Alexander Nikolaevich Cherepnin ( January 8 [20], 1899 , St. Petersburg - September 29, 1977 , Paris ) - Russian and American composer, pianist, music theorist.
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Biography
The son of composer Nikolai Cherepnin and singer ( mezzo-soprano ) Maria Albertovna Benois (1876 -?), The niece of Alexandre Benois . He studied at the Petrograd and Tiflis Conservatories, after moving in 1921 with his family to France, he graduated from the Paris Conservatory .
Among his teachers in Russia are composer Viktor Mikhailovich Belyaev (student of A.K. Lyadov and A.K. Glazunov ), who prepared Cherepnin for admission to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Leokadiy Kashperov (famous pianist, student of Anton Rubinstein) [5] and its professor at the Conservatory Nikolay Alexandrovich Sokolov (student of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov). It should be noted that the mentor of Cherepnin during this period was the outstanding musicologist Alexander Ossovsky , who was friendly with his father, N. N. Cherepnin . A certain influence on the early works of Cherepnin was provided by Alexander Spendiarov .
He was close to the composers of the Paris School ( Honegger , Martin , etc.). As a pianist, he performed all over the world. In Shanghai, he met the Chinese pianist Lee Xiang Ming, who became his wife. He also worked in Japan (among his students - Japanese composers Akira Ifukube , Yoritsune Matsudaira). He influenced later Chinese and Japanese music. He spent the years of war in Paris.
In 1948 he moved to the United States , in 1958 received American citizenship. In 1949 - 1964 he taught composition at De Paul University in Chicago . In 1967 he performed in the USSR ( Moscow , Leningrad , Tbilisi ). Among his students are Gloria Coates , John Downey, and others.
Family
- The first wife (since 1926, a little over ten years) - Louisine A. Weeks (Louisine A. Peters Weekes, 1886 -?), An American public activist [6] , [7] ; had a daughter Hathaway “Happy” Weekes Scully (1915-1984)
- Second wife - Chinese pianist Li Xiang Ming (Lee Hsing Ming) (1915 - 1991)
- son Peter Cherepnin
- son Sergey Cherepnin (born 1941) - composer and developer of synthesizers
- son Ivan Cherepnin ( 1943 - 1998 ) - composer, author of electronic music
Creativity
On the work of Cherepnin, who actively used Russian, Georgian, Chinese musical folklore, Stravinsky and Prokofiev had a great influence. He owns four operas (among them “Ol-Ol”, 1924 - 1925 , according to L. Andreev ; “The Wedding of Zobeide”, 1929 - 1930 , according to Hoffmannsthal ), five ballets (“Frescoes of Ajanta ”, 1923 , production in Covent Garden with the participation of Anna Pavlova , who owned the idea of composition; “Trepak”, 1937 ; “ Shota Rustaveli ”, 1945 ; “Woman and her shadow”, 1948 , according to Claudel ; “Abyss”, 1949 , according to L. Andreev, etc.) , “Georgian Rhapsody” for cello and orchestra ( 1922 ), four symphonies ( 1927 - 1957 ), six piano concerts ( 1919 - 1965 ) [8] , many choral and chamber compositions.
Theory
At the heart of Cherepnin’s original harmony lies a non-modal modal concept, which the composer began to think back in the 1910s. The author considers “Romantic Sonatina”, op. 4 (1918). Theoretically, the concept was formulated in adulthood, in the article "Basic Elements of My Musical Language" (Basic Elements of My Musical Language, manuscript, 1962 [9] ).
As a modal basis, Cherepnin puts forward a scale of nine non-repeating heights (with an octave doubling - ten-stage), that is, an ennechord, which represents as an overlap of three four-stage tierzierznyh scales, which the author called " tetrachords " (PTP, TPP, PPT; half a ton to the cape uniformly tempered system ). Cherepnin calls the resulting structural varieties of 9-stage scales “the first fret” (a whole tone of “tetrachord” in the middle; N. Slonimsky called it “the Cherepnin scale” [10] , and Yu. N. Kholopov “Cherepnin in the major” [11] ) , “Second fret” (whole tone below) and “third fret” (whole tone above). The lower tone of the Ennechords is called the “tonic”.
The 9-stage scale is then interpreted as a set of sounds, similar to the dodecaphone series, from which sounds for vertical and horizontal formations are taken in random order. The technique of composition of this kind is called Cherepnin's "intrapoint" (English interpoint; lat. Punctus inter punctum).
Legacy
Cherepnin's works were performed by Yo-Yo-Ma , Alexander Rudin , Alexander Ivashkin . His works were conducted by Rafael Kubelik , Charles Munch , Fritz Rainer . The Singapore Symphony Orchestra performed and recorded all of his symphonies.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118666134 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑ SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ Korabelnikova L.Z. Alexander Cherepnin. A long journey . - Litres, 2017-09-05. - 298 p. - ISBN 9785457393684 .
- ↑ The Diaries of Louisine Weeks, 1923-1946
- ↑ Louisine Peters
- ↑ Alexander Tcherepnin. Complete Symphonies and Piano Concertos .
- ↑ Electronic publication - on the website of the Cherepnins Society .
- ↑ Slonimsky, 1968, p. 19-20.
- ↑ Kholopov, 1988, p. 216.
Literature
- Slonimsky, Nicolas. Alexander Tcherepnin Septuagenarian // Tempo, new series, no. 87 (1968), pp. 16-23.
- Reich W. Alexander Tcherepnin. Bonn: MP Belaieff, 1970
- Kholopov Yu. N. Harmony. Theoretical course. Moscow, 1988.
- Arias EA Alexander Tcherepnin: a bio-bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
- Korabelnikova L.Z. Alexander Cherepnin: a long journey. M .: Languages of Russian culture, 1999 (English transl. - 2007)