(b. 12 September 1947, Moscow – d. 6 January 2024, Moscow).
Russian composer of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, and piano works that have been performed throughout Europe.
Mr. Ekimovsky studied composition with Aram Khachaturian and music history with Konstantin Rosenschild at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow and graduated in both subjects in 1971. He completed a postgraduate course in musicology with Galina Filenko at the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in Saint Petersburg in 1978, where he earned his PhD in musicology in 1983.
He received commissions from pianists Thomas Bächli and Gertrud Schneider, the Bolshoi Theatre Ensemble, Ensemble ARCHAEUS, Ensemble Modern, harpsichordist Petya Kaufman, Krzysztof Penderecki, Urs Peter Schneider, the Seattle Players Ensemble, bass clarinettist Harry Sparnaay, recorder-player Conrad Steinmann, Trio Flauti, and the festival Young Euro Classic in Berlin.
He was also active in other positions. He wrote numerous articles on modern music for publications in France, Germany, Russia, and Serbia, as well as the first monograph in Russian about Olivier Messiaen (1987, Sovetsky Kompozitor). He also edited several volumes of the collected works by Dmitri Shostakovich and served as president of the Assotsiatsiya Sovremennoy Muzyki – Association for Contemporary Music in Moscow from 1996–2023.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Balletto (Composition 14) (instrumental-theatre work), conductor, any ensemble, 1974
From Escher's Catalogue (Composition 63) (instrumental-theatre work), 7 players, 1994
Phantom of the Theatre (Composition 71) (instrumental-theatre work), composer, 10 players, 1996
Doppler Effect (Composition 75) (virtual), large orchestra (100 players) (performing in the air), 1997
ORCHESTRAL:
Lyrical Digressions (Composition 9), cellos, orchestra, 1971
Sublimations (Composition 10), 1971
Ave Maria (Composition 13), 48 violins, 1974
Kammervariationen (Composition 15), small orchestra (13 players), 1974
The Trumpets of Jericho (Composition 24), 30 brass, 1977
Brandenburgisches Konzert (Composition 28), small orchestra, 1979
Cantus figuralis (Composition 32), 12 saxophones, 1980
Doppelkammervariationen (Composition 51), small orchestra (12 players), 1989
Tripelkammervariationen (Composition 56), small orchestra (15 players), 1991
Symphonic Dances (Composition 61), piano, large orchestra (90 players), 1993
The Mirror of Avicenna (Composition 66), small orchestra (14 players), 1995
Attalea princeps (Composition 82) (concerto), violin, orchestra, 2000
Siamese Concerto (Composition 89), 2 pianos, orchestra, 2005
The Scarlet Flower (Composition 91), 2008
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Composition 1, violin, viola, cello, piano, 1969
Composition 2, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1969
Cadenza (Composition 5), cello, 1970
Composition 7, string quartet, 1970
Trio-Sonata da camera (Composition 8), violin, cello, piano, 1971
Nocturnes (Composition 16), 3 clarinets, 1974
Quartet-Cantabile (Composition 22), string quartet, 1977
Die ewige Wiederkunft (Composition 31), bass clarinet, 1980
Mandala (Composition 39), 9 players, 1983
Stanzas (Composition 40), 2 violins, 1984
Up in the Hunting Dogs (Composition 44), 3 flutes, fixed media, 1986
The Assumption (Composition 52), percussion ensemble, 1989
Kites flying (Composition 59), 4 soprano recorders, 1992
27 Destructions (Composition 65), percussion ensemble, 1995
Swan Song (Composition 72), string quartet, 1996
Swan Song (Composition 73), conductor, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, fixed media, 1996
Swan Song (Composition 74) (virtual), speaker, 11 winds, 1996
Musikunterricht in einer bizantinischen Schule (Composition 76), tenor recorder, 1998
Graffiti (Composition 78), 7 players, 1998
Corona di sonetti (Composition 79), recorder, harpsichord, 1999
Lexicon der nicht Gesellschaftsfähigen Ausdrücke (Composition 81), violin, viola, cello, 1999
Biriulki (Composition 83) (24 pieces, in memoriam Nikolai Korndorf), 6 players, 2001
Rafflesia (Composition 85), piano, ensemble (oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, bass drum), 2002
As the Princess pricked her finger the whole Kingdom fell asleep... (Composition 86), 5 players, fixed media, 2003
Remake (Composition 87) (in memoriam Edison Denisov), 11 players, 2004
Finnegans Burial-Service (Composition 90), 3 electric strings, 2007
The Ninth Wave (Composition 93) (structured improvisation), 2 pianos, organ, 2010
Flashmob (Composition 94), virtual instrument, 2011
VOCAL:
Verse for the End of the Century (Composition 84) (text from a 19th-century folk source from Russia), soprano, bass clarinet, percussion, 2001
Mad Songs (Composition 88) (texts by William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), female voice, ensemble, 2005
PIANO:
Composition 4, 1969
Farewell (Composition 30), 1980
Sonata con marcia funebre (Composition 33), 1981
Composition 43, 2 pianos, 1986
People's gatherings on winter evenings (Composition 58), 2 pianos, 1992
Mondscheinsonata (Composition 60), 1993
Vers libre (Composition 80), 2 quarter-tone pianos, 1999
ORGAN:
Prelude and Fugue (Composition 42), 1985
HARPSICHORD:
Deus ex machina (Composition 55), 1990
La Favorite – La Non Favorite (Composition 64), 1994
SCORE FOR SILENT FILM:
Un Chien andalou (Composition 92), flute, clarinet, cello, piano, 2010 (for Un Chien andalou by Luis Buñuel)
DISCOGRAPHY
Kammervariationen (Composition 15). (Melodiya: S 10-15747-8) (LP)
Sonata con marcia funebre (Composition 33). (Melodiya: S 10-21917-000) (LP)
Kammervariationen (Composition 15); Quartet-Cantabile (Composition 22); Mandala (Composition 39); Prelude and Fugue (Composition 42); Up in the Hunting Dogs (Composition 44); Doppelkammervariationen (Composition 51). (Harmonia Mundi: LDS 288 062/CM 210)
Cadenza (Composition 5). (Melodiya: 10-00556)
Stanzas (Composition 40). (Melodiya: MLD 32131)
Doppelkammervariationen (Composition 51). (Olympia: OCD 282)
Sonata con marcia funebre (Composition 33). (Olympia: OCD 295)
Prelude and Fugue (Composition 42). (Olympia: OCD 679)