Dijk Vladimir

Main article: History of music in Russia

Biography

Vladimir Dijk was born on March 19, 1882 in the Russian Empire, in the port city of Odessa, where his father worked at customs. He was the fifth child in the family. Little is known about his life there.

In 1899 he went to Paris, possibly on the recommendation of Rimsky-Korsakov, and began his studies at the conservatory. His composition teacher was Charles-Marie Vidor, the great French organist and composer. Dyck received the First Prize for Harmony in the class of Antoine Todou in 1904.

He remained in France and accepted French citizenship in 1910. This allowed him to apply for the prestigious Prix de Rome competition and his cantata "Janica," based on the novel by Georges Spitzmüller, won the second prize of the "Second Grand Prix." Her first performance took place in May next year.

After graduation, Dyck made a living teaching piano, and a number of his students belonged to the highest social circle. One of his last students, Syuzanna Bloch, became his wife and they had a daughter, Nicole.

He also began writing music for silent films using the pseudonym "Dry Mival." Among his works are film music:

• "The Charming Prince" by Victor Turzhansky (1925),
• "Venus Astarta" (1929) and
• "Nord 70 ° 22 °" (1931).

Dyck's concert music, which was greatly influenced by his conservative training, was supplemented by a large number of light music compositions. Dijk also began working with Jewish material (his harmonisation of Hatikwa became Israel's national anthem).

In 1933, he founded the publishing house Mizmor, specializing in the music of Jewish composers, with Leon Algazi.

In 1939, Dyck was the author of the music for the French film "Promises" (Promesses).

Vladimir Dyck's life was tragically cut short when he and his family were arrested in 1943 and sent by German fascists to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In August of that year, he died.

Compositions

Dyck's earliest known works include two symphonies (one for wind instruments and one for piano in four hands) and a number of chamber works, including a piano trio published in 1910 and having an opus number 25.

It's a solid four-part piece dedicated to his former teacher of harmony, Antoine Thad. The first movement, Largo molto sostenuto - Allegro ma non troppo, is a sonata, but of a very Russian dramatic nature, moving from greatness to despair and back with striking decisiveness.

The second, the Allegretto grazioso scherzo, unlike the first, is light and airy, like a soufflé. The composer's skillful voicing (especially the use of pizzicato strings) and lively sense of melody show exactly why Dyck was so good as a composer of film music.

Solemnity returns in the next Andante sostenuto, but it's a solemnity with a touch of nostalgia that turns into a bustling excitement, only to subside into a short coda in which both violin and cello are played simultaneously, playing groundhog.

The piece ends with a triumphant Allegro con brio, which has something of the obsession of the first movement.

Ivan Moody

Records

Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 25 (1910) - "Brahms Trio"