Anatoly Lyadov

Composer Anatol Lyadov composed many short works that remain in the general keyboard repertory. He also wrote orchestral music but left several large works unfinished, including a ballet commissioned by impresario Serge Diaghilev; the commission went instead to Igor Stravinsky, who produced The Firebird in response. Lyadov (his name has been transliterated in various ways, and his last name is often spelled Liadov) was born in Selishchi, southeast of St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 11, 1855. His family was intensely musical, and his grandfather, father, and uncle were all prominent conductors. In 1870, Lyadov enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, studying piano and violin. He also took composition classes with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov but was expelled for absenteeism. However, his talent impressed several members of the group of nationalistic Russian composers known as The Five or The Mighty Handful, and he was permitted to reenroll and to complete his graduation requirements, including a composition, in 1878. That year, he began teaching at the Conservatory, and his students included big names in the next several generations of Russian composition, such as Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, and Boris Asafyev. In addition to composing, Lyadov was an important early ethnomusicological researcher, publishing and arranging more than 120 folk songs. His works include more than 65 published works or sets of short works, many of which are groups of short piano pieces that contain innovative musical devices. He also wrote some larger tone poems, although he left major commissions unfinished, including a ballet and an opera, Zoryushka. Diaghilev commissioned Lyadov to write a ballet, The Firebird, but, frustrated with delays, gave the commission to Stravinsky instead. Lyadov died in Polinovka, Russia, on August 8, 1914. Lyadov's short works remain popular among pianists, and there are numerous recordings of his piano music. Pianists Olga Solovieva and Marco Rapetti have each released complete cycles of his piano music. His symphonic works are also performed increasingly often; more than a dozen recordings of From the Apocalypse, Op. 66, a "symphonic picture for orchestra," were available as of the early 2020s.