Mikhail Nosyrev
composer
1924 - 1981

       Mikhail Nosyrev was born on May 28, 1924 in the city of Leningrad.

       In 1941 he finished a 10-year school at the Leningrad Conservatory and was enrolled as a first-year student at the Conservatory. Two years later during the siege he became a solo violinist at the Leningrad radio committee and conductor at the Music Comedy Theatre.

       In 1943 he was arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad for the "treason against the Motherland". The main proof of guilt of a 19-year old young man was an "anti-Soviet" diary found during a house search.

       A month later the extreme penalty was substituted by a 10-year term, which he fully served as a concertmaster at the music and drama theatre in a Vorkuta camp.

       From 1953 Nosyrev lived in Syktyvkar, where he became the first conductor at the Komi drama theatre.

       From 1958 until 1981 Mikhail Nosyrev was a conductor at the Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre. He participated in dozens of productions.

       In 1967 he became a member of the USSR Union of Composers (UC). He received his recommendations for entering the UC from Dmitri Shostakovich, whose creative work Mikhail Nosyrev admired greatly throughout all his life and to whom he dedicated his Second symphony.

       The ballet "The Song of Triumphant Love" written by the composer to the short story by Ivan Turgenev ran at the Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre for about twenty seasons.

       In practically all the works of the composer one can hear the echo of the tragedy of his youth.

       Mikhail Nosyrev was completely rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of the USSR in 1988, seven years after his death.

       In 1999-2000 all major works of the composer - four symphonies, three concerts and the ballet "The Song of Triumphant Love" - were recorded by symphony orchestras of Voronezh and St. Petersburg and released as compact discs in London by the sound recording company "Olympia".

             

Mikhail Nosyrev in 1955

       Russian (and Soviet) music has been a field in which I have specialised almost as far back as I can remember, since about half a century. During this long time I have grown accustomed to find amazing surprises when and where I least expected them. The unbelievable numbers of talented, skilled, often even genial Russian composers are the explanation for this: no one, not even the most devoted friend of Russian music can possibly be familiar with all these floods of music!

       Nevertheless my jaw dropped when I became acquainted with Mikhail Nosyrev's music just a couple of years ago. The reason was not only the outstanding technical level of this music, from the sense of melody, harmony and rhythm to the orchestration which honours the brilliant Russian tradition in this field, but also the dramatic instinct which permeates every bar of Nosyrev's scores.

       To me it seems like a wonder that a composer was able to write such a music after having suffered such hardships as are described in his curriculum vitae. This is something very rare, and it also reveals that Mikhail Nosyrev did not only have an unusual musical talent, but also a human greatness of a rare kind.

Per Skans
Musicologist
Former producer at the Music Dept. of Swedish Radio

Chronology

1924 Born on May, 28 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
1941 Finished school at the Leningrad Conservatory and was enrolled as a first-year student of the Leningrad Conservatory.
1943 A Conductor - probationer of Leningrad's Musical Comedy Theatre. The soloist of Radio orchestra.
1943 During blockade takes part in rehearsals of Dmitry Shostakovich Symphony #7.
1943 September, 30. Arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to death by firing squad in accordance with article 58 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1943 December, 31. The extreme penalty was substituted by 10 years of the GULAG.
1943-1953 10 years at Vorkuta camps.
1947-1950 Sonatina in3 parts for piano.
1947 Skazka (A Fairy Tale), Symphonic poem
1948 Fantasia on Russian folk songs
1954 Exiled to Syktyvkar. Performance music's orchestration. Pianist, violinist and conductor of the camp's musical theatre.
1956 Got married to Emma, a student of teacher's training college.
1957 Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra. Performed in Voronezh.
1958 Family moves to Voronezh. Conductor of Voronezh Opera and Ballet theatre.
1958 A Ballad about Perished Warrior. Symphonic poem. Performed in Voronezh.
1964 Four Preludes for Harp
1965 Symphony No.1
1966 Ballet "The Unforgettable"
1967 Becomes a member of the USSR Union of Composers. Recommendation was given by D.D.Shostakovich.
1968 Nocturne for Flute and Orchestra. Performed in Voronezh.
1968 Quartet No.1 for two violins, viola and cello. Performed in Voronezh.
1968-1969 Ballet "The Song of Triumphant Love". Performed in Voronezh.
1971 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Performed in Voronezh in 1974, 1999.
1973 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. Performed in Voronezh in 1974,1978. Moscow 1977.
1974 Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Performed in Voronezh in 1975 and in 1999.
1976 Ballet "The River Don Cossacks" / "Donskaya volnitsya"/
1977 Symphony No.2. Performed in Voronezh in 1977.
1978 Symphony No.3.
1979 "Night". Nocturne for mixed chorus. Performed in Voronezh in 1979.
1980 Symphony No.4. Performed in Voronezh in 1982.
1980 Quartet No.2, No.3.
1981 Died on March, 28.
1988 Completely rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of the USSR