Aaron Avshalomov
Aaron Avshalomov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Ааро́н Авшало́мов November 11, 1894 |
| Died | April 16, 1965 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | composer |
| Known for |
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Aaron Avshalomov (Template:Lang-ru;[1] 11 November 1894 – 16 April 1965) was a Russian-born Jewish composer. His work included several ballets, two operas, a violin concerto, four symphonies and a flute concerto.[2][3]
Early life
Born into a Mountain Jewish family in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, Russia, Avshalomov was sent for medical studies to Zürich.[4] After the October Revolution in 1917, which made further studies in Europe impossible, his family sent him to the United States.
Career
Less than a year later, he chose to move to China,[4] where he entered the world of Shanghai's academia and, together with other Jewish musicians, who had fled the Russian pogroms and revolution, trained a number of young Chinese musicians in classical music, who in turn became leading musicians in contemporary China.[5][6] Between 1918 and 1947, he worked to create a synthesis of Chinese musical elements and Western techniques of orchestral composition.[7] Among the first works of this type that he created was the opera Kuan Yin, which premiered in Peking in 1925.[8]
Avshalomov made his main livelihood at bookstores and libraries. He was the head librarian of the Shanghai Municipal Library for 15 years from 1928 to 1943.[2] He conducted the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra from 1943 to 1946.[9]
In 1947, he moved to the United States, where he already had spent three years in the mid-1920s.[4]
Compositions
- Kuan Yin (opera named after Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion; premiered in Peking in 1925)[4]
- The Twilight Hour of Yan Kuei Fei (opera, 1933),[4] presumably after the 1923 eponymous book by A. E. Grantham.
- The Great Wall (opera, 1933–41),[4] based on the legend of Lady Meng Jiang.
- Piano Concerto in G on Chinese Themes and Rhythms (1935)[10]
- Flute Concerto
- Violin Concerto
- Symphony No. 1
- Symphony No. 2 (1949, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky, premiered by the Cincinnati Sym, conducted by Thor Johnson)
- Symphony No. 3 (1953, "To the Memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky")
- Dream of Wei Lin (1949)[4]
- Soul of the Ch'in
- Hutongs of Peking
- Four Biblical Tableaux (Queen Esther's Prayer, Rebecca by the Well, Ruth and Naomi, Processional)[7]
Family
While living in San Francisco, he married a fellow Russian émigré in San Francisco.[4] In 1919, his son, Jacob Avshalomov was born, who became a composer and conductor, too.[11]
Death
He died in New York City on April 16, 1965.[9]
References
- ^ "Newspaper article on A. Avshalumov". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ^ a b "Aaron Avshalomov/Jacob Avshalomov". newworld-records. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Aaron Avshalomov scores". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Aaron Avshalomov". American Composers Alliance. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Diasporas. Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Vol. I, Jewish Diaspora in China by Xu Xin, pp.155-158, Ember, Melvin; Ember, Carol R.; Skoggard, Ian (Eds.), Springer 2004 ISBN 0-306-48321-1
- ^ Winzenburg, John (2012-01-01). "Aaron Avshalomov and new Chinese music in Shanghai, 1931–1947". Twentieth-Century China. 37 (1): 50–72. doi:10.1179/194050611X13188386908332. S2CID 143867448.
- ^ a b "Aaron Avshalomov".
- ^ "Aaron Avshalomov". American Composers Alliance. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ^ a b "Aaron Avshalomov scores" (PDF). University of Maryland Libraries. August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "Playlist for 08/09/2011". Classical KING FM. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011.
- ^ "Composer of Note (and Notes)". Reed Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1894 births
- 1965 deaths
- 20th-century composers
- 20th-century Russian male musicians
- 20th-century American composers
- 20th-century American male musicians
- Russian male composers
- Russian Jews
- American male composers
- American people of Mountain Jewish descent
- American people of Russian-Jewish descent
- Emigrants from the Russian Empire to China
- Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
- Jewish Chinese history
- People from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur
- People from Primorskaya Oblast