Anton Arensky

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Anton Stepanovich Arensky (Антон Степанович Аренский) (July 12, 1861 – February 25, 1906), was a Russian Romantic composer and music professor born in Novgorod, Russia.

Arensky had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by age nine. His father and mother moved to St. Petersburg in 1879, where he studied composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, as a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduation in 1882 he became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students were Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Gretchaninov. In 1895 Arensky returned to St. Petersburg as director of the Imperial Choir, having been recommended by Balakirev. He retired in 1901, spending his time as a pianist, conductor, and composer.

Arensky died of tuberculosis in a Finnish sanatorium in 1906. It is alleged that drinking and gambling undermined his health.

Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky's musical compositions. Indeed Rimsky-Korsakov said, "In his youth Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten." The perception that he lacked a distinctive personal style contributed to long-term neglect of his music, though in recent years a large number of his compositions have been recorded. Especially popular are the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky based on one of the composer's Songs for Children, Op. 54. Arensky was perhaps at his best in chamber music, in which he wrote two string quartets, two piano trios, and a piano quintet.

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Selected works

Opus 2: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in f minor
Opus 4: Symphony No. 1 in b minor
Opus 11: String Quartet No. 1 in G major
Opus 15: Suite for Two Pianos No. 1 in F major
Opus 22: Symphony No. 2 in A major
Opus 23: Suite for Two Pianos No. 2 "Silhouettes"
Opus 25: Cantata for the 10th anniversary of the Coronation
Opus 32: Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor
Opus 33: Suite for Two Pianos No. 3 "Variations"
Opus 35: String Quartet No. 2 in a minor
Opus 35a: Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky
Opus 46: Cantata "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai"
Opus 48: Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra on Themes of Ryabinin
Opus 50: Ballet "Egyptian Night"
Opus 51: Piano Quintet in D major
Opus 54: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in a minor
Opus 62: Suite for Two Pianos No. 4
Opus 61: Cantata "The Diver"
Opus 73: Piano Trio No. 2 in f minor
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External links

de:Anton Stepanowitsch Arenski fi:Anton Arenski ja:アントン・アレンスキー nl:Anton Arenski pl:Anton Areński ru:Аренский, Антон Степанович sl:Anton Stepanovič Arenski

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