Mark Belodubrovsky, a Versatile Contemporary Composer, Violinist and Educator

Abstract

Mark Belodubrovsky is one of the mostaccomplished contemporary composers livingpresently in Moscow who has writtena substantial amount of solo, chamberand vocal musical compositions of high quality,which are performed in Russia and in a numberof other countries. His musical outputis especially noted for its versatility of differentstyles of music: some of his compositionsare traditional and romantic in their styleand tonal in their harmony, with a stronginfluence of Russian folk music whichthe composer actively employs in a numberof his compositions, while other works followinnovative avant-garde trends and incorporateserialism, including serial rhythm, sonoristics,aleatory technique and a number of othertechniques. Some of his compositions are veryaccessible to a broad audience, containingmemorable melodic and rhythmic traits,while others are written in a highly complexlanguage, based on musical experimentation,comprehensible for the most part toa sophisticated audience well-versed in avantgardetrends in music. Some of his worksare based on extroversive theatrical gesturesand even contain comic elements, whileothers bear an inner philosophical discourse.Nonetheless, both of these contrastingfeatures combine together to express a highlyoriginal style of the composer’s music whichcannot be mistaken for that of anybody else.Belodubrovsky is known and highly regardedas a composer, a violinist, an enthusiasticcultural activist who discovered and popularized rare compositions of the early20th century Russian modernist trend,the long-time director of the Nikolai Roslavetzand Nahum Gabo Festival for the Artsin Bryansk, and simply as a very open musicianwith a broad-minded approach towards variousmusical styles and directions. All of this hasundoubtedly created an impact on hismultifarious musical style which combinesopposite stylistic directions.The article describes the life and the musicalactivities of Mark Belodubrovsky, then proceedsto describe an analyze his musical compositions.It is shown that notwithstanding the factthat his compositions pertain to different styles,they are all united by one individual stylistictrait which defines the composer’s artisticindividuality.