Alexander Gauk facts for kids
Alexander Gauk (born August 15, 1893 – died March 30, 1963) was an important Soviet conductor and composer. He was known for leading many orchestras and helping to bring classical music to more people in his country.
Early Life and Music
Alexander Gauk was born in Odessa in 1893. He loved music from a young age. He remembered hearing army bands play and his mother singing while playing the piano.
When he was seven, Alexander started learning to play the piano. At 17, he moved to Saint Petersburg to study music seriously. He learned from famous piano teachers like Daugover and Felix Blumenfeld. He also saw great conductors like Arthur Nikisch, Claude Debussy, and Richard Strauss lead orchestras. Nikisch especially inspired him.
A Conductor's Journey
Gauk first conducted a student orchestra in 1912. His first professional conducting job was on October 1, 1917. He led the opera Cherevichki by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Petrograd.
During the 1920s, he spent a lot of time as a conductor for the famous Mariinsky Ballet. He also married a ballerina named Elena Gerdt.
From 1930 to 1934, Alexander Gauk was the main conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. On November 6, 1931, he led this orchestra in the very first performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Third Symphony.
In 1932, he moved to Moscow. By 1936, he became the main conductor of a new radio orchestra. This orchestra later became the important USSR State Symphony Orchestra.
During the Second World War, Gauk taught music in Moscow after leaving Riga. He then spent two years at the Tbilisi Conservatory. He also helped to restart the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra.
Important Discoveries and Works
Alexander Gauk played a big part in bringing back Sergei Rachmaninoff's First Symphony. The original music score was lost in the 1920s. But in 1944, parts of the orchestra's music were found in Moscow. Gauk helped put them back together.
In 1946, he conducted the first performance of Aram Khachaturian's Cello Concerto in Moscow.
Gauk also wrote his own music. This included a symphony, pieces for string instruments, and piano works. He started writing a book about his life, but he didn't finish it.
Today, you can still find some of his recordings. These include works by Russian and other composers.
Many famous conductors learned from Alexander Gauk. Some of his most well-known students were Edouard Grikurov, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Ilya Musin, and Yevgeny Svetlanov.
See also
In Spanish: Aleksandr Gauk para niños
