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Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Борис Александрович Чайковский; 10 September 1925 – 7 February 1996) was a Soviet composer, born in Moscow, whose oeuvre includes orchestral works, chamber music and film music. He is considered as part of the second generation of Russian composers, following in the steps of Pyotr Tchaikovsky (to whom he was not related^[1]) and especially Mussorgsky.

He was admired by Dmitri Shostakovich, with whom he studied, who (according to Per Skans in his notes for a recording) suggested in a letter of February 1, 1969 to Isaak Glikman, that "If Barshai's orchestra makes a guest appearance in Leningrad playing Vainberg's Tenth Symphony and Boris Tchaikovsky's Sinfonietta, you really have to hear them".

Of his larger-scale works several have been recorded, including the first three of his four symphonies, the 1990 sixth string quartet, and the cello and piano sonata of 1957. Boris generally wrote in a tonal programmatic style, although he made brief forays into serialism.

Selected works

Stage

• The Star (Звезда), unfinished opera in 3 scenes (1949); libretto by D. Samoilov after the novel by E. Kazakevich; Moscow Conservatory diploma-work

Orchestral

• Procession (Шествие) (1946)
• Symphony No.1 (1947)
• Fantasia on Russian Folk Themes (Фантазия на русские народные темы) (1950)
• Slavic Rhapsody (Славянская рапсодия) (1951)
• Symphonietta for string orchestra (1953)
• Capriccio on English Themes (Каприччио на английские темы) (1954)
• Overture (Увертюра) (1957)
• Symphony No.2 (1967)
• Chamber Symphony (Камерная симфония) for chamber orchestra (1967)
• Theme and Eight Variations (Тема и восемь вариаций) (1973)
• Six Etudes (Шесть этюдов) for string orchestra and organ (1976)
• Symphony No.3 "Sevastopol" (Севастопольская симфония) (1980)
• The Winds of Siberia (Ветер Сибири), Symphonic Poem (1984)
• Four Preludes (Четыре прелюдии) for chamber orchestra (1984)
• The Juvenile (Подросток), Poem for orchestra (1984)
• Music for Orchestra (Музыка для оркестра) (1987)
• Symphony with Harp (Симфония с арфой) (1993)
• The Bells (Колокола), Prelude for orchestra (1996)

Concertante

• Concerto for clarinet and chamber orchestra (1957)
• Concerto for cello and orchestra (1964)
• Partita for cello and chamber ensemble (1966)
• Concerto for violin and orchestra (1969)
• Concerto for piano and orchestra (1971)

Chamber music

• Piano Trio (1953)
• String Quartet No.1 (1954)
• String Trio (1955)
• Sonata for cello and piano (1957)
• Sonata for violin and piano (1959)
• Suite in D minor for cello solo (1960)
• String Quartet No.2 (1961)
• Piano Quintet (1962)
• String Quartet No.3 (1967)
• String Quartet No.4 (1972)
• String Quartet No.5 (1974)
• String Quartet No.6 (1976)
• Sextet for wind quintet and harp (1990)

Piano

• 3 Etudes (1935)
• 5 Pieces (1935)
• 5 Preludes (1936)
• 5 Pieces (1938)
• Sonata No.1 (1944)
• 2 Pieces (1945)
• Sonatina (1946)
• Sonata No.2 (1952)
• 8 Children's Pieces (Восемь детских пьес) (1952)
• Sonata for two pianos (1973)
• Pentatonic (Пентатоника), 6 Easy Pieces (1993)
• Natural Modes (Натуральные лады), 7 Miniatures (1993)

Vocal

• Two Poems of Mikhail Lermontov (Два стихотворения М. Ю. Лермонтова) for soprano and piano (1940)
• Four Poems of Josef Brodsky (Четыре стихотворения И. Бродского) for soprano and piano (1965)
• Lyrics of Pushkin (Лирика Пушкина), Song Cycle for soprano and piano (1972)
• Signs of the Zodiac (Знаки Зодиака), Cantata for soprano, harpsichord and string orchestra (1974)
• The Last Spring (Последняя весна), Song Cycle for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet and piano (1980); words by N. Zabolotsky
• From Kipling (Из Киплинга) for mezzo-soprano and viola (1994)

Film scores

Notes

1. ^ The Boris Tchaikovsky Society

References

• Grigor'yeva, Galina. "Boris Aleksandrovich Chaykovsky", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 8 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).

External links

• The Boris Tchaikovsky Society
• Onno van Rijen's Boris Tchaikovsky page — brief biographical information and list of works with discography
• Boris Tchaikovsky at the Internet Movie Database
• Boris Tchaikovsky at the Russian film database Kino-Teatr (Russian)
• US Premiere of Music for Orchestra (1987) on February 24, 2010 by the American Symphony Orchestra