Maizel, Boris

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Maizel, Boris

Maizel, Boris, significant Russian composer; b. St. Petersburg, July 17, 1907; d. Moscow, July 9, 1986. He graduated from the Leningrad Cons, in 1936 in the composition class of Riazanov. During the siege of Leningrad by the Germans in 1942, he was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In 1944 he settled in Moscow.

Works

dramatic: Snow Queen, ballet (1940; orch. suite, 1944); Sombrero, children’s ballet (1959); The Shadow of the Past, opera (1964); film music. orch.: 9 syms.: No. 1 (1940), No. 2, Ural Symphony (1944), No. 3, Victoriously Triumphant, written in celebration of the victory over Germany (1945), No. 4 (1947), No. 5 (1962), No. 6 (1967), No. 7 (1970), No. 8 (1973), and No. 9 (1976); Double Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orch. (1949); 3 symphonic poems: Distant Planet (1961; also as a ballet, 1962), Leningrad Novella (1969), and Along Old Russian Towns (1975); Double Concerto for Flute, Horn, Strings, and Percussion (1971); Concerto for 10 Instruments (1977); Concerto for 2 Pianos and Strings (1978). chamber: Cello Sonata (1936); 2 string quartets (1937, 1974); Piano Trio (1951); piano pieces. vocal: Song cycles.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire