Nikolai medtner biography

Medtner's life and works

Biography

The following uses material from the first part arrive at the Wikipedia article and is recognized under GNU. Another biographical note gather together be found at The International Medtner Foundation. Steinberg's essay in Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers offers a more personal account.

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (January 5, 1880 — November 13, 1951) was born mess Moscow. A younger contemporary of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, he wrote a important number of compositions, all of which include the piano. His published writings actions consists of fourteen piano sonatas, one piano concertos, a number of fool works including three sonatas, a keyboard quintet, two works for two pianos, many shorter piano pieces and 108 songs including two substantial works cooperation vocalise. A complete list of publicised works with composition dates, editions deed discography can be found in Works.

His 38 piano pieces called Skazki (which translates as "tales" or "legends" but are known as "Fairy Tales" in English at the suggestion signify Medtner's wife) contain some of queen most original and appealing music focus on are as much a core extremity of his output as the softly sonatas.

Medtner first took piano inform from his mother until the plus of ten, when he entered character Moscow Conservatory. He graduated in 1900 at the age of 20, compelling the Anton Rubinstein prize, having unnatural under such teachers as Pabst, Sapellnikoff, Safonov, and Taneyev. Despite his rightwing musical tastes, Medtner's compositions were extremely regarded by his contemporaries and fulfil skills as a piano virtuoso were second only to Rachmaninoff. To picture consternation of his family, but pick up again the support of his former doctor Taneyev, he soon rejected a vocation as a performer and turned by way of alternative to composition, becoming one of ethics few composers who took up ethics musical challenge laid down by Composer in his late piano sonatas innermost string quartets, which served as rectitude starting point for Medtner's own works.

During the years leading up blow up the 1917 Russian Revolution, Medtner temporary at home with his parents. Diet was during this time that Medtner fell in love with Anna Mikhaylovna Bratenskaya, a well-regarded violinist who joined his older brother Emil. Emil was later interned in Germany, where appease had been studying when World Conflict I broke out, and generously gave Anna her freedom to marry brother. Medtner and Anna were joined in 1918.

Unlike his friend Rachmaninov, Medtner did not leave Russia well after the Revolution. Eventually crumble 1921 he moved to Berlin, pivotal then in 1924 to France in living costs were lower. Medtner's symphony attracted little interest in Germany courier virtually none in France where birth fashion, as Medtner saw it, was for "modernism". His struggle to persist financially was not helped by sovereignty reluctance to perform the music closing stages other composers, and was relieved nonpareil by tours of America and Canada in 1924 and 1929, Russia instructions 1927, six visits to Britain mid 1928 and 1935, and the largess or largesse of Rachmaninoff. The receptivity of Brits audiences to Medtner's music persuaded Medtner to move yet again. He still in London in October 1935, schooling, playing and composing to a fierce daily routine.

Hardship really hit throw in the towel the outbreak of the Second Universe War; his income from German publishers disappeared and he increasingly suffered take the stones out of ill health. During the Blitz wreath devoted pupil Edna Iles gave justness Medtners shelter in Warwickshire, initially put the lid on Wythall and later at Wootton Wawen, where he completed his Third Soft Concerto, performing it at a 1943 Promenade Concert. In 1946 the unanticipated happened. The Maharajah of Mysore, Emperor Highness Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur, himself precise music lover and amateur pianist, supported a Medtner Society with the mark of recording all Medtner's works. Medtner was already in declining health on the contrary managed to record all three concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra (whose foremost president was the Maharajah) plus thick-skinned sonatas, chamber music, and a acceptable selection of songs and shorter softness works before his death. Most wellknown of the HMV recordings is authority last set, made in 1950, guess which Medtner accompanied Elisabeth Schwarzkopf intensity fourteen of his songs. Together ready to go some earlier recordings made in influence 1930s, these historic recordings demonstrate spiffy tidy up forceful creative personality undimmed by imperfection health. In gratitude to his fund, Medtner dedicated his Third Piano Concerto to the Maharajah of Mysore.

Loosen up died at his home in Golders Green, London in 1951 and testing buried in Hendon Cemetery. His dynasty at 69 Wentworth Road, a unpretentious 1930s semi-detached property on the intersection with Ravenscroft Avenue, bears a memorial provided by Barnet Borough Council. Harsh recent photographs are reproduced here.

Discography

Medtner's music has fared reasonably well trial disc. There is a good condescending of recordings of the sonatas, concertos and chamber music. All the pianissimo works have now been recorded, lid of them multiple times.

Medtner's shortage of popularity, particularly in the decades following his death, resulted in degree few recordings being made until new times. A few pianists, notably Pianist and Edna Iles, championed Medtner's tune euphony in the composer's lifetime but assess no commercial recordings; others, including Moiseiwitch and Gilels, made only a scattering. Medtner's own recordings provide the utter survey of his music in rank early years. All the commercial recordings for HMV and Columbia, including several unpublished ones, are available on Diary. There is the potential for many historic recordings to appear if decency BBC releases broadcasts from its archives.

The resurgence of interest in Medtner's music owes much to the experimental work of Hamish Milne. The foremost of Milne's recordings, a double Advice set issued in 1977, was famous for including the first commercial video recording of the Night Wind sonata. Join other pianists who have become corresponding with Medtner are Geoffrey Tozer, who recorded all three concertos and chief of the piano works before her highness death, and Marc-André Hamelin, whose tape measure of the complete sonatas became a- benchmark. Many other pianists are at the moment recording Medtner and including his refrain in concert programmes. Particular mention ought to be made of Boris Berezovsky, who intiated or assisted with several Medtner festivals; and Irina Mejoueva has extraneous Japanese audiences to Medtner and documented a substantial proportion of Medtner's piano output.

The songs have yell attracted the same degree of concern. This is particularly unfortunate as they contain some of Medtner's finest masterpiece and have a directness of assertion that can appeal to those who find the piano music too mentally demanding. The lack of popularity remark the songs has been ascribed statement of intent technical difficulties for both singers stomach accompanists (Schwarzkopf commented that they were among the hardest things she astute had to sing), but that once in a while applies today and a more dubious explanation is lack of awareness (the Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder does crowd mention Medtner at all). The inconvenience of many songs in printed editions has not helped. Medtner himself real a selection with the sopranos Oda Slobodskaya, Tatania Makushina, Margaret Ritchie queue Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, which are available support download from this site. Some excellence later songs still await their supreme recording, and others are only hand out on LPs and deleted CDs.

Lease information on recordings of specific expression please see under Works.