Achilles Alferaki (1846-1919, Greek-Russian)

[Christopher]

As there's been a bit of discussion about some Russian composers of Greek descent recently (Kalafati, Zolotarev/Kuyumzhi, Axiotis), I thought I would post up about another one.  He has been mentioned in passing before.

Achilles Nikolayevich Alferaki
Ахиллес Николаевич Алфераки
Αχιλλέας Αλφεράκης

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles_Alferaki

Achilles Nikolayevich Alferaki ("Achilles" sometimes spelled Akhilles or Ahilles, July 3, 1846, Kharkov, Russian Empire – December 27, 1919, Saint Petersburg, Soviet Union) was a Russian composer and statesman of Greek descent. His brother was Sergei Alphéraky, a Russian ornithologist and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. Their father Nikos Alferakis owned the Alferaki Palace in Taganrog.

Alferaki was born in Kharkov, present-day Ukraine, to Nikos and Maria Alferakis. He spent his childhood in Taganrog, present-day Rostov Oblast, in the magnificent Alferaki Palace on Catholic Street (now Frunze Street) designed by the architect Andrei Stackenschneider.

Alferaki was educated at home before attending the historical and philological faculty at Moscow University. There he also studied music theory. In 1870, he returned to Taganrog in order to run the family business[clarification needed]. Following the death of the city's governor Lev Kulchitsky in 1873, he served briefly as acting governor. During the 1880s, he served as mayor of Taganrog until 1888, when he moved to Saint Petersburg. There he became Chancellor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1891 and later Director of the Russian Telegraph Agency.

Alferaki died in Saint Petersburg in 1919. One of his family's descendants was Anna Marly, a Russian-born French singer and songwriter, author of Chant des Partisans and a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur.

In 1880, Alferaki was elected Mayor (городской голова) of Taganrog. During his tenure, he made many useful public affairs. He made Taganrog beautiful and clean and took part in establishing different charitable institutions. During his mayor's period of office, the city's streets and roads were covered with cobblestones, trees were planted along the pavements, and the first boulevards were introduced. Mayor Alferaki contributed to the establishment of The Society for the Relief of the Aged Poor, established in 1883, and to development of elementary education system in the city.

At the city council meetings, Achilles Nikolaevich Alferaki introduced many new proposals. Some of them looked fantastic and wasteful for Taganrog's politicians, but some of them were realized. For example, Alferaki's proposals to erect a monument to Peter I The Great and to make a major reconstruction of Taganrog's harbor were realized.

Even his mayoralty could not make him forget his passion - the music. He took part in the activity of Taganrog's Music and Dramatic Society. The first music classes and a symphony orchestra, directed by famous hand-master and composer Václav Suk opened in Taganrog.

Music lovers, like Alferaki himself helped Taganrog become known as one of the most music-loving cities in the South of Russia. In 1880, when the Greek composer lived in Taganrog in his mansion on the Catholic Street, he gathered the whole beau monde of the city. Achilles Alferaki was also a talented artist. A large collection of caricatures is now kept at the Taganrog Museum of Local Lore and History and at the Literary Museum named after Chekhov. With these rare sketches and drawings, we have a chance of seeing the people, who lived in Taganrog some hundred years ago through the eyes of a contemporary, getting the spirit of parties and balls of that time.

Alferaki devoted much of his time to music. In the former capital of the Russian Empire he wrote more than 100 romances, compositions and two operas St. John's Eve and The Erl King.

One of the descendants of the Alferaki family was Anna Yurevna Marley, French singer and songwriter. Became known for writing "Songs of the Partizans," which became the unofficial anthem of the French Resistance during World War II.

[Christopher]

I've only found solo piano pieces on youtube (so far....), as well as a LOT of romances.

These are the solo piano works:

Scherzo in F minor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Di-yBnHJeQ&t=10s
Valse in E♭, Op.273 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZar5qGriIc
Trois Morceaux, Op.30, No. 1 - Étude - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePtnmJxtmxg
Etude in G♭ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUl3zLgmLF0

[Gareth Vaughan]

The last two are the same.

[Christopher]

Indeed, and thank you for the feedback. Perhaps you might also include some comment, analysis, critique, appraisal.... No obligation of course, but as you took the trouble to write an entry, it would have added even further to the enlightened discussion on this forum.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well only that the pieces are very attractive in a salonish sort of way (and nothing wrong with that; I like good salon music), and made me want to hear more of his piano music. But how much is there, I wonder?
A very quick look at WorldCat reveals at least 4 sets of Trois morceaux for piano but, curiously, the Etude in G flat is listed separately as Op. 30, no. 10. When Op. 30 is a set of Trois morceaux - trois not dix!

[Christopher]

Yes, curious.  I read somewhere (I am trying to remember where) that his list of opus numbers runs into the hundreds, and that they are mostly salon works. The notes beneath one of the youtube performances say "In the former capital of the Russian Empire he wrote more than 100 romances, compositions and two operas St. John's Eve and The Erl King".  I would bet money on there being local recordings of his works in Taganrog, in the Alferaki Palace museum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferaki_Palace) and in the local concert hall (if there is one) - I encountered that quite a lot in Russia.  Problem is one would have to go there!  It is something of a mini cultural centre on Russia's Black Sea coast, particularly noted for being the birth place of Chekhov.

[Martin Eastick]

I may be wrong, of course, but the four opus numbers listed on IMSLP (Op25, 27, 29 & 30) are the only piano works that Belaieff published and I have not come across anything else by any other publisher for piano. I do have original copies of all these, as well as a fair number of the songs/romances (complete Op5,6,7,9,10, 11,16 & 21) - also published by Belaieff. The music is accomplished enough, IMHO, but not outstanding - but certainly not as impressive as say Antipov, who produced some rather splendid piano works!

[Christopher]

Has much of Antipov's work been recorded?  I can't find any trace of him on youtube, even using his name in Russian.  He has no wikipedia page in Russian, just a brief mention on a Russian online academic encyclopaedia - https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/biograf2/527

Antipov, Konstantin Afanasevich, Russian composer. Born in 1859. He received his musical education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, under the leadership of Rimsky-Korsakov. The Belyaev firm has published his orchestral Allegro symphonique, piano pieces (3 etudes, 3 waltzes, variations, preludes, 3 romances with piano accompaniment) and other compositions.

The orchestral score of his Allegro Symphonique is here - http://www.mediafire.com/folder/gc167qeljdju0/Antipov