Inna Zhvanetskaya facts for kids

Composer Inna Abramovna Zhvanetskaya was born in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, on January 20, 1937. She passed away on December 18, 2024, in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lived during her final years.

Inna Zhvanetskaya was a talented composer who created many different kinds of music. She studied composition under Nikolay Peyko at the famous Gnessin School in Moscow, graduating in 1964. After her studies, she taught piano and later became a lecturer at the Gnessin School in 1965. There, she taught students how to read musical scores and how to arrange music for different instruments.

What Kind of Music Did Inna Zhvanetskaya Write?

Inna Zhvanetskaya wrote many pieces of music throughout her life. Composers like her create music for different instruments and voices. Here are some of the types of music she composed:

Music for Small Groups (Chamber Music)

Chamber music is written for a small group of instruments, often played in a smaller room or "chamber." It's like a musical conversation between a few instruments.

• Burlesque (for violin and piano; 1959)
• Five Dance Pieces for Children (for two cellos; 2007)
• La Bale (for viola and piano; 2015)
• Memories of the Composer Alfred Schnittke (for solo cello)
• Six Pieces (for a wind quintet, which is a group of five wind instruments; 1969)
• Violin Sonata (a piece for violin, often with piano; 1976)
• Splinters of Childhood (for solo violin)
• String Quartet (for four string instruments, usually two violins, a viola, and a cello; 1962)
• Variations on a Jewish Theme (for two violins)

Music for Big Orchestras (Orchestral Music)

Orchestral music is written for a large group of musicians called an orchestra. This type of music often sounds grand and powerful.

• Double Bass Concerto (a special piece for a double bass with an orchestra, also available with piano; 1978)
• Overture (a piece of music played at the beginning of a larger work, like an opera or ballet; 1963)
• Piano Concerto (a special piece for a piano with an orchestra)
• Suite (a collection of short musical pieces, for string orchestra; 1965)

Music for Piano

Inna Zhvanetskaya also wrote many pieces specifically for the piano, which can be played by one person.

• Partita (a type of musical suite; 1966)
• Polyphonic Fantasy (a piece with many independent melodies playing at the same time; 1962)
• Toccata (a fast, showy piece, often for keyboard instruments; 1961)
• Variations on a Theme of Brahms (a piece where a main melody is repeated in different ways; 1958)

Music for Voices (Vocal Music)

Vocal music is written for singers, sometimes with instruments and sometimes without.

• Cycle (songs with words by A. Izaakian, for voice and piano; 1960)
• From Medieval Hebrew Poetry (1998)
• Loud Songs of Anna Akhmatova (songs using poems by Anna Akhmatova)
• Romances (songs with words by V. Bryusov and other poets)
• Yanvarski Stroki (songs with words by S. Smirnov, for voice and piano; 1968)
• Zemiyai! (for chorus and orchestra; 1972)