Maximilian Steinberg
Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (Russian Максимилиан Осеевич Штейнберг; 4 July 1883 [O.S. 22 June] – 6 December 1946) was a Russian composer of classical music.
Though once considered the hope of Russian music, Steinberg is far less well known today than his mentor (and father-in-law) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his rival Igor Stravinsky, or his student protege Dmitri Shostakovich.
During the early 21st century, however, Steinberg's choral concerto Passion Week was rediscovered and performed for the first time. It was instantly lavishly praised as a masterpiece by both lovers and performers of Classical music.[1] This has triggered a revival of interest in the life and music of Maximilian Steinberg.
Life
Steinberg was born into a
Steinberg was considered first as a great hope of Russian music but refused to imitate Stravinsky and other modern composers, instead preferring the 19th-century music of the
In 1908, Steinberg was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church and married his mentor's daughter, Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova. Steinberg's father-in-law died the same year, and Steinberg edited and completed his Principles of Orchestration, which was later published in Paris.
At the conservatory, Steinberg first became a lecturer, then in 1915, Professor of Composition and Orchestration, the position that Rimsky-Korsakov had held. He remained in that post during the October Revolution and subsequent Russian Civil War.
Composer Dmitri Shostakovich began studying at the Conservatory as a 13-year-old boy in 1919 and Steinberg tried to guide him in the traditions of the great Russian composers of the 19th century. Ultimately, however, Steinberg was disappointed to see Shostakovich "wasting his talent" by imitating the styles of Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.[3]
Between 1921 and 1926, Steinberg composed
Steinberg scholar Oksana Lukonina believes that his decision to compose a work of religious music was motivated in part by the events of 1921. The poet
In 1923, midway through the composition of Passion Week, the
After the 1920s, however, Steinberg is believed to have never again acted contrary to the Party's wishes.
Steinberg's subsequent music drew upon world literature for its subject matter. The dictates of socialist realism, which began being forced upon Soviet composers in 1932 meant no great changes for Steinberg, as his style was already very similar to the 19th century composers whom Joseph Stalin admired.
As Stalinism tightened its grip, Steinberg drew also on the folk music of the Soviet Union's ethnic minorities, particularly those from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. He also let himself be inspired more and more by musical and literary folklore.
Steinberg played an important role in Soviet music life as the teacher of composers Dmitri Shostakovich, Galina Ustvolskaya, Lyubov Streicher, and Yuri Shaporin.
Steinberg held numerous posts at the Conservatory, among others deputy director 1934–39. He retired in 1946.
Shortly before his death, Steinberg was interviewed by an American musical scholar about his past rivalry with Igor Stravinsky. Even though Stravinsky had repeatedly criticized him in the West, Steinberg refused to follow suit.
In what may have been part of a deliberate effort by the Soviet State to convince Stravinsky to return home, Steinberg expressed only admiration for his former rival's talents mixed with regret that Stravinsky had chosen to become an emigre. Steinberg also claimed that Stravinsky's absence from his Motherland was a catastrophic loss for Soviet music and cultural life.
Maximilian Steinberg died in Leningrad on December 6, 1946.
Legacy
Steinberg's first two symphonies have been recorded by
This same critical edition was also used by Clarion Choir, which first performed the work in New York City later in 2014. In a review of the concert for
The Clarion Choir's CD recording of Passion Week was nominated for a
In the fall of 2016, Clarion Choir and its director,
Partial list of works
- For orchestra
- Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 3 (1905/06)
- Symphony No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 8 "In memoriam Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov" (1909)
- Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 18 (1928)
- Symphony No. 4 "Turksib" in C major, Op. 24 (1933)
- Symphony No. 5 "Symphonic Rhapsody on Uzbek Themes", Op. 31 (1942)[9]
- Variations for Large Orchestra in G major, Op. 2 (1905)
- Symphonic Prelude "in memoriam Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov", Op. 7 (1908)
- Fantaisie dramatique, Op.9 (1910)
- Solemn Overture on Revolutionary Songs from 1905–7 and 1917 (1930)
- In Armenia, Capriccio (1940)
- "Forward!", heroic Uzbek Overture (1943)
- Violin concerto (1946. Published 1950.)
- Stage works
- Metamorphosen, Ballet after Ovid, Op. 10 (1913)
- Till Eulenspiegel, Ballet (1936)
- Incidental music
- Vocal music
- The Water Nymph, Cantata for Soprano, Women's Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 7 (1907)
- Heaven and Earth for Voice and Orchestra after Byron (1918)
- Four Songs with Orchestra after Rabindranath Tagore, Op. 14 (1924)
- Songs
- Choruses
- Passion Week, Op. 13 (1923–1927)
- Chamber music
- String Quartet No. 1 in A, Op.5 (1907)
- String Quartet No. 2 in C, Op. 16 (1925)[10]
The eleventh of Nikolai Myaskovsky's symphonies (Op. 34, in B-flat minor) is dedicated to Steinberg. (See Myaskovsky's opus list[11] which also contains a transcription, copyright 1930,[12] by the slightly older composer of Steinberg's third symphony for piano four-hands.)
Notes
- ^ Sacred Work, Written in Secret in Leningrad, The New York Times, October 29, 2014.
- ^ Taruskin 2000:457
- ISBN 978-1-62097-079-9.
- ^ Description at the Dutton website
- ^ 'Passion' and Resurrection, The Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2014.
- ^ http://www.musicarussica.com/collections/st-pw Steinberg: Passion Week
- ^ Sacred Work, Written in Secret in Leningrad, The New York Times, October 29, 2014.
- ^ Clarion Choir Extends the Visibility of Maximilian Steinberg's Passion Week, Orthodox Arts Journal, September 28, 2016.
- OCLC 15066606. Symphony no.5 was not published until 1986. "uzbekskie melodii-narodnye i [sic] K. Dzhabbarova i S. Kalanova."
- OCLC 22224628gives C major.
- ^ Myaskovsky's Works Archived 2007-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
- OCLC 30539456
References
- Taruskin, Richard (2000). Defining Russia Musically: Historical and Hermeneutical Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 455–457. ISBN 0-691-07065-2.
- Steinberg opus list from van Rijen's site Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Walsh, Stephen. Stravinsky: A Creative Spring; Russia and France, 1882–1934. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1999. ISBN 0-679-41484-3. Contains many details about the course of the relationship between Stravinsky and Steinberg.
- Principles of Orchestration at Project Gutenberg (by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, edited by Maximilian Steinberg and translated into English by Edward Agate).