Feodor Feodorovich Koenemann ( Russian: Фёдор Фёдорович Кёнеман; sometimes transliterated as Fyodor Keneman) (

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 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, – 29 March 1937) was a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music teacher. His last name originated from the Prussian family name Könemann of his father Friedrich Napoleon Könemann (Moscow, 27 February 1838 – Moscow, 23 March 1903).

Biography

Feodor Koenemann was trained from 1892 to 1897 at the Moscow Conservatory under Nikolay Zverev (1892–1895, piano), Vasily Safonov (1895–1897, piano),

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 ...

, Sergei Taneyev and

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Ипполи́тов-Ива́нов; 28 January 1935) was a Russian and Soviet composer, conductor and teacher. His music ranged from the late-Romantic era ...

(1897, Music Theory). He was graduated in 1897 with the Great Gold Medal with two specialities –

Pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

Music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

. From 1896 to 1897 Koenemann, being a student, worked as a piano teacher at the Moscow Aleksandrovsky Institute (Russian: Московский Александровский Институт) ( Institute for Noble Maidens). After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 1897, Koenemann moved for two years to Astrakhan where he was appointed as a director and a piano teacher of the Astrakhan Music Classes. He also organized in Astrakhan the city chorus and the symphony orchestra, finding musicians among the music teachers, students and the

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s. In 1899 he was called back to Moscow to become a piano teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, and from 1899 to 1901 he was also a conductor of the Russian Choral Society in Moscow. For the grand opening of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on 7 April 1901, Koenemann wrote the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

, which became the official anthem of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1912, Koenemann became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and was teaching piano until his retirement in 1932. He died in Moscow.

Works

Koenemann wrote over one hundred works. He also translated into Russian a theoretical work by

Ebenezer Prout Ebenezer Prout (1 March 1835 – 5 December 1909) was an English musical theorist, writer, music teacher and composer, whose instruction, afterwards embodied in a series of standard works still used today, underpinned the work of many British cl ...

, "The Orchestra". In 1896, he met Feodor Chaliapin who just moved to Moscow from St. Petersburg to sing at the Moscow Private Opera owned by

Savva Mamontov Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (russian: Са́вва Ива́нович Ма́монтов, ; 3 October 1841 (15 October N.S.), Yalutorovsk – 6 April 1918, Moscow) was a Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur and patron of the arts. Busine ...

. Koenemann started a twenty-four-year collaboration with Chaliapin, both as an accompanist and arranger; his arrangement of ''

The Volga Boatmen's Song The "Song of the Volga Boatmen" (known in Russian as Эй, ухнем! y, ukhnem!, "Yo, heave-ho!" after the refrain) is a well-known traditional Russian song collected by Mily Balakirev and published in his book of folk songs in 1866. It was s ...

'' made the song well-known abroad after Chaliapin's emigration. Koenemann and Chaliapin – the "Two Feodors" –created the perfect

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

– Koenemann was a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

pianist, and Chaliapin – was a singer-wunderkind. Chaliapin was 66 days older than Koenemann.

Selected recordings

*Как король шёл на войну (When the King Went Forth to War) Journal - Association for Recorded Sound Collections 1984 When the king went forth to war was a Chaliapin specialty, and the composer, Koenemann, may be remembered as Chaliapin's accompanist. A very Russian song, it describes the pomp with which the king marches into battle and contrasts it to the fate of the poor serf who goes to fight for him.

References

External links

Family website
(in Russian and English)

(in Russian)

(in Russian)
Family Tree
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koenemann, Feodor Soviet pianists Pianists from the Russian Empire 1873 births 1937 deaths Pupils of Nikolai Zverev