Ippolitov-Ivanov (real name, Ivanov), Mikhail (Mikhailovich)

Ippolitov-Ivanov (real name, Ivanov), Mikhail (Mikhailovich), important Russian composer and pedagogue; b. Gatchina, Nov. 19, 1859; d. Moscow, Jan. 28, 1935. He assumed his mother’s name to distinguish himself from Michael Ivanov, the music critic. He studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Cons., graduating in 1882. He then received the post of teacher and director of the Music School in Tiflis, where he remained until 1893; he became deeply interested in Caucasian folk music; many of his works were colored by the semi-oriental melodic and rhythmic inflections of that region. Upon Tchaikovsky’s recommendation, he was appointed prof. of composition at the Moscow Cons. in 1893; in 1906 he became its director, retiring in 1922; then taught at the Tiflis Cons. (1924-25). Among his pupils were Glière and Vasilenko. He was also active as a conductor in Moscow, where he led the Russian Choral Soc. (1895-1901), the Mamontov Opera (1898-1906), and the Bolshoi Theater (from 1925). Outside Russia, he is known mainly for his effective symphonic suite Caucasian Sketches (1895). He publ. his memoirs (Moscow, 1934; Eng. tr. in the Musical Mercury, N.Y., 1937).

Works

dramatic: Opera: Ruf (Ruth; 1883-86; Tiflis, Feb. 4, 1887); Azra (Tiflis, Dec. 4, 1890); Asya (Moscow, Oct. 11, 1900); Izmena (Treason; 1908-09; Moscow, Dec. 17, 1910); Ole iz Nordlands (Ole from the Northland; Moscow, Nov. 21, 1916); Poslednyaya barrikada (The Last Barricade; 1933); also completed Mussorgsky’s unfinished opera Zhenitba (Marriage; Moscow, Oct. 18, 1931). ORCH.: Symphonic Scherzo (St. Petersburg, May 20, 1882); Yar-Khmel, spring overture (1882; St. Petersburg, Jan. 23, 1883); Caucasian Sketches (1894; Moscow, Feb. 5, 1895); Armenian Rhapsody (1895); Iveria (1896); Sym. (1908); Mtzyri, symphonic poem (1922); From the Songs of Ossian (1925); In the Steppes of Turkmenistan (1935); Musical Scenes of Uzbekistan (c. 1935); Karelia, suite (1935); marches. CHAMBER: Violin Sonata; Piano Quintet; 2 string quartets (1894, c. 1934); piano pieces. VOCAL: Hymn of the Pythagoreans to the Rsing Sun for Chorus, 10 Flutes, Tuba, 2 Harps, and Organ ad libitum (1904); Hymn to Labor for Chorus and Orch. (1934); mass songs; choruses.

Bibliography

S. Chemodanov, M.M. I.-I. (Moscow, 1933); S. Boguslavsky, I.-I. (Moscow, 1936); L. Podzemskaya, M.M. I.-I. i gruzinskaya muzikalnaya kultura (Tbilisi, 1963); N. Sokolov, ed., M.M. I.-I.: Pisma, stati, vospominaniya (M.M. I.-I.: Letters, Articles, Reminiscences; Moscow, 1986).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire