s, Op. 169 (1940) * ''Et in Terra Pax'', mass, Op. 166 (1942) * ''Liturgie Johannes Chrysostomos'' No. 4, Op. 177 (1943)

Chamber music

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

No. 1 in G major, Op. 2 (1894) * 2 Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 14 (1897) *

Piano Trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musi ...

No. 1 in C minor, Op. 38 (1906) * String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 70 (1913) * String Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 75 (1915) *

Violin Sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple baroque form with no fixed form ...

No. 1 in D major, Op. 87 (1919) *

Cello Sonata A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 1 ...

in E minor, Op. 113 (1927) * String Quartet No. 4 in F major, Op. 124 (1929) * Piano Trio No. 2 in G major, Op. 128 (1931) * Violin Sonata No. 2 in C minor, Op. 137 (1933) * Sonata for Clarinet or Viola & Piano (Clarinet Sonata No. 1), Op. 161 (1935–40) * Clarinet Sonata No. 2, Op. 172(a) (1943)

Piano music

* 5 Pastelles: Plainte, Méditation, Chant d'automne, Orage, Nocturne, Op. 3 (1894) * 2 Pieces: Poème, Cortège, Op. 18 * 2 Pieces: Impromptu, Prélude, Op. 37 * 4 Mazurkas, Op. 53 (1911) * ''Pastelle No. 2'', 8 pieces for piano, Op. 61 (1913) * 3 ''Moments lyriques'' (Prélude, Berceuse, Mazurka), Op. 78 (pub. 1950) * ''Livre d'enfants'', 15 pieces for piano, Op. 98 (1923) * ''On the Green Meadow'', Op. 99 (1924) * 2 Piano Sonatinas, Op. 110 (1927) * The Grandfather's Book, Op. 119 * ''Glass Beads'', Op. 123 (1929) * Piano Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Op. 129 (1931) * Piano Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 174 (1944) * Petite Suite for Piano, Op. 176 (1944)

Notes

References

Some of the information on this page appears on th
Alexander Gretchaninov page
of th
Edition Silvertrust website
Permission has been granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

Gretchaninov manuscripts
in th
Music Division
o

*

Soundbites & short biography. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gretchaninoff, Alexander 1864 births 1956 deaths People from Kaluga People from Kaluzhsky Uyezd 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Russian Romantic composers Russian male classical composers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France 20th-century Russian male musicians 19th-century male musicians