Irina Mikhaylovna Elcheva (; 28 November 1926 – 8 May 2013) was a Russian composer.
Biography Her mother, Nadezhda Bogolyubova, was also a composer, music theorist, and pianist, and her father, M.D. Yel'cheva, was a singer. She studied at Mussorgsky College with Sergey Vol′fenson during World War II and then at the Leningrad Conservatory, where she studied piano with Aleksandr Kamensky (1950) and composition with O.S. Chishko (1958). Elcheva was a member of the USSR Union of Composers, the Znanie Society, and the Union of Theatre Workers.
During the Siege of Leningrad, Elcheva remained in the city and helped to clear rubble and performed music in hospitals for the wounded. She would later earn medals for her efforts, including one "For the Defence of Leningrad" (1943) and "Veteran of Labour" (1985).
Elcheva later traveled on expeditions to collect folk songs and completed the opera Spartak in 1962. Much of her music is based on folk tunes and her experiences during wartime.
Elcheva died in St. Petersburg on 8 May 2013, at the age of 86.
Selected works
Publications
"On the Development of Musical Memory," 1953
Orchestral
Simfoniya pamyati pogibshikh v blokadu Leningrada (Symphony in Memory of Those who Perished in the Siege of Leningrad), 1965 Pechorskiye starinï (Times of Yore in Pechora), suite, 1963 Piano Concerto, 1968 Zavadskaya uvertyura (A Factory Overture), 1975 Ivanovskaya uvertyura (Ivanovo Overture), 1977
Stage
Spartak (Spartacus), opera, V. Chulisov, S. Tsenina, after Giovagnoli, 1961 Skazka o lenivom bobryonke [Tale of the Lazy Beaver] (operetta, Yu. Shestalov), 1980 Riki-Tiki-Tavi (Yel′cheva, after R. Kipling), 1985 Alen′kiy tsvetochek (The Little Scarlet Flower) (Yel′cheva, after I. Bazhov), 1996
Choral
Russkaya svad′ba (A Russian Wedding), 1966 Khorovodnïye pesni (Round Songs), 1967 K novoy zhizni (Towards a New Life) (oratorio, Yu. Shestakov), 1973 Derevenskiye stsenki (Village Scenes), 1974 Vesyolaya maslenitsa (A Merry Shrovetide) (G. Ufimtseva], cantata, 1986 Vremena goda (The Seasons), 1989
Solo and chamber music
Palekhskaya syuita (Palekh Suite) for piano, 1966 24 prelyudii i fugi (24 Preludes and Fugues), piano, 1969 5 p′yes (Five Pieces) for wind quintet, 1974
Vocal
Ivanovskiye pesni (Ivanovo Songs), mezzo-soprano and piano, 1965 Mï zhivyom na severe (We Live in the North), (Yu. Shestalov), baritone voice and piano, 1969 Lebed′ belaya (White Swan) (trad.), 1979
References
External links 500 Operas by Women, Women's Philharmonic Advocacy Sheet music for 24 Preludes and Fugues and Palekh Suite