MEDTNER, Nikolay Karlovich
b Moscow, 5 January 1880
d London, 13 November 1951, aged seventy-one

He studied first with his mother and an uncle, and at the age of twelve entered the Moscow Conservatory. He left in 1900 with a gold medal for piano, but decided to concentrate on composition. He returned to the Conservatory in 1909 to teach piano, but pressure of other work made him leave in 1910. He resumed teaching in 1914, but in 1921 he followed his friend Rachmaninov and others into exile, and, apart from a concert tour in 1927, did not see Russia again. In 1928 the Royal Academy of Music made him an honorary member. He had settled near Paris in 1925, but English friends persuaded him to live in England, which he did from 1935 until his death. Apart from songs, his output was almost exclusively for piano.

1904 (24)

Nine Songs (Goethe)

1907 (27)

Three Songs (Heine)

1908 (28)

Twelve Songs (Goethe)

1910 (30)

Three Songs (Nietzsche, etc)

Violin Sonata

1912 (32)

Three Nocturnes for violin and piano

1914-18 (34-8)

Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor

1921 (41)

Sonata-Vocalise No 1

1924 (44)

Violin Sonata

1926-7 (46-7)

Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor

1936 (56)

Violin Sonata, Sonata Epica

1942-3 (62-3)

Piano Concerto No 3 in E minor, Ballade