Kabalevsky, Dmitry (EN)

Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich, *30 (17) December 1904 St. Petersburg, †27 February 1987 Moscow, Russian composer. He studied at the A. Scriabin Institute of Music in Moscow in 1919–25, and he studied at the conservatory in 1925–30 (composition with G. Catoir, then with N. Myaskovsky, piano with A. Goldenweiser). In 1922–32, he worked at the A. Scriabin Institute of Music. From 1932, he was an associate professor, and from 1939, a professor of composition at the Moscow Conservatory; in 1965, he received a doctorate in art sciences. In 1940–46, he was editor-in-chief of the journal Sovetskaya Muzyka, and he headed the music department at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences in 1949–52. In addition, he was active in the authorities of the Union of Soviet Composers from 1939, he was a member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences from 1971; he became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in 1970, and an honorary chairman of the ISME in 1972. Kabalevsky often performed his own compositions as a conductor and pianist.

Kabalevsky adopted the basics of classical technique from Myaskovsky, but he was also influenced by Prokofiev’s work. Even his youthful works from the 1930s (Piano Concerto No. 1, String Quartet No. 1, Sonatina No. 2 for piano) reveal characteristic features of the composer’s style: grotesque, spontaneity, and lyricism. At the same time, almost from the beginning of his career, Kabalevsky propagated and implemented the ideological assumptions of socialist realism in vocal-instrumental and symphonic works (including the War Poem, Symphony No. 3, Narodnyje mstitieli, Requiem from 1963), which also influenced his operatic work. Both in operas and in cantata-oratorio works with a heroic and pathetic expression, there is an eclecticism of musical means and a conventional approach to choral parts. Kabalevsky’s film and theatre music and The Comedians Suite gained great popularity. Kabalevsky, in accordance with the postulates of the aesthetics of the time, tried to direct the musical imagination of his listeners (including program titles in Six Preludes and Fugues). Among the solo songs, Three Poems by Blok and Ten Sonnets by Shakespeare are worthy of attention. Kabalevsky used folk melodies: Russian (24 Preludes for piano), Ukrainian (Violin Concerto), Belarusian (Golden Ears Suite), and Burgundian (Colas Breugnon). Kabalevsky’s interest in the musical education of young people was expressed especially in his works intended for young performers (piano pieces, violin concertos, Cello Concerto No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 3, songs, numerous pieces for children’s choirs), works of the most lasting value and worldwide popularity. From 1927, Kabalevsky worked as a publicist (including in “Sovetskaya Muzyka” and “Sovremiennaya Muzyka”). He is the author of several books and over 300 articles. He often spoke about the work of contemporary composers, for example, he wrote enthusiastically about Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, but negatively assessed his cycle of preludes and fugues and the opera Lady Macbeth, opposing its re-staging in the 1950s.

Literature: G. Abraham, Eight Soviet Composer, London 1943; L. Danilevich, Tvorchestvo D.B. Kabalevskogo,  Moscow 1963; D. Daragan, Kinomuzïka D. Kabalevskogo, Moscow 1965; P. Nazarevsky (ed.), D.B. Kabalevskiy: notograficheskiy i bibliograficheskiy spravochnik, Moscow 1969; S.D. Krebs, Soviet Composers and the Development of Soviet Music, London- New York 1970; V. Viktorov (ed.), D. Kabalevskiy: tvorcheskiye vstrechi, ocherki, pis’ma, Moscow 1974; L. Mikheyeva, Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevskiy, Leningrad 1977; L. Grigor’yev, Ya. Platek, Sovetskiye kompozitorï i muzïkovedï: spravochnik v 3-kh tomakh, Moscow 1981; Anna Ivanovna Nikolaeva, Musik für die Jugend: Das 4. Klavierkonzert von Dmitri Kabalewski, in: Hannelore Gerlach (ed.), Sowjetische Musik: Betrachtungen und Analysen, Berlin 1984; Peter Wittig, “Mein Schloss ist dein Haus”: Ein Bildschnitzer aus Burgund und ein Komponist unter Stalin— Dmitri Kabalewskis Oper Colas Breugnon, in: Peter Csobádi (ed.), Politische Mythen und nationale Identitäten im (Musik)Theater: Vorträge und Gespräche des Salzburger Symposions 2001, Salzburg 2003; Johanna Ludwig, Zum Leben erweckt: Methodische Anregungen am Beispiel des Klavierstücks Clowns von Dmitri Kabalewski, “Üben und Musizieren: Zeitschrift für Instrumentalpädagogik und musikalisches Lernen” III, 2017.