Valery Khalilov
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Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov Валерий Халилов | |
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Born | Valeriy Mikhaylovich Khalilov 30 January 1952 |
Died | 25 December 2016 | (aged 64)
Cause of death | Plane crash |
Nationality | Russian |
Occupation(s) | Military conductor, composer |
Title | People's Artist of Russia (2014) |
Political party | Communist Party |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Soviet Union Russia |
Rank | Lieutenant general |
Valery Mikhaylovich Khalilov (
Early life and education
Khalilov was born on 30 January 1952 into a family famous for producing military conductors in the city of Termez, located in what is now Uzbekistan. His father Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov was a career officer in the Soviet Border Troops. At the age of four, he began to compose his own music. A career officer, he graduated from the Moscow Military Musicians School at the age of 11. From 1970 to 1975 he was on the conducting faculty of the Moscow State Conservatory Tchaikovsky (class of Professor GP Alyavdin). [citation needed]
Career
Khalilov's first posting was being a conductor at the Pushkin Higher School of Radioelectronics of Air Defense under the
Khalilov rose through the ranks and eventually became the chief conductor and Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia in 2002, with his first national TV appearance as chief conductor of the combined band in the 2003 Victory Day Parade. In May 2015, Khalilov became a member of the Board of Trustees' Academy festive culture. He served as chief conductor of the Moscow area massed military bands and emeritus director of music and conductor for the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defense for a record 14 years.
In that capacity, Khalilov organised many festive theatrical events in Moscow which were attended by Russian military bands and groups from many countries. Events included international military tattoos "The Kremlin Zorya", and "Spasskaya Tower". He toured with the leading bands of the Russian Armed Forces in Austria, Sweden, United States, Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Finland, France, Switzerland, and Belgium.
Later life and death
In April 2016, Khalilov became the artistic director of the Alexandrov Ensemble, known worldwide as the Red Army Choir. Khalilov retired from the Moscow Garrison Orchestra on 22 August 2016, and conducted Russian civil war song White Army, Black Baron on the Red Square as his last major performance with the massed bands. He was replaced by Colonel Timofey Mayakin, a Merited Artist of Russia, in his role as Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service.
Khalilov toured the Hugh Hodgson School of Music of the University of Georgia in November 2016, where he gave musical instruction to the students, performed with the UGA Symphony Orchestra and Hodgson Wind Ensemble. He also attended a Georgia-Auburn football game with directory George Foreman, where he, according to Foreman, started composing a new march called "The Redcoat March", in honor of the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band.[2][3]
Khalilov died in
Khalilov was buried on 16 January 2017 at the Tracts the Archangelsk churchyard of the Kirzhachskiy district, Vladimir region. He was given a military funeral that was attended by many of his past and former colleagues and students, and eulogies were given by many including his successor as senior director of music, Colonel Mayakin. The Nowinki Village in that district, which is located near the Khmelevo and the Archangel churchyard, is the birthplace of the ancestors of Khalilov. This village was his childhood home and Khalilov carried his love for Nowinki and its picturesque surroundings throughout his life and as such, he was buried here instead of in Moscow. He last spent time in this village on 11 December 2016, two weeks before his death.
Prior to his death, Khalilov was still actively writing music for various occasions including a piece for a Russian film.
Legacy
Khalilov was an accomplished musician and conductor, able to play many types of musical instruments, including the piano, with proficiency, and to conduct both choirs and bands. He conducted the thousand-strong massed military bands during Victory Day parades including the band's closing performance for the parade. Notably, he conducted the massed bands during the 60th, 65th and 70th Victory Day parades. These performances were of greater length than normal and the endings were somewhat unusual.
Khalilov was the last of the great conductors educated in Soviet times. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the band, along with the rest of the army, was in disarray. When he was appointed conductor of the
Khalilov described the effect these bands have in the following 2005 interview with the Los Angeles Times:[4]
"Military music is incredibly important for Russians, because military music is a component of the Russian army, and the army has always played a crucially important role in protecting Russia’s great statehood and in making it a powerful nation."
Khalilov was also an accomplished music composer apart from being a military conductor, and wrote many pieces for the brass band including "Adagio", "Kant", "Afghan", "Elegy", marches such as "Cadet", "Youth", "Rynda", "Ulan", as well as romances and songs. He composed many new military marches and songs, some of which he used in the Victory Day parades he conducted. It was announced on the third anniversary of his death in 2019 that a military tattoo titled the Valery Khalilov International Music Festival would take place between 29 January and 2 February 2020, specifically timed to honour Khalilov's birthday on 30 January.[5]
The University of Georgia Hodgson Wind Ensemble honored Khalilov shortly after his death by performing one of his pieces, March Bodrii, with an empty podium to represent the empty space he left in the world of music. He died less than two months after conducting and touring with the band.[6]
Awards
In his career, he earned many awards including the Order of Honor, Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd Class, the Medal for Military Merit 1st Class, and the titles of Honoured People's Artist of Russia and Honoured Art Worker of Russia.[7] In his lifetime, he had conducted many interviews and appeared in programmes about Russian military bands, making him relatively popular and well known among the public for a military conductor. The Moscow Military Music College was renamed the Moscow Military Music College Lieutenant-General VM Khalilov. Valery Khalilov Square in Kirzhach is named after him in his memory and according to a Russian news commentary, the square "is a lovely park - the same age as the deceased conductor". Social activists of the city have also decided to establish a festival of brass bands in memory of Khalilov, which is to be held in the newly opened Alexander Garden. The first festival is planned for July 2017 and the park has been described as "a beautiful place and a suitable place."
One of the streets in the city was renamed after him and officials renamed the various places and institutions by 30 January, Khalilov's birthday.
References
- ^ http://www.menswork.ru/sites/default/files/mp41_book1.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjjg9_c99zkAhVMba0KHZJbA-EQFjAOegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1HanT18P97IaKeQb6_qShJ [dead link]
- ^ "Russian conductor killed in crash had UGA connection". 27 December 2016.
- ^ "World-renowned Russian conductor, composer Khalilov to visit, perform at UGA". 4 November 2016.
- ^ "U.S. Military Band Marches on Moscow". Los Angeles Times. 9 May 2005.
- ^ "In Honor of Maestro: Russia is Welcoming the Valery Khalilov International Music Festival — [EN] Spasskaya bashnya".
- ^ "Welcome | UGA Bands". bands.uga.edu. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ "Валерий Халилов на сайте Минобороны России". Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.