Nikolai Rakov - Aquarelles [9 pieces]

0:00 Aquarelle 1:57 Mazourka 3:09 Bagatelle 5:10 Legend 7:48 Intermezzo 10:20 Menuet 13:15 Scherzino 14:35 Novelle 17:49 Valse Nikolai Rakov (1908 – 1990) was a Soviet violinist, composer, conductor, and academic at the Moscow Conservatory where he had studied. He composed mostly instrumental works, for orchestra, chamber music and piano music, especially pedagogic works. In 1946, he received the Stalin Prize for his first violin concerto, which became known internationally. Born in Kaluga, Rakov first studied violin at the Rubinstein Music School in his hometown, and later composition at the Moscow Conservatory with Reinhold Glière and Sergei Vasilenko. After graduating in 1931, he served as Glière’s assistant at the Conservatory in the following year, before becoming a lecturer himself in 1935 and professor of orchestration in 1943.