Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov

Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov (Russian: Гаврии́л Никола́евич Попо́в; 12 September 1904, Novocherkassk – 17 February 1972, Repino) was a Soviet Russian composer.

Popov studied at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1922 until 1930 with Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolayev, Vladimir Shcherbachov, and Maximilian Steinberg. He was considered to have the raw talent of his contemporary Dmitri Shostakovich; his early works, in particular the Septet (or Chamber Symphony) for flute, trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, violin, cello and bass, and his Symphony No. 1 (Op. 7, banned immediately after its premiere in 1935 and not publicly heard again in his lifetime), are impressively powerful and forward-looking. Not surprisingly, he ran afoul of the authorities in 1936 and began writing in a more conservative idiom in order to avoid charges of formalism.

Despite his alcoholism, Popov produced many works for orchestra, including six completed symphonies. Many of his compositions, written under the strictures of the Soviet system, are paeans to Soviet life and Communist heroes as prescribed by state authority. Examples include his Symphony No. 4 subtitled "Honor of the Motherland," and a poem-cantata titled "Honor to our Party." In spite of this, the few works which have been recorded bear witness to an almost intact creative strength. His melodic and instrumental invention was sharp, deeply rooted in Russian folk music. Even pieces adapted from propagandist movies, such as his Symphony No. 2, recorded by Hermann Abendroth (Urania LP), can be profoundly stirring. His sense of the orchestra, brilliant and buoyant, his grasp of large formal patterns, as found in the huge Symphony No. 3 for large string orchestra, are equally outstanding. Symphony No. 6 "Festive" betrays a kind of grand, vigorous, desperate irony. Popov also wrote several film scores. He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946.

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