#ClassicsaDay #SovietaDay Week 3

For the third year running, the Classics a Day team chose to honor May Day. For the month of May, Soviet musicians are the theme. Last year I posted music by Soviet prize-winners.

This time, I’m simply walking my way through the alphabet (Latin, not Cyrillic). The music I discovered proved anything but ordinary. Here are my posts for the third week of #SovietaDay.

5/13/19 Janis Ivanovs (1906-1983) – Symphony No. 4 “Atlantida”

Latvian composer Ivanovs was working on his 21st symphony at the time of his death. His fourth symphony, “Atlantis,” was premiered in 1943.

 

5/14/19 Imants Kalninš (1941-) – Symphony No. 5

Classically trained Kalninš led a rock band in the 1960s and wrote Russia’s first rock opera. He returned to classical music in the 1970s and continues to write in classical and popular genres.

 

5/15/19 Anatoly Lepin (1907-1984) – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 3, Op. 67

Lepin wrote — among many other works – the State Anthem of the Latvian SSR. It was replaced when Latvia became independent in 1990.

 

5/16/19 Ester Mägi (1922 -) – Fantaisie bucolique

Mägi is often inspired by the folk music of her native Estonia.
The Fantasie bucolique was completed in 1983 when her country was still part of the USSR.

 

5/17/19 Niyazi (1912-1984) – Rast, symphonic mugam

Niyazi based his work “Rast” on a traditional musical form of his native Azerbaijan. It remains his most popular work.

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