- unitid
-
{"value"=>"24551", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"JOB 18-02", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b21822747", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1960-1998", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1960/1998"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Oleg Felzer scores and sound recordings"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.17 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"14 audio recordings", "unit"=>"audio_recordings"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Music Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Oleg Felzer (1939-1998) was a Jewish modernist composer from Azerbaijan who lived and worked in the Soviet Union before immigrating to New York City in 1988. The Oleg Felzer scores and sound recordings, dating from 1960 to 1998, consist of full scores of nearly all of Felzer's known works as well as several recordings of performances and rehearsals."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"Multiple languages"}
{"value"=>"Titles and other text are chiefly in Russian. Some are in English."}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Felzer, Oleg, 1939-1998", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Oleg Felzer (1939-1998) was a Jewish composer from Azerbaijan who lived and worked in the Soviet Union before immigrating to New York City in 1988. Born in Baku, he graduated from the State Conservatory there (where he studied with Kara Kareyev), and from the Leningrad Conservatory. After teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, Felzer returned to Baku, where he became a professor of composition and music theory, and founded and conducted a chamber orchestra. His music was published by the Soviet state publisher, which went out of business after the collapse of the Soviet Union, making much of Felzer's early music unavailable.</p> <p>Felzer became a figure of renown in Azerbaijan for being one of the first composers from that republic to employ modernist, avant-garde techniques. He also studied Mugham, the traditional music of Azerbaijan, and incorporated it into his music. His students at Baku Conservatory included Franghiz Ali-Zadeh and Faradzh Karayev (son of Kara), both highly-regarded composers.</p> <p>Felzer was declared a dissident in the early 1970s for writing a musical, <span class=\"title\">Woe From Wit</span>, which was critical of the government. It became so popular that the production was halted by the state, and Felzer's salary was frozen and his movements restricted.</p> <p>In 1988, after restrictions to travel outside the Soviet Union were relaxed, Felzer obtained a visa and moved to New York City, where he rebuilt his career. He found a job as an accompanist for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and in 1989, his music was performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Later, Felzer was hired as the choirmaster and music tutor at St. Ignatius Church in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The Continuum ensemble, under Joel Sachs, commissioned <span class=\"title\">Vestige</span> (1993), which won the Stoeger prize of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and <span class=\"title\">Interrupted Song</span> (Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano), Felzer's final work (unfinished, but completed by Faradzh Karayev). Continuum began performing his work in the United States and abroad, as did the Gregg Smith Singers, the Nieuw Ensemble in Amsterdam, and other groups.</p> <p>Felzer died of cancer in 1998. In the years after his death, Continuum continued to perform his music and produced first recordings for some pieces. His oeuvre includes solo pieces, piano and organ music, chamber music, works for chamber orchestra, full orchestral compositions, and choral and vocal pieces.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Oleg Felzer scores and sound recordings, dating from 1960 to 1998, document Felzer's music, primarily through scores. Audio recordings of performances and rehearsals are also present for a few of his works.</p> <p>The scores hold nearly all of Felzer's known works from 1960 to 1998. They include the musical <span class=\"title\">Woe From Wit</span>; piano works such as <span class=\"title\">Four Piano Pieces</span>, <span class=\"title\">Polyphonic Suite</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Five Bagatelles</span>; two organ pieces; two compositions for violin and piano; music for small chamber groups, such as <span class=\"title\">Autographs on the Silhouettes</span> (for violin, cello, and piano) and <span class=\"title\">Three Pieces</span> (for flute and guitar); full orchestra compositions such as <span class=\"title\">Children Suite</span> and <span class=\"title\">In Memoriam of Dmitri Shostakovich</span>; choir music; and works for vocal soloist and orchestra or choir. No score is present for Felzer's chamber composition <span class=\"title\">Quartet \"Azerbaijani\"</span> (1971).</p> <p>With the exception of <span class=\"title\">Woe From Wit</span> (which has both full and piano-conductor scores), all the music is composed of full scores. They are comprised mainly of manuscripts or manuscript copies, but also include a few published versions (or copies thereof); these date from Felzer's years in Moscow and Baku, and were published by the Soviet state publisher. A list of Felzer's compositions and some of their first performances is in box 3, folder 1.</p> <p>The sound recordings date from 1989 to 1995 (though some may be older). They are comprised of rehearsals and performances, some by the Continuum Ensemble. Recorded works include <span class=\"title\">And Harold Again</span>, <span class=\"title\">Five Bagatelles</span>, <span class=\"title\">Quartet \"Azerbaijani\"</span>, <span class=\"title\">Five Tanka</span>, <span class=\"title\">Sonata No.1 for Violin and Piano</span>, <span class=\"title\">Sonata for Solo Viola</span>, <span class=\"title\">Vestige</span>, <span class=\"title\">What Are Years?</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Zaboul</span>.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>All content is arranged by title.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Diliara Felzer (Felzer's widow), 2017.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Matt Snyder</span> in <span class=\"date\">2019</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1960
- keydate
-
1960
- date_end
-
1998
- date_inclusive_start
-
1960
- date_inclusive_end
-
1998
- extent_statement
-
1.17 linear feet (4 boxes). 14 audio recordings
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Oleg Felzer scores and sound recordings, JOB 18-02. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}