Elena Firsova
Encyclopedia
Life
She was born in LeningradSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
into the family of physicists Oleg Firsov
Oleg Firsov
Oleg Borisovich Firsov – was a Russian Soviet physicist-theorist known for his work on atomic interaction. He was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1972 for a series of work titled "Elementary processes and non-elastic scattering at nuclear collisions"....
and Viktoria Lichko. She studied music in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
with Alexander Pirumov, Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Nikolaevich Kholopov was a famous Russian musicologist, music theorist, doctor of arts, and professor of the Moscow Conservatoire.-Biography:...
, Edison Denisov
Edison Denisov
Edison Vasilievich Denisov was a Russian composer of so called "Underground" — "Anti-Collectivist", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division in the Soviet music.-Biography:...
and Philip Herschkowitz
Philip Herschkowitz
Philipp Herschkowitz was a Romanian-born composer and music theorist, pupil of Alban Berg and Anton Webern, who spent 47 years, from 1940 to 1987, in the Soviet Union.-Biography:...
. In 1979 she was blacklisted as one of the "Khrennikov's Seven
Khrennikov's Seven
Khrennikov’s Seven was a group of seven Russian Soviet composers denounced at the Sixth Congress of the Composers' Union by its leader Tikhon Khrennikov for the unapproved participation in some festivals of Soviet music in the West. Khrennikov called their music "pointlessness... and noisy mud...
" at the Sixth Congress of the Union of Soviet Composers
Union of Soviet Composers
The USSR Union of Composers or Union of Composers of the USSR , , was a professional organisation of composers in the Soviet Union...
for unapproved participation in some festivals of Soviet music in the West. She is married to the composer Dmitri Smirnov
Dmitry Nikolayevich Smirnov (composer)
Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov is a Russian and British composer.-Biography:He was born in Minsk into a family of opera singers and he studied at the Moscow Conservatory 1967-1972 under Nikolai Sidelnikov, Yuri Kholopov and Edison Denisov. He also studied privately with Webern's pupil Philip...
and they currently live in the United Kingdom. Their children are Philip Firsov
Philip Firsov
Philip Firsov — British painter and sculptor of Russian origin.Born in Moscow in the family of two Russian composers Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov, he left Russia in the age of 6. The family settled in England...
(an artist and sculptor), and Alissa Firsova
Alissa Firsova
Alissa Firsova is a Russian and British composer, pianist and conductor.Born in Moscow to the composers Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov, she moved to the UK in 1991....
(a composer, pianist and conductor).
She composed more than a hundred compositions in many different genres including chamber opera The Nightingale and the Rose after Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
and Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
(premiered at the 1994 Almeida Opera Festival, London), an orchestra work Augury, (premiered at the 1992 BBC Proms) that includes a choral setting of William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
’s famous lines ‘To see the world in a grain of sand...’ and Requiem to Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
's poem for soprano, chorus and orchestra (premiered at the Berlin Konzerthouse in September 2003).
Her favorite genre is a chamber cantata for solo voice and ensemble (or orchestra). Some of them are written to the poems by Alexander Pushkin, Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Moscow famine that followed it. In an attempt to save her daughter Irina from...
, Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
and Oleg Prokofiev
Oleg Prokofiev
Oleg Sergeevich Prokofiev — prominent artist, sculptor and a poet....
. However, the most of them are setting the poems by her favorite poet Osip Mandelstam
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...
that include Earthly Life, Tristia, The Stone, Forest Walks, Before the Thunderstorm, Stygian Song, Secret Way, Seashell, Whirlpool, Silentium, Winter Songs, and Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
's Sonnets (in Russian translation by Osip Mandelstam).
She received commissions from many music festivals, orchestras and ensembles including the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
, Brodsky Quartet
Brodsky Quartet
The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, in existence since 1972, though only Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas are original members.In addition to performing classical music, and in particular the classic string quartet repertoire of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bartók and Shostakovich,...
, Manchester Wind Orchestra, Schubert Ensemble, Freden Festival, BBC Proms and Expo 2000
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground , which is famous for hosting CeBIT...
(Hanover). Her music is available through publishers Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
, London; Hans Sikorski, Hamburg; G. Schirmer, New York.
Selected works
- Suite for viola solo, Op. 2 (1967)
- A Feast in Time of Plague, chamber opera after Alexander Pushkin (1973)
- Cello Concerto No.1 (1973)
- PetrarchPetrarchFrancesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
’s Sonnets (translated by Osip MandelstamOsip MandelstamOsip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...
) for voice and ensemble (1976) - Chamber Concerto No. 1 for flute and strings (1978)
- The Night for voice and saxophone quartet (Boris PasternakBoris PasternakBoris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
, 1978) - Tristia, cantata for voice and chamber orchestra (Mandelstam, 1979)
- Three Poems of Osip Mandelstam, for voice and piano (1980)
- Misterioso (String Quartet No. 3, 1980)
- Shakespeare’s Sonnets for voice and organ (or saxophone quartet, 1981)
- Chamber Concerto No. 2 (Cello Concerto No. 2, 1982)
- The Stone, cantata for voice and orchestra (Mandelstam, 1983)
- Violin Concerto No. 2 (1983)
- Earthly Life, chamber cantata for soprano and ensemble (Mandelstam, 1984)
- Chamber Concerto No.3 (Piano Concerto No. 1, 1985)
- Music for 12 for ensemble (1986)
- Forest walks, cantata for soprano and ensemble (Mandelstam, 1987)
- Chamber Concerto No. 4 - for horn and ensemble (1987)
- Augury for chorus and orchestra (William BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
1988) - Amoroso (String Quartet No. 4, 1989)
- Nostalgia for orchestra (1989)
- Stygian Song for soprano and chamber ensemble (Mandelstam, 1989)
- Odyssey for 7 players (1990)
- The Nightingale and the Rose, chamber opera (Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
/Christina RossettiChristina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
, 1991) - Seashell for soprano and ensemble (Mandelstam, 1991)
- Whirlpool for voice, flute and percussion (Mandelstam, 1991)
- Silentium for voice and string quartet (Mandelstam, 1991)
- Secret Way for voice and orchestra (Mandelstam, 1992)
- Distance for voice, clarinet and string quartet (Marina TsvetaevaMarina TsvetaevaMarina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Moscow famine that followed it. In an attempt to save her daughter Irina from...
, 1992) - Lagrimoso, (String Quartet No. 5, 1992)
- Cassandra, for orchestra (1992)
- Insomnia, for four singers (Pushkin, 1993)
- Before the Thunderstorm, cantata for soprano and ensemble (Mandelstam, 1994)
- String Quartet No. 6 (1994)
- Compassione (String Quartet No. 7, 1995)
- The Stone Guest (String Quartet No. 8, 1995)
- No, it is not a Migraine for baritone and piano (Mandelstam, 1995)
- Chamber Concerto No. 5 (Cello Concerto No. 3, 1996)
- The Door is Closed (String Quartet No. 9, 1996)
- Chamber Concerto No. 6 (Piano Concerto No. 2, 1996)
- The River of Time for chorus and chamber orchestra in memory of Edison DenisovEdison DenisovEdison Vasilievich Denisov was a Russian composer of so called "Underground" — "Anti-Collectivist", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division in the Soviet music.-Biography:...
(Gavrila Derzhavin, 1997) - La malinconia (String Quartet No. 10, 1998)
- Captivity for wind orchestra (1998)
- Leaving for string orchestra (1998)
- The Scent of Absence for bass, flute and harp (Oleg ProkofievOleg ProkofievOleg Sergeevich Prokofiev — prominent artist, sculptor and a poet....
, 1998) - Das erste ist vergangen (Christushymnus 2000) (The Former Things are Passed Away) for soprano, bass, mixed choir, and chamber orchestra (Franz KafkaFranz KafkaFranz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
, BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, etc., 1999) - Requiem for soprano, chorus and orchestra (Anna AkhmatovaAnna AkhmatovaAnna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
, 2001) - Winter Songs for soprano and cello (Mandelstam, 2003)
- The Garden of Dreams (Homage to Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
) for orchestra (2004) - Farewell (String Quartet No.12, 2005)
- Black Bells for piano and ensemble (2005)
- For Slava" for solo cello (2007)
- Purgatorio (String Quartet No.11, completed in 2008)
Selected discography
- Misterioso, String Quartet No.3 Op.24 in: Lydian Quartet in Moscow: Firsova, Chaushian, Child, Lee Art and Electronics: AED 10108 Stereo
- Amoroso, String Quartet No.4 Op.40 in: Chilingirian Quartet: StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, SchnittkeAlfred SchnittkeAlfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
, SmirnovDmitry Nikolayevich Smirnov (composer)Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov is a Russian and British composer.-Biography:He was born in Minsk into a family of opera singers and he studied at the Moscow Conservatory 1967-1972 under Nikolai Sidelnikov, Yuri Kholopov and Edison Denisov. He also studied privately with Webern's pupil Philip...
, RoslavetsNikolai RoslavetsNikolai Andreevich Roslavets was a significant Soviet modernist composer. Roslavets was a convinced modernist and cosmopolitan thinker; his music was officially suppressed from 1930 onwards....
, Firsova: Music for String Quartet, Conifer Classics 75605 512522 - La Malinconia, String Quartet No.10 Op.84 in: Brodsky Quartet: BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
Op.18 and six more: Alvarez, BeamishSally BeamishSally Beamish is a British composer of chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community....
, Firsova, Jegede, Smirnov, Tanaka, Vanguard Classics 99212 - Chamber Concerto No.1 for Flute and Strings Op.19 in: Works by modern composers of Moscow: Smirnov, Bobilev, Firsova, Pavlenko, Artiomov, Mobile Fidelity MFCD 906
- Cassandra for symphony orchestra Op.60 (1992) together with Sofia GubaidulinaSofia GubaidulinaSofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations...
: Pro et contra BIS CD-668 STEREO - The Mandelstam Cantatas (Forest Walks, Earthly Life, Before the Thunderstorm) Studio for New Music Moscow, Igor Dronov, conductor; Ekaterina Kichigina, soprano Megadisc MDC 7816 see at Megadisc site
Quotations
- It is difficult for me to compose; the process is almost excruciating and painful, and the work very rarely goes well. But the quality of music, insofar as I may judge, does not depend on this. Now and then music which is easily written is more effective but it is sometimes also more superficial.
- For me, composition generally means sinking down into myself, contact with beauty and communication with the non material world.
- Composers - although by no means all of them - have a great deal in common with priests and gardeners.
See also
- List of solo piano pieces, Russian
- Miscellaneous solo piano compositions (Rachmaninoff)Miscellaneous solo piano compositions (Rachmaninoff)The composer Sergei Rachmaninoff produced a number of solo piano pieces that were either lost, unpublished, or not assigned an opus number. While often disregarded in the concert repertoire, they are nevertheless part of his oeuvre. He composed sixteen such pieces, and all others are lost. Ten of...