Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1904.
Though his family intended that he go into mathematics or economics,
Dmitri Kabalevsky showed early artistic talent, both in painting and music.
He continued to paint all his life, but it was music that became his profession.
Kabalevsky was a Soviet composer, whose music, often makes use of Russian folk melodies, and is heavily nationalistic and politically oriented. He was educated at the Scriabin Music School and the Moscow Conservatory. Kabalevsky was a pupil of Myaskocsky at the Moscow Conservatory, where he himself taught from 1932. He wrote many operas and operattas that enjoyed success in Russia. Kabalevsky had a straight forward lyrical style and a fluent technique. This enabled him to produce the kind of music that the Soviet authority preferred. They considered that concert music was intended for the broadest possible audience and insisted that music should be tuneful (often using folk tunes) and end in a major key.
Kabalevsky won the Stalin Prize three times. It was the highest award for a Soviet composer during the Stalin era. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin in 1965. He is considered one of the most accessible composers of the 20th century soviet era, well-known for his opera, The Craftsman of Clemacy, in 1937. It was based on the novel, Colas Breugnon, by Romain Rolland. Also, The Comedians Suite, and Romeo and Juliet are much admired. Kabalevsky's Symphony no. 3 is subtitled, Requiem for Lenin, and his opera, Before Moscow, written in 1942 for the 25th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, celebrates the defense of the capital in World War II. Kabalevsky also composed a chorale, Our Great Fatherland, in 1942. His three Piano Concertos and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, written in 1948, was also popular. He wrote many other musical scores for several Soviet films, as well as, a series of piano pieces for children.
The year 1948 was particular crucial in the history of Soviet music, because the country's greatest composers were publicly attacked for music that showed signs of "bourgeois formalism." In that very year, Kabalevsky produced his sunny and tuneful Violin Concerto, the first of three concertos (the others were for cello and piano) written between 1948 and 1952 for young virtuosi. Its directness and lively charm have made it a repertory work ever since. Then on February 16, 1987, Kabalevsky died in Moscow.
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- Kabalevsky's Violin Concerto in C Major, Opus 48.
- CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: KABALEVSKY Cello Concertos.
- Compositions by Kabalevsky: Opus 1 through 101.
- Kabalevsky, Dmitry Borisovich (1904 - 1987)
- A list of Soviet Composers.
- A history of Kabalevsky, and also links, which give many of his compositions.
- Mixed Classical Collections.
