Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

and film comedies, frequently working with the film director Grigori Aleksandrov.

Biography

Dunaevskiy was born to a

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 ...

family in Lokhvytsia in the Poltava Governorate of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Myrhorod Raion Myrhorod Raion ( uk, Миргородський район; translit.: ''Myrhorods'kyi raion'') is a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. The raion's administrative center is the city of Myrhorod. Population: On 18 July 2020, ...

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) in 1900. He studied at the

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.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 ...

under

Konstanty Gorski Konstanty Antoni Gorski () (Lida, 13 June 1859 – 31 May 1924, Poznań) was a Polish composer, violinist, organist and music teacher.Józef Władysław Reiss Najpiękniejsza ze wszystkich jest muzyka polska - 1984 Page 155 "Konstanty Gorsk ...

and

Joseph Achron Joseph Yulyevich Achron, also seen as Akhron (Russian: Иосиф Юльевич Ахрон, Hebrew: יוסף אחרון) (May 1, 1886April 29, 1943) was a Russian-born Jewish composer and violinist, who settled in the United States. His preoccu ...

. During this period he started to study the theory of music under

Semyon Bogatyrev Semyon Semyonovich Bogatyrev (15 February 189031 December 1960) was a Soviet and Russian musicologist and composer. He is best known in the West for his completion of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony in E-flat, which he abandoned while inco ...

(1890–1960). He graduated in 1919 from the

Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky (or Kharkiv Conservatory or Kharkiv National I. P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts) is the leading music and drama institution of higher education in Ukraine. The university train ...

. At first he was a violinist, the leader of the orchestra in Kharkov. Then he started a conducting career. In 1924 he went 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 million ...

to run the Theatre Hermitage. In 1929 he worked for the first time for a music hall ("To the icy place") with the

Moscow music hall Moscow music hall (russian: link=no, Московский мюзик-холл) is a theater and state cultural institution of Moscow, Russia. History The first concert of Moscow music hall took place on the stage of Aquarium Theater in 1923. ...

. Later, he worked in

Leningrad 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 ...

(1929–1941) as a director and conductor of the

Saint Petersburg Music Hall The St. Petersburg Music Hall is a Russian state theater in the city of Saint Petersburg. It was founded in 1928. History On December 5, 1928 Leningrad music hall opened with the premiere of “The Wonders of XX century or The Last Carrier” ...

(1929–34), and then moved to Moscow to work on his own operettas and film music. Dunaevskiy wrote 14 operettas, 3 ballets, 3 cantatas, 80 choruses, 80 songs and romances, music for 88 plays and 42 films, 43 compositions for light music orchestra and 12 for jazz orchestra, 17

melodeclamation Melodeclamation (from Greek “melos” = song, and Latin “declamatio” = declamation) was a chiefly 19th century practice of reciting poetry while accompanied by concert music. It is also described as "a type of rhythmic vocal writing that bea ...

s, 52 compositions for symphony orchestra and 47 piano compositions and a string quartet. He was one of the first composers in the

Soviet Union 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 national ...

to start using

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. He wrote the music for three of the most important films of the pre-war Stalinist era, '' Jolly Fellows'', ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

'' and the film said to be Stalin's favorite film '' Volga-Volga'', all directed by Grigori Aleksandrov. In a reply to the British book ''The World of Music'', he listed the following as his chief works: ''The Golden Valley'' operetta (1937), ''The Free Wind'' operetta (1947), and music to the films ''Circus'' (1935) and ''The Kuban Cossacks'' (1949). He died of a heart attack in Moscow in 1955. His last piece, the operetta ''White Acacia'' (1955), was left unfinished at his death. It was completed by Kirill Molchanov and staged on 15 November 1955, in Moscow. A previously unknown opera libretto ''Rachel'' (1943) by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

, was later found in his archive. The libretto was based on

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

's '' Mademoiselle Fifi'' and was published in a book by Naum Shafer (see references and links below). A book of his essays and memoirs was published in 1961.

Honors

Dunaevskiy was named a

People's Artist of RSFSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

in 1950. He was twice awarded the Stalin Prize (1941, 1951) and received two orders and many medals (including

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

, and Order of the Badge of Honour).

Family

His brother Semyon (1906–1986) was a conductor; another brother, Zinovy (1908–1981), was a composer. Dunaevskiy was married once. He had a son Yevgeny (b. 1932) by his wife Zinaida Sudeikina, and another son Maksim (b. 1945) by his lover, the ballerina Zoya Pashkova (1922—30.01.1991). Maksim is also a well-known composer.

Works

*''The Tranquillity of the Faun'', ballet (1924) *''Murzilka'', ballet for children (1924) *''For Us and You'', operetta (1924) *''Bridegrooms'' (''Женихи''), operetta (1926) *''The Knives'' (''Ножи''), operetta (1928) *''To the icy place'', operetta (1929) *''Million Langours'', operetta (1932) *'' Jolly Fellows'' (''Весёлые ребята''), film music (1934), including " Serdtse" *''Three Friends'' (''Три товарища''), film music (1935) *''

Late for a Date ''Late for a Date'' (russian: Девушка спешит на свидание, Devushka speshit na svidanie; literally ''Girl in a hurry for a date'') is a Soviet comedy film directed by Mikhail Verner. A new print was issued in 1987, completel ...

'' (''Девушка спешит на свидание''), film music (1936) *''

Seekers of Happiness ''Seekers of Happiness'' (russian: Искатели счастья, Iskateli schastya) is a Soviet film from 1936 trying to attract Jews to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) in the far east of the USSR. It is also known by its alternative name, ...

'' (''Искатели счастья''), film music (1936) *''

'' (''Цирк''), film music (1936) *''

The Children of Captain Grant ''In Search of the Castaways'' (french: Les Enfants du capitaine Grant, lit=The Children of Captain Grant) is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–68. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of ill ...

'' (''Дети капитана Гранта''), film music (1936) *''The Golden Valley'' (''Золотая долина''), operetta (1937) *'' Volga-Volga'' (''Волга-Волга''), film music (1938) *''The Roads to Happiness'' (''Дороги к счастью''), operetta (1939) *''My Love'' (''Моя любовь''). film music (1940) *''Moscow'', suite for solo voices, chorus and orchestra (1941) *''The Wind of Liberty'' (''Вольный ветер''), operetta (1947) *''

Cossacks of the Kuban ''Cossacks of the Kuban'' () from Mosfilm is a color film, glorifying the life of the farmers in the kolkhoz of the Soviet Union's Kuban region, directed by Ivan Pyryev and starring Marina Ladynina, his wife at that time.Kirill Molchanov Kirill Vladimirovich Molchanov (russian: Кирилл Владимирович Молчанов; 7 September 1922 – 14 March 1982) was a Russian and Soviet composer. He was appointed director of the Bolshoi, at the time political disfavour had ...

) * ''Quiet, Everything Quiet'' (Тихо, всё тихо), the sign-off tune of the Soviet television until 1991. Also: *Songs *Pieces for chamber orchestra *

Incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

for theatre and cinema

External links

Isaak Dunayevsky: The Red Mozart Of Soviet CinemaFamous Ukrainian Jews Commemorated on Postage Stamps-Isaak DunayevskyThe heart grows light with a joyful song:120th birthday of Isaak Dunayevsky

Bibliography

*Kommissarskaya, M Dunaevskiy, the article in "Tvorcheskiye biografii Kompozitorov", Moscow, 1989 *Shafer, Naum “Dunaevskiy Today” Moscow, Sovetsky Kompozitor, 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunaevskiy, Isaak 1900 births 1955 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Lokhvitsky Uyezd Jewish Ukrainian musicians Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Jewish classical musicians Jewish composers Light music composers Male film score composers Operetta composers Soviet classical musicians Soviet composers Soviet film score composers Soviet male composers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century composers 20th-century Ukrainian musicians 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 Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery