Alexander Veprik


Alexander Moiseyevich Veprik, also Weprik, was a Russian- Soviet composer and music educator. Veprik is considered one of the greatest composers of the "Jewish school" in Soviet music.

Life

Veprik was born in Balta, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire. He grew up in Warsaw and studied piano with Karl Wendling at the Leipzig Conservatory. At the onset of World War I, the family returned to Russia. Veprik studied composition with Alexander Zhitomirsky in the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and Nikolai Myaskovsky at the Moscow Conservatory.
Veprik was active in the musical life of 1920–1930s. In 1923 he was active in the creation of the Society for Jewish Music, a focal point for Jewish composers in Moscow, and Jewish music flourished as a result of the activities of the Society. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1927 during a business trip in Austria, Germany and France, he met Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, Maurice Ravel and Arthur Honegger. His music became well known in Europe and the United States during this time: nearly his entire oeuvre was performed by the Berlin Radio Symphony. In March 1933 Arturo Toscanini conducted Veprik's Dances and Songs of the Ghetto at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Veprik was arrested as a "Jewish nationalist" in 1950, maltreated in prison and then deported to the Gulag. He was released from hard labor and instead had to organize an amateur orchestra among the prisoners. In April 1954, Vepryk's case was reviewed and he was acquitted. In September 1954 he returned sick and weary to Moscow, to a world in which Jewish culture had no place. Veprik composed a few works and wrote Principles of J.S. Bach's Orchestration. He died on 13 October 1958 in Moscow.

Selected works

Opera

  • Toktogul, Opera ; libretto by Dzhoomart Bokombaev
  • Toktogul, Opera ; second opera with the same title composed jointly with Abdylas Maldybaev

    Orchestral

  • Dances and Songs of the Ghetto, Op. 12
  • 5 Small Pieces for orchestra, Op. 17
  • Symphony No. 1
  • Funeral Song, Op. 20 No. 2
  • Song of Jubilation
  • Symphony No. 2
  • 3 Pieces on Kyrgyz Themes, Suite for orchestra
  • Pastorale
  • Sinfonietta
  • 2 Poems
  • ''Improvisation''

    Chamber music

  • Songs of the Dead for viola and piano, Op. 4
  • Kaddish, Poem for violin, or viola, or flute, or oboe and piano, Op. 6 ; original for voice and piano
  • Suite for violin and piano, Op. 7
  • Chant rigoureux for clarinet and piano, Op. 9 ; transcription for viola and piano by Vadim Borisovsky
  • Rhapsodie for viola and piano, Op. 11
  • 3 Folk Dances for violin, cello and piano, Op. 13b ; original for piano
  • 2 Pieces on Folk Themes for cello and piano

    Piano

  • Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 3
  • Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 5
  • Dance
  • 3 Folk Dances for piano, Op. 13 ; also for piano trio, Op. 13b
  • Piano Sonata No. 3
  • Album for Children
  • 7 Pieces on Kyrgyz Themes for piano 4-hands

    Vocal

  • Kaddish, Poem for voice and piano, Op. 6 ; also for violin, or viola, or flute, or oboe and piano
  • 2 Jewish Folk Songs for voice and piano, Op. 8
  • 2 Jewish Songs for voice and piano, Op. 10
  • Snowflakes ; words by Demyan Bedny
  • To the Barricades ; words from Revolutionary Songs of 1905
  • Чангрийская песня
  • ''2 Ukrainian Songs''

    Choral

  • Stalinstan for chorus and piano ; words by Izi Kharik
  • Suite from the Opera "Toktogul" for soloists, chorus and orchestra
  • The Curse of Fascism for chorus and orchestra
  • National Hero, Cantata for chorus and orchestra ; words by Alexander Mashistov
  • Song of Kotovsky for chorus a cappella ; words by Eduard Bagritsky
  • Kyrgyz Song for chorus a cappella

    Film scores

  • The Last Night ; directed by Yuli Raizman

    Literary

  • О методах преподавания инструментовки на композиторском отделении
  • Нужны ли переложения фортепианных произведений на оркестр
  • Трактовка инструментов оркестра
  • ''Очерки по вопросам оркестровых стилей''

    Discography

  • Jewish Chamber Music – Tabea Zimmermann ; Jasha Nemtsov ; Hänssler Classic CD 93.008
  • Piano Trios: 3 Folk Dances, Op. 13b – Dmitry Sitkovetsky ; David Geringas ; Jascha Nemtsov ; Hänssler Classic CD 98.491
  • On Wings of Jewish Songs: Music from the New Jewish School – Helene Schneiderman ; Jascha Nemtsov ; Hänssler Classic CD 93.041
  • Turban & Nemtsov Play Hebrew Melodies: Suite No. 7 for violin and piano – Ingolf Turban ; Jascha Nemtsov ; Hänssler Classic CD 93.028
  • Alexander Veprik: Orchestral Works - Christoph-Mathias Mueller ; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; MDG 901 2133-6 2019

    Books

  • Friedrich Geiger, ed.: Komponisten unter Stalin. Aleksandr Veprik und die "Neue jüdische Schule". Berichte und Studien, 25. Hannah Arendt Institute for the Research on Totalitarianism, Dresden In German