Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Russian composer, teacher, and conductor (b. 7/19 November 1859 in Gatchina, near Saint Petersburg; d. 28 January 1935 in Moscow), born Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ivanov (Михаил Михайлович Иванов), later adopting the name Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (Михаил Михайлович Ипполитов-Иванов).
Tchaikovsky and Ippolitov-Ivanov
The son of a mechanic to the royal household, Ippolitov-Ivanov studied music at home, and became a choirboy at Saint Isaac's Cathedral in the Russian capital. From 1875 to 1882 he studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, under Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1882, he became director of the Russian Musical Society and music school in Tiflis, Georgia. It was here in 1886 that he met Tchaikovsky for the first time, and he remained in contact with both Ippolitov-Ivanov and his wife Varvara (b. Zarudnaya, 1857–1939) until his death in 1893. Tchaikovsky also did a great deal to promote Ippolitov-Ivanov's music in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. After Tchaikovsky's death, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov was also chairman of the Society of Friends of the House-Museum at Klin from 1920 to 1930.
In 1893, Ippolitov-Ivanov was appointed professor at the Moscow Conservatory, where he taught harmony, orchestration and composition; he also served as director of the institution from 1905 to 1924, and of the fledgling Tbilisi Conservatory from 1924 to 1925. His other roles included spells as director of the Russian Choral Society (1895–1901), the Mamontov Opera (1898–1906), and the Bolshoi Theatre (from 1925). He was also highly active as a conductor, and as a contributor to musical journals.
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
30 letters from Tchaikovsky to Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov have survived, dating from 1885 to 1893, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 2828 – 6/18 December 1885, from Maydanovo
- Letter 2838 – 22 December 1885/3 January 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 2995 – 7/19 July 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3011 – 23 July/4 August 1886, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3271 – 20 June/1 August 1887, from Borzhom
- Letter 3293 – 22 July/3 August 1887, from Aachen
- Letter 3373 – 1/13 October 1887, from Saint Petersburg
- Letter 3411 – 19 November/1 December 1887, from Maydanovo
- Letter 3543 – 4/16 April 1888, from Tiflis
- Letter 3595 – 17/29 June 1888, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3612 – 12/24 July 1888, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3635 – 4/16 August 1888, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3710 – 27 October/8 November 1888, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3858 – 19/31 May 1889, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3875 – 12/24 June 1889, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3919 – 9/21 August 1889, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4107 – 5/17 May 1890, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4135 – 4/16 June 1890, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4171 – 13/25 July 1890, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4279 – 24 December 1890/5 January 1891, from Kamenka
- Letter 4326 – 12/24 February 1891, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 4394 – 3/15 June 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4421 – 25 June/7 July 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4514 – 17/29 October 1891, from Maydanovo
- Letter 4657 – 6/18 April 1892, from Moscow
- Letter 4729 – 16/28 July 1892, from Klin
- Letter 4759 – 27 August/8 September 1892, from Klin
- Letter 4901 – 25 March/6 April 1893, from Klin
- Letter 4974 – 19/31 July 1893, from Klin
- Letter 5023 – 3/15 September 1893, from Saint Petersburg
Letters 3595, 3612 and 4421 were addressed jointly to Ippolitov-Ivanov and his wife Varvara Zarudnaya.
29 letters from Ippolitov-Ivanov to Tchaikovsky, dating from 1885 to 1893, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 1343–1371).
Bibliography
- Переписка П. И. Чайковского с М. М. Ипполитовым-Ивановым и его женой В. М. Зарудной-Ивановой (1885-1893) (1927)
- 50 лет русской музыки в моих воспоминаниях (1934)
- Разговор с Чайковским (1938)
- Из книги 50-лет русской музыки в моих воспоминаниях (1962)
- Из книги 50-лет русской музыки в моих воспоминаниях (1973)
- Из книги 50-лет русской музыки в моих воспоминаниях (1979)
- Из книги 50-лет русской музыки в моих воспоминаниях (1980)
- 50 ans de musique russe (1985)
- Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1993)
- Переписка П. И. Чайковского с М. М. Ипполитовым-Ивановым и его женой В. М. Зарудной-Ивановой (1885-1893) (1927)
- Переписка М. М. Ипполитова-Иванова с П. И. Чайковским (1885-1893) (1947)
- Переписка М. М. Ипполитова-Иванова с П. И. Чайковским (1885-1893) (1986)
