# Vyacheslav Artyomov

Vyacheslav Petrovich Artyomov (Russian: Вячесла́в Петро́вич Артё́мов; born 29 June 1940) is a Soviet Russian composer.

## Biography

Artyomov was born on 29 June 1940 in Moscow, Russia. He initially prepared to become a physicist while also studying music. He attended the musical college affiliated to the Moscow Conservatory where he studied composition with Nikolai Sidelnikov and piano with Tovi Logovinsky. He became a member of the Union of Soviet Composers and Association for Contemporary Music (ACM). He served as an active editor at the Moscow publisher "Musyka" and graduated in 1968.
In 1975, he joined the improvisation group "Astreya" alongside the composers Sofia Gubaidulina and Viktor Suslin. In 1979, he was blacklisted as one of Khrennikov's Seven at the Sixth Congress for unapproved participation in several Soviet music festivals in the Western world.
His music has been performed by Rostropovich, Rozhdestvensky, Fedoseyev, Spivakov, Pletnyov, Currentzis, Virko Baley, Bunin, Kopachevsky, Isakadze, Grindenko, Yo-Yo Ma, Rudin, Yanchenko, and Ashkenazy.
He was a participant in many European musical venues since the 70s, such as "Festival of the Premiers" (Moscow, 1994) and "Artyomov-Festival" (Amsterdam, 1997). His works were nominated for the State Prizes in Russia and the US. Artyomov is a full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, president of the Foundation for Spiritual Creation, and holder of the Order of Friendship (2010).

## Music

Artyomov's compositions show his interest in archaic ("Incantations", "Totem") and Christian motifs ("Requiem", "Ave Maria") as well as Eastern meditation ("Awakening", "A Symphony of Elegies", "Moonlight Dreams"). As a young composer, he developed a profound interest in successively; Russian folklore, traditional music of the East, works of Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Messiaen, and the Polish avant-garde. However, it was Arthur Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique, as well as the works of Edgar Varèse and Sinfonia by Luciano Berio that made the greatest and most lasting impression on him.
Artyomov considers music a science – concentration of soul experience – and, side by side with astrophysics, – one of two main fundamental sciences: astrophysics broadens the horizon of knowledge of the universe, and music exposes the profundity and strength of human's spirit, his interconnection with the World's Soul (Anima Mundi). Music is "a mediator between God and man", "a concentrate of spiritual energy, which should awaken man's ethical understanding and purify his soul." (Foundation of the Philosophy of Music)
"In the age of minimalism and abstraction, Artyomov stands apart – his music is created to serve a greater purpose, much in the same way as the later works of Scriabin and the music of Messiaen." (Stephen A. Whealton. Way to Olympus CD by Mobile Fidelity, 1989)
A series of ten CDs, with recordings of works by Vyacheslav Artyomov, was released by the English-American company Divine Art in tribute to the composer on the occasion of his 80th anniversary. This series has provoked great public resonance for Artyomov's music and received reviews in popular music editions such as Gramophone, American Record Guide, Pizzicato, Musical Opinion, Fanfare, and The Classical Reviewer. Reviews have described Artyomov as "one of the greatest living composers" and "one of the most individual and distinctive composers not just in the music of his native Russia but in Western Classical music as a whole!" Mstislav Rostropovich, who ordered and performed three of Artyomov's symphonies, praised him as having "a clear and unique composer's image" and said that Artyomov "brings glory to our country and to Russian art."

## Works
### Symphony of the Way (tetralogy)

* Way to Olympus, a symphony 1978–1984
* On the Threshold of a Bright World, a symphony 1990, 2002, rev.2013
* Gentle Emanation, a symphony 1991, 2008
* The Morning Star Arises, a symphony 1993

### The Star of Exodus (trilogy)

* In Memoriam, a symphony with violin solo 1968, 1984
* In Spe, a symphony with violin and cello solos 1995–2014
* In Gloriam, a symphony with two piano solos, choir and soloists 2020-
* Requiem, 1985–1988
* Gurian Hymn, 1986
* A Symphony of Elegies, 1977
* A Garland of Recitations, 1975–1981
* Tristia I, 1983
* Pietà, 1992, 1996
* Tristia II, 1997, 1998, rev. 2011

### Latin Hymns

* Miserere mei, 2003
* Ave Maria, 1989
* Salve Regina, 2003
* Ave Maris Stella, 2003
* Variations: Nestling Antsali, 1974
* Scenes, 1971
* Capriccio on the ’75 New Year's Eve, 1975
* Totem, 1976
* Star Wind, 1981
* Hymns of Sudden Wafts, 1983
* Incantations, 1981
* Moonlight Dreams, 1982
* Maltese Hymn Ave, Crux Alba, 1994, 2012

## Discography

* CDBMR011129 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Requiem Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra – Boheme
* CDBMR002124 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: – Ave – Boheme
* CDBMR010127 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Awakening, Concert of the 13, Morning Songs & A Garland of Recitations – Boheme
* OCD514 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Invocations Lydia Davydova/Mark Pekarsky/Percussion Ensemble – Olympia
* OCD516 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Way Various – Olympia
* OCD 515 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Elegies – Olympia
* MFCD 903 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Gurian Hymn, Incantation, Way to Olympus – Mobile Fidelity
* MFCD 918 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Songs, Hymns and Dreams – Mobile Fidelity
* 74321 56261 2 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Lamentations, Gurian Hymn, Tristia I, Way to Olympus – BMG
* SLR0027 – Astreya (Artyomov, Gubaidulina, Suslin)- Solyd Records
* dda 25143 — Vyacheslav Artyomov: Gentle Emanation, Tristia II — T.Currentzis, V.Ponkin, Ph.Kopachevsky, RNO — Divine Art
* dda 25144 — Vyacheslav Artyomov: On the Threshold of a Bright World, Ave atque vale, Ave, crux alba — V.Ashkenazy, R. Sharayevsky, NFOR — Divine Art
* dda 25164 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Sola Fide-suites 3 & 4, Tempo Costante – D.Kitayenko, M.Annamamedov, Academic SO of MSF, MCO Musica Viva, Kaunas SC – Divine Art
* dda 25171– Vyacheslav Artyomov: Way to Olympus, Gurian Hymn, Preludes to Sonnets, Concert of the 13 – T.Minbayev, D.Kitayenko, G.Rozhdestvensky, A.Batagov, Y.Smirnov, T.Grindenko, Y.Adjemova, P.Meschaninov, USSR State SO, Academic SO of MSF – Divine Art
* dda 25172 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: A Symphony of Elegies, Awakening, Incantations – S.Sondeckis, T.Grindenko, O.Krysa, L.Davydova, M.Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble, Lithuanian CO – Divine Art
* dda 25173 – Vyacheslav Artyomov: Requiem – Soloists, Sveshnikov Boys' Chorus, Victor Popov, Kaunas State Chorus, Piatris Bingialis, Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Dmitri Kitaenko – Divine Art
* dda 25174 Vyacheslav Artyomov: A Sonata of Meditations, A Garland of Recitations, Totem – Virko Baley, M. Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble, Academic SO of MSF – Divine Art
* dda 25175 Vyacheslav Artyomov: In Memoriam, Lamentations, Pietà, Tristia I – D. Kitayenko, T. Mynbayev, M. Annamamedov, O. Krysa, A. Rudin, S. Bunin, O. Yanchenko, Academic SO of MSF, USSR State SO, CO Musica Viva – Divine Art
* dda 25176 Vyacheslav Artyomov: Star Wind, Variations: Nestling Antsali, Moonlight Dreams, Romantic Capriccio, Mattinate (Morning Songs), Scenes – M.Annamamedov, N.Lee, A.Korneyev, V.Artyomov, Chamber Ensembles – Divine Art
* dda 25184 Vyacheslav Artyomov: In Spe, Latin Hymns – V.Uriupin, I.Pochekin, A.Buzlov, N.Pavlova, RNO, Yurlov Capella – Divine Art

## Last recordings

* Vyacheslav Artyomov: Gentle Emanation, Tristia II RNO, T.Currentzis, V.Pon'kin, Ph.Kopachevsky – by FSC (2010)
* Vyacheslav Artyomov: On the Threshold of a Bright World, Ave Atque Vale, Ave, Crux Alba NFOR, V. Ashkenazy, R. Sharayevsky – by FSC (2013)
* Vyacheslav Artyomov: In Spe, Latin Hymns – I. Pochekin, A. Buzlov, N. Pavlova, Yurlov Coral Capella, RNO, V. Uriupin – by FSC (2018)