27 January 1949(1949-01-27) (aged 64) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)
Composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic
Musical artist
Gravestone of Asafiev at the Novodevichy Cemetery
Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev[a] (29 July [O.S. 17 July] 1884 – 27 January 1949; also known by pseudonymIgor Glebov)[b] was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the dedicatee of Prokofiev's First Symphony. He was born in Saint Petersburg.[1]
Asafyev had a strong influence on Soviet music. His compositions included ballets, operas, symphonies, concertos and chamber music. His ballets included Flames of Paris, based on the French Revolution, and The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, which was first performed in 1934, and was performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 2006.
His writings, under the name Igor Glebov, included The Book about Stravinsky and Glinka (for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1948).
Selected works
Plaque in Truda Square, Saint Petersburg, dedicated to Asafyev.
Viljanen, Elina (2017). The Problem of the Modern and Tradition: Early Soviet Musical Culture and the Musicological Theory of Boris Asafiev (1884–1949) (PhD thesis). Acta Semiotica Fennica. Approaches to Musical Semiotics, 23. Helsinki: Suomen Semiotiikan Seura. ISBN978-952-68257-7-9. ISSN1235-497X.
