Boris Parsadanian
Boris Khristoforovich Parsadanian | |
|---|---|
| Борис Христофорович Парсаданян | |
| Born | May 14, 1925 USSR |
| Died | May 14, 1997 (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Metsakalmistu |
| Other names | Boris Parsadanov |
Boris Khristoforovich Parsadanian (Russian: Борис Христофорович Парсаданян, Armenian: Բորիս Փարսադանյան; May 14, 1925 – May 14, 1997) was a Soviet Armenian and Estonian composer, violinist, and arts administrator.
Biography
Parsadanian was born in
After the war, Parsadanian enrolled in the Gnessin Institute where he studied composition and violin.[3] He resumed studies with Litinsky and also began studying orchestration with Nikolai Timofeyev.[2] He was well liked by his classmates for his playing and personality, but school staff initially disapproved of his behavior, particularly his constant playing of excerpts from Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto.[3] Parsadanian graduated in 1950.[2]
His first work to earn success was his Piano Trio, which was premiered at a student concert; the piano part was played by fellow student Yevgeny Svetlanov. This was followed by his tone poem David of Sassoun, which was based on the eponymous hero from the Armenian national epic, Daredevils of Sassoun. Parsadanian later became influenced by Dmitri Shostakovich, who encouraged the younger composer's efforts.[3]
In 1953 Parsadanian married Virve Kiple and moved to the
Parsadanian returned to Moscow, where he was appointed concertmaster of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. He also began to establish himself as a composer. His music was championed by Svetlanov, Alexander Gauk,[2] Tatiana Grindenko, Roman Matsov, Neeme Järvi, Eri Klas, Peeter Lilje, and the Borodin Quartet.[1] According to Svetlanov, Parsadanian's music was the closest any modern Armenian composer had yet come to approaching Komitas.[4] From 1968 to 1970, Parsadanian worked with music programs at CT USSR.[1]
In 1970 Parsadanian returned to Estonia permanently. There he served as director of the Estonian SSR State Philharmonic. He was awarded Honored Worker of the Arts of the Estonian SSR and People's Artist of the Estonian SSR in 1967 and 1988 respectively.[1]
His compositions include eleven symphonies composed between 1958 and 1987. The Symphony No. 2 was dedicated to Martiros Saryan, who had sketched a portrait of the composer.[5] Parsadanian also composed a violin concerto (1955), wind quintet (1967), string quartet (1974), violin sonata (1986), and other music.[6]
Shostakovich gifted the manuscript of his Intervision to Parsadanian;[7] it was later acquired by the Juilliard Manuscript Collection.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f EMIK 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Kehoe 1998, p. 1.
- ^ a b c Svetlanov 1994, p. 1.
- ^ Svetlanov 1994, p. 3.
- ^ "Martiros Sergeevich Sar'ian (1880–1972): Portrait of Boris Parsadanian (1925–1997)". Christie's. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ van Rijen 2007.
- ^ "Shostakovich, Dmitry (1906-1975). Two autograph music manuscripts". Christie's. 2005. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
- ^ "Intervidenie ("Pozyvnye signaly sovetskogo Interviden︠i︡a")". The Juilliard Manuscript Collection. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
Sources
- EMIK (2014). "Boriss Parsadanjan". Estonian Music Information Centre. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- Kehoe, John (1998). Rare Repertoire, Volume 3: Parsadanian and Melikov (booklet). Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Russian Revelation. RV10109.
- van Rijen, Otto (May 20, 2007). "Boris Parsadanian". Soviet Composers. Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- Svetlanov, Yevgeny (1994). Parsadanian: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (booklet). Klara Kadinskaya, USSR Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov. Russian Disc. RD CD 11 050.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
