Nikolai Korndorf


Nikolai Sergeevich Korndorf was a Russian and Canadian composer and conductor. He was prolific both in Moscow, Russia, and in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Biography

Born in Moscow, Russia, Korndorf studied composition with Sergei Balasanyan at the Moscow Conservatory from 1965 to 1970. During these years, he wrote a one-act opera A tale on... based on the work of Semyon Kirsanov. In 1973, Korndorf completed post-graduate studies with his opera Feast in the Time of Plague based on the play of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.
He studied conducting with Leo Ginsburg from 1967 to 1979 and taught composition and orchestration at the Conservatory from 1972 to 1991. In 1973, he became a member of the Union of Composers and the Moscow Presidium of the Soviet Composers' Union. He was a co-founder and deputy president of the New Association for Contemporary Music.
His early works were written in a traditional and academic manner until he adopted an atonal post-expressionist style. Later, he turned to a kind of minimalist repetitive aesthetic, notable in his Confessiones for double bass and twelve wind instruments, and in Jarilo an extensive piece for piano and tape. Korndorf developed this aesthetic further in his large-scale works such as the three Hymns, his 3rd and 4th Symphonies, and the opera MR based on correspondence between Marina Tsvetaeva and Rainer Maria Rilke.
In 1991, Korndorf left Russia for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he began experimenting with electro-acoustic media. In Canada, he became an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and an associate of the Canadian League of Composers. He taught composition at the University of British Columbia towards the end of his life.
A champion of Korndorf's music, Russian conductor Alexander Lazarev has performed and recorded most of his work.
Korndorf died suddenly while playing soccer with friends in 2001. He was 54.

Selected works