Anton Stepanovich Arensky (
Russian: Анто́н Степа́нович Аре́нский; 12 July [
O.S. 30 June] 1861 – 25 February [
O.S. 12 February] 1905) was a Russian composer of
Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.
Biography
Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving family in
Novgorod,
Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine. With his mother and father, he moved to
Saint Petersburg in 1879, after which he studied composition at the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory with
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
In 1895, Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as the director of the Imperial Choir, a post for which he had been recommended by
Mily Balakirev. He retired from this position in 1901, living off a comfortable pension and spending his remaining time as a pianist, conductor, and composer.
Arensky died of
tuberculosis in a sanatorium in
Perkjärvi, in what was then the Russian-administered
Grand Duchy of Finland, at the age of 44. While very little is known about his private life, Rimsky-Korsakov alleges that drinking and gambling undermined his health.[2] He was buried in the
Tikhvin Cemetery.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky's musical compositions. Indeed,
Rimsky-Korsakov said, "In his youth, Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later, the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten." The perception that he lacked a distinctive personal style contributed to long-term neglect of his music, though in recent years, a large number of his compositions have been recorded. Especially popular are the Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky for string orchestra, Op. 35a - arranged from the slow movement of Arensky's 2nd string quartet, and based on one of Tchaikovsky's Songs for Children, Op. 54.
Egyptian Nights (
Russian: Египетские ночи) a.k.a. Une Nuit d'Égypte or Nuits égyptiennes (1900). Divertissement-Ballet in one act. Originally composed for the
Imperial Ballet, St. Petersburg. Choreography by
Lev Ivanov. Production was never given due to the death of the choreographer before completion.