Elena Firsova

**Elena Olegovna Firsova** (Елена Олеговна Фирсова, Yelena or Jelena Firssowa) (born 21 Mairch 1950) is a Roushie componer.

## Life
She was born in Leningrad intae the faimily o fisicists Oleg Firsov an Viktoria Lichko. She studiet muisic in Moscow wi Alexander Pirumov, Yuri Kholopov, Edison Denisov an Philip Herschkowitz. In 1979 she wis blackleetit as ane o the "Khrennikov's Seven" at the Saxt Congress o the Union o Soviet Composers for unappruivit pairticipation in some festivals o Soviet muisic in the Wast. She is marriet tae the composer Dmitri Smirnov an they currently live in the United Kingdom. Their childer are Philip Firsov (an airtist an sculptor), an Alissa Firsova (a composer, pianist an conductor).

She composed mair nor a hunder compositions in mony different genres includin chamber opera *[[The Nightingale and the Rose (Firsova)|The Nightingale and the Rose]]* efter Oscar Wilde an Christina Rossetti (premiered at the 1994 Almeida Opera Festival, Lunnon), an orchestra wirk *Augury*, (premiered at the 1992 BBC Proms) that includes a choral settin o William Blake’s famous lines ‘To see the world in a grain of sand...’ and *Requiem* tae Anna Akhmatova's poem for soprano, chorus an orchestra (premiered at the Berlin Konzerthouse in September 2003).

Her favorite genre is a chamber cantata for solo voice an ensemble (or orchestra). Some o them are written tae the poems bi Alexander Pushkin, Marina Tsvetaeva, Boris Pasternak an Oleg Prokofiev. Housomeivver, the maist o them are settin the poems bi her favorite poet Osip Mandelstam that include *Earthly Life*,  *Tristia*, *The Stone*, *Forest Walks*, *Before the Thunderstorm*, *Stygian Song*, *Secret Way*,  *Seashell*, *Whirlpool*, *Silentium*, *Winter Songs*, an *[[Petrarch]]'s Sonnets* (in Roushie translation bi Osip Mandelstam).

She receivit commissions frae mony muisic festivals, orchestras an ensembles includin the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Brodsky Quartet, Manchester Wind Orchestra, Schubert Ensemble, Freden Festival, BBC Proms an Expo 2000 (Hanover). Her muisic is available through publishers Boosey & Hawkes, Lunnon; Hans Sikorski, Hamburg; G. Schirmer, New York.

## Selectit wirks
*Suite for viola solo, Op. 2 (1967)
**A Feast in Time of Plague*, chamber opera efter Alexander Pushkin (1973)
*Cello Concerto No.1 (1973)
**[[Petrarch]]’s Sonnets* (translatit bi Osip Mandelstam) for voice an ensemble (1976)
*Chamber Concerto No. 1 for flute an strings (1978)
**The Night* for voice an saxophone quairtet (Boris Pasternak, 1978)
**Tristia*, cantata for voice an chamber orchestra (Mandelstam, 1979) 
**Three Poems of Osip Mandelstam*, for voice an piano (1980)
**Misterioso* (String Quartet No. 3, 1980) 
**[[Shakespeare]]’s Sonnets* for voice an organ (or saxophone quairtet, 1981)
*Chamber Concerto No. 2 (Cello Concerto No. 2, 1982) 
**The Stone*, cantata for voice an orchestra (Mandelstam, 1983) 
*Violin Concerto No. 2 (1983)
**Earthly Life*, chamber cantata for soprano an ensemble (Mandelstam, 1984) 
*Chamber Concerto No.3 (Piano Concerto No. 1, 1985) 
**Music for 12* for ensemble (1986)
**Forest walks*, cantata for soprano an ensemble (Mandelstam, 1987) 
*Chamber Concerto No. 4 - for horn an ensemble (1987)
**Augury* for chorus an orchestra (William Blake 1988) 
**[[String Quartet No. 4 (Firsova)|Amoroso]]* (String Quartet No. 4, 1989)  
**Nostalgia* for orchestra  (1989)
**Stygian Song* for soprano an chamber ensemble (Mandelstam, 1989)
**Odyssey* for 7 players  (1990)
**[[The Nightingale and the Rose (Firsova)|The Nightingale and the Rose]]*, chamber opera (Oscar Wilde/Christina Rossetti, 1991)
**Seashell* for soprano an ensemble (Mandelstam, 1991) 
**Whirlpool* for voice, flute an percussion (Mandelstam, 1991) 
**Silentium* for voice an string quartet (Mandelstam, 1991) 
**Secret Way* for voice an orchestra (Mandelstam, 1992) 
**Distance* for voice, clarinet an string quartet (Marina Tsvetaeva, 1992)
**Lagrimoso*, (String Quartet No. 5, 1992) 
**Cassandra*, for orchestra  (1992)
**Insomnia*, for fower sangsters (Pushkin, 1993) 
**Before the Thunderstorm*, cantata for soprano an ensemble (Mandelstam, 1994) 
*String Quartet No. 6 (1994)
**Compassione* (String Quartet No. 7, 1995) 
**The Stone Guest* (String Quartet No. 8, 1995) 
**No, it is not a Migraine* for baritone an piano (Mandelstam, 1995)
*Chamber Concerto No. 5 (Cello Concerto No. 3, 1996) 
**The Door is Closed* (String Quartet No. 9, 1996) 
*Chamber Concerto No. 6 (Piano Concerto No. 2, 1996) 
**The River of Time* for chorus an chamber orchestra in memory o Edison Denisov (Gavrila Derzhavin, 1997) 
**[[La malinconia (string quartet)|La malinconia]]* (String Quartet No. 10, 1998) 
**Captivity* for wind orchestra (1998)
**Leaving* for string orchestra (1998)
**The Scent of Absence* for bass, flute an harp (Oleg Prokofiev, 1998)
**Das erste ist vergangen (Christushymnus 2000)* (The Former Things are Passed Away) for soprano, bass, mixed choir, an chamber orchestra (Franz Kafka, Bible, etc., 1999)
**Requiem* for soprano, chorus an orchestra (Anna Akhmatova, 2001) 
**Winter Songs* for soprano an cello (Mandelstam, 2003) 
**The Garden of Dreams* (Homage tae Dmitri Shostakovich) for orchestra (2004)
**Farewell* (String Quartet No.12, 2005)
**Black Bells* for piano an ensemble (2005)
**For Slava* for solo cello (2007)
**Purgatorio* (String Quartet No.11, completit in 2008)

## Selectit discografie

**Misterioso*, String Quartet No.3 Op.24 in: Lydian Quartet in Moscow: Firsova, Chaushian, Child, Lee Art and Electronics: AED 10108 Stereo
**Amoroso*, String Quartet No.4 Op.40 in: Chilingirian Quartet: Stravinsky, Schnittke, Smirnov, Roslavets, Firsova: Music for String Quartet, Conifer Classics 75605 512522
**La Malinconia*, String Quartet No.10 Op.84 in: Brodsky Quartet: Beethoven Op.18 and six more: Alvarez, Beamish, Firsova, Jegede, Smirnov, Tanaka, Vanguard Classics 99212
**Chamber Concerto No.1* for Flute and Strings Op.19 in: Works by modern composers of Moscow: Smirnov, Bobilev, Firsova, Pavlenko, Artiomov, Mobile Fidelity MFCD 906
**Cassandra* for symphony orchestra Op.60 (1992) thegither with Sofia Gubaidulina: Pro et contra BIS CD-668 STEREO
**The Mandelstam Cantatas* (*Forest Walks, Earthly Life, Before the Thunderstorm*) Studio for New Music Moscow, Igor Dronov, conductor; Ekaterina Kichigina, soprano Megadisc MDC 7816 see at Megadisc site 

## Bibliografie

*Elena Firsova: *On Music*; in *Sovjetische Music in Licht der Perestroika,* pp.&nbsp;337–8, Laaber-Verlag, Germany, (German translation by Hannelore Gerlach and Jürgen Köchel) 1990
*Yuri Kholopov: *Russians in England: Dmitri Smirnov, Elena Firsova.* Article, in: Music From the Former USSR. Issue 2. Moscow: Composer, 1996, pp.&nbsp;255–303; Ex oriente...: Ten Composers from the Former USSR. Berlin: Verlag Ernst Kuhn, 2002, pp.&nbsp;207–266 ISBN 3-928864-84-X 
**Firsova, Yelena Olegovna* by Stephen Johnson, in the *[[New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]*, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

## See an aw
*List of solo piano pieces, Russian
*Miscellaneous solo piano compositions (Rachmaninoff)

## Freemit airtins

* Brief biografie at Boosey & Hawkes steid
* Composer's hame page
* Texts o her vocal wirks at "Recmusic"