Shaporin, Yuri
Shaporin, Yuri
Shaporin, Yuri (Alexandrovich), significant Russian composer; b. Glukhov, Ukraine, Nov. 8, 1887; d. Moscow, Dec. 9, 1966. He studied law, and graduated from the Univ. of St. Petersburg in 1912; also studied at the St. Petersburg Cons. with Sokolov (composition), graduating in 1918. He wrote theatrical music in Leningrad, then moved to Moscow in 1936, where he served as a prof. at the Cons. (from 1939). His masterpiece is the opera The Decembrists, which occupied him for over 30 years.
Works
DRAMATIC: Polina Gyebl, opera (1925; rev. and enl. as The Decembrists, 1925–53; Moscow, June 23, 1953); about 80 theater scores; much film music. ORCH.: The Flea, comic suite (1928). VOCAL: On the Field of Kolikovo, sym.-cantata for Solo Voices, Chorus, and Orch. (1918–39; Moscow, Nov. 18, 1939); Sym. for Chorus, Orch., Band, and Piano (1928–33; Moscow, May 11, 1933); A Tale of the Battle for the Russian Land, oratorio for Solo Voices, Chorus, and Orch. (Moscow, April 18, 1944); songs. P i a n o :2 sonatas (1924, 1926).
Bibliography
E. Grosheva, Y. S.: i evo oratorii (Moscow, 1947); idem, Y.A. S.(Moscow, 1957); I. Martynov, Y. S. (Moscow, 1966).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire