Dmitry Yakovlevich Pokrass (russian: Дми́трий Я́ковлевич Покра́сс; born on 7 November 1899 in
Kiev – died on 20 December 1978 in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
composer of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
origin. He composed popular music and scores for the theatre and films. Dmitry Pokrass was recognized in 1975 as a
People's Artist of the USSR. (See also
Pokrass brothers
The Pokrass brothers were Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a ...
)
Biography
Early Years and Education
At eight years of age, Dmitry Pokrass began performing as a means of earning money. He declaimed poetry, beating off a chechotka. Touring cities, he absorbed the music of the suburbs of old
Kiev, of military bands, Jewish weddings and celebrations, the cinema, synagogue services, and cheerful Ukrainian dances. During the years 1914–1917, Pokrass studied
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
at the
Petrograd Conservatory. As a student, he composed romances and songs for actors of a variety show. Has published a series of romances "Irmochka" ("The Grimaces of Life") with the description: "Intimate
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
songs in the style of
Isa Kremer,
Vertinsky, Sabinin, Henkin". In the music of romances, he copied the stylistic manners of known actors, using the turns of fashionable
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
s and other dances. He wrote songs of the "intimate genre" to be performed by
Gipsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
singer V. Shuysky: "The Bashful Tea Rose", "You Have Smiled at Me", "Warrant Officer Johns", and "Tango Dolores" (lyrics by P.German and O.Osenin). In 1917 he returned to Kiev, where he found work as an accompanist. In 1919, he worked at the "One-eyed Jimmy" variety theatre in
Rostov-on-Don.
Military career
In 1919–1921, Pokrass served in the
First Cavalry. In honour of the taking of Rostov by the First Cavalry, he wrote the song which gained national popularity, "
Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonnyy ( rus, Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, Semyon Mikháylovich Budyonnyy, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bʊˈdʲɵnːɨj, a=ru-Simeon Budyonniy.ogg; – 26 October 1973) was a Russian ca ...
's March" (1920, lyrics by A.d'Aktilj). To his fellow soldiers of the First Cavalry, he dedicated further compositions: "Hey, hey, saddle the Horses" (D. Bednogo), a
cantata "Forward" and a military march, "Red Cavalrymen", both with lyrics by S.Minin.
Professional career
Relocating to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
in 1923, Pokrass worked in different genres of variety music. He wrote music for theatres of miniatures and a cabaret, accompanied a Gypsy chorus, the Gypsy song performers E.Dobero and O.Vargina. Pokrass tried to overcome the stale character of the variety genre in romances by using lyrics of "highbrow" poetry by
Alexander Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...
("I am at Your Feet"),
Igor Severyanin
Igor Severyanin (russian: И́горь Северя́нин; pen name, real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotaryov: И́горь Васи́льевич Лотарёв; May 16, 1887 – December 20, 1941) was a Russian poet who presided over the circle ...
("I Feel How Flowers Fall"), and others.
In 1940, Pokrass became a member of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
[Rumyantzev, Vyacheslav. "Покрасс Дмитрий Яковлевич" ("Pokrass Dmitry Yakovlevich"). ХРОНОС – Всемирная История в Интернете (HRONOS - World History on the Internet). 25 Feb. 2001. Retrieved 26 Feb. 2009. http://www.hrono.info/biograf/pokrass.html ]
From 1923 to 1926, Pokrass served as the principal conductor and musical director of the Moscow theatres "Oriental Carpets" and "Hermitage".
In 1926-1936 he was the principal conductor and musical director of the Moscow music hall. Between 1932 and 1954 he worked in collaboration with his brother,. In 1936 - 1972 he was the artistic director of the Variety Orchestra of the (TsDKZh). He composed songs, film scores, and incidental music for the theatre, as well as military marches such as the
March of the Soviet Tankmen. After Daniel's death, Dmitry wrote the "March of the Motorized Infantry" (lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky, 1957), "Great City" ("A Song about Moscow", the Newcomer's Poems, 1974), (Lyuba, Lyubushka, Lyubov; lyrics by P. Gradov), "My Small Hometown" (lyrics by M. Svetlov, 1975), "The March of BAM" (lyrics by M. Vershinin, 1975). He also composed music for the stage plays "Red Devilkins" (1950) and "
Konarmiya" (1950), works for the
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 regu ...
, and romances.
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokrass, Dmitry Yakovlevich
1899 births
1978 deaths
Musicians from Kyiv
People from Kievsky Uyezd
Ukrainian Jews
Soviet Jews
Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
Jewish composers
Soviet composers
Soviet male composers
Soviet film score composers
Male film score composers
20th-century composers
Jewish Ukrainian musicians
Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War
People's Artists of the USSR
People's Artists of the RSFSR
Stalin Prize winners
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star