Khrennikov's Seven () was a group of seven

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 def ...

s denounced in 1979 at the Sixth Congress of the

Composers' Union The Union of Russian Composers (formerly the Union of Soviet Composers, Order of Lenin Union of Composers of USSR () (1932– ), and Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR) is a state-created organization for musicians and musicologists created in 1 ...

by its leader

Tikhon Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also known for his political activities. He wrote three symphonies, f ...

for the unapproved participation in some festivals of Soviet music in the West. Khrennikov called their music "pointlessness... and noisy mud instead of real musical innovation". The seven were listed in the following order:

Elena Firsova Elena Olegovna Firsova (; also ''Yelena'' or ''Jelena Firssowa''; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian composer living in the UK. Life Firsova was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Oleg Firsov and Viktoria Lichko. She studied music ...

, Dmitri Smirnov,

Alexander Knaifel Alexander Aronovich Knaifel (; also ''Knayfel'', ''Knayfel'', or ''Kneifel''; 28 November 1943 – 27 June 2024) was a Soviet composer from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, known for his operas '' The Ghost of Canterville'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' as w ...

Viktor Suslin Viktor Yevseyevich Suslin (; 13 June 1942 – 10 July 2012) was a Russian composer. An associate of Sofia Gubaidulina's, together with her and Vyacheslav Artyomov he formed the improvisatory ensemble 'Astraea' in 1975. He emigrated to Germany ...

Vyacheslav Artyomov Vyacheslav Petrovich Artyomov (; born 29 June 1940) is a Russian composer. Early life and education Vyacheslav Artyomov was born on 29 June 1940 in Moscow, Soviet Union. He initially pursued studies in physics while also receiving formal musi ...

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

, and

Edison Denisov Edison Vasilievich Denisov (, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called " Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music. Biography Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia. He studied math ...

. These composers subsequently suffered restrictions on performance and publication of their music. The tone of the denunciation harked back to the First Congress of 1948, at which

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

, Khachaturian,

Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (; ; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize five times. Early years Myaskovsky ...

, Klebanov, and others were victimized. By 1991 four of the seven had left the Soviet Union (except Knaifel, Denisov and Artyomov), Denisov left the country in 1994 and died in Paris two years later.

Quotations

"In 1979, the Communist Party tried to bring these rebels group of younger composers known as "unofficial" composersto heel. The egregious hack Tikhon Khrennikov, head of the Soviet Composers' Union, attacked seven of them by name in terms that were an unintended compliment: he called their music 'not representative of the work of Soviet composers'." (

Gerard McBurney Gerard McBurney (born 20 June 1954) is a British composer, arranger, broadcaster, teacher and writer. Life Born in Cambridge, England, he is the son of Charles McBurney, an American archaeologist, and Anne Francis Edmondstone (née Charles) ...

) "The 'bad days' returned in November 1979, when at the Sixth Congress of the Composer's Union, the music of the so-called 'Khrennikov Seven' was criticised as 'pointlessness ... and noisy mud instead of real musical innovation' ... This victimisation came in connection with their participation in the Cologne festival. An administrative punishment was made, preventing them from being performed on the radio and television, and prohibiting the publication of their scores. The leaders of the Composer's Union also proclaimed the policy of 'divide and rule', and Schnittke, who previously had been harshly criticised, was suddenly given official recognition." ( Dmitri Smirnov: ''Song from Underground 1'')http://wikilivres.ru/Song_from_Underground_(1st_version_%E2%80%94_Smirnov

Notes

* The authors of the Khrennikov's address-denunciation were L. G. Grigoriev (Ginsburg) and Y. M. Platek, who became known later for their common work on Khrennikov under the title "He was chosen by Time". Khrennikov's address can be compared to Lysenko's address on genetics in 1936. "Time" which has chosen ''Him'' in 1948 stopped for 40 years.

References

External links

Answers

* ttps://wikilivres.org/wiki/Song_from_Underground_(1st_version_%E2%80%94_Smirnov) Song from Underground (1)
Song from Underground (2)

Veche Tveri (in Russian)

Tikhon Khrennikov: Musik belongs to People ("Музыка принадлежит народу") (fragment in Russian)
23 Nov. 1979
Tikhon Khrennikov: The high destiny of the Soviet music ("Высокое предназначение советской музыки") (fragment in Russian)
28 Nov. 1979
Smirnov: The Seven of Khrennikov ("Семёрка Хренникова") (in Russian)
5 May 1980
Kholopov, Tsenova: Khrennikov's Seven (in Russian)
1993
Pospelov (in Russian)
5 July 2001 {{Khrennikov's Seven 1979 in the Soviet Union Composition schools Music organizations based in Russia Music of the Soviet Union

Quotations

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Notes

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External links