Role

:

Composer

Country

:

Russia

Birth

:

May 11, 1855 in St. Petersburg, Russia

Death

:

August 28, 1914 in Polinovka, Russia

Period

:

Romantic

 

 

Contemporary

 

 

Modern

Genre

:

Keyboard

 

 

Orchestral

 

Anatol Konstantinovich Lyadov was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who lived from 1855 to 1914. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 11, 1855, into a family of musicians. His father, Konstantin Lyadov, was a conductor and teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and his mother, Alexandra Lyadova, was a pianist and composer. Lyadov showed an early interest in music and began studying piano and composition with his mother at a young age. He later studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he was a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Rimsky-Korsakov was a major influence on Lyadov's music, and the two composers remained close friends throughout their lives. Lyadov's early works were heavily influenced by Russian folk music and fairy tales. His first major composition, the orchestral poem Baba-Yaga, was based on a Russian fairy tale about a witch who lived in a hut on chicken legs. The piece was well-received and helped establish Lyadov as a promising young composer. In 1884, Lyadov was appointed to the faculty of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he taught composition and orchestration. He was known as a demanding but inspiring teacher, and his students included Sergei Prokofiev and Nikolai Myaskovsky. Lyadov's most famous work is his orchestral suite The Enchanted Lake, which was composed in 1909. The piece is a shimmering, impressionistic depiction of a magical lake, and it has become a staple of the orchestral repertoire. Other notable works by Lyadov include the orchestral poem Kikimora, the piano pieces A Musical Snuffbox and The Music Box, and the ballet score The Firebird (which he composed before Igor Stravinsky's more famous version). Despite his talent and success as a composer, Lyadov was known for his erratic behavior and lack of discipline. He was notorious for missing deadlines and canceling performances at the last minute. His reputation as a difficult and unreliable artist may have contributed to his relative obscurity today, compared to his contemporaries like Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky. Lyadov died in St. Petersburg on August 28, 1914, at the age of 59. He left behind a small but significant body of work that continues to be admired for its beauty, originality, and evocative power.

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