Nikolay Yakovlevich Afanasyev (Russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Афана́сьев; 12 January 1821 [O.S. 31 December 1820] – 3 June [O.S. 22 May] 1898) was an Imperial Russian violinvirtuoso and composer. His memoirs 'Vospominaniya' ('Reminiscences') appeared in 1890, and recorded his experiences as a touring musician, as part of a panorama of Russian musical life during the mid 19th century. He became an honorary member of the Russian Musical Society in 1896.
Biographyedit
Afanasyev was born in Tobolsk in 1821. He obtained his musical education from his father, the violinist Yakov Ivanovich Afanasyev, an illegitimate son of Prince Ivan Dolgorukov. In 1838, two years after his debut as a violinist in Moscow, he was appointed concertmaster of the Bolshoi TheatreOrchestra. However, he resigned in 1841 to conduct the serf orchestra of a wealthy landowner at Vïksa, near Saint Petersburg. In 1846, Afanasyev left to embark on a concert tour of Russia, and eventually settled in Saint Petersburg in 1851, where he continued to perform as a soloist and as the concertmaster (sometimes conductor) of the Italian Opera. He quit orchestral work to begin teaching piano in 1853 at the Smolny Institute, before touring Western Europe with moderate success in 1857.
After returning to Russia, Afanasyev chose to commit himself to composition, and reached his finest in his small-scale works, which tended to suffer far less from the inconsistencies in technical skill that stemmed from his informal training. He won particular acclaim for works which were inspired by the melodies and rhythms of Russian folk music, an abiding interest of his which led to the publication of his popular anthology (1866) of folksongs arranged for four-partchoir. Afanasyev's chamber music, most notably the string quartetVolga (c. 1860) which won a prize from the Russian Musical Society in 1861, also enjoyed similar acclaim. Volga was the first string quartet written by a native Russian composer.[1]
In contrast, his operas had far less enthusiastic receptions. Although the Mariinsky Theatre staged Ammalat-bek in 1870, it has not been performed anywhere since; Sten'ka Razin failed to pass state censorship, while Vakula-kuznets was never performed. The manuscripts of several further operas and orchestral works remain unpublished.
Spencer, Jennifer. "Afanas'yev, Nikolay Yakovlevich". Grove Music Online 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine (subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
^Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Eric Blom, ed., Vil. I, p. 65, AFANASIEV, Nikolay Yakovlevich
nikolay, afanasyev, composer, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, nikolay, afanasyev, composer, news, ne. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Nikolay Afanasyev composer news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Nikolay Yakovlevich Afanasyev Russian Nikola j Ya kovlevich Afana sev 12 January 1821 O S 31 December 1820 3 June O S 22 May 1898 was an Imperial Russian violin virtuoso and composer His memoirs Vospominaniya Reminiscences appeared in 1890 and recorded his experiences as a touring musician as part of a panorama of Russian musical life during the mid 19th century He became an honorary member of the Russian Musical Society in 1896 Biography editAfanasyev was born in Tobolsk in 1821 He obtained his musical education from his father the violinist Yakov Ivanovich Afanasyev an illegitimate son of Prince Ivan Dolgorukov In 1838 two years after his debut as a violinist in Moscow he was appointed concertmaster of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra However he resigned in 1841 to conduct the serf orchestra of a wealthy landowner at Viksa near Saint Petersburg In 1846 Afanasyev left to embark on a concert tour of Russia and eventually settled in Saint Petersburg in 1851 where he continued to perform as a soloist and as the concertmaster sometimes conductor of the Italian Opera He quit orchestral work to begin teaching piano in 1853 at the Smolny Institute before touring Western Europe with moderate success in 1857 After returning to Russia Afanasyev chose to commit himself to composition and reached his finest in his small scale works which tended to suffer far less from the inconsistencies in technical skill that stemmed from his informal training He won particular acclaim for works which were inspired by the melodies and rhythms of Russian folk music an abiding interest of his which led to the publication of his popular anthology 1866 of folksongs arranged for four part choir Afanasyev s chamber music most notably the string quartet Volga c 1860 which won a prize from the Russian Musical Society in 1861 also enjoyed similar acclaim Volga was the first string quartet written by a native Russian composer 1 In contrast his operas had far less enthusiastic receptions Although the Mariinsky Theatre staged Ammalat bek in 1870 it has not been performed anywhere since Sten ka Razin failed to pass state censorship while Vakula kuznets was never performed The manuscripts of several further operas and orchestral works remain unpublished He died in Saint Petersburg in 1898 aged 77 References editSpencer Jennifer Afanas yev Nikolay Yakovlevich Grove Music Online Archived 2008 05 16 at the Wayback Machine subscription required ed L Macy Retrieved on March 17 2007 Grove s Dictionary of Music and Musicians 5th ed 1954 Eric Blom ed Vil I p 65 AFANASIEV Nikolay YakovlevichExternal links editWorks by or about Nikolay Afanasyev at Internet Archive Free scores by Nikolay Afanasyev composer at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nikolay Afanasyev composer amp oldid 1214253787, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
