Jacobo Ficher (russian: Яков (Хакобо) Фишер; 15 January 1896 – 9 September 1978) was an Argentine composer, violinist, conductor, and music educator of Russian birth.
Life
Ficher was born in
Odessa, Russia, to Alexander Ficher, a trombonist in the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, and his wife Iente Mirl (Elena) Gotz. He began to study the violin at the age of five, but his lessons were interrupted when his mother died. In 1903 he was able to resume his violin studies with
Pyotr Stolyarsky, and later with M. T. Hait. From 1912 to 1917 he was enrolled at the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he continued his violin studies with Sergei Korguyev and
Leopold Auer
Leopold von Auer ( hu, Auer Lipót; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers.
Early life and career
Au ...
. His other teachers included
Vasily Kalafati
Vasily Pavlovich Kalafati (russian: Василий Павлович Калафати, ''Vasilij Pavlovič Kalafati''; , Yevpatoria, Crimea – 20 March 1942, near Leningrad) was a Russian composer and pedagogue of Greek descent.
Kalafati was a pu ...
,
Maximilian Steinberg
Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (Russian Максимилиан Осеевич Штейнберг; – 6 December 1946) was a Russian composer of classical music.
Though once considered the hope of Russian music, Steinberg is far less well known ...
,
Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin ( Russian: Николай Николаевич Черепнин; – 26 June 1945) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at ...
, and
Nikolay Sokolov.
On 3 June (Gregorian 16 June) 1920 he married Ana Aronberg, then a piano student at the Odessa Conservatory. The
Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
was followed by deteriorating conditions in Odessa and so, in order to escape famine and persecution, the family—including his father with his second wife, his youngest brother Rachmiel (who was a cellist) and a sister-in-law—fled the city, traveling at first to Poland. In 1923 they moved to Argentina, arriving on 10 February, and eventually became citizens of that country. Jacobo and Ana had two children: a son, Miguel, born on 24 June 1923, shortly after their arrival in Buenos Aires, and a daughter, Myra, born 7 February 1928. Ana Aronberg Ficher died on 27 July 1976.
Ficher settled in Buenos Aires, where he was one of the founders in 1929 of the
Grupo renovación. Later, in 1947, he was also among the founders of the Argentinian Composers' League.
As an educator, his career began with an appointment in 1943 as professor of Harmony at the Asociación General de Músicos de la Argentina. In 1956 he gained a position teaching composition at the
National University of La Plata
The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90 ...
, where he eventually became professor, and in 1958 he became Professor of Composition at Buenos Aires National Conservatory and Musical Advisor to the
Fondo Nacional de las Artes
The ''Fondo Nacional de las Artes'' or FNA (in English: National Endowment for the Arts, Argentina), is a cultural public organization created in Buenos Aires on 3 February 1958. Its purpose is to promote cultural, educational and literary activit ...
. In 1966 he was appointed Professor of Composition at Buenos Aires Conservatorio Municipal Manuel de Falla, and 1968 he became Professor of Instrumentation at the
Teatro Colón
The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...
's Conservatorio e Instituto. His notable pupils include
Emilio Kauderer,
Marcelo Koc,
Alejandro Viñao, and
Ezequiel Viñao
Ezequiel Viñao (born July 21, 1960 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine- American composer. He emigrated to the United States in 1980 and studied at the Juilliard School. His compositions include ''La Noche de las Noches'' (1989) for string quartet ...
.
Musical style
Over the course of a long and prolific career, Ficher employed a variety of styles and techniques, including
neoromanticism,
neoclassicism,
polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key ...
,
twelve-tone technique
The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...
,
serialism, and free
atonality, without ever restricting himself to a single methodology. His Jewish heritage is reflected especially in his early works, though the Second Symphony, written in 1933, also uses emotional and
rhapsodic Hebrew thematic material, in reaction to news of the Nazi campaign against the Jews in Europe. This aspect also appears in some later works, especially the cantata ''Kadish'', op. 112 (1969), while the Russian tradition is plain in the two
Anton Chekhov operas. French
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and the influence of
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...
are present in the music from the 1920s and 30s, and as late as the slow movement of the Piano Sonata No. 1 of 1941, which is also reminiscent of
Charles Koechlin and
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
. Later, he turned to Argentine nationalism, stimulated by
gauchesco literature in the overture ''Don Segundo Sombra'' (1954) (after
the novel by
Ricardo Güiraldes
Ricardo Güiraldes (13 February 1886 — 8 October 1927)Escuela Normal Superior de Chascomús was an Argentine novelist and poet, one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era, particularly known for his 1926 novel ''Don Segundo Sombra' ...
), popular urban music in ''Tangos y milongas'' for piano (1948–59), rural folk music in ''Tres danzas populares'', and historical themes in the Seventh Symphony, commemorating the
Argentine Independence Revolution.
Honours
According to one source, Ficher's ''Heroic Poem'', op. 7, won first prize in a 1928 contest sponsored by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. More recent research, however, reveals that no first prize was awarded, but his work shared the second prize with
Dmitri Shostakovich. He won the Municipality of Buenos Aires Prize three times, first in 1929 for his First String Quartet, then in 1931 for ''Sulamita, poema de amor'', for orchestra, and finally in 1941, for his First Piano Sonata. His Second String Quartet was awarded a Coolidge Prize of $500 in 1937, at the Festival de Música de Cámara Panamericana in Mexico City, and his Third Symphony won first prize of the National Culture Committee in Buenos Aires in 1940. In 1969 Ficher was elected to the National Fine Arts Academy of Argentina.
Other prizes include:
*1929 the Asociación del Profesorado Orquestal Prize for ''Obertura patética'', op. 11
*1932 the Asociación del Profesorado Orquestal Prize for ''Tres bocetos sinfónicos inspirados en el Talmud'', op. 17
*1936 second prize in a contest sponsored by the Idelssohn Association of Johannesburg, South Africa for ''La rosa muerta, poema para coro mixto y piano'', op. 34
*1942 the E.A. Fleisher Collection Prize for his Violin Concerto, op. 46
*1952 the Asociación Wagneriana Carlos López-Buchardo Prize for his Fourth String Quartet
*1957 (September) Second Prize at the Festival Interamericano de Música, Montevideo, for his Saxophone Quartet
*1960 Grand Prize "Sesquicentenario de la Revolución de Mayo" for his Symphony No. 7, ''Epopeya de mayo'', op. 92
*1961 (November) Argentinean Mozarteum Prize (Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes) for his Piano Quintet
Compositions
Listed by
opus number
In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among composit ...
.
*op. 1: ''Songs without Words'' (5), for piano (1917, rev. 1949)
*op. 2: Two-part Inventions (4), for piano (1922, rev. 1949)
*op. 3: ''Grave e presto'', for violin solo (1923, rev. 1951)
*op. 4: Preludes (5), for piano (1924, rev. 1951)
*op. 5: Suite No. 1, on popular Jewish themes, for orchestra (1924, rev. 1966)
*op. 6: Suite No. 2, for orchestra (1926)
*op. 7: ''Poema heroico'', for orchestra (1927, rev. 1934)
*op. 8: ''Sulamita'', tone poem (inspired by the novel of Alejandro Kuprin) (1927, rev. 1960)
*op. 9: String Quartet no. 1 (1927, rev. 1947)
*op. 10: ''Dos poemas de El jardinero de R. Tagore'' (text: poems 16 and 42 by
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
), for chamber orchestra (1928)
*op. 11: ''Obertura patética'' (1928, rev. as ''Exodus'', 1960)
*op. 12: ''Dos piezas hebreas'', for violin and piano (1928)
*op. 13, no. 1: ''Canto elegíaco'', for cello and piano (1928)
*op. 14: ''Tres coros a capella'' (text: Rafael Alberti), for four-voice mixed choir (1928–54)
*op. 15: Sonata no. 1, for violin and piano (1929, rev. 1960)
*op. 16: ''Suite en estilo antiguo'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet (1930)
*op. 17: ''Tres bocetos sinfónicos inspirados en el Talmud'' (1930)
*op. 18: Sonata, for flute, viola, and piano (1931)
*op. 19: Pieces (3), for piano (1932)
*op. 20: Symphony no. 1 (Chamber Symphony) (1932)
*op. 21: Sonatina, for saxophone, trumpet, and piano (1932)
here is also ''Sapho'' (tango), for piano, op. 21, pub. Buenos Aires: Ortlli Hermanos, no date*op. 22: ''Variations on a Jewish Popular Theme'' (1932)
*op. 23: Preludes (3), for piano (1932)
*op. 24: Symphony no. 2 (1933)
*op. 25: ''Colombina de hoy'' (Today's Columbian, ballet in 1 act, scenario from N. Evreinov), for two pianos (1933)
*op. 26: ''Los invitados'' (The Guests, scenario from B. Romanoff, ballet in 1 act), for orchestra and two pianos (1933)
*op. 27: Dos canciones (text:
Gabriela Mistral
Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...
), for soprano or tenor and piano (rev. 1969)
*op. 28: ''Cantos de amor de
Jehuda Ha-Levy'' (7), for voice and piano (1934)
*op. 29: Pieces (4), for piano (1934)
*op. 30: Trio, for violin, cello, and piano (1935)
*op. 31: Prelude and Fugue, for piano (1935)
*op. 32, no. 1: Sonata, for flute and piano (1935)
*op. 32, no. 2: Sonata, for clarinet and piano (1937)
*op. 32, no. 3: Sonata, for oboe and piano (1940)
*op. 32, no. 4: Sonata, for bassoon and piano (1970)
*op. 33: ''Ocho poemas'' (text: César Tiempo), for voice and piano (1935)
*op. 34: ''La rosa muerta'' (The Dead Rose), for mixed choir and piano (1936)
*op. 35: String Quartet no. 2 (1936)
*op. 36: Symphony no. 3 (1938–40)
*op. 37: ''Tres estampas'', first series, for piano (1938)
*op. 38: ''Seis fábulas'', first series, for piano (1938–40)
*op. 39: ''Cinco piezas infantiles'', for piano (1940)
*op. 40: ''Melchor'' (ballet in 3 acts, scenario from César Tiempo), for chorus and 14 strings (1938–39)
*op. 41: ''El organillero'' (Leónidas Barletta), for bass and orchestra (1940–50)
*op. 42: ''Tres estampas'', second series, for piano (1941)
*op. 43: ''Tres danzas en estilo popular argentino'', for piano (1941)
*op. 44: Sonata no. 1, for piano (1941)
*op. 45: ''Las siete canciones de Amado Villar'', for voice and piano (1941)
*op. 46: Concerto, for violin and orchestra (1942)
*op. 47: ''Golondrina'' (ballet in 3 acts, scenario from Leónidas Barletta), for orchestra (1942)
*op. 48: Sonata, for cello and piano (1943)
*op. 49: Sonata no. 2, for piano (1943)
*op. 50: String Quartet no. 3 (1943)
*op. 51: ''Gaucho'', suite from the film score, for chamber orchestra (1944)
*op. 52: ''Psalm CXIX'' and "Pulvis eris et pulvis reverteris" (text: Leónidas Barletta), for tenor, female choir, and piano, or organ, or chamber orchestra (1944)
*op. 53: Concerto no. 1, for piano and orchestra (1945)
*op. 54: ''Preludio, coral y fuga'', for piano or for chamber orchestra (1945)
*op. 55: Sonata, for harp (1945)
*op. 56: Sonata no. 2, for violin and piano (1945)
*op. 57: ''Tres sonetos de Leónidas Barletta'', for low voice and piano
*op. 58: Sonetos (3) (Leónidas Barletta), for voice and piano (1946)
*op. 59a: ''Seis fábulas'', second series, for piano (1946, arr. chamber orchestra, op. 59b, 1951)
*op. 60: Symphony no. 4 (1946)
*op. 61: Serenata, for string orchestra (1947)
*op. 62: ''Introducción y movimiento perpetuo'', for violin and piano (1947)
*op. 63: Symphony no. 5 "Asi habló Isaías" (1947)
*op. 64: ''Tres danzas hebreas'', for two pianos (1947)
*op. 65: Pieces (3), for violin and piano or orchestra (1948)
*op. 66: ''Danzas americanas'' (6), for piano (1948, revised 1959 as ''Seis tangos y milongas'')
*op. 67: ''Hamlet'', four symphonic movements for orchestra (1948)
*op. 68, no. 1: Sonata, for flute and clarinet (1949)
*op. 68, no. 2: Sonata, for flute, oboe, and bassoon (1950)
*op. 68, no. 3: Sonata a cuatro, for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (1950)
*op. 69: ''Salmo de alegría'', cantata (text: Rafael Alberti), for solo voices, choir, and orchestra (1949)
*op. 69b: Overture, for the cantata ''Salmo de alegría'', for orchestra (1948)
*op. 70: ''Two Poems of Longfellow'', for voice and piano (1949)
*op. 71: Sonata no. 3, for piano (1950)
*op. 72: Sonata no. 4, for piano (1950)
*op. 73: String Quartet no. 4 (1952)
*op. 74: ''Tres décimas'' (text: Manuel F. Rugeles), for voice and piano (1952)
*op. 75: ''El oso'' (The Bear, chamber opera, 1 act, text after
Anton Chekhov, in Spanish and Russian) (1952)
*op. 76: Pieces (3), for viola and piano (1953)
*op. 77: ''Canciones del Paraná'' (6) (Rafael Alberti), for voice and piano (1953)
*op. 78: Suite no. 3, for chamber orchestra (1953)
*op. 79: ''Baladas del Paraná'' (4) (texe: Rafael Alberti), for voice and piano (1953)
*op. 80: Sonata, for viola and piano (1953)
*op. 81: Concerto no. 2, for piano and orchestra (1954)
*op. 82: ''Don Segundo Sombra'', overture for orchestra (1954)
*op. 83: ''Dos coros a capella'' (text: Francisco L. Bernardez, Nalé Roxlo), for mixed choir (1955)
*op. 84: ''Pedido de mano'' (The Proposal, chamber opera, 1 act, text after Anton Chekhov, in Spanish and Russian) (1955–56)
*op. 85: Concerto, for harp and chamber orchestra (1955)
*op. 86: Symphony no. 6 (1956)
*op. 87: Sonata no. 5, for piano (1956)
*op. 88: Rhapsody, for choir and saxophone quartet (1956)
*op. 89: Quartet, for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones (1957, also transcribed for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, or for string quartet)
*op. 90: ''Oda a la libertad'' (text: José Isaacson), for narrator and orchestra (1957)
*op. 91: ''Mi Aldea'' (Manuel Felipe Rugeles), cantata for soprano, alto, tenor, and chamber orchestra (1958)
*op. 92: Symphony no. 7 "Epopeya de mayo" (May Epic, 1958–59)
*op. 93: Sonata no. 3, for violin and piano (1959)
*op. 94: ''Cinco sonetos de Shakespeare'' (text trans.: Manuel Mujica-Lainez), for voice and orchestra
*op. 95: ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart'', for orchestra (1961)
*op. 96: Quintet, for piano and string quartet (1961)
*op. 97: Sonata no. 6, for piano (1961)
*op. 98: ''Obertura festiva'', for orchestra (1962)
*op. 99: Toccata, for piano (1963)
*op. 100: ''Cinco poemas'', for voice and piano (1963)
*op. 101: Sonata no. 7, for piano (1964)
*op. 102: ''Cinco sonetos de amor'' (text: Manuel Felipe Rugeles), for voice and piano (1964)
*op. 103: Concerto no. 3, for piano and orchestra (1964)
*op. 104: ''Cuatro sonetos de amor'' (text: Manuel Felipe Rugeles), for mixed choir (1964)
*op. 105: Symphony no. 8 (1965)
*op. 106: Poema, for two pianos (1966)
*op. 107: Concerto, for flute and chamber orchestra (1968)
*op. 108: Wind Quintet (1969)
*op. 109: ''Tres poemas'', for soprano or tenor and piano (1969)
*op. 110: ''Tres canciones'', for soprano or tenor and piano (1969)
*op. 111: ''Prelude, Siciliana, and Fugue'', for two pianos (1969)
*op. 112: ''Kadish'', cantata (text: Arminda Ralesky), for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, chorus, and orchestra (1969)
*op. 113: ''Cinco retratos'', for piano (1970)
*op. 114: ''Tres coros a cappella'' (text:
Alfonsina Storni
Alfonsina Storni (22 May 1892 – 25 October 1938) was an Argentine poet and playwright of the modernist period.
Early life
Storni was born on May 29, 1892 in Sala Capriasca, Switzerland. Her parents were Alfonso Storni and Paola Martignoni, who ...
), for mixed choir (1970)
*op. 115: Sonata no. 8, for piano (1971)
*op. 116: ''Tre pezzi'', for brass and percussion (1971)
*op. 117: ''Tres canciones'', for soprano or tenor and piano (1971)
*op. 118: ''Introduzione ed allegro'', for flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, violin, and viola (1971)
*op. 119: Preludes (4), for piano (1971)
*op. 120: ''Tres coros a cappella'', for mixed choir (1971)
*op. 121: ''Capriccio Argentina'', for orchestra (1972)
*op. 122: Sonata no. 9, for piano (1972)
*op. 123: Symphony no. 9 (1973)
*op. 124: ''Cinco sonetos'' (text: Cordoba Iturburu), for soprano or tenor and piano (1973)
*op. 125: ''Cuatro coros a capella'', for mixed choir (1973)
*op. 126: ''Tres canciones'', for soprano and piano (1973)
*op. 127: ''Cuatro piezas para cuatro solistas'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (1974)
*op. 128: Concerto, for cello and orchestra (1974)
*op. 129: Pieces (3), for piano (1975)
*op. 130: ''Obertura dramática'', for orchestra (1975)
*op. 131: Symphony no. 10 (text:
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
), for 2 solo voices, choir, and orchestra (1976–77)
*op. 132: ''Cuatro poemas'', for
voice and piano(text: Arminda Ralesky) (1977)
Works without opus number:
*''
Los afincaos'', film score (1941)
*''¡Gaucho!'', film score (1942)
*''Ponchos azules'', film score (1942)
*Polka, for piano (1948)
*''Cría de caballos de carrera'', documentary film score (1953)
*''Algodón'', documentary film score (undated)
*''Primavera sin nieve'', documentary film score (undated)
*''El murciélago'', for voice and piano (text: Alfonso Ferrari-Amores) (undated)
Discography
*''South American Chamber Music''. (Includes Ficher's "Palabras a mamá", op. 33, no. 2, from ''Ocho poemas de César Tiempo'', for voice and piano, and works by Fernandez, Broqua, Mignone, Pedrell, Santa Cruz, Sas, Uribe-Holguin, and Villa-Lobos). Olga Averino, soprano; Alfredo St. Malo, violin;
Fritz Magg, cello; Nicolas Slonimsky, piano. 78 RPM recording, 4 sound discs: analog, 78 rpm, 12 in. Columbia Masterworks M 437 (70714-D; 70715-D; 70716-D; 70717-D)
ridgeport, Conn.? Columbia, 1941. Reissued with additional material, as ''History Making Premieres''. LP recording 1 sound disc: analog, 33 rpm, stereo, 12 in. Orion ORS 7150; ORD 7150. Los Angeles: Orion, 1972.
*''Obras para Violin Solo de Compositores Argentinos''/''Works for Solo Violin by Argentine Composers'' Vol. II. (Includes Ficher's ''Grave y presto'', op. 3, and works by Giacobbe, Camps, Graetzer, Abras, Roel, and Bruno-Videla.) Alejandro Drago, violin. CD recording, 1 sound disc: digital, 4 in. Tradition TR070427.
uenos Aires Tradition, 2007.
*''Musica Orquestal desde la Cancilleria Argentina'' / ''Orchestral Music from the Argentine Foreign Office (1955)''. Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra. Documentae Historicae Argentinae. Serie Histórica: Archive Performances. Serie de Bicentenario 1810–2010. (Includes Ficher's Suite from ''El Gaucho'', op. 51, and works by Alberto Ginastera, Washington Castro, and others.) 2-CD set, 2 sound discs: digital, 4 in. Tradition.
uenos Aires Tradition, 2010.
References
*
*
*
*
*
Footnotes
Further reading
*
*
External links
Texts
*Cohen, Warren. 2009.
Jacobo Ficher: A Neglected Original Voice Scottsdale, Arizona: Musicanova's Blog (16 December). (Accessed 9 December 2012).
Media
*Jacobo Ficher Symphony No. 7, ''Epopeya de mayo''. MusicaNova Orchestra (Scottsdale), Warren Cohen, cond.
**
**
**
**
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficher, Jacobo
1896 births
1978 deaths
Argentine classical composers
Argentine people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish Argentine musicians
Jewish classical composers
20th-century classical composers
Twelve-tone and serial composers
Musicians from Odesa
Odesa Jews
Musicians from Buenos Aires
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Argentina
Jews from the Russian Empire
National University of La Plata faculty
Male classical composers
20th-century male musicians