Alexei Haieff

Alexei Vasilievich Haieff (August 25, 1914 – March 1, 1994)[1] was an American composer of orchestral and choral works. He is known for following Stravinsky's neoclassicism, observing an austere economy of means, and achieving modernistic effects by a display of rhythmic agitation, often with jazzy undertones.

Background

Born in Blagoveshchensk, in the Russian Far East, Haieff received his primary education at Harbin, Manchuria.[2] In 1931 he went to the U.S., where he studied with Rubin Goldmark and Frederick Jacobi at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City (1934–38). In 1938-39 he also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He became a U.S. citizen and held U.S. citizenship for 55 years, until his death.

He held a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1946 and again in 1949, and was a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome (1947–48). His Divertimento (1944) was choreographed by George Balanchine in 1947. He won the Rome Prize in 1949. He was a professor at the University at Buffalo (1962–68), and composer-in-residence at the University of Utah (1968–70). His Piano Concerto won the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award (1952) and his 2nd Symphony the American International Music Fund Award (1957).[3]

Haieff's notable students include Paul Ramsier.

He was married to Sheila Jeanne Agatha van Meurs in 1988.[4] He died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 79.

List of works

Ballets

  • The Princess Zondilda and Her Entourage (1946)
  • Beauty and the Beast (1947)

Orchestral

  • Symphony No. 1 (1942)
  • Symphony No. 2 (Boston, April 11, 1958)
  • Symphony No. 3 (New Haven, Conn., April 11, 1961)
  • Divertimento (N.Y., April 5, 1946)
  • Violin Concerto (1948)
  • Piano Concerto (N.Y., April 27, 1952)
  • Ballet in E (1955)
  • Éloge for Chamber Orch. (1967)

Chamber music

  • Sonatina for String Quartet (1937)
  • 3 Bagatelles for Oboe and Bassoon (1939)
  • Serenade for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano (1942)
  • Eclogue for Cello and Piano (1947)
  • String Quartet (1951)
  • La Nouvelle Héloïse for Harp and String Quartet (1963)
  • Cello Sonata (1963)
  • Rhapsodies for Guitar and Harpsichord (1980)
  • Wind Quintet (1983)

Piano Compositions

  • Sonata for 2 Pianos (1945)
  • Gifts and Semblances (1940–48)
  • Five Pieces for Piano (1946–48)
  • Four Juke Box Pieces (1952)
  • Notes of Thanks (1954–61)
  • Piano Sonata (1955)

Vocal/Choral

  • Caligula for Baritone and Orch., after Robert Lowell (N.Y., Nov. 5, 1971)

Recordings in current CD release ( with selected movements available on YouTube):

  • Piano Concerto (N.Y., April 27, 1952) CD Tiger of Harbin
  • Divertimento (N.Y., April 5, 1946) CD Kyriena
  • Ballet in E (1955) CD Kyriena
  • Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (1963) CD Kyriena
  • String Quartet (1951) CD Kyriena
  • Sonata for 2 Pianos (1945) CD Kirill and Anna Gliadkovsky Play Alexei Haieff (also on CD Tiger of Harbin)
  • Gifts and Semblances (1940–48) CD Kirill and Anna Gliadkovsky Play Alexei Haieff (also on CD Manhattan Piano)
  • Five Pieces for Piano (1946–48) CD Manhattan Piano
  • Four Juke Box Pieces (1952) CD Manhattan Piano (also on CD K and A Gliadkovsky Play A H)
  • Notes of Thanks (1954–61) CD Manhattan Piano
  • Piano Sonata (1955) CD Manhattan Piano (also on CD Tiger of Harbin)
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References
  1. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001.
  2. New York Public Library Digital Collection http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/nypl/mushaieff/@Generic__BookView
  3. "Alexei Vasilievich Haieff." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001
  4. Peerage of the House of Lords http://www.thepeerage.com/p15215.htm
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