Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (Анатолий Константинович Лядов), often transliterated Liadov, (May 11 1855 – August 28 1914) was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor.

Biography

Lyadov was born in St. Petersburg into a family of eminent Russian musicians. He was taught informally by his conductor father from 1860 to 1868, and then in 1870 entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory to study piano and violin. He soon gave up instrumental study to concentrate on counterpoint and fugue, although he remained a fine pianist. His natural musical talent was highly thought of by, among others, Modest Mussorgsky, and during the 1870s he became associated with the group of composers known as The Mighty Handful. He entered the composition classes of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, but was expelled for absenteeism in 1876. In 1878 he was readmitted to these classes to help him complete his graduation composition.

He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1878, his pupils including Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Mihail Gnesin and Boris Asafiev. In 1905 he resigned briefly over the dismissal of Rimsky-Korsakov only to return when Rimsky-Korsakov was reinstated

He married in 1884, acquiring through his marriage a country property in Polïnovka, Novgorod district, where he spent his summers composing unhurriedly, and where he died in 1914.

Lyadov possessed a technical facility which was highly regarded by his contemporaries, but his unreliability stood in the way of his advancement. It has been argued that he never completed a large-scale work. However many of his miniatures do have their place in the repertory. Sergei Diaghilev asked the composer for a new ballet score for his Ballets Russes for their 1910 season, but Lyadov's penchant for procrastination resulted in his never fulfilling the commission. Instead, famously, Diaghilev turned to Igor Stravinsky who provided his ballet The Firebird.

Music

His published compositions are relatively few in number through his natural indolence and a certain self-critical lack of confidence. Many of his works are variations on, or arrangements of, pre-existing material (for example his Russian Folksongs, Op. 58). He did compose a large number of piano miniatures, of which his Musical Snuffbox of 1893 is perhaps most famous.

Much of his music is programmatic, for example his tone poems Baba Yaga Op. 56, Kikimora Op. 63, The Enchanted Lake Op. 62. These are probably his most popular works. In his later compositions he experimented with extended tonality, like his younger contemporary Alexander Scriabin.

Selected works

• Final scene from Schiller's Die Braut von Messina for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Op. 28 (1878, published 1891). This was his graduation piece.
• Muzikalnaya tabakerka (A musical snuffbox), Op. 32 for piano (1893)
• Baba Yaga, Op. 56 (1905)
• Eight Russian Folksongs, Op. 58 (1906)
• Volshebnoye ozero (The Enchanted Lake), Op. 62 (1909)
• Kikimora, Op. 63 (1909)

References

Sadie, Stanley (ed.) (1980). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan Publishers Ltd., London. ISBN 1561591742.