Anatoliy Brandukov

Anatoliy Andreyevich Brandukov ( _ru. Анато́лий Андре́евич Брандуко́в) (OldStyleDate|January 6|1859|December 25 1858ref_label|A|a|noneru icon cite web |url=http://mirslovarei.com/content_beo/Brandukov-Anatolij-Andreevich-1926.html |title=World Dictionary |accessdate=2007-10-27 |date=2007 |work=Mir Slovarei ] cite book |last=Campbell |first=Margaret |title=The Great Cellists |year=1988 |publisher=Trafalgar Square Publishing (now Independent Publishers Group) |location=Pomfret, Vermont |isbn=0-943955-09-2 |pages=93 ] – February 16 1930ru icon cite web |url=http://music.prsiterun.com/muzikant/9.html |title=Biography: Anatoliy Brandukov |accessdate=2007-10-27 |date=2007 |work=Saint-Petersburg: Great Musicians ] ) was a Russian cellist who premiered many cello pieces of prominent composers including Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff.ru icon cite web |url=http://www.peoples.ru/art/theatre/actor/anatoliy_brandukov/ |title=Anatoliy Andreevich Brandukov |accessdate=2007-10-27 |work=Lyudi ] [cite web |url=http://www.naxosdirect.com/title/8556782/ |title=Chilll With Rachmaninoff |accessdate=2007-10-27 |date=2007 |work=Naxos Records liner notes ] Born as Russian classical music was flourishing in the middle of the 19th century,ru icon cite web |url=http://www.mospravda.ru/issue/2007/08/09/article7797/ |title=Cellist Anatoliy A. Brandukov |accessdate=2008-02-17 |author=Mikhail Vostryshev |date=2006 |work=Moscow Pravda ] he worked with many of the important composers and musicians of the day, including performances with Anton Rubenstein and Alexander Siloti.cite web |url=http://www.tchaikovsky-research.org/en/people/brandukov_anatolii.html |title=Anatolii Andreevich Brandukov |accessdate=2007-10-27 |date=2007 |work=Tchaikovsky Research project ] As a soloist, he excelled in performance and was especially noted for stylish interpretations, his refined temperament, and beautiful, expressive tone.cite web |url=http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.03841&subview=article_text |title=Brandukov, Anatoly Andreyevich |accessdate=2007-10-27 |author=Ginzburg, Lev |date=2007 |work=Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online ] In his later years, he became a professor at Moscow Conservatory, and continued to perform well into his later life. Although his popularity is obscured by the more famous composers and virtuosos, his influence on those composers' most prominent compositions is evident.

Life and work

Anatoliy Andreyevich Brandukov was born in Moscow on January 6, 1859. His father died soon after his birth, so he was raised by his mother and aunt. His first exposure to classical music was the Bolshoi Theater, in which his sister performed. But the most decisive influence on him was an 1867 performance of Beethoven's fifth symphony by the Hector Berlioz Symphony Orchestra. He learned the cello, and at age eight, began to attend Moscow Conservatory. While there, he attracted the attention of professionals, professors, and the public. He became a student of German cello virtuoso Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, discussed music theory with Tchaikovsky, and played in string quartets with celebrity musicians. He graduated in 1877 with the rare conservatory award, the Gold Medal.

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In 1890, Tchaikovsky urged the Moscow Conservatory to hire him as cello professor, but Director of the school Vasily Safonov, denied, believing him too young for the job. Brandukov spent time in Lausanne, Switzerland, and helped nineteen-year old Sergei Rachmaninoff give his first independent concert, by playing some new works in his debut in 1892. At this time he wrote fourteen pieces for cello, two for cello and orchestra.ref_label|B|b|none [ru icon cite web |url=http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/biograf2/1925 |title=Brandukov, Anatoliy Andreyevich |accessdate=2008-02-17 |date=2005 |work=Dictionaries and encyclopedias online at Academic.ru ]

In 1906, he was appointed professor and director of the Moscow Philharmonic School of Music and Drama, and became a professor at Moscow Conservatory in 1921, turning down an offer to work at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. One of his pupils was Ukrainian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, who would go on to be hailed as "the last great Romantic."cite web |url=http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.21650 |title=Piatigorsky, Gregor |accessdate=2007-10-30 |author=Schwarz, Boris |date=2007 |work=Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online ] In Moscow he married the wealthy Nadezhda Mazurina and had a son, Sasha. During the World War I, which started in 1914, he often spoke at charity events for wounded soldiers. As a professor, he enjoyed interacting with his students on a very personal level. A student, known only as A. V. Brouna, commented that, "Brandukov was not a teacher in the conventional sense. This was a close friend, generously spreading his spiritual wealth, whose lessons became a revelation..." After the 1917 October Revolution, he became a member of the Bolshoi Theater, organizing the symphony orchestra and speaking at concert events. Heinrich Neuhaus, one of his partners at the Theater reported that in 1919, on the way to a concert, Brandukov slipped and fell on his cello. When the cover was removed, Neuhaus recalls, Brandukov "embraced his cello, as a living creature, tears and tears from his eyes."

In his later years, he continued to perform and give lectures, last speaking with Neuhaus on January 30, 1930. [ru icon cite web |url=http://www.zavtra.ru/cgi//veil//data/zavtra/97/198/84.html |title=Dedicated to the memory of the twentieth-century great pianist Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter |accessdate=2007-10-29 |author=Elena Antonova |date=1997-09-16 |work=Notes on Russian Pianism ] He died in Moscow in February 13, 1930, aged 71.

Contemporaries

Brandukov had a beneficial relationship with the composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff. In Rachmaninoff's first independent concert on February 11, 1892, Brandukov performed his "Trio elégiaque" No. 1 (1892) and a cello-piano transcription of the "Prélude" of his "Prélude et Danse orientale" (Op. 2).cite book |last=Norris |first=Geoffrey |title=The Master Musicians: Rachmaninoff |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aPc2AAAACAAJ |year=1993 |publisher=Schirmer Books |location=New York City |isbn=0-02-870685-4 |pages=11, 19, 33, 38, 40, 123, 124, 168, 177 ] The cellist also performed a revised version of the "Trio" on February 25, 1907.cite book |last=Harrison |first=Max |title=Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings |year=2006 |publisher=Continuum |location=London |isbn=0-8264-9312-2 |pages=pp. 35, 59, 61, 101, 103, 140 ] Rachmaninoff dedicated his Cello Sonata (Op. 19) to Brandukov, [cite web |url=http://www.artistled.com/Recordings/CD_Russian.htm |title=Russian Classics |accessdate=2007-10-27 |author=Gerard McBurney |date=2007 |work=Artist Led ] who also premiered this piece with the composer in Moscow on December 15, 1901. At Rachmaninoff's wedding on May 12, 1902, Brandukov was his best man.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was instrumental in securing Brandukov's success. Tchaikovsky greatly admired Brandukov's playing, and in the summer of 1887 sent a few pages of the "Pezzo Capriccioso" to him for his opinion. He modified it without consulting the composer, and gave the Paris premiere in 1888. It was published in this form, dedicated to Brandukov.ref_label|C|c|none

Notes

* a.note label|A|a|none Until 1918 Russia used the Julian calendar (old style) The modern calendar used worldwide is the Gregorian (new style), which is 12 days ahead of the Julian in the nineteenth century.
* b.note label|B|b|none The autograph manuscripts of these pieces are preserved in the Tchaikovsky House-Museum in Klin, Russia. [cite web |url=http://www.museum.ru/MscReg/e5_hist.htm |title=History of the Museum |date=1999 |accessdate=2007-10-30 |work=P.I.Tchaikovsky State House-Museum in Klin ]
* c.note label|C|c|none Some present-day cellists prefer the original version.

References

External links

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Persondata
NAME = Brandukov, Anatoliy Andreevich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Cellist
DATE OF BIRTH = January 6, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH = Moscow, Russia
DATE OF DEATH = February 16, 1930
PLACE OF DEATH = Moscow, Russia