Goleminov Marin

Goleminov, Marin, Bulgarian composer and pedagogue; b. Kjustendil, Sept. 28, 1908. He studied at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in Sofia (graduated, 1931), in Paris with d’Indy (composition) and Labe (conducting) at the Schola Cantorum, with Dukas (composition) at the Ecole Normale de Musique, and aesthetics and music history at the Sorbonne (1931-34), and with J. Haas (composition) and H. Knappe and E. Erenberg (conducting) at the Munich Akademie der Tonkunst (1938-39). From 1943 he taught at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music, where he was a prof. of orchestration, composition, and conducting, and its rector. From 1965 to 1967 he was director of the National Opera. He received various honors from the Bulgarian government. In 1976 he was awarded the Gottfried von Herder Prize of the Univ. of Vienna. In 1991 he became a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He publ. books in Sofia on the sources of Bulgarian musical composition (1937), instrumentation (1947), orchestration (2 vols., 1953; 3rd ed., 1966), and on the creative process (1971). In his music, he utilized folk elements, particularly the asymmetrical rhythms of Bulgarian folk motifs, in a fairly modern but still quite accessible idiom.

Works

DRAMATIC Opera : Ivailo (1958; Sofia, Feb. 13, 1959); Zlatnata ptica (The Golden Bird; Sofia, Dec. 20, 1961); Zahari the Icon Painter (1971; Sofia, Oct. 17, 1972); Thracian Idols (1981). B a l l e t : Nestinarka (1940; Sofia, Jan. 4, 1942); The Daughter of Kaloyan (Sofia, Dec. 23, 1973). ORCH.: The Night, symphonic poem (1932); Prelude, Aria and Toccata for Piano and Orch. (1947-53); 2 cello concertos (1949-50; 1992); Poem (1959); Concerto for String Quartet and String Orch. (1963; Moscow, Feb. 11, 1964); 4 syms.: No. 1, Children’s Symphony (1963), No. 2 (1967; Sofia, March 6, 1968), No. 3, Peace in the World (1970; Sofia, April 21, 1971), and No. 4, Shopophonia (1978); Violin Concerto (1968); Aquarelles for Strings (1973); Piano Concerto (1975); Diptyque for Flute and Orch. (1982); Oboe Concerto (1983); Concert for Strings (1993). CHAMBER: 8 string quartets (1934; 1938; 1944; Micro-quartet, 1967; 1969; 1975; 1977; 1983); 2 wind quintets (1936,1946); Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1964); Sonata for Solo Cello (1969); Concert for Brass Quintet (1978). VOCAL: Father Paissy, cantata (1966); The Titan, oratorio (Sofia, June 25, 1972); Ballad of the April Insurrection for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1976); Symphonic Impressions on the Picture of a Master for Voice and Orch. (1982); Sym.-Cantata for Soloist, Chorus, and Orch. (1993); choruses; songs.

Bibliography

B. Arnaudova, M. G. (Sofia, 1968); S. Lazarov, M. G. (Sofia, 1971); R. Apostolova, M. G. (Sofia, 1988); L. Braschowanowa and M. Miladinova, M. G.: Biobibliografski ocherk (Sofia, 1990).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire