Tcherepnin, Alexander (Nikolayevich)

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Tcherepnin, Alexander (Nikolayevich) (b St Petersburg, 1899; d Paris, 1977). Russ.-born composer and pianist (Amer. cit. 1958), son of Nikolay Tcherepnin. Went to Paris 1921. Earned int. reputation as pianist and in 1923 wrote ballet, Ajanta's Frescoes, for Pavlova, who prod. it at CG. His first sym. (Paris 1927) caused protests because of its dissonance. Wrote several more ballets and scored Mussorgsky's unfinished opera, The Marriage. Visited USA 1926. Prof. of pf. and comp. at DePaul Univ., Chicago, 1949–64. In tours of Far East 1934–7 taught young Chinese and Japanese composers. Mus. influenced by Georgian and Oriental folk-mus. and by his formulation of 9-note scale, leading to complex chords. Comp. 3 operas (one to libretto by Hofmannsthal); 4 syms. (1927–57); 6 pf. concs. (1919–65); harmonica conc.; The Story of Ivan the Fool (cantata after Tolstoy, using elec. devices, 1968); 2 str. qts.; 2 pf. sonatas; and many smaller works.

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Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy

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