Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch (
July 27,
1912-
March 7,
1983) was a
Ukrainian composer and
conductor.
Born in
Kiev, his family moved to
Switzerland in
1914. His musical gifts were first noted by
Alfred Cortot, who took him to
Paris in
1926 for training as a composer and pianist, where he would study under
Nadia Boulanger. He gained recognition in
1929 with the performance of his
Concerto Grosso in Paris.
Bela Bartok once described Markevitch as "...the most striking personality in contemporary music..." and cited him as an influence on his own composing [
1].
Markevitch made his debut as a conductor at age 18 with the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. As a conductor, Markevitch was well-respected for his interpretations of the French and Russian repertory (such as
Tchaikovsky) and of twentieth-century music. He settled in Italy and became an Italian citizen. During the
Second World War he was active with the
partisan movement. He would relocate to London in
1953, and since 1965 he worked for the Spanish RTVE Orchestra. He died suddenly in Antibes on
March 7,
1983.
Compositions
Works by Igor Markevitch include:
Partita (
1931) for piano and small orchestra
L'Envol d'Icare(
1932) Ballet for orchestra
Le Paradis Perdu (
1934-35) Oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra
Lorenzo il Magnifico (
1940) for soprano and orchestra
Theory
Historical, analytical and practical studies of Beethoven symphonies (
Die Sinfonien von Ludwig van Beethoven: historische, analytische und praktische Studien; published by
Edition Peters,
Leipzig,
1982) - popular literature for conductors, although disputed.
*
Biography at Boosey & Hawkes*
Naxos biography*
Online biography*
Another online biography
