Sviridov, Georgy Vasilyevich

▪ 1999

      Russian composer and pianist (b. Dec. 16, 1915, Fatezh, Russia—d. Jan. 5, 1998, Moscow, Russia), wrote music that paid tribute to Russian literature and folk traditions, achieving acclaim within the Soviet cultural system. Sviridov studied music under Dmitry Shostakovich at the Leningrad Conservatory, graduating in 1941. His talent was soon recognized, and his Piano Trio was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1945. Though Sviridov did compose some additional chamber and orchestral music, vocal works were his greater contribution. They ranged from grandiose oratorios to simpler songs and, in later years, suites to accompany films. Sviridov's career blended a successful ascent in the Soviet musical hierarchy with his interest in Russian traditions and nationalism. Often he incorporated folk melodies into his pieces, arranging them according to 20th-century musical techniques. He also showed an interest in literature, setting to music the novels and poems of Russian authors such as Aleksandr Pushkin, Boris Pasternak, and Sergey Yesenin. In 1959 Sviridov based his Oratorio páthetique on Vladimir Mayakovsky's tribute to Vladimir Lenin and was duly honoured with the Lenin Prize in 1960. Sviridov's rise within the official Soviet musical world soon followed. From 1962 to 1974 he served as secretary of the U.S.S.R. Union of Composers. For some of that time—from 1968 to 1973—he was also the secretary of the Russian Federation Composers Union. The much-honoured Sviridov was the recipient of the State Prize of the U.S.S.R. in 1968 for Kursk Songs, native folk melodies, and was named a People's Artist of the Russian S.F.S.R. in 1963 and a People's Artist of the U.S.S.R. in 1970. Despite changes in Russia's political leadership, Sviridov's contributions continued to be acknowledged. In December 1997 he was given a prize for merit in culture and the arts by Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin.

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