Edison Denisov in Sortavala, summer 1975. Photo by Dmitri Smirnov.
Edison Vasilievich Denisov (Russian: Эдисо́н Васи́льевич Дени́сов, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called "Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music.[1]
Biography
[edit]The house in Tomsk where Denisov was born; the memorial plaque is visible.
Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia. He studied mathematics before deciding to spend his life composing. This decision was enthusiastically supported by Dmitri Shostakovich, who gave him lessons in composition.
In 1951–56 Denisov studied at the Moscow Conservatory: composition with Vissarion Shebalin, orchestration with Nikolai Rakov, analysis with Viktor Tsukkerman and piano with Vladimir Belov. In 1956–59 he composed the opera Ivan-Soldat (Soldier Ivan) in three acts based on Russian folk fairy tales.
He began his own study of scores that were difficult to obtain in the USSR at that time, including music by composers ranging from Mahler and DebussytoBoulez and Stockhausen. He wrote a series of articles giving a detailed analysis of different aspects of contemporary compositional techniques and at same time actively experimented as a composer, trying to find his own way.
In 1979, at the Sixth Congress of the Union of Soviet Composers, he was blacklisted as one of "Khrennikov's Seven" for unapproved participation in a number of festivals of Soviet music in the West.
Denisov became a leader of the Association for Contemporary Music reestablished in Moscow in 1990. Later he moved to France, where after an accident and long illness he died in a Saint-Mandé hospital in 1996.
Denisov's cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble Le soleil des Incas (1964), setting poems by Gabriela Mistral and dedicated to Pierre Boulez, brought him international recognition following a series of successful performances of the work in Darmstadt and Paris (1965). Igor Stravinsky liked the piece, discovering the "remarkable talent" of its composer. However, it was harshly criticised by the Union of Soviet Composers for its "western influences", "erudition instead of creativity", and "total composer's arbitrary" (Tikhon Khrennikov). After that, performances of his works were frequently banned in the Soviet Union.
His sombre but striking Requiem, setting a multi-lingual text (English, French, German, and Latin) based on works by the German writer Francisco Tanzer, was given its first performance in Hamburg in 1980.
1956–9 Soldier Ivan (Russian: Иван-солдат) opera in three acts after motifs from Russian folk fairy tales
1958 Sonata for Two Violins
1960 Sonata for Flute and Piano
1964 Le soleil des Incas (Солнце инков—The Sun of Incas), text by Gabriela Mistral for soprano, flute, oboe, horn, trumpet, two pianos, percussion, violin and cello
1964 Italian Songs, text by Alexander Blok for soprano, flute, horn, violin and harpsichord
1966 Les pleurs (Плачи—Lamentations), text of Russian folksongs for soprano, piano and three percussionists
1968 Ode (in Memory of Che Guevara) for clarinet, piano and percussion
1968 Musique Romantique (Романтическая музыка—Romantic Music) for oboe, harp and string trio
Armengaud J.-P. Entretiens avec Denisov, un compositeur sous le régime soviétique. P., 1993 (in French)
Kholopov Yu., Tsenova V. (1995). Edison Denisov. Harwood Academic publ. (in English) || Edison Denisov — The Russian Voice in European New Music. Berlin: Kuhn. 2002. (in English)
Yuri Kholopov & Valeria Tsenova: Edison Denisov — The Russian Voice in European New Music; Berlin, Kuhn, 2002 (in English)
Холопов Ю., Ценова B. (1993). Эдисон Денисов. М.: Композитор. (in Russian)
Brian Luce: Light from Behind the Iron Curtain: Anti-Collectivist Style in Edison Denisov's "Quatre Pièces pour Flûte et Piano;" UMI, Ann Arbor, 2000 (in English)
Peter Schmelz: Listening, Memory, and the Thaw: Unofficial Music and Society in the Soviet Union, 1956–1974, PhD Dissertation, University of California (Richard Taruskin, advisor), 2002 (in English)
Peter Schmelz: Such Freedom, If Only Musical. Oxford University Press, 2009 (in English)
