Vsevolod Zaderatsky – a Composer with a Tragic Fate

Abstract

Abstract. Vsevolod Zaderatsky (1891–1953) pertains to the category of composers whose lives’
journeys were as dramatic as the music composed by them. His biography coincided with the most
tragic years of Russian history, and he shared the country’s fate. As a result of a decree of the Soviet
government, his music was prohibited from being performed and published during the course of his
entire life. Nonetheless, he was able to demonstrate himself as an extraordinary composer with a
strongly pronounced individuality and an original style. He gave music lessons to Tsarevich Alexei,
the son of Tsar Nicholas II, then during the Russian Civil War he fought in the White Army. Having
been sentenced to execution by shooting, he was saved by Dzerzhinsky, who heard his piano
playing in the adjacent rooms. Zaderatsky was forbidden to live in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev.
After he was arrested and imprisoned in Kerch, Crimea (1926–1928), all of the music composed by
him prior to 1926 were destroyed. Despite the immense hardships of life suffered by him, he was
able to demonstrate himself as a talented composer of numerous works, including piano sonatas,
preludes and fugues, cycles of small piano pieces, works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, as well
as an opera. The musician composed in various musical styles, from the avant-garde manner and
constructivism to traditional romanticism, following all the main stylistic trends of the first half
of the 20th century. Having been imprisoned at the Kolyma labor camp in the Magadan Region
(1937–1939), he composed his presently famous cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues. During the last
years of his life, Zaderatsky lived in Lvov. During the last few decades, Zaderatsky’s music has
achieved its deserved recognition.

Keywords: Vsevolod Petrovich Zaderatsky, avant-garde music, composers of Russia, repressed
musicians