Composer


Read biography at allmusic.com.
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Moisey Weinberg (Mieczyslaw Vainberg) was born in Warsaw in 1919, the son of a Jewish theater composer, began composing at the age of 10 and shortly thereafter began studies at the Warsaw Conservatory, studying piano with Jozef Turczinski. With the outbreak of the World War II, Weinberg fled to the Soviet Union, and entered the Minsk Conservatory in 1939, where he studied composition with Vassily Zolotaryov - himself a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1941, Weinberg was again forced to flee, this time to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he married the daughter of famed Jewish actor Solomon Mikhoels - who was later assassinated under mysterious circumstances in 1948, during the so-called "Stalin Terror". It was at this same period that he met and befriended Dmitri Shostakovich, who was a consistent supporter of Weinberg's music, and who had a big influence on the latter's musical development.
In the years following the war, Weinberg, like many other Soviet composers, came under official attack for his modernist (formalism, cosmopolitanism) tendencies; along with Myaskovsky, Weinberg refused to repent, and as a result experienced official resistance for his music, forcing him to earn a living writing music for the theater and circus. He was even arrested in 1953 for specious reasons, and spent 3 months in a prison - likely saved from death through a favorable letter from Shostakovich. Despite his political troubles, however, Weinberg's music gradually gained attention from performers and conductors in Russia and Europe - such as Emil Gilels, Mariya Grinberg, Alexander Gauk, and Kurt Saunderling.
His final three decades were quite prolific and less tumultuous, during which time he wrote perhaps his masterpiece, the opera Passazhirka ('The Passenger', 1968), and many of his 25 symphonies. In all, Weinberg wrote music for all mediums - stage, orchestral, chamber, piano, vocal, as well as music for theater, film, TV, radio, cartoons, and the circus. Many of his works have a programmatic theme, some of which are dedicated to the themes of despair, destruction, and hope that reflect his own experiences as an outsider (Jewish, modernist) within his society.
We are very pleased to feature the music of this important, though often neglected, composer here at the Classical Archives.
Moisey Weinbergemail: vainberg@rdm.ru
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Orchestral Works
295 tracks
- Symphonies
151 tracks
- Symphony No.1 in G-, Op.10
4 tracks
- Symphony No.3, Op.45
4 tracks
- Symphony No.4 in A-, Op.61
8 tracks
- Symphony No.5 in F-, Op.76
4 tracks
- Symphony No.6 in A- (1963)
8 tracks
- Symphony No.7 in C, for string orchestra and harpschord, Op.81
5 tracks
- Symphony No.10 in A- (1968)
2 tracks
- Symphony No.12, Op.114 (in memory of Dmitri Shostakovich, 1976)
8 tracks
- Symphony No.14, Op.117
4 tracks
- Symphony No.16, Op.131
6 tracks
- Symphony No.17, Op.137 ('Memory', 1984)
4 tracks
- Symphony No.20, Op.150
5 tracks
- Symphony No.19, Op.142 ('The Bright May')
3 tracks
- Symphony No.8, Op.83 ('Tveti Pol'shi'; Polish Flowers)
10 tracks
- Symphony No.6 in A-, Op.79
5 tracks
- Symphony No.17, Op.137 ('Memory')
4 tracks
- Symphony No.10, Op.98
5 tracks
- Symphony No.18, Op.138, 'War - there is no word more cruel'
4 tracks
- Symphony No.21, Op.152, 'Kaddish'
13 tracks
- Chamber Symphony No.3, Op.151
12 tracks
- Chamber Symphony No.4, Op.153
12 tracks
- 6 Ballet Scenes, Op.113 'Choreographic Symphony'
6 tracks
- Symphony No.22, Op.154
3 tracks
- Chamber Symphony No.1, Op.145
8 tracks
- Symphony No.13, Op.115
1 track
- Symphony No.2 for String Orchestra, Op.30
3 tracks
- Symphony No.1 in G-, Op.10
- Sinfonietta No.1, Op.41
8 tracks
- Sinfonietta No.2 in A-, Op.74
8 tracks
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Concertos
71 tracks
- Fantasy, for cello and orchestra, Op.52
5 tracks
- Flute Concerto No.2, Op.148
9 tracks
- Flute Concerto in D-, Op.75
6 tracks
- Clarinet Concerto, Op.104
6 tracks
- Violin Concerto in G-, Op.67
12 tracks
- Trumpet Concerto in Bb, Op.94
9 tracks
- Cello Concerto, Op.43
12 tracks
- Violin Concertino, Op.42
9 tracks
- Concertino, for cello and orchestra, Op.43bis
3 tracks
- Fantasy, for cello and orchestra, Op.52
- The Golden Key, Ballet Suite, Op.55 (1955)
43 tracks
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Other Orchestral Works
14 tracks
- The Banners of Peace, Op.143 (symphonic poem, 1986)
2 tracks
- Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, Op.47
4 tracks
- Polish Tunes, for orchestra, Op.47, No.2
4 tracks
- Serenade, Op.47 No.4
4 tracks
- The Banners of Peace, Op.143 (symphonic poem, 1986)
- Symphonies
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Chamber Works
434 tracks
- Aria, for string quartet, Op.9
1 track
- 5 Pieces, for flute and piano
5 tracks
- String Quartet No.9 in F#-, Op.80
8 tracks
- Bassoon Sonata, Op.133
4 tracks
- Capriccio, for string quartet, Op.11
2 tracks
- Cello Solo Sonata No.1, Op.72
15 tracks
- Cello Sonata No.1 in C, Op.21
6 tracks
- Cello Sonata No.2 in G-, Op.63
18 tracks
- Cello Sonata No.2, Op.86
12 tracks
- Cello Sonata No.3, Op.106
12 tracks
- Cello Sonata No.4, Op.140
7 tracks
- Clarinet Sonata, Op.28
15 tracks
- 12 Miniatures, for flute and piano, Op.29
12 tracks
- Piano Quintet, Op.18
40 tracks
- Piano Trio, Op.24
12 tracks
- 3 Pieces, for violin and piano
7 tracks
- 24 Preludes, for cello, Op.100
63 tracks
- String Quartet No.1, Op.2/141
3 tracks
- String Quartet No.10, Op.85
8 tracks
- String Quartet No.11, Op.89
4 tracks
- String Quartet No.13, Op.118
1 track
- String Quartet No.15, Op.124
18 tracks
- String Quartet No.16, Op.130
4 tracks
- String Quartet No.3, in D-, Op.14
3 tracks
- String Quartet No.4, Op.20
4 tracks
- String Quartet No.6 in E-, Op.35
18 tracks
- String Quartet No.7 in C, Op.59
6 tracks
- String Quartet No.8 in C-, Op.66
5 tracks
- Trio, for violin, viola and cello, Op.48
12 tracks
- Trio, for flute, viola and harp (or piano), Op.127
6 tracks
- Viola Sonata No.1, Op.107
4 tracks
- Viola Sonata No.2, Op.123
4 tracks
- Viola Sonata No.3, Op.135
5 tracks
- Viola Sonata No.4, Op.136
3 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.1, Op.12
3 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.1, Op.82
5 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.3, Op.37
3 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.4, Op.39
10 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.5 in G-, Op.53
12 tracks
- Violin Sonata, Op.46
12 tracks
- Sonata No.3, Op.126
1 track
- Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, for violin and piano, Op.47, No.3
1 track
- Violin Sonata No.2, Op.15
3 tracks
- Violin Sonata No.2, Op.95
7 tracks
- String Quartet No.5, in Bb, Op.27
10 tracks
- String Quartet No.14, Op.122
10 tracks
- Sonata No.6 for Violin and Piano, Op.136bis
3 tracks
- String Quartet No.2 in G, Op.3
4 tracks
- Chamber Symphony No.2, Op.147
3 tracks
- Aria, for string quartet, Op.9
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Piano Works
292 tracks
- Vinni Pukh, for harpsichord
1 track
- Children's Notebook No.1, for piano, Op.16
32 tracks
- Children's Notebook No.2, for piano, Op.19
32 tracks
- Children's Notebook No.3, for piano, Op.23
21 tracks
- Children's Notebooks, for piano in 3 volumes, Opp. 16, 19, 23
23 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.1, Op.5
16 tracks
- Berceuse, Op.1
3 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.2, Op.8
16 tracks
- 2 Mazurkas (1933)
4 tracks
- Piano Sonata, Op.49bis
9 tracks
- Partita, Op.54
20 tracks
- Piano Sonatina, Op.49
10 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.4 in B-, Op.56
16 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.3, Op.31
9 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.5, Op.58
9 tracks
- Piano Sonata No.6, Op.73
6 tracks
- 21 Easy Pieces, Op.34
59 tracks
- Can-Can
2 tracks
- 2 Fugues for Ludmila Berlinskaya, for piano
4 tracks
- Vinni Pukh, for harpsichord
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Vocal Works
42 tracks
- Die Nacht from the Lyrics of Zhukovsky, for voice and piano, Op.116
1 track
- Children's Songs, for voice and piano, Op.13
6 tracks
- Beyond the Border of Past Days, song cycle for voice and piano, Op.50
10 tracks
- Rocking the Child, song cycle for voice and piano, Op.110
11 tracks
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Choral Works
6 tracks
- Three Palms, for soprano and string quartet
2 tracks
- Jewish Songs after Shmuel Halkin, Op.17 (1944)
6 tracks
- Die Nacht from the Lyrics of Zhukovsky, for voice and piano, Op.116
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Stage Works
39 tracks
- The Idiot, opera, Op.144
39 tracks
- The Idiot, opera, Op.144
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Orchestral Works
46 tracks
- Symphonies
18 tracks
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Concertos
1 track
- The Golden Key, Ballet Suite, Op.55 (1955)
26 tracks
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Other Orchestral Works
1 track
- Symphonies
-
Chamber Works
3 tracks
- Clarinet Sonata, Op.28
3 tracks
- Clarinet Sonata, Op.28