Alexander Lokshin

Internet Edition compiled by Onno van Rijen

Updated 23 September 2007

Born

19 September 1920 in Biysk in the region of Altai (Siberia). Died: 11 June 1987 in Moscow.

Education

Lokshin entered the second year of the musical High School, annexed to the Moscow Conservatory, in the class of composition and theory of music, taught by professor G.I. Litinsky in 1936. In Spring 1937 he was transferred in the Conservatory itself, in professor Nikolay Myaskovsky`s class. His diplomawork was rejected by the examinition commission. This large-scale vocal symphonic score to words by Beaudelaire from 1939 would have been written to 'decadent' texts.

Style

Most of his symphonies and other works show associations with the late German-Austrian romanticism and expressionism, affined with the music by Mahler and Berg.

Works

"Les fleurs du mal", vocal-symphonic poem for soprano and symphony orchestra (1939)
After verses by Charles Baudelaires.
First performance in Moscow in 1939, performed by Nikolai Anosov (conductor) and V. Khlynovskaya (soprano).
"Wait for Me", vocal symphonic poem for mezzo-soprano and symphony orchestra (1942)
After verses by K. Simonov.
Duration: 22 min.
First performance in Novosibirsk in 1943, performed by Yevgeny Mravinsky (conductor) and E. Verbitskaya (mezzo-soprano).
"Altai suite" for symphony orchestra
Score lost.
"Cheering suite" for mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and symphony orchestra (1948)
Verses by Sergei Ostrovoy.
Probably dedicated to Joseph Stalin. Score lost.
First performance in Moscow in 1949, performed by the Moscow State Radio Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Alexander Gauk and soloists Tamara Janko (mezzo-soprano) and Pavel Lisitsian (baritone)
Hungarian Fantasy for violin and symphony orchestra (1952)
Duration: 15 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1952 by the Moscow State Radio Orchestra, conducted by Kurt Sanderling and Julian Sitkovetsky (violin)
Variations for piano (1953)
Duration: 24 min.
Dedicated to Maria Grinberg.
Quintet for clarinet and stringquartet (1955)
Duration: 23 min.
Revised in 1974.
First performance in Moscow in 1960 by the Komitas-Quartet and Ivan Mozgovenko (clarinet).
Symphony No. 1 "Requiem" for mixed chorus and orchestra (1957)
On a medieval Latin text.
Duration: 43 min. First performance in Bournemouth in 1987 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Rudolf Barshai.
"In Jungles", suite for symphony orchestra (1960)
Music for the film by Alexander Zguridi.
First performance by the State Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arvid Jansons.

LP Melodya C 106: State Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arvid Jansons (conductor).

"The Beatle (Tarakanishe)", brief comic oratorium for mixed chorus and orchestra (1962)
On words by Komey Tchukovsky.
Duration: 12 min.
Symphony No. 2 "Greek Epigrams" for mixed chorus and orchestra (1963)
On words by ancient Greek poets.
Duration: 33 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1963 by the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arvid Jansons.
Symphony No. 3 for baritone, men's chorus and orchestra (1966)
On verses by R. Kipling.
Duration: 32 min.
First performance in London in 1979 by the BBC Choir and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and Steven Roberts (baritone).
Symphony No. 4 "Sinfonia Stretta" for orchestra (1968)
Duration: 15 min.
Movements:
1. Introduzione
2. Tema
3. Variation 1
4. Variation 2
5. Variation 3
6. Variation 4
7. Variation 5
8. Variation 6
9. Conclusione
First performance in Moscow in 1976 by the State Radio Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai.

LP Melodiya CM 03665-6: State Radio Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond)
CD BIS 1156: Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Swierczewski (conductor), Vanda Tabery (soprano)

"Speaking out-loud", vocal-symphonic poem for bass and orchestra (1968)
on verses by Vladimir Majakovsky.
Duration: 20 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1969 in a performance, conducted by Arvid Jansons, and Mikhail Ryba (bass).
Symphony No. 5 "Shakespeare Sonnets" for baritone, harp and stringorchestra (1969)
Duration: 17 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1969 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai, and Jan Kratov (baritone).

LP Melodiya CM 02813-4: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond), J. Kratov (baritone)
CD LAD: Northern Crown Soloist's Ensemble, Moscow

Symphony No. 6 for baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra (1971)
On verses by Alexander Blok.
Duration: 40 min.
Symphony No. 7 for contralto and chamberorchestra (1972)
On verses by ancient japanese poets.
Translation by V. Barshai.
Duration: 20 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1973 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai, and Nina Grigorieva (contralto).

LP Melodiya C10 05969-70: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond), N. Grigorieva (contralto)
CD Laurel Records: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond), N. Grigorieva (contralto)

"Margret Songs" for soprano and orchestra (1973)
After Goethe's Faust in a translation by Boris Pasternak.
Duration: 22 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1974 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai, and Ludmila Sokolenko (soprano).

LP Melodiya C10 05969-70: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond), L. Sokolenko (soprano)
CD Laurel Records: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, R. Barshai (cond), L. Sokolenko (soprano)

Symphony No. 8 for tenor and orchestra (1973)
On verses ("The Songs of Western Slavs") by Alexander Pushkin.
Duration: 28 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1987 by the Moscow Radio Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ziva, and Alexei Martynov (tenor).
Symphony No. 9 for baritone and stringorchestra (1975)
On verses by Leonid Martynov.
Duration: 23 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1976 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai, and Yury Grigoriev (baritone).
Symphony No. 10 for contralto, mixed chorus and orchestra (1976)
On verses by Nikolai Zabolotsky.
Duration: 33 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1976 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Barshai, the Moscow Boy's Choir (artistic director Boris Tevlin), and Nina Grigorieva (contralto).

LP Melodya C 10 197553-009: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Boy's Choir, R. Barshai (cond), N. Grigorieva (contralto)
CD Laurel Records: Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Boy's Choir, R. Barshai (cond), N. Grigorieva (contralto)

Symphony No. 11 for soprano and chamberorchestra (1977)
on verses by Louis Camoens.
Duration: 21 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1980 by the Soloist's Ensemble of the State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and Ludmila Sokolenko (soprano).

LP Melodya C 10 1509059-60: Moscow Soloist's Ensemble of the State SO, Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor), soloist Ludmila Sokolenko (soprano).

Mater Dolorosa for mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra (1977)
On words from Anna Akhmatova's requiem.
Duration: 23 min.
First performance (with Russian text) in St. Petersburg in 1995 by the Orchestra and Choir of the State Capella St. Petersburg, conducted by Alexander Chernushenko, and Galina Dolbonos (mezzo-soprano).
First performance (with original Latin text) on 29 May 2002 in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory by the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (artistic director Vladimir Fedoseyev), conducted by Rudolf Barshai.
String Quintet for two violins, two violas and cello (1978)
To the memory of Dmitri Shostakovich.
Duration: 23 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1978 by the Prokofiev Quartet and Evgeny Ozhogin (viola).

CD LAD: Northern Crown Soloist's Ensemble, Moscow

"Three Scenes from Goethe's Faust" for soprano and orchestra (1980)
Translation by Boris Pasternak.
Duration: 36 min.
First performance in Köln in 1998 by the Ensemble "Resonanz", conducted by Rudolf Barshai, and Elena Prokina (soprano).

CD BIS 1156: Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Swierczewski (conductor), Vanda Tabery (soprano)

"From Lyrics by Francois Villon", quintet for tenor and string quartet and tuba (1981)
On a Russian text by Ilya Ehrenburg.
Duration: 13 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1986 by the Prokofiev Quartet and Alexei Martynov (tenor).

CD LAD: Northern Crown Soloist's Ensemble, Moscow

"The Art of Poetry" for soprano and chamber orchestra (1981)
On verses by Nikolai Zabolotsky.
Duration: 9 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1981 by the Ensemble of Soloists of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, conducted by Alexander Lazarev, and Klara Kadinskaya (soprano).
Prelude and Theme with Variations for piano (1982)
Dedicated to Elena Kuschnerova.
Duration: 7 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1982 by Elena Kuschnerova (piano).
Three Poems by Fyodor Sologub for soprano and piano (1983)
Duration: 13 min.
First performance on 11 January 1989 in the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory by Raisa Levina (soprano) and Elena Kuschnerova (piano).
Symphonietta No. 1 for tenor and chamberensemble. (1983)
On verses by Igor Severianin.
Duration: 13 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1986 by the Ensemble of soloists of the Moscow Stanislavsky & Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater, conducted by Mikhail Jurovsky, and Nikolai Kurpe (tenor).
Variations for bass and orchestra (1983).
On the early verses by Nikolai Tikhonov.
Duration: 13 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1993 in a performance conducted by Albert Mishurin, and Vyacheslav Pochapsky (bass).
String Quintet (1984).
Transcription of the String Quintet of 1978.
Duration: 23 min.
Symphonietta No. 2 for soprano and enlarged chamberorchestra (1985)
On verses by Fyodor Sologub.
Duration: 14 min.
First performance in Moscow in 1988 by the Orchestra of the Moscow Experimental Theater, conducted by Eduard Gulbis, and Raisa Levina (soprano).

More information: see the Lokshin website.

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