Simultaneously completing his compositional requirements at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and working as a freelance music teacher, Alexander Grechaninov and Vera Ivanovna Röhrberg had trouble making ends meet. Luckily, Vera received a small monthly allowance from her father so that
Grechaninov
Although his father was set steadfastly against it, Alexander Grechaninov was determined to become a musician. He abruptly left High School and was accepted at the Moscow Conservatory on a partial scholarship. During his years of study he witnessed the
Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov (1864-1956) wasn’t entirely happy to study at the Moscow Conservatory. Although he took composition lessons from Sergey Taneyev and sat in the counterpoint class with Arensky, his initial attempts at composition were judged to be a waste
The last link to traditional Russian music Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov (1864-1956) was a contemporary of Richard Strauss, and he lived to the ripe old age of 92. Born in Moscow, he became a U.S. citizen in 1949 and spent his
Grechaninov’s most enduring and influential musical gift to posterity is surely found in his liturgical music. Breaking entirely new ground, he returned to the old Slavonic traditional chants of the Russian Greek Orthodox Church. Folk-like harmonies and motivic counterpoint provide