Alexander Sverjensky
Encyclopedia
Alexander Borisovich Sverjensky (Александр Борисович Сверженский) (26 March 1901 – 3 October 1971) was a Russia
n-born Australia
n pianist
and teacher.
Sverjensky was born in Riga
, Latvia
, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1901. He started piano lessons at age 12. From age 14, he studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Alexander Glazunov
. (Some sources say he studied under Sergei Rachmaninoff
or Alexander Siloti
.) He also studied law at Tomsk
.
In 1922 he left Russia for China
. He accompanied the soprano Lydia Lipkovska on a tour of China, Japan
, the Philippines
, Australia
and New Zealand
, and then appeared as a soloist in Europe. He decided to settle permanently in Australia in 1925. He appeared in many recitals and concerts throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first person to play the music of Sergei Prokofiev
in Australia, and also championed other Russian composers such as Igor Stravinsky
, Alexander Scriabin
, Nikolai Medtner
, Mily Balakirev
, Glazunov and Rachmaninoff. He was naturalised a British subject in 1930. He first started appearing as a soloist with the ABC Sydney Orchestra (forerunner of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
) in 1933, and he founded his own chamber music trio in 1936. He was the first pianist to play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in 1941 under Percy Code.
From 1938 he became a piano teacher at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
, and had a profound influence on a generation of Australian and New Zealand pianists and their own students. These included Malcolm Williamson
, Larry Sitsky
, Romola Costantino
, Richard Farrell
, Stephanie McCallum
, Anne Harvey (mother of Michael Kieran Harvey
), Neta Maughan (mother and teacher of Tamara Anna Cislowska
), Daniel Herscovitch, Julie Adam, Grant Foster, Rhondda Gillespie, Robert Weatherburn, Tamás Ungár, David Miller, Helen Quach, Alison Bauld
, Garry Laycock, Pamela Sverjensky, Suzanne Cooper, Julia Brimo, Vladimir Pleshakov, Helen Priestner Edmonds and Edward Theodore. He retired from his teaching position in 1969.
Alexander Sverjensky was married three times. First was Mary Murdoch in 1927; they divorced in 1943. Two months later he married Enith Clarke, a piano teacher. They divorced in 1951, and a month later he married Isla Draper.
He died in Sydney on 3 October 1971, survived by his third wife and two sons (one from his first marriage).
The National Library of Australia
holds a collection of his programs and other papers.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and teacher.
Sverjensky was born in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1901. He started piano lessons at age 12. From age 14, he studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
. (Some sources say he studied under Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
or Alexander Siloti
Alexander Siloti
Alexander Ilyich Siloti was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, , Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti) (9 October 1863, near Kharkiv - 8 December 1945, New York) was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, , Aleksandr Iljič...
.) He also studied law at Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
.
In 1922 he left Russia for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He accompanied the soprano Lydia Lipkovska on a tour of China, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and then appeared as a soloist in Europe. He decided to settle permanently in Australia in 1925. He appeared in many recitals and concerts throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first person to play the music of Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
in Australia, and also championed other Russian composers such as Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
, Nikolai Medtner
Nikolai Medtner
Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was a Russian composer and pianist.A younger contemporary of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, he wrote a substantial number of compositions, all of which include the piano...
, Mily Balakirev
Mily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
, Glazunov and Rachmaninoff. He was naturalised a British subject in 1930. He first started appearing as a soloist with the ABC Sydney Orchestra (forerunner of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
) in 1933, and he founded his own chamber music trio in 1936. He was the first pianist to play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)
The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff is famous for its technical and musical demands on the performer...
with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in 1941 under Percy Code.
From 1938 he became a piano teacher at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
, and had a profound influence on a generation of Australian and New Zealand pianists and their own students. These included Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO , CBE was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death.-Biography:...
, Larry Sitsky
Larry Sitsky
Lazar Sitsky AM, usually referred to as Larry Sitsky, born 10 September 1934, is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar...
, Romola Costantino
Romola Costantino
Romola Helen Louise Costantino OBE was a noted Australian pianist, accompanist and teacher, who also worked as a music, film and theatre critic....
, Richard Farrell
Richard Farrell
Richard Farrell was a gifted New Zealand classical pianist who achieved almost legendary status, but whose flourishing career was cut short in a road accident at the age of 31...
, Stephanie McCallum
Stephanie McCallum
Stephanie McCallum is a classical pianist. She has recorded works of Erik Satie, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Carl Maria von Weber, Albéric Magnard, Pierre Boulez, and Iannis Xenakis among others.-Life:Stephanie McCallum studied with Alexander...
, Anne Harvey (mother of Michael Kieran Harvey
Michael Kieran Harvey
Michael Kieran Harvey is an Australian pianist whose career has been notable for its diversity and wide repertoire. He is renowned for commissioning and performing new music. He has especially promoted the works of Australian composers, such as Carl Vine, all of whose piano music he has recorded...
), Neta Maughan (mother and teacher of Tamara Anna Cislowska
Tamara Anna Cislowska
Tamara Anna Cislowska is an Australian concert pianist and chamber musician. She has performed across most of the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, Colombia, Greece, The Netherlands and Poland, and has associated with the Philharmonia, the London...
), Daniel Herscovitch, Julie Adam, Grant Foster, Rhondda Gillespie, Robert Weatherburn, Tamás Ungár, David Miller, Helen Quach, Alison Bauld
Alison Bauld
Alison Margaret Bauld is an Australian writer and composer who lives and works in London, England.-Biography:Bauld was born in Sydney and studied piano with Alexander Sverjensky at the Conservatorium of New South Wales...
, Garry Laycock, Pamela Sverjensky, Suzanne Cooper, Julia Brimo, Vladimir Pleshakov, Helen Priestner Edmonds and Edward Theodore. He retired from his teaching position in 1969.
Alexander Sverjensky was married three times. First was Mary Murdoch in 1927; they divorced in 1943. Two months later he married Enith Clarke, a piano teacher. They divorced in 1951, and a month later he married Isla Draper.
He died in Sydney on 3 October 1971, survived by his third wife and two sons (one from his first marriage).
The National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
holds a collection of his programs and other papers.