Oscar Borisovich Feltsman (russian: Оскар Борисович Фельцман; 18 February 1921 – 3 February 2013) was a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
-born
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 ...
of
Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...
descent. He was the father of
Vladimir Feltsman.
Biography
Feltsman was born in
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, the son of Boris Osipovich Feltsman, a Lithuanian Jewish orthopedic surgeon who also played the
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 keyboa ...
professionally. He had musical training from the age of five; learning the violin as a pupil of
Pyotr Stolyarsky
Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky (russian: Пётр Соломонович Столярский, uk, Петро Соломонович Столярський), (29 April 1944) was a Soviet violinist and eminent pedagogue, honored as People's A ...
and the piano with Bertha Reynbald, who also taught
Emil Gilels
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels ( Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Early life and educati ...
and Tatiana Goldfarb. He produced his first musical composition for the piano "Autumn" when he was six years old.
Feltsman graduated from the Pyotr Stolyarsky Music School in Odessa in 1939, where he studied composition with the composer
Nikolai Vilinsky. Then Feltsman was admitted to 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 ...
, studying under
Vissarion Shebalin
Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin (russian: Виссарио́н Я́ковлевич Шебали́н; 29 May 1963) was a Soviet composer.
Biography
Shebalin was born in Omsk, where his parents were school teachers. He studied in the musical colle ...
who wrote a letter of thanks on behalf of the Moscow Conservatory to Vilinsky for teaching Feltsman composition.
During the Second World War, Feltsman was evacuated to
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
, becoming at 20 the executive secretary of the Siberian Union of Composers, where he wrote music for the philharmonic, Leningrad Alexandrinsky Theater and the Jewish theater of Belarus. In the same period Feltsman wrote an operetta based on
Valentin Kataev
Valentin Petrovich Kataev (russian: Валенти́н Петро́вич Ката́ев; also spelled Katayev or Kataiev; – 12 April 1986) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing ...
's play "Blue Scarf", which was criticised in the newspaper "
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...
". In 1941, Oscar Feltsman married Evgenia Kaydanovskaya a student of the choral conducting faculty of the Moscow Conservatory. He returned to Moscow from Novisibirsk in 1945.
Starting with musical comedies at the beginning of his career, Feltsman subsequently combined producing traditional classical music with writing music for circuses and children's variety shows. After around 1952 Feltsman started to write popular songs and later on produced a number of popular songs. The first of these was ''Cruise'' based on poems by B. Dragunsky and L. Davidovich and performed by
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utiosov (russian: link=no, Леонид Осипович Утёсов, uk, link=no, Леонід Йосипович Утьосов); real name Lazar (Leyzer) Iosifovich Vaysbeyn or Weissbein ()) (, Odesa – 9 March ...
as well as ''Convallarias'' which was based on poetry by Olga Fadeeva.
In 1948, at the Operetta Theatre in Moscow his musical comedy ''Air castle'' was premiered and in 1952, were two further premieres - at the Operetta Theater ''Suvorochka'' and at the Stanislavsky Theater ''Mediterranean Sea Make a Noise''. Around this time Feltsman also began to write music for Circuses and children's variety shows, staged by
Natalia Sats
Natalya Il'inichna Sats (sometimes spelled Natalia Satz; russian: Наталия Ильинична Сац; 27 August Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._14_August.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki> O.S._14_Augus ...
. Also in 1952, Feltsman wrote his Violin Concerto in three parts. Thereafter he wrote a few songs - the first of these was ''Cruise'' based on poems by B. Dragunsky and L. Davidovich and performed by
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utiosov (russian: link=no, Леонид Осипович Утёсов, uk, link=no, Леонід Йосипович Утьосов); real name Lazar (Leyzer) Iosifovich Vaysbeyn or Weissbein ()) (, Odesa – 9 March ...
. Feltsman subsequently went on to collaborate with a number of prominent Russian poets including
Andrey Voznesensky
Andrei Andreyevich Voznesensky (russian: link=no, Андре́й Андре́евич Вознесе́нский, 12 May 1933 – 1 June 2010) was a Soviet and Russian poet and writer who had been referred to by Robert Lowell as "one of th ...
,
Rasul Gamzatov
Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov ( av, ХӀамзатазул Расул ХӀамзатил вас, Ħamzatil Rasul Ħamzatil vas, ; russian: Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов, p=rɐˈsul ɡɐmˈzatəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐmˈzatəf, a=Rasu ...
, Eugene Dolmatovsky, Mihail Matusovsky, I. Kohanovsky, Mark Lisyansky,
Lev Oshanin,
Robert Rozhdestvensky
Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (russian: Ро́берт Ива́нович Рожде́ственский; 20 June 1932 – 19 August 1994) was a Soviet-Russian poet and Songwriter who broke with socialist realism in the 1950s–1960s during ...
, V. Kharitonov, Igor Shaferan, M. Tanich, V. Orlov, N. Olev, M. Ryabinin. His music has been performed by notable singers including L. Utesov,
Mark Bernes
Mark Naumovich Bernes (russian: link=no, Ма́рк Нау́мович Берне́с) (,This date: – is a mistake found in the '' Great Soviet Encyclopaedia''. True date: – was engraved on the Bernes's gravestone at Novodevichy Cemeter ...
,
Vladimir Troshin
Vladimir Konstantinovich Troshin (russian: Влади́мир Константи́нович Тр́ошин; 15 May 1926 – 25 February 2008) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and singer. In 1951, at the age of 25, for ...
,
Joseph Kobzon
Iosif (Joseph) Davydovich Kobzon (russian: link=no, Ио́сиф Давы́дович Кобзо́н; 11 September 1937 – 30 August 2018) was a Russian singer, known for his crooner style.
Early life
Kobzon was born to Jewish parents in th ...
,
Muslim Magomaev,
Edita Piekha
Edita Piekha (russian: Эди́та Станисла́вовна Пье́ха, ''Edita Stanislavovna Pyekha'', pl, Edyta Piecha, french: Édith-Marie Piecha) is a Soviet and Russian singer and actress of Polish descent. She was the third popular ...
,
Eduard Khil
Eduard Anatolyevich Khil ( rus, Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Хиль, , ɨdʊˈart ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈxʲilʲ; 4 September 1934 – 4 June 2012), often anglicized as Edward Hill, was a Soviet-Russian baritone singer.
Khil be ...
, V. Tolkunova, Yuri Gulyaev, G. Ots,
Lev Leshchenko
Lev Valerianovich Leshchenko (russian: link=no, Лев Валерьянович Лещенко; born 1 February 1942), is a Russian singer, who is best known for his rendition of "Den Pobedy" and the 1980 Summer Olympics closing ceremony theme ...
, O. Anofriev, M. Pahomenko, &
Leonid Serebrennikov
Leonid Fyodorovich Serebrennikov (October 2, 1947, Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian actor and a singer. His voice appeared in approximately 70 films.
Performer of the song ''Absurdly, jokingly, blindly, madly, fairy''... (''Nelepo, smeshno, bezra ...
. In 1968, he co-writes a song "
Ogromnoe nebo".
His most popular song was "Lilies of the Valley" («Ландыши»), written to verse by Olga Fadeeva (
ru) and sung by
Gelena Velikanova
Gelena Martselievna Velikanova (russian: Гелена Марцелиевна Великановна, 27 February 1923 – 10 November 1998) was a Soviet traditional pop performer, who popular in the 1950s and 1960s and best remembered for her 195 ...
at its première.
In 1973, Feltsman wrote music for the plays ''Charley's Aunt'', ''The Old Houses'' and ''Let the Guitar Play''. In the mid-1980s, Feltsman arranged concerts for the instrumental ensemble ''The Lights of Moscow'' with soloist
Irina Allegrova
Irina Aleksandrovna Allegrova (russian: link=no, Ирина Александровна Аллегрова; born 20 January 1952) is a Russian singer. She is a People's Artist of Russia (2010). before handing over to David Tuhmanov after two successful years.
In 1987, Feltsman wrote his vocal cycle ''Songs of Bygone'', based on Jewish folk songs and produced the book ''Songs of Bygone''
In the late 1990s Feltsman wrote 12 songs based on poetry by Yuri Garin which was performed in Odessa to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the city.
Feltsman wrote a number of
chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
* Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
* Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...
works: ''Ten romances on the poems of
Inna Lisnyanskaya'', ''The cycle of romances on the poetry of
Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...
'', ''The cycle of songs on poems
Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Hayim Nahman Bialik ( he, חיים נחמן ביאַליק; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was part of the vangu ...
''.
He died, aged 91, 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 million ...
.
Honours and awards
*
Order of Merit for the Fatherland
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
, 2nd class (2011), 3rd class (2006) and 4th class (2001)
*
Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...
(1996)
* Honoured Artist of the Chechen-Ingush Republic
*
People's Artist of the RSFSR
People's Artist of the RSFSR (russian: Народный артист РСФСР, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchest ...
(1989)
* People's Artist of the
Dagestan ASSR
The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic av, Дагъистаналъул Автономияб Советияб Социалистияб Жумгьурият az, Дағыстан Мухтар Совет Сосиалист Республи ...
(1975)
*
Honoured Artist of the RSFSR
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...
(1972)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feltsman, Oscar
1921 births
2013 deaths
Musicians from Odesa
Odesa Jews
Jewish classical composers
Soviet composers
Soviet male composers
Russian male classical composers
Russian opera composers
Male opera composers
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class
People's Artists of the RSFSR
Honored Artists of the RSFSR
Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery
20th-century Russian male musicians