Author Biography
Viktor Belyi (1904-1983) studied with Nikolai Miaskovskii at Moscow Conservatoire, where he worked as a teacher in the years 1935-1938. In his youth he was a member of the Prokoll and the All-Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians (RAPM). In 1939 he became a member of the Union of Soviet Composers. Having received the Stalin Prize in 1952, in 1956 he was named Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1980 People's Artist of the RSFSR. Among his compositions are several chamber music titles: a Poem for viola and piano (1921), a Sonata for violin and piano and, for the latter instrument, Variations (1921), four Sonatas (1923, 1926, 1941, 1946), two fugues (1925), a Lyric sonatina (1928), Three Miniatures on Bashkir Themes (1939), 16 Preludes on Themes of the USSR (1947), 5 Pieces on Belorussian Folksongs (1950), 4 pieces on Tagik Themes (1955), 10 Children’s Pieces (1967). He also wrote numerous mass-songs, among which the best remembered is “Orlenok” (The eaglet, 1936).