Eshpai, Andrei (Yakovlevich)

Eshpai, Andrei (Yakovlevich), Russian composer and pianist, son of Yakov (Andreievich) Eshpai; b. Kozmodemiansk, May 15, 1925. He studied piano with Safranitsky and composition with Miaskovsky and Golubev (1948–53) at the Moscow Cons., where he completed his training in composition with Khatchaturian (1953–56). From 1965 to 1970 he was on its faculty. He made tours as a pianist throughout Russia and abroad. In 1986 he received the Lenin Prize. His output, which includes both serious and light scores, is written in an accessible style. He has made use of folk motifs of the Mari nation from which he descended.

Works

DRAMATIC Operettas; musicals; ballets, including The Circle (1980; Kuibishev, Feb. 23, 1981); incidental music to plays; many film scores. ORCH.: Symphonic Dances (1951); Hungarian Melodies for Violin and Orch. (1952); 2 piano concertos (1954,1972); 7 syms. (1959; 1962; 1964; 1982; 1985–86; 1988–89; 1991); Concerto for Orchestra (1967); Festival Overture for Chorus and Orch. (1970); Oboe Concerto (1982); Concerto for Saxophone, Soprano, and Orch. (1986); Viola Concerto (1988); Cello Concerto (1989); Violin Concerto No. 3 (1990); Concerto for Double Bass and String Orch. (1994–95); Concerto for Solo Horn, Strings, and 4 Horns (1995); Concerto for Trumpet, Trombone, and Orch. (1995). CHAMBER : 2 violin sonatas (1966, 1970); String Quartet (1992).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire