link years_active birth_place awards birth_date birthname image article_title name occupation alma_mater
hero hero hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist labour labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist labour -lrb- -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr ussr -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- -rrb- 65 px hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 65 px hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px px hero of socialist labour -lrb- ussr -rrb- 65 px 1958-present volgograd , soviet union 25 px 9 november 1929 aleksandra nikolayevna pakhmutova aleksandra pakhmutova.jpg aleksandra pakhmutova
 aleksandra pakhmutova composer moscow conservatory
aleksandra pakhmutova

aleksandra nikolayevna pakhmutova -lrb- ; born november 9 , 1929 -rrb- has remained one of the best known figures in soviet and later russian popular music since she first achieved fame in her homeland in the 1960s .
she was born on november 9 , 1929 in beketovka -lrb- now a neighborhood in volgograd -rrb- , russian sfsr , soviet union , and began playing the piano and composing music at an early age .
she was admitted to the prestigious moscow conservatory and graduated in 1953 .
in 1956 she completed a post-graduate course led by the outstanding composer vissarion shebalin .
her career is notable for her success in a range of different genres .
she has composed pieces for the symphony orchestra -lrb- the russian suite , the concerto for the trumpet and the orchestra , the youth overture , the concerto for the orchestra -rrb- ; the ballet illumination ; music for children -lrb- cantatas , a series of choir pieces , and numerous songs -rrb- ; and songs and music for over a dozen different movies from `` out of this world '' in 1958 to `` because of mama '' in 2001 .
she is best known for some of her 400 songs , including such enduringly popular songs as `` the melody '' , `` russian waltz '' , `` tenderness '' , `` hope '' , `` the old maple tree '' , `` the song of the perturbed youth '' , a series of the `` gagarin constellation '' , `` the bird of happiness '' -lrb- from the 1981 film `` o sport , you - the world ! ''
, whose the song is subsequently very known in both russia and china when performed by russian singer vitas since 2003 -rrb- and `` good-bye moscow '' which was used as the farewell tune of the 22nd olympic games in moscow in 1980 .
`` tenderness '' was used with great effect in tatiana lioznova 's 1967 film `` three poplars on plutschikha '' .
her husband , the eminent soviet era poet nikolai dobronravov , contributed lyrics to her music on occasion , including songs used in three films .
one of her most famous ballads is `` belovezhskaya pushcha '' , composed in 1975 , which celebrates bialowieza primaeval forest , a last remnant of the european wildwood split now between poland and belarus .
another much-aired song was `` malaya zemlya '' , about a minor outpost where the then soviet leader leonid brezhnev served as a political commissar during the world war ii .
alexandra pakhmutova found favour with the state establishment as well as the public .
reputedly brezhnev 's favourite composer , she received several government awards and state prizes and served as the secretary of the ussr and russian unions of composers .
she was named hero of socialist labour in 1990 .
her name was given to asteroid # 1889 , registered by the planetary centre in cincinnati , ohio , united states .
