Alexander Tcherepnin

Alexander Tcherepnin Synopsis

A modern composer linked to the great Russian tradition of Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky, Alexander Tcherepnin produced a substantial body of work-both compositions and writings-that is of interest to music scholars as well as performers. Although his works are better known and more frequently performed in Europe, Tcherepnin made a unique contribution to the U.S. musical scene in the 1950s and 1960s as a teacher of composition at De Paul University in Chicago. This volume provides detailed information on his life and accomplishments, together with a catalogue of his works and performances and a complete bibliography. The first section offers an account of the composer's life and musical education in Russia and Paris and his subsequent career in the United States. It concludes with a critical analysis of his musical style. The catalogue is followed by separate alphabetical, chronological, and genre listings of the composer's works. The final sections are devoted to a discography of commercially available sound recordings and an annotated bibliography of writing by and about Tcherepnin. A series of appendixes contains valuable additional information on Tcherepnin's life and accomplishments, as well as data relating to the musicaal careers of his father, his two sons, and several of his composition students who have become recognized composers in their own right. This work, which incorporates the first detailed English-language biography of Alexander Tcherepnin, will be a valuable resource for scholars, music educators, and musicians with an interest in Russian music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.