Who was not a contemporary of Goldenweiser. Alexander Borisovich Goldenweiser: biography

Biography

He received his first musical impressions from his mother Varvara Petrovna Goldenweiser, who had a subtle artistic taste and loved to sing and play the piano. At the age of five, having learned to read notes under the guidance of his older sister Tatyana, he began to play the piano on his own. When he was eight years old, the family moved to Moscow, where his serious music studies began with V.P. Prokunin, a collector of Russian folk songs, one of the students of P. I. Tchaikovsky.

Teaching activities started in 1895. In 1895-1917 - piano teacher at the Nikolaev Orphan and Catherine Women's Institutes, in 1904-1906 - at the Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society (now). He also taught at the Prechistensky workers' courses, at the People's Conservatory, Alferov Gymnasium (art history)

Since 1901 he acted as musical critic in print, collaborated in the newspaper “Courier”, magazine “ Music world"and other publications (under the pseudonyms: A., A, Borisov, G. G-r), was a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Musical Worker", and carried out educational work.

From 1932 to 1934 - Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of the Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR.

Family

• Father - Boris Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1839-1916), lawyer, advocate, publicist.
• Mother - Varvara Petrovna Goldenweiser (nee Shchekotikhina, 1848-1898).
• Brother - Nikolai Borisovich Goldenweiser (1871-1924), lawyer, translator, history teacher of the Moscow Imperial Lyceum in memory of Tsarevich Nicholas, Pushkin scholar (his wife - Nadezhda Afanasyevna Goldenweiser (1869-1934), teacher, employee of the Rumyantsev Museum).
• Sister - Tatyana Borisovna Sofiano (1869-1955), was married to Anna Alekseevna Goldenweiser's brother Konstantin Alekseevich Sofiano (1891-1938).
• Sister - Maria Borisovna Goldenweiser (1873-1940), pianist, was married to literary critic and Pushkin scholar Mikhail Osipovich Gershenzon (1869-1925).
  • Nephew - Sergei Mikhailovich Gershenzon (1906-1998), geneticist, microbiologist.
  • Niece - Natalya Mikhailovna Gershenzon-Chegodaeva (1907-1977), art critic, wife of art critic, professor Andrei Dmitrievich Chegodaeva (1905-1994), mother of art critic Maria Andreevna Chegodaeva (1931-1916).
• First wife (c) - Anna Alekseevna Goldenweiser (nee. Sofiano, 1881-1929), daughter of General A. S. Sofiano, pianist, music teacher, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory in the class of V. I. Safonov (1905), the letters of F. Chopin were published in a separate book in 1929, translated by A. A. Goldenweiser.
• The second wife is Elena Ivanovna Goldenweiser (nee Gracheva, 1911-1998), pianist, student of A. B. Goldenweiser, director of the A. B. Goldenweiser Apartment Museum.

Father's brothers:

• Alexander Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1855-1915) - civil lawyer. His sons (cousins ​​of A. B. Goldenweiser):
  • Alexander Goldenweiser (1880-1940), anthropologist, specialist in the anthropology of the Iroquois;
  • Emmanuel Goldenweiser (1883-1953), economist and statistician, head of the statistical department of the US Federal Reserve System (1926-1945), president of the American Economists Association;
  • Alexey Goldenweiser (1890-1979), lawyer, Jewish public figure in Kyiv, Berlin and New York, publisher, publicist.
• Moses Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1837/1838-1921), lawyer, legal adviser to L. S. Polyakov's bank, bibliophile, literary critic and historian (A. D. Sakharov's parents lived in his house in Moscow, on Granatny Lane in the 1910s). His son:
  • Nikolai Moiseevich Goldenweiser, lawyer, playwright and prose writer.
• Vladimir Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1853-1919), nobleman, publicist, railway engineer. His children:
  • Elena Vladimirovna Goldenweiser (1881-1958), wife of the right Socialist Revolutionary V.L. Utgof;
  • Lev Vladimirovich Goldenweiser (1883-1959), lawyer, theater director, playwright, prose writer, translator, in 1927-1937 - head of the literary department of Goskino, father of a scientist in the field of theoretical mechanics Alexei Lvovich Goldenweiser (1911-2003).
• Yakov Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1862 - after 1919), lawyer, writer, lived in Kyiv.

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Alexander Borisovich Goldenweiser(-) - Russian Soviet pianist, composer, teacher, publicist, music critic, public figure. Doctor of Art History (). People's Artist of the USSR (). Winner of the Stalin Prize, first degree ().

Biography

He received his first musical impressions from his mother Varvara Petrovna Goldenweiser, who had a subtle artistic taste and loved to sing and play the piano. At the age of five, having learned to read notes under the guidance of his older sister Tatyana, he began to play the piano on his own. When he was eight years old, the family moved to Moscow, where his serious music studies began with V. P. Prokunin, a collector of Russian folk songs, one of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s students.

He began his teaching career in 1895. In 1895-1917 - piano teacher at the Nikolaev Orphan and Catherine Women's Institutes, in 1904-1906 - at the Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society (now). He also taught at the Prechistensky workers' courses, at the People's Conservatory, Alferov Gymnasium (art history)

Since 1901, he acted as a music critic in print, collaborated in the newspaper "Courier", the magazine "Musical World" and other publications (under the pseudonyms: A., A, Borisov, G. G-r), was a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Musical Worker" ", carried out educational work.

From 1932 to 1934 - deputy chairman of the Moscow branch of the Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR.

Family

• Father - Boris Solomonovich Goldenweiser (1839-1916), lawyer, advocate, publicist
• Mother - Varvara Petrovna Goldenweiser (nee Shchekotikhina, 1848-1898)
• Brother - Nikolai Borisovich Goldenweiser (1871-1924), lawyer, translator, history teacher of the Moscow Imperial Lyceum in memory of Tsarevich Nicholas, Pushkin scholar (his wife - Nadezhda Afanasyevna Goldenweiser (1869-1934), teacher, employee of the Rumyantsev Museum)
• Sister - Tatyana Borisovna Sofiano (1869-1955), was married to Anna Alekseevna Goldenweiser's brother Konstantin Alekseevich Sofiano (1891-1938)
• Sister - Maria Borisovna Goldenweiser (1873-1940), pianist, was married to literary critic, Pushkin scholar Mikhail Osipovich Gershenzon (1869-1925)
• Nephew - Sergei Mikhailovich Gershenzon (1906-1998), geneticist, microbiologist
• Niece - Natalya Mikhailovna Gershenzon-Chegodaeva (1907-1977), art critic, wife of art critic, professor Andrei Dmitrievich Chegodaeva (1905-1994), mother of art critic Maria Andreevna Chegodaeva (1931-1916)
• First wife (c) - Anna Alekseevna Goldenweiser (nee. Sofiano, 1881-1929), pianist, music teacher, graduate of the Moscow Conservatory in the class of V. I. Safonov (1905), translated by A. A. Goldenweiser in 1929, the letters of F. Chopin were published as a separate book
• The second wife is Elena Ivanovna Goldenweiser (nee Gracheva, 1911-1998), pianist, student of A. B. Goldenweiser, director of the A. B. Goldenweiser Apartment Museum.

Titles and awards

• People's Artist of the RSFSR ()
• People's Artist of the USSR ()
• Doctor of Art History ()
• Stalin Prize, first degree () - for concert and performing activities
• Two Orders of Lenin (1945, 1953)
• Three Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1937, 1950, 1955).
• Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"

Memory

• In Moscow there is the Museum-Apartment of A. B. Goldenweiser - a branch of the State University named after. M. I. Glinka. Museum address: Tverskaya st. , 17, entrance 8, apt. 109-110, Tel.: 629-29-29. The basis of the collection is the archive, library and other items from the collection of A. B. Goldenweiser, which he transferred to the state in 1955.
• 1975, the year of the musician’s centenary, was declared by UNESCO as the year of A. B. Goldenweiser.
• In 2005, in Moscow, children's music school No. 65 was named after A. B. Goldenweiser (Moscow, Akademika Volgina St., 17A)

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Literature

• Goldenweiser A. B. Articles, materials, memories. - M.: Soviet composer, 1969. 448 p.
• Nikolaev A. Performing and pedagogical principles A. B. Goldenweiser // Masters of the Soviet pianistic school. - M., 1954.
• Yampolsky I. M.// Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• In the class of A.B. Goldenweiser / Comp. D.D. Blagoy, E.I. Goldenveiser. M.: Muzyka, 1986. 214 p.
• Chernikov O. Music does not have mercy on me // Music and time. - 2004. - No. 10.
• Lessons from Goldenweiser / Comp. S.V.Grokhotov. M.: Classics-XXI, 2009. 248 p.
• Chernikov O. The piano and the voices of the greats. - Phoenix, 2011. - 224 p. - (Music library). - ISBN 978-5-222-17864-5.
• Mentor: Alexander Goldenweiser through the eyes of his contemporaries. M.; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, University Book, 2014. 518 p. - ISBN 978-5-98712-199-3
• "Our Old Man": Alexander Goldenveiser and the Moscow Conservatory. M.; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, University Book, 2015. 704 p. - ISBN 978-5-98712-548-9
• Musician's family: Alexander Goldenweiser at home, in the classroom and on stage. M.; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, University Book, 2016. - ISBN 978-5-98712-622-6

Notes

Links

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An excerpt characterizing Goldenweiser, Alexander Borisovich

That same winter, I experienced another unusual “novelty” that could probably be called self-anesthesia. To my great regret, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Just like so many of my “strange” manifestations, which suddenly opened up very clearly and immediately disappeared, leaving only good or bad memories in my huge personal “brain archive”. But even for that a short time that this “novelty” remained “functional”, two very interesting events which I would like to talk about here...
Winter has already arrived, and many of my classmates began to go to the skating rink more and more often. I was not a very big fan of figure skating (or rather, I preferred to watch), but our skating rink was so beautiful that I loved just being there. It was held every winter at the stadium, which was built right in the forest (like most of our town) and surrounded by a high brick wall, which from a distance made it look like a miniature city.
Already since October, a huge Christmas tree, and the entire wall around the stadium was decorated with hundreds of multi-colored light bulbs, the reflections of which intertwined on the ice into a very beautiful sparkling carpet. In the evenings, pleasant music played there, and all this together created a cozy atmosphere around festive atmosphere, which I didn’t want to leave. All the kids from our street went skating, and, of course, I went to the skating rink with them. On one of these pleasant quiet evenings, an unusual incident happened that I would like to tell you about.
Usually we rode in a chain of three or four people, since in the evening it was not entirely safe to ride alone. The reason was that in the evenings a lot of “catching” boys came, whom no one liked, and who usually spoiled the fun for everyone around. They grappled with several people and, skating very quickly, tried to catch the girls, who, naturally, unable to resist the oncoming blow, usually fell onto the ice. This was accompanied by laughter and whooping, which the majority found stupid, but, unfortunately, for some reason, no one from the same “majority” stopped.
I was always surprised that among so many almost adult children there was not a single one who was offended by this situation or at least outraged, causing at least some kind of opposition. Or maybe it did, but the fear was stronger?.. It’s not for nothing that there is a stupid saying that: impudence is the second happiness... It was these “catchers” who captured everyone else with simple, undisguised impudence. This was repeated every night and there was no one who even tried to stop the insolent people.
It was precisely this stupid “trap” that I fell into that evening. Not knowing how to skate well enough, I tried to stay as far away from the crazy “catchers” as possible, but this didn’t really help, since they rushed all over the ice rink like mad, not sparing anyone around. Therefore, whether I wanted it or not, our collision was almost inevitable...
The push was strong, and we all fell in a moving heap onto the ice. I didn’t hurt myself, but suddenly I felt something hot flowing down my ankle and my leg went numb. I somehow slipped out of the tangle of bodies floundering on the ice and saw that my leg had somehow been terribly cut. Apparently, I collided very hard with one of the falling guys, and someone’s skate hurt me so badly.
It looked, I must say, very unpleasant... I had skates with short boots (it was still impossible for us to get high ones at that time) and I saw that my entire leg at the ankle was cut almost to the bone... Others did it too They saw it, and then panic began. The faint-hearted girls almost fainted, because, frankly speaking, the view was creepy. To my surprise, I was not scared and did not cry, although in the first seconds I was almost in shock. Clutching the cut with my hands with all my might, I tried to concentrate and think about something pleasant, which turned out to be very difficult due to the cutting pain in my leg. Blood seeped through the fingers and fell in large drops onto the ice, gradually collecting on it into a small puddle...
Naturally, this could not calm down the already quite nervous guys. Someone ran to call an ambulance, and someone clumsily tried to help me somehow, only complicating an already unpleasant situation for me. Then I tried to concentrate again and thought that the bleeding should stop. And she began to wait patiently. To everyone’s surprise, literally within a minute nothing was leaking through my fingers! I asked our boys to help me get up. Fortunately, my neighbor, Romas, was there, who usually never contradicted me in anything. I asked him to help me get up. He said that if I stood up, the blood would probably “flow like a river” again. I took my hands away from the cut... and what a surprise we were when we saw that the blood was no longer flowing at all! It looked very unusual - the wound was large and open, but almost completely dry.
When the ambulance finally arrived, the doctor who examined me could not understand what had happened and why, with such deep wound, no blood flows. But he also didn’t know that not only was I not bleeding, but I also didn’t feel any pain at all! I saw the wound with my own eyes and, by all the laws of nature, I should have felt wild pain... which, oddly enough, was not there at all in this case. They took me to the hospital and prepared to stitch me up.
When I said that I didn’t want anesthesia, the doctor looked at me as if I was quietly crazy and prepared to give me an anesthetic injection. Then I told him that I would scream... This time he looked at me very carefully and, nodding his head, began to stitch it up. It was very strange to watch my flesh being pierced by a long needle, and instead of something very painful and unpleasant, I only felt a slight “mosquito” bite. The doctor watched me all the time and asked several times if I was okay. I answered yes. Then he asked if this always happens to me? I said no, just now.
I don’t know whether he was a very “advanced” doctor for that time, or whether I managed to somehow convince him, but one way or another, he believed me and didn’t ask any more questions. About an hour later I was already at home and happily devoured my grandmother’s warm pies in the kitchen, not feeling full and sincerely surprised by such a wild feeling of hunger, as if I had not eaten for several days. Now, of course, I already understand that it was simply too much loss of energy after my “self-medication”, which urgently needed to be restored, but then, of course, I could not know this yet.

The memory of Goldenweiser, the Old Man, as we called him, is sacred to me. Therefore, I am obliged to describe specific events that I and dozens, and perhaps even more, witnessed. more people living to this day in Russia or in exile.

Of all the musicians of the times of Stalinism, the most courageous, the most straightforward was A. B. Goldenweiser. People of the older generation still have a transcript of the famous meeting with Zhdanov - a shameful document that later “disappeared” from the libraries of the USSR. It contains Zhdanov’s introductory directive speech with a call to create “melodic, graceful” music and performances by twitched, exhausted, frightened people. The only exception was A. B. Goldenweiser. He cited Scriabin's last sonatas as an example of modern music. He talked about their merits and was proud that he was the first to fulfill them. And this is after Zhdanov’s speech! Is there a greater antithesis to “melodic, graceful” music? Moreover, Goldenweiser completely shared the views of Sergei Rachmaninov. He wasn't keen modern music and didn’t hide it. However, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich and other composers sounded in his class. Zhdanov either did not understand or swallowed Goldenweiser’s speech at the meeting.

The old man never flirted with the authorities. At the funeral of K.N. Igumnov he stood with wet eyes, as if - having left into himself and was baptized. A wonderful pianist and student of Igumnov, Naum Shtarkman, told me that Goldenweiser pulled him out of prison, although no one turned to him for help. But the Old Man achieved his goal.

Here is a funny episode that complements the image of Goldenweiser. An eccentric student K. studied at our faculty. At one of the important meetings of the piano faculty of the conservatory in the presence of all the pianist celebrities and some visiting authorities, when the agenda was approved and the chairman opened his mouth, K. stood up and loudly, clearly said: “Comrades , I propose to stand in honor of the memory of one of Comrade Stalin’s closest associates, best friend and the mentor of musicians Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov.” And everyone instantly, as if on command, stood up silently. When they sat down and the chairman was about to begin, K. stood up again and just as loudly and clearly said: “Comrades, I propose by standing to honor the memory of the leader of the Moscow Bolsheviks, one of the closest associates of Comrade Stalin, Comrade Shcherbakov.” Those present were either shocked or confused. Some rose, others pretended that they would rise now, but were waiting for something... It was clear to everyone: if the guy was not stopped, the matter would come to the Decembrists. But how? After all, Stalin is alive, and who can predict the consequences?

It was as if everyone had taken water into their mouths. Tense silence... And suddenly Goldenweiser’s squeak was heard: “I don’t understand what’s happening?” Grigory Ginzburg, sitting next to him, replied: “They don’t ask here.” These words seemed to bring everyone out of their state of stupor. They shushed the guy to keep him quiet. The happy chairman said: “Let’s get on with the agenda.” Nobody even smiled. Is it funny when fear reigns supreme? We laughed after the meeting. By the way, when Goldenweiser was irritated, his voice rose almost to a squeak.

I don’t remember whether it was before the war or after, the International Tolstoy Congress was held in Rome. Goldenweiser was Tolstoy's closest friend. He signed his will. He did not leave Tolstoy, who was dying at the Astapovo station, until last minute held his hand. Who, if not him, should lead the Soviet delegation. But Goldenweiser flatly refused to go to Rome. A lot, a lot of pressure was put on him. But there was no force capable of breaking his resistance. He would rather accept death than talk about the “mistakes” of Tolstoy, whose views did not correspond to revolutionary and post-revolutionary sentiments.

Goldenweiser's main merit was the salvation of the Moscow Conservatory. A huge, I would say, historical feat.

One morning we saw in the newspaper a project for a new building of the Moscow Conservatory on Novo-Arbatskaya Street. And it was decided to demolish the old building on Herzen Street. It was fashionable then to demolish. Only God knows how many valuable architectural structures disappeared throughout the country. It was the turn of the conservatory. The newspapers were full of “letters from workers” with gratitude “for development”, “only in our country”, etc. Some artists also expressed gratitude. This “concern” of the party and “the wisest, the greatest” resonated with deep pain in the hearts of musicians, and especially conservatives.

Visits to the Old Man began. He himself became noticeably haggard. It was necessary to take urgent measures. The flow of letters from “workers” did not dry up. Every missed day could be fatal. There was only hope for Goldenweiser. And he went to the very top with a request to cancel another favor. I was told that when he returned safely, his sister shed tears.

The old man requested an appointment with Molotov. Molotov sent him to Zhdanov. And the conservatory was saved. “Workers”, as if on command, stopped writing Thanksgiving letters, and conservatives young and old breathed a sigh of relief. The darkest days of persecution and persecution of scientists, writers, musicians and other so-called “ideological front workers” occurred in post-war years. The mechanism was simple. The names of the victims were lowered down from above, and local party organizations held an open meeting with the obligatory presence of everyone and assigned in advance the roles of the main thug and the henchmen. Sometimes, as a matter of personal initiative, all sorts of careerist sycophants acted. There was no case where at such a meeting anyone came to the defense of the beaten person - this is the general opinion. But such a case happened. D. Papernov testifies to him in his book “Notes of a Moscow Musician.”

I'll tell you briefly. A muddy wave reached the Moscow Conservatory. An outstanding musicologist, Professor L. A. Mazel was expelled. Behind him are I. Ya. Ryzhkina, V. D. Kopen, B. V. Levik - I can’t remember them all. Finally, the pianists, that is, the piano faculty, were gathered for a show of execution. According to a pre-prepared scenario, a “thug” rose to the podium. It was a certain Simonov, professionally an absolute nonentity. Then, one after another, they flourished in the field of art and decided the destinies of people, they were conductors of the Stalinist party line. Simonov attacked the oldest, respected professor Maria Solomonovna Nemenova-Lunts. IN student years she was the best student and close friend of Alexander Scriabin. A talented pianist (her name appears on the “Golden Plaque” in the Small Hall of the Conservatory), she performed quite often on the radio before the war. She had a typically Russian appearance and spoke with a beautiful old Moscow accent. Everyone could envy her culture of speech. At student skits, she sometimes told witty, funny jokes from the stage, which were accompanied by laughter from the entire audience. Not everyone knew that these jokes were composed by her. In my entire life (and I’m already seventy-three), I have never met a woman with a more brilliant mind than Nemenova-Lunts. Naturally, at a time of triumph for creative nonentities and outright mediocrity, there was no place for her, and even with the patronymic Solomonovna. In addition to Maria Solomonovna, three more victims were planned. The prepared “thugs” were waiting for their exit. But after Simonov, Goldenweiser came up to the podium. He said indignantly: “Listening to Simonov, I lost 15 minutes...” - and in conclusion he called him a “gossip.”

A thunderous applause shook the hall. The next “thugs” put their tails between their legs. The script failed. But the Old Man knew that the performance was not over, and went to the Arts Committee. Paradoxically, Goldenweiser's power lay in nature itself. Soviet power. It is known that Stalin spoke rudely to his subordinates and humiliated them in every possible way. His so-called associates, in imitation of their master, behaved in the same way with ministers and other leaders. But this did not apply to prominent artists. They were received without rudeness, with respect. Here's a typical example. When Stalin, after listening to the anthems, ordered an increase, and very significantly, in the orchestra’s salary Bolshoi Theater, the question arose about other equivalent orchestras. After the scandal with Muradeli’s opera “The Great Friendship,” N. S. Golovanov was appointed chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theater, it seems, by Stalin himself. At the same time, he remained the head of the Bolshoi symphony orchestra All-Union Radio. Wanting to increase the orchestra’s salary, he turned to the chairman of the All-Union Radio Broadcasting Committee, Comrade Mesyatsev. We decided to go to Malenkov, the second person after Stalin (before the war he was Molotov).

Golovanov invited I.S. Kozlovsky for reinforcements. He readily agreed. And then they appeared in Malenkov’s reception room. The secretary comes out and says: “Georgy Maximilianovich invites comrades Golovanov and Kozlovsky to go into the office, and let Mesyatsev go to work.” The usual party slap in the face from a superior to a subordinate.

So Goldenweiser went to the Arts Committee. He told them: “Either you promise not to touch people, or I will go higher.” They knew that Goldenweiser at the top would be received and listened to, but they would be spat in the face. That's why his words worked.

In those years, the performance of works by the remarkable Russian composer Nikolai Medtner was banned, and Goldenweiser appealed to the Party Central Committee to get this ban lifted. It seems that this was the only time he left with nothing.

At the same time, they began to perform works by the emigrant Rachmaninov, who was banned in the thirties. Soviet propaganda loves the dead. The dead are silent. You can calmly write about each of them: “Although I made some mistakes, but...” The Soviet Union published Fyodor Chaliapin’s memoirs more than once, but they never included the chapter “Under the Bolsheviks.” It was precisely classified as a “mistake.” But Medtner was still alive. He died in 1951.

During the years of the so-called Thaw, the ban on Medtner's works was lifted. Emil Gilels immediately recorded one of his sonatas. Leading performers began to be released on foreign tours, but with accompaniment. Svyatoslav Richter was accompanied by the director of the Moscow Philharmonic Belotserkovsky, and Gilels was accompanied by another boss, with a diploma from the Moscow Conservatory, a certain V. They came to Medtner’s widow in London to present a record with a recording of her husband’s sonata. The piano sounds, and V. says touchingly: “What brilliant music!” He, poor fellow, thought that the sonata took up the entire record, and played the side on which Beethoven's Sonata in C major op was. 2. This arbiter of the destinies of music and musicians could not distinguish the early Beethoven from Medtner...

Goldenweiser really was extraordinary personality. He married Anna Alekseevna Sofiano, the daughter of a general tsarist army, whom he loved selflessly all his life. She died in the late twenties or early thirties. Students of the older generation who attended the funeral service in the church said that A.B. was unrecognizable. After the death of his wife, he lived for more than thirty years. Every week he came to her grave (a place was prepared for him nearby). Everyone knew that visiting his wife's grave was a part of his life, like work, sleep or food. By the way, as a Tolstoyan, he never ate meat. The most dear people the sisters of his late wife became for him. He officially adopted Vera, the daughter of one of them, who was left without a husband. He also had an adopted son, great pianist Grigory Ginzburg, who was raised in the Goldenweiser family from the age of six. Anna Alekseevna and Alexander Borisovich did not have their own children.

One of Anna Alekseevna’s sisters married the physicist D. Sakharov, from whose textbook my generation studied physics at school. They were the parents of the future academician Andrei Sakharov, whose godfather became Goldenweiser. I learned about this here already, from a radio speech by writer Lev Kopelev, a close friend of the late academician.

In communicating with people, Goldenweiser was simple, benevolent and witty. Before the war, the Bolshoi Theater soloist Valeria Barsova was very popular. Her husband, appearing in institutions, introduced himself; “I am Barsova’s husband.” Goldenweiser once asked: “What does he do during the day?”

After the revolution, Alexander Borisovich served as rector and vice-rector of the conservatory several times. At the end of the twenties, the names of the Old Bolsheviks were assigned to everything that came to hand. The conservatory was renamed the Felix Kohn Higher Music School. Cohn had nothing to do with music. But he was a Bolshevik. When Goldenweiser was offered to become the vice-rector of this school, he replied: “I will not be the vice-rector of a horse school.” And the conservatory became a conservatory again. And one more important detail: he was never boring. I witnessed how he stood comparison with Grigory Kogan with honor. In 1939 or 1940, both were opponents of a dissertation on Liszt. Both had to speak for fifteen to twenty minutes. Kogan's reputation as a brilliant lecturer was established. I sat, worried, nervous, not imagining what the Old Man would look like next to Kogan. But then he spoke, and the anxiety disappeared. Everyone listened with interest. The dissertation candidate turned out to be the most boring.

Goldenweiser never missed a single one new program circus, visited stadiums, played chess well. It was on this basis that his friendship with Tolstoy began; Tolstoy loved chess. The old man said that at first he kept a pencil and paper in his pocket and managed to write down Tolstoy’s moves, but he noticed and resisted. Goldenweiser often played chess with Oistrakh and Prokofiev. By the way, in 1936 the Oistrakh - Prokofiev match took place. Entrance was paid, and the proceeds went to the House of Artists, where the match took place (unfortunately, I don’t know how it ended).

Born in 1875 in Chisinau, died in 1961 in the village of Nikolina Gora, Moscow region.

Pianist, teacher, composer, music critic, editor, music and public figure.

Rector of the Moscow Conservatory (1922-24 and 1939-42).

As a child, I took piano lessons from V.P. Prokunin, student N.G. Rubinstein. In 1895 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory as a pianist with a gold medal, and in 1897 as a composer. Among the teachers is A.I. Siloti, P.A. Pabst (piano), V.I. Sa-fonov (chamber ensemble), A.S. Arensky, M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov ( free essay), S.I. Taneev (counterpoint). In the State Center for Metallurgical Culture named after. M.I. Glinka kept it examination paper, dated 1894: Double 4-goal. fugue for string quartet (score; f. 91).

He performed as a soloist in student concerts at the Moscow Conservatory. The strongest impact on personality and artistic principles Goldenweiser was influenced by communication with L.N. Tolstoy (in 1895-1911), as well as with S.V. Rakhmaninov, A.N. Scriabin, N.K. Medtner, A.F. Goedicke etc. After graduating from the conservatory, he gave concerts (until 1956), often performing in ensembles with E. Isaï, P. Casals, G.R. Ginzburg, B.O. Sibor, D.F. Oistrakh, L.B. Kogan, S.N. Knushevitsky, M.L. Rostropovich, N.G. Raisky, E.D. Kruglikova, N.P. Rozhdestvenskaya, with the Quartet named after. Beethoven and others. The playing of Goldenweiser, an intellectual musician, was distinguished by a subtle sense of style, noble simplicity and pianistic skill. His interpretations of the works of V.A. were widely recognized. Mozart, L. Vann Beethoven, R. Schumann, E. Grieg, Russian composers (primarily Arensky and Methner, in early years Scriabin). He left a lot of gram records. From 1901 he appeared in print as a music critic, contributed to the newspaper “Courier”, the magazine “Musical World”, was a member of the editorial board of the magazine “Musical Worker”, etc.

He began his teaching career in 1897: he taught piano at the Nikolaev Orphan, Elisabeth and Catherine Women's Institutes (until 1918), at the Musical and Drama School of the MFO (1904-06). He was invited to the Moscow Conservatory in 1906 (in return for I.A. Levin, who had gone abroad ) and inherited his class. Goldenweiser’s main pedagogical principle was the formation of a musician as a deep and versatile personality: "...muses- the cant performer must strive to reach the level of spiritual culture and inner significance of the author» ( Goldenweiser A.B. About performance. P. 62).

The artist’s activity seemed high to him creative mission. Repeatedly emphasized the responsibility of the pianist for the fate of what he performs piece of music(Ibid. p. 101). He did not allow a free attitude to the author’s text, he demanded maximum accuracy from students and mandatory play by heart. While working with children, he paid most attention to the study of scales and arpeggios, and later to technical work on the material of works performed in class. At the same time, he achieved absolute “ compliancebetween the sound image and the movements and sensations of the hands and the whole body of the player"(Ibid. P. 104). Sound production problems were solved in close connection with the nature of the plays being studied. I dealt with sound specifically relatively little, believing that if you have professional skills, you really musical man the piano won't sound bad. Based on the best individual properties students (there were over 200 of them in total), created a large piano school. Among the students: D. Bashkirov, L. Berman, D. Blagoy, M. Weisbord, G. Ginzburg, O. Zhukova, A. Kaplan, I. Katz, L. Levinson, I. Malinina, V. Nechaev , T. Nikolaeva, D. Paperno, L. Roizman, L. Sosina, R. Tamarkina, S. Feinberg.

In addition to pedagogical work, he carried out public and administrative work at the conservatory: in 1916-17 he was a member of the library commission created to streamline library collections. He headed the Council of Professors in the piano department. In 1918-20 dean of the performing arts faculty. In 1918, along with G.P. Prokofiev was elected “comrade rector” (head artistic part), from the end of 1920 (in connection with the introduction of the position) was appointed vice-rector. From the Moscow Conservatory he was a member of the special Commission of the MUZO of the People's Commissariat for Education, which was engaged in the reform of musical educational institutions. In July 1920, together with Ippolitov-Ivanov, L.E. Konyus , Prokofiev, Raisky developed a draft of a new organizational structure And curricula Conservatory (provided, in particular, for the creation of 5 faculties and “Higher Free Workshops”). In October 1922 (after the resignation of Ippolitov-Ivanov) he became rector of the Moscow Conservatory and remained in this position until 1924 (then he became rector K.N. Igumnov). Participated in the development of the “Regulations on the Leningrad and Moscow Conservatories” (1925). In 1932-34 - deputy. director (director S.T. Shats-kiy), in 1939-42 - director of the conservatory.

In a difficult creative and social situation, he defended the domestic traditions of professionalism that had developed at the conservatory. music education. Seeking the liquidation of the instructor-pedagogical department (faculty), which was formed mainly according to ideological rather than professional criteria, he was attacked as “the leader of the reactionary professorship” (see: P. Novitsky. Citadel of musical artistic reaction // Music and revolution. 1928. pp. 18-22). In 1936, when a system of departments was introduced at the conservatory, he headed one of them (at the piano department). In 1936-59 he worked on the commission to revise the repertoire of performing arts faculties and develop new curricula (1943, prev. D.D. Shostakovich).

He paid great attention to musical and educational work. In the pre-revolutionary years, he participated in the work of the “Prechistensky free classes for adult workers and working women”, in the “Moscow Society for Promoting the Organization of General Educational Folk Entertainment”. In 1906 he became one of the organizers of the People's Conservatory and taught there. Later (1918-19) he headed the music council under the Artistic and Educational Department of the Moscow City Council, as well as the sector scientific work at the artistic subdepartment of the Moscow Department of Public Education. In 1932-34, deputy chairman of the MSM. He was one of the first to set the task of separating the general musical education of children and their special preparation for musical and professional activities. In 1931-36 he headed the “Special Children’s Group” organized by him at the conservatory, which was later transformed into the Central Music School, was her artistic director(1936-41). He was one of the first to start working with children aged 7 years and older.

Author of the operas “The Singers”, “Spring Waters” (after I.S. Turgenev), “A Feast during the Plague” (after A.S. Pushkin), 2 orc. suites, chamber, fp. and wok. op., as well as many others. articles and memoirs, including about A.G. Rubinstein and N.G. Rubinstein, Ziloti, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Rachmaninov, E.A. Lavrovskaya, Pabste, N.Ya. Myaskovsky, G.L. Catuare, G.E. Konuse, M. F. Gnesin, K. S. Saradzheva , Tamarkina and others.

Ed. fp. op. P.I. Tchaikovsky(concerts, trio, Concert Fantasy, sextet), I.S. Bach (partitas, inventions, “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue”), Mozart (sonatas and concertos), Beethoven (all sonatas, as well as concertos, variations), D. Scarlatti, Schumann (complete collection of ph. cit.) etc. He left “Diaries” [published by Goldenweiser’s 2nd wife and secretary Elena Ivanovna Goldenweiser (nee Gracheva)] and “Memoirs” (A.B. Goldenweiser’s Apartment Museum, branch of the State Central Moscow Museum of Music). Stalinskaya Ave. USSR (1946). Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Publications:

• Near Tolstoy. T.1, 2. M., 1922, 1923;
• Leo Tolstoy and music. Memories. M., 1958 (jointly with N.N. Gusev);
• About performance // Issues of piano performance. Vol. 1. M., 1965;
• A.B. Goldenweiser. Articles, materials, memories. M., 1969; About musical performance // Outstanding pianists-teachers about piano art. M.-L., 1966;
• ABOUT musical art. M., 1975;
• Diary. Notebook one (1889-1904). M., 1995;
• Diary. Notebooks two - six (1905-1909). M., 1997.

Literature:

• ME1; KPM1; MK; Nikolaev A. Performing and pedagogical principles A.B. Goldenweiser // Masters of the Soviet pianistic school. M., 1961;
• Alekseev A.D. Life of a musician // In memory of A.B. Gol-Denweiser. M., 1969;
• In class A.B. Goldenweiser. M., 1986;
• Berman L. My teacher Alexander Borisovich Goldenweiser // Berman L. Years of wanderings. Reflections of a musician. M., 2006;
• Brodsky N. Nuances of musical Moscow. M., 2007;
• Paperno D. Notes of a Moscow pianist. M., 2007;
• Kats I. “Do you remember how...?” Jerusalem, 2007.