Boris Asafyev

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Vladimirovich and the family name is Asafyev.

Boris Asafyev Борис Асафьев
Asafyev on a 1984 stamp
Background information
Born	(1884-07-29)29 July 1884 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	27 January 1949(1949-01-27) (aged 64) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic

Gravestone of Asafiev at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (29 July [O.S. 17 July] 1884 – 27 January 1949; also known by pseudonym Igor Glebov) was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the dedicatee of Prokofiev's First Symphony. He was born in Saint Petersburg.

Asafyev had a strong influence on Soviet music. His compositions included ballets, operas, symphonies, concertos and chamber music. His ballets included Flames of Paris, based on the French Revolution, and The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, which was first performed in 1934, and was performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 2006.

His writings, under the name Igor Glebov, included The Book about Stravinsky and Glinka (for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1948).

Selected works

Plaque in Truda Square, Saint Petersburg, dedicated to Asafyev.

Opera

• The Cashier's Wife
• Minin and Pozharsky
• The Girl without a Dowry

Ballets

• The Fairy Gift (1910)
• White Lily (1911)
• Flames of Paris (1931)
• The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (1936)
• The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1938)
• The Rustic Lady
• The Stone Guest (1946)

Orchestra

• 5 Symphonies
• Concerto for clarinet and orchestra (1939)
• Concerto for guitar and chamber orchestra (1939)
• Concerto for piano and orchestra (1939)

Chamber music

• String Quartet (1940)
• Sonata for viola solo (1938)
• Sonata for cello and piano (1935)
• Sonata for trumpet and piano (1939)
• Sonatina for oboe and piano (1939)
• Variations for horn and piano (1940)

See also

• Category:Ballets by Boris Asafyev

Further reading

• Viljanen, Elina (2017). The Problem of the Modern and Tradition: Early Soviet Musical Culture and the Musicological Theory of Boris Asafiev (1884–1949) (PhD thesis). Acta Semiotica Fennica. Approaches to Musical Semiotics, 23. Helsinki: Suomen Semiotiikan Seura. ISBN 978-952-68257-7-9. ISSN 1235-497X.
  • Viljanen, Elina (28 January 2017). "The Problem of the Modern and Tradition: Early Soviet Musical Culture and the Musicological Theory of Boris Asafiev (1884 - 1949)". Digital Repository of the University of Helsinki (Repository record).

External links

• Free scores by Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)