Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Nest'yeva, Marina Izrailevna

(b Moscow, 17 Jan 1938). Russian musicologist and critic. She studied music history and theory at the Moscow Conservatory with Mazel', graduating in 1962, and was awarded the Kandidat degree in 1988 from the Moscow Institute of Culture. She joined the editorial staff of the journal Sovetskaya muzïka in 1968, later becoming head of the music theatre section, and is also music critic of a number of newspapers, including the Mariinskiy teatr (from 1993). She became a member of the Union of Composers in 1968 and the Union of Theatre Workers in 1990. Nest'yeva’s area of interest is Russian contemporary music and she has written on composers such as Tishchenko, Sil'vestrov, Pärt and Chalayev. The main focus of her work, however, is music theatre and in her dissertation for the Kandidat degree she examined new aspects of the synthesis of music and theatre in Soviet opera. In her numerous articles on operatic works she has considered a variety of components of this synthesis that range from the artistic composition of a production to the characteristics of individual performers.

WRITINGS

‘Arkadiy Ostrovskiy’, Mastera pesni, ed. I. Olinskaya (Moscow, 1971), 6–64

‘Pervïy violonchel'nïy kontsert Borisa Tishchenko’ [Tishchenko’s First Cello Concerto], Problemï muzïkal'noy nauki, iii (1971), 142–63

‘Ėvolyutsiya Borisa Tishchenko v svyazi s muzïkal'no-teatral'nïm zhanrom’ [The evolution of Tishchenko in the genre of musical theatre], Kompozitorï Rossiyskoy Federatsii, i, ed. W. Kazenin (Moscow, 1981), 299–356

Repertuar: zhizn' teatra [Repertory: the life of the theatre] (Moscow, 1981) [in Russ., Eng.]

S.S. Prokof'yev (Moscow, 1981/R)

‘Tvorchestvo Valentina Sil'vestrova’ [The work of Sil'vestrov], Kompozitorï soyuznïkh respublik, iv (Moscow, 1983), 79–121

Vladimir Atlantov (Moscow, 1987)

‘Magicheskiy kristall v vagnerovskom “Kol'tse”’ [The crystal ball in Wagner’s Ring], SovM (1989), no.12, pp.101–11

‘Sovetskaya opera v kontse 70-kh – nachale 80-kh godov’ [Soviet opera of the late 1970s and early 80s], Muzïkal'nïy teatr: sobïtiya i problemï, ed. M.D. Sabinina (Moscow, 1990), 12–48

‘Pust' prazdnik ostanetsya so mnoy’ [May the festival stay with me], MAk (1992), no.2, pp.29–35

‘Mir yedin?’ [Is the world united?], MAk (1993), no.1, pp.3–10

‘Ozhivayushchiye traditsii’ [Enlivening traditions], Muzïkal'nïy teatr: nadezhdï i deystvitel'nost, ed. E. Kurilenko (Moscow, 1993), 7–30

‘Srez nemetskoy opernoy stsenï’ [A sample of the German operatic stage], MAk (1994), no.3, pp.33–6

‘Do klassiki nado dorasti’ [You have to grow into the classics], MAk (1996), no.2, pp.78–87

‘Otkri'toye prostranstvo’ [Open space], MAk (1998), nos.3–4, pp.23–33

NELLI GRIGOR'YEVNA SHAKHNAZAROVA

Nešvera, Josef

(b Praskolesy, nr Hořovice, 24 Oct 1842; d Olomouc, 12 April 1914). Czech composer and conductor. He received his first instruction in music from his father, a village teacher and organist. While attending secondary school and teacher-training college in Prague, he studied the piano, organ and theory with Josef Krejčí, Josef Foerster and František Blažek. After a short career as a village teacher he devoted himself to music. In 1868 he became director of church music in Beroun, and ten years later he was appointed to a similar position at the cathedral in Hradec Králové. In 1884 he succeeded Pavel Křížkovský as music director at the cathedral in Olomouc, a post he held until his death; he was also active in the town's musical life as a teacher, conductor and critic.

Nešvera was a prolific composer, particularly of church music. In the 1860s and 70s he was in touch with the most important figures in Czech musical life (Smetana was his close friend), and his music from this period shows many features of the new style, especially those relating to the principles of Czech verbal accentuation. Later, through the influence of ecclesiastics who had made him known in Vienna (he taught some of the Habsburg family), he turned largely to strict Cecilianism in his church music. This separated him from modern trends in Czech music, but he nevertheless retained some characteristics of the national style. His mass and requiem settings, and especially the České pašije (‘Czech Passion’) op.17, became very popular and survived until recently in Bohemian Catholic services. His De profundis op.49, composed in 1889, shows the influences of Handel's and Dvořák's oratorio styles; it was performed and published in England.

Of Nešvera's secular works, the chorus Moravě (‘To Moravia’) is still popular and became a signature tune of the Moravian Teachers' Choir; it has also been used as an unofficial national anthem, especially during the Nazi occupation, when the real Czech national anthem was prohibited. Some of his other choral works are still in the repertory as well, and among his songs the Starosvětské písničky (‘Old-world Ditties’) are perhaps the most important. He was less successful as a composer for the theatre as his operas lack true drama; for instance, Černokněžník (‘The Magician’), is merely a set of sentimental folk sketches. As a composer of instrumental music Nešvera was a miniaturist in the vein of Schumann. His piano music was much used for teaching purposes, and the Ukolébavka (‘Lullaby’) for violin and piano became well known internationally through performances by Ondříček, Kocián and Kubelík.

WORKS

(selective list)

printed works published in Prague unless otherwise stated

operas

Bratránek [The Little Cousin] (1, A. Koukal), 1882

Perdita (3, J. Kvapil, after W. Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale), 1892, Prague, National, 21 May 1897; Směs [potpourri], arr. pf (n.d.)

Lesní vzduch [The Forest Breeze] (1, Nešvera), 1896, Brno, 23 Jan 1897; ov., arr. pf 4 hands (n.d.) [later rev. in 3 acts]

Černokněžník [The Magician] (3, B. Kazničov [pseud. of B. Remeš]), 1903–5, Brno, 7 Feb 1906 [later entitled Radhošt']

Meerweib (Ger. op, S. Pohl), 1908–10

sacred vocal

České pašije [Czech Passion] (Bible), solo vv, chorus, org, op.17, 1882 (1882)

De profundis (Ps cxxix), orat, solo vv, chorus, orch, op.49, 1889 (London, 1890)

Job (Bible), orat, op.113, 1912

c25 masses for chorus, org, incl. Missa in honorem Beatae Mariae Virginis, op.16, Missa Sancti Procopii, op.18, Missa Spiritus Sancti, op.19, Missa Sancti Friderici, op.60 (Augsburg, n.d.), Missa Sancti Eugenii, op.74 (Vienna, n.d.), Missa Sancti Leonis, op.94 (Olomouc, n.d.); requiem masses, opp.13 and 38

other vocal

Cants. for solo vv, chorus, orch, incl. První májová noc [The First May Night], op.50 (1901)

Unacc. choral works, incl. Zpěvem k tanci [Songs for Dancing], female vv (1890); Moravě [To Moravia], male vv (Brno, 1920)

Songs, incl. Starosvětské písničky [Old-world Ditties] (J.V. Sládek), i–iii (1891–5)

instrumental

Orch: Serenade, str (1891); Sym., g; Vn Conc., D

Chbr: Andante and scherzino, str qt, 1896; 2 str qts, D, G; Pf Trio, E, op.91; Suite, vn, pf, op.53 (1890); Ukolébavka [Lullaby], vn, pf; Nocturne, vc, pf, op.29 (1891)

Kbd: Oříšky, pf cycle, op.45 (1888); Plumlovské motivy [Plumlov motifs], op.52 (1890); 12 studies, pf (1891); org works

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ČSHS

H. Doležil: ‘K 70. narozeninám Josefa Nešvery’ [For Nešvera's 70th birthday], Smetana, iii (1912–13), 22–6 [with list of works]

C. Sychra: ‘Josefa Nešvery hudba církevní’ [Nešvera’s church music], Cyril, xlix (1923), 6–7, 18–22, 39, 42–4, 58–60, 73–9

M. Remeš: ‘Josef Nešvera’, Časopis vlasteneckého spolku museijního v Olomouci, lv (1946), 341–66 [with list of works and bibliography]

E. Chvála: ‘Josef Nešvera’, Almanach České akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění, xxv (1915), 128

H. Doležil: ‘Josef Nešvera: k stému výročí narození’ [Nešvera on the 100th anniversary of his birth], Věstník pěvecký a hudební, xlvi (1942), 123, 140

MIROSLAV K. ČERNÝ