Moishei (Mieczyslaw Samuilowicz) Vainberg (Weinberg)

Born: 8 December 1919, Warsaw (Poland)
Died: 26 February 1996, Moscow (Russia)

(this composer submitted by Vincent Piot <vincent.piotlibertysurf.fr>)

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Music

Orchestral

Symphonic Poem for orchestra Op.6, 1941
Symphony No. 1 Op.10, 1942
Suite for small orchestra Op.26, 1939-1945
Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra Op.30, 1946
"Festive Scenes" for orchestra Op.36, 1946-1947
Two Ballet Suites for orchestra Op.40, 1947
Sinfonietta No. 1 Op.41, 1948
Concertino for violin and string orchestra Op.42, 1948
Concerto for cello and orchestra in C minor Op.43, 1948
Greetings Overture for orchestra Op.44, 1949
Symphony No. 3 Op.45, 1949 revised in 1959
Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes for orchestra Op.47-1, 1949
"Polish Tunes" for orchestra Op.47-2, 1949
Moldavian Rhaspsody for violin and orchestra Op.47-3, 1949
Serenada for orchestra Op.47-4, 1949
Fantasy for cello and orchestra Op.52, 1951-1953
Suite No. 1 from the ballet "The Golden Key" Op.55-A, 1964
Suite No. 2 from the ballet "The Golden Key" Op.55-B, 1964
Suite No. 3 from the ballet "The Golden Key" Op.55-C, 1964
Suite No. 4 from the ballet "The Golden Key" Op.55-D, 1964
"Morning-Red", symphonic poem for orchestra Op.60, 1957
Symphony No. 4 in A minor Op.61, 1957 revised in 1961
Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor Op.67, 1959
Symphonic Songs for orchestra Op.68, 1959 (First version in 1951)
Sinfonietta No. 2 Op.70, 1960
Sinfonietta No. 2 for string orchestra and timpani Op.74, 1960
Concerto for flute and string orchestra Op.75, 1961
Symphony No. 5 in F minor Op.76, 1962
Symphony No. 6 Op.79, after L. Kvitko, S. Galkin and M. Lukonin for boys’ chorus and orchestra, 1962-1963
Symphony No. 7 in C major for strings and harpsichord Op.81, 1964
Symphony No. 8 "Flowers of Poland" Op.83, after J. Tuvim for tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra, 1964
Symphony No. 9 "Everlasting Times" Op.93, after J. Tuvim and V. Bronievsky for narrator, chorus and orchestra, 1940-1967
Concerto for trumpet and orchestra in B flat major Op.94, 1966-1967
Symphony No. 10 in A minor Op.98, 1968
Symphony No. 11 "Festive Symphony" Op.101, after various revolutionary poets for chorus and orchestra, 1969
Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra Op.104, 1970
Six Ballet Scenes for orchestra Op.113, 1973-1975
Symphony no. 12 Op.114, 1975-1976
Symphony no. 13 Op.115, 1976
Symphony No. 14 Op.117, 1977
Symphony No. 15 "I Believe in This Earth" Op.119, after M. Dudin for soprano, baritone, women’s chorus and orchestra, 1977
Symphony no. 16 Op.131, 1981
Symphony No. 17 "Memory" Op.137, 1984
Symphony No. 18 "War, there is no word more cruel" Op.138, 1986
Symphony No. 19 "The Bright May" Op.142, 1986
"The Banners of Peace" Op.143, symphonic poem, 1986
Flute Concerto No. 2 Op.148, 1987

Opera

"The Traveller" Op.97, opera in two acts, 1967-1968
"The Madonna and the Soldier" Op.105, opera in three acts afrter A. Medvedev, 1970
"The Love of d’Artagnan" Op.109, opera after A. Dumas, 1971
"I congratulate" Op.111, opera in one act after S. Alechem, 1975
"Lady Magnesia" Op.112, opera in one act after G.B. Shaw, 1975
"The Portrait" Op.128, opera in eight scenes after N. Gogol, 1980
"The Idiot" Op.144, opera after F. Dostoyevsky, 1985

Ballet

The Golden Key Op.55, ballet in six scenes after A. Tolstoi, 1954-1955
The White Chrysantheme Op.64, ballet in three acts after A. Rumnev and J. Romanovich, 1958

Piano

Lullaby for piano Op.1, 1935
Piano Sonata No. 1 Op.5, 1940
Piano Sonata No. 2 Op.8, 1942
Children’s Notebook No. 1 Op.16, 1944
Children’s Notebook No. 2 Op.19, 1944
Children’s Notebook No. 3 Op.23, 1945
Piano Sonata No. 3 Op.31, 1946
Twenty-One Easy Pieces for piano Op.34, 1946
Sonatina for piano Op.49, 1951
Partita for piano Op.54, 1954
Piano Sonata No. 4 in B minor Op.56, 1955
Piano Sonata No. 5 Op.58, 1956
Piano Sonata No. 6 Op.73, 1960

Chamber

String Quartet No. 1 Op.2, 1937
String Quartet No. 2 Op.3, 1940
Aria for string quartet Op.9, 1942
Capriccio for violin and piano Op.11, 1943
Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano Op.12, 1943
String Quartet No. 3 Op.14, 1944
Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano Op.15, 1944
Piano Quintet Op.18, 1944
String Quartet No. 4 Op.20, 1945
Sonata No. 1 for cello and piano in C major Op.21, 1945
Piano Trio Op.24, 1945
String Quartet No. 5 Op.27, 1945
Twelve Miniatures for flute and piano Op.29, 1946
String Quartet No. 6 Op.35, 1946
Violin Sonata No. 3 Op.37, 1947
Violin Sonata No. 4 Op.39, 1947
Sonatina for violin and piano in D major Op.46, 1949
String Trio Op.48, 1950
Violin Sonata No. 5 Op.53, 1953
String Quartet No. 7 Op.59, 1957
Sonata for cello and piano No. 2 in C major Op.63, 1958-1959
String Quartet No. 8 Op.66, 1959
Sonata for two violins Op.69, 1959
String Quartet No. 9 Op.80, 1963
String Quartet No. 10 Op.85, 1964
String Quartet No. 11 Op.89, 1965-1966
String Quartet No. 12 Op.103, 1969-1970
String Quartet No. 13 Op.118, 1977
String Quartet No. 14 Op.122, 1978
String Quartet No. 15 Op.124, 1979
Trio for flute, harp and viola Op.127, 1979
String Quartet No. 16 Op.129, 1981
String Quartet No. 1 Op.141, 1986 (recomposition of opus 2)
Chamber Symphony No. 1 Op.145, 1987
String Quartet No. 17 Op.146, 1987
Chamber Symphony No. 2 Op.147, 1987
Chamber Symphony No. 3 Op.151, 1991
Chamber Symphony No. 4 Op.153

Cantata and Chorus Works

"In the Homeland" Op.51, cantata after poems of Soviet children for boys-alto, boys chorus mixed chorus and orchestra, 1952
"The Diary of Love" Op.87, cantata after S. Vygodski for tenor, boys’ chorus and chamber orchestra, 1965
"Piotr Plaksin" Op.91, cantata after J. Tuvim for tenor, alto and nineteen instruments, 1965
"Hiroshima" Op.92, cantata after Fukagava for mixed chorus and orchestra, 1966
Requiem Op.96, after D. Kedrin, M. Dudin, F. Lorca, Fukagava and others for children’s chorus, mixed chorus and orchestra, 1965-1967
"Nobody did have known ......" Op. 102, poem after D. Bedny for soprano, chorus and orchestra, 1970

Vocal

"Acacias" Op.4, six romances after J. Tuvim for singer and piano, 1940
Three Romances Op.7, after J. Rivina and A. Prokofiev, 1941
Children’s Songs Op.13, after I. Perez for singer and piano, 1943
Jewish Songs Op.17, after S. Galkin, 1944
Three Romances after A. Mickiewich for singer and piano Op.22, 1945
Six Romances after F. Tutchev for singer and piano Op.25, 1945
Elegy after F. Schiller for baritone and piano Op.32, 1946
Six Sonettes after W. Shakespeare for bass and piano Op.33, 1946
Four Romances after M. Ryslky and G. Nikolayeva for singer and piano Op.38, 1947
"At the Source of the Past", song cycle after A. Blok for mezzo-soprano and piano Op.50, 1951
"Bible of the Gypsies" Op.57, seven romances after J. Tuvim for mezzo-soprano and piano, 1956
"Memories" Op.62, after J. Tuvim for middle-voice and piano, 1957-1958
"In the Armenian Mountains" Op.65, after O. Tumanian for singer and piano, 1958
Seven Romances after various poets for singer and piano Op.71, 1960
"Old Letters" after J. Tuvim for soprano and piano Op.77, 1962
Three romances Op.78, after V. Sosnora, J. Vinokurov and A. Yashin for singer and piano, 1962
"Oh, Grey Fog" Op.84, romance after J. Tuvim for bass and piano, 1964
"The Profile" Op.88, song cycle after S. Vydodski for bass and piano, 1965
"Words in Blood" Op.90, song cycle after J. Tuvim for tenor and piano, 1965
"Triptychon" after L. Staff for bass and orchestra Op.99, 1968
"When I sing this child asleep" Op.110, song cycle after G. Mistral for soprano and piano, 1973
"From the Lyrics of Shukovsky" Op.116, song cycle after V. Shukovsky for bass and piano, 1976
Three Palmtrees" Op.120, after M. Lermontov for soprano and string quartet, 1977
"From the Lyrics of Baratinsky" Op.125, song cycle after J. Baratinsky for bass and piano, 1979
"The Relic", recitative for bass and piano Op.132
"From Afanasy Fet’s Poetry", songs for bass and piano Op.134
Six Children’s Songs for voice and piano Op.139, 1986

Other Works

Clarinet Sonata Op.28, 1945
Sonata No. 1 for cello solo Op.72, 1960
Sonata No. 1 for violin solo Op.82, 1964
Sonata No. 2 for cello solo Op.86, 1965
Sonata No. 2 for violin solo Op.95, 1967
Twenty-four Preludes for cello solo Op.100, 1968
Sonata No. 3 for cello solo Op.106, 1971
Sonata No. 1 for viola solo Op.107, 1971
Sonata No. 1 for double-bass solo Op.108, 1971
Sonata No. 2 for viola solo Op.123, 1978
Sonata No. 3 for violin solo Op.126, 1979
Sonata No. 3 for viola solo Op.135
Sonata No. 4 for viola solo Op.136
Sonata No. 4 for cello solo Op.140, 1986

Biography

Mieczyslaw Samuilowicz Weinberg was one of the twentieth century’s most powerful and prolific composers, and one of its least well known, certainly outside of his adoptive Russia. His death in Moscow on 26 February, 1996, at the age of 76, brings to an end to a life that was far from easy but which was borne with the fortitude that gives his music its toughness and strength.

Mieczyslaw Samuilowicz Weinberg was born on 8 December 1919 in Warsaw, into a musical family: his father was a composer and violinist in a Jewish theatre there. He made his first public appearance as a pianist at the age of ten, and two years later became a student at the Warsaw Academy of Music, then under the direction of Szymanowski, where he took piano lessons from Josef Turczynski. His graduation in 1939 was soon followed by Hitler’s invasion: when his entire family was killed, burned alive, Mieczyslaw flied eastwards, taking shelter first in Minsk, where he studied composition with Vassily Zolotaryov. Two years later, as Hitler now pushed into Russia, Weinberg again had to flee, this time finding work at the opera house in Tashkent, in Uzbekistan. It was there, in 1943, that he took the action that was perhaps to be the most decisive in his life: he sent the manuscript of his newly completed First Symphony to Shostakovich in Moscow. Shostakovich’s response was typically helpful and immediate: Weinberg received an official invitation to travel to Moscow, where he was to spend the rest of his life, living largely by his compositions, though he also made many appearances as a pianist.

Having only just escaped the Nazis with his life, Weinberg was not to find matters much easier under Stalin. During the night of 12 January 1948 (the day before the opening of the infamous "Zhdanov" congress at which Shostakovich, Prokofieff and several other composers were denounced as "formalists"), Solomon Mikhoels, Weinberg’s father-in-law and the perhaps the foremost actor in the Soviet Union, was murdered on Stalin’s orders, an early victim of the anti-Semitic campaign that was to be a feature of his last years in power. When, in February 1953, Weinberg himself was arrested, it seemed that he, too, might "disappear"; fortune intervened and Stalin’s death on 5 March removed the imminent danger. (In the meantime Shostakovich had acted true to form, taking the step, one of almost foolhardy generosity and courage, of writing to Stalin’s police chief Beriya to protest Weinberg’s innocence.) A month later Mikhoels was posthumously rehabilitated in the Soviet press, and soon after Weinberg himself was released.

Weinberg’s association with Shostakovich was not based only on mutual personal esteem. Shostakovich often spoke very highly of Weinberg’s music (calling him "one of the most outstanding composers of the present day"); he dedicated his Tenth String Quartet to him; and in February/March 1975, although terminally ill (he was to die on 9 August), he found the energy to attend all the rehearsals for the premiere of Weinberg’s opera The Madonna and the Soldier. Weinberg’s identification with Shostakovich’s musical language was such that to the innocent ear the best of his own music might also pass muster as very good Shostakovich. Weinberg was quite unabashed, stating with unsettling directness that "I am a pupil of Shostakovich. Although I have never had lessons from him, I count myself as his pupil, as his flesh and blood". But there is much more to Weinberg than these external similarities of style, although his music -- some of which achieves greatness -- has yet to have the exposure that will allow his individuality to be fully recognised. It also embraces folk idioms from his native Poland, as well as Jewish and Moldavian elements; and towards the end of his career he found room for dodecaphony, though usually set in a tonal framework. His evident taste for humour, from the light and deft to biting satire, was complemented by a natural feeling for the epic: his Twelfth Symphony, for instance, dedicated to the memory of Shostakovich, effortlessly sustains a structure almost an hour in length; and Symphonies Nos. 17, 18 and 19 form a vast trilogy entitled On the Threshold of War.

The list of Weinberg’s compositions is enormous and deserves serious investigation both by musicians and record companies: there are no fewer than 26 symphonies (the last to be completed, Kaddish, is dedicated to the memory of the Jews who perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, Weinberg donating the manuscript to the Yad va-Shem memorial in Israel.

He spent his last days confined to bed by ill health, often in considerable pain and afflicted by a deep depression occasioned by the wholesale neglect of his music -- an unworthy end to a career the importance of which has yet to be recognised.

(Contribution by Ron de Leeuw <cavecanem1981hotmail.com>.)