Irina Elcheva

Irina Mikhaylovna Elcheva (Russian: Ирина Михайловна Ельчева; 28 November 1926 – 8 May 2013) was a Russian composer.

Biography

Her mother, Nadezhda Bogolyubova, was also a composer, music theorist, and pianist, and her father, M.D. Yel'cheva, was a singer. She studied at Mussorgsky College with Sergey Vol′fenson during World War II and then at the Leningrad Conservatory, where she studied piano with Aleksandr Kamensky (1950) and composition with O.S. Chishko (1958). Elcheva was a member of the USSR Union of Composers, the Znanie Society, and the Union of Theatre Workers.

During the Siege of Leningrad, Elcheva remained in the city and helped to clear rubble and performed music in hospitals for the wounded. She would later earn medals for her efforts, including one "For the Defence of Leningrad" (1943) and "Veteran of Labour" (1985).

Elcheva later traveled on expeditions to collect folk songs and completed the opera Spartak in 1962. Much of her music is based on folk tunes and her experiences during wartime.

Elcheva died in St. Petersburg on 8 May 2013, at the age of 86.

Selected works

Publications

Orchestral

Stage

Choral

Solo and chamber music

Vocal

References

  1. ↑ Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers. Internet Archive. New York : Books & Music USA. ISBN 978-0-9617485-2-4.
  2. 1 2 3 Manulkina, Olga (2001). Yel′cheva, Irina Mikhaylovna. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.44539.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "ЕЛЬЧЕВА, ИРИНА МИХАЙЛОВНА (1926–2013)". Conservatory.ru. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 McVicker, Mary Frech (2016). Women opera composers: biographies from the 1500s to the 21st century. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-9513-9.