Thank you for upping this disc - I have it (someplace) but until I locate it this is nice to have indeed. Also very good is the all Knipper release on Northern Flowers.
It seems ironic that Knipper, a former "White Russian", should compose the Red Army's most famous signature song, Little Field or Meadowlands (a theme so memorable it even found its way on to an album by the US band, Jefferson Airplane, in the late 1960s). The 4th Symphony is the only work by Knipper, a fairly prolific composer apparently, with which I am familiar. I have the Olympia CD shown in the illustration, its apt coupling being The Red Poppy by Gliere, who taught him. Dramatic, rousing and colourfully patriotic, the Symphony features tremendous choral writing and stirring orchestration. I find this to be a most enjoyable listening experience....Thanks for uploading it!
I would hardly call it ironic. Книппер (Knipper), had, we'll let's call it a "unique skillset" that made him very attractive to the Soviet Government. He was a KGB agent (focusing on foreigners in Russia) in addition to composing, and he was apparently a good shot...he was specifically directed in a secret memo to be the primary guy to assassinate Hitler if Moscow fell and he came there during WWII. In other words, he had skills other than composing which made him desirable despite his past, and once so employed, he could hardly have been less than enthusiastic about Communism.
Fair point and I did know about his usefulness to the OGPU and the specific targeting of Hitler but, surely, there is an inescapable "irony" in a former active anti-communist penning one of the most obviously pro-Soviet communist marching tunes. Had he been a lifelong communist, then, no, there wouldn't have been an irony. Clearly, Knipper was something of an opportunist, his skillset certainly useful in making him a valuable asset.
@@maxmerry8470 I see what you are saying. It is ironic, but in a strange way that the Soviet Union had a way of creating, also an expected turn on Khipper's part. I guess that is what I was getting at. Ironic from the outside looking in, but maybe not to those living in the Soviet Union, if that makes any sense
Yep, I see what you mean about the irony probably being noticed by the outsider. What is interesting is that ALL political systems, not just the former Soviet Union, will absorb anything or anyone to support their ideology, even if that thing or individual was, previously, utterly opposed to them. Maybe Knipper had a genuine change of heart; perhaps he was made an offer he couldn't refuse; or he was just, as I suggested before, a clever opportunist.
Thank you for upping this disc - I have it (someplace) but until I locate it this is nice to have indeed. Also very good is the all Knipper release on Northern Flowers.
It seems ironic that Knipper, a former "White Russian", should compose the Red Army's most famous signature song, Little Field or Meadowlands (a theme so memorable it even found its way on to an album by the US band, Jefferson Airplane, in the late 1960s). The 4th Symphony is the only work by Knipper, a fairly prolific composer apparently, with which I am familiar. I have the Olympia CD shown in the illustration, its apt coupling being The Red Poppy by Gliere, who taught him. Dramatic, rousing and colourfully patriotic, the Symphony features tremendous choral writing and stirring orchestration. I find this to be a most enjoyable listening experience....Thanks for uploading it!
I would hardly call it ironic. Книппер (Knipper), had, we'll let's call it a "unique skillset" that made him very attractive to the Soviet Government. He was a KGB agent (focusing on foreigners in Russia) in addition to composing, and he was apparently a good shot...he was specifically directed in a secret memo to be the primary guy to assassinate Hitler if Moscow fell and he came there during WWII. In other words, he had skills other than composing which made him desirable despite his past, and once so employed, he could hardly have been less than enthusiastic about Communism.
Fair point and I did know about his usefulness to the OGPU and the specific targeting of Hitler but, surely, there is an inescapable "irony" in a former active anti-communist penning one of the most obviously pro-Soviet communist marching tunes. Had he been a lifelong communist, then, no, there wouldn't have been an irony. Clearly, Knipper was something of an opportunist, his skillset certainly useful in making him a valuable asset.
@@maxmerry8470
I see what you are saying. It is ironic, but in a strange way that the Soviet Union had a way of creating, also an expected turn on Khipper's part. I guess that is what I was getting at. Ironic from the outside looking in, but maybe not to those living in the Soviet Union, if that makes any sense
Yep, I see what you mean about the irony probably being noticed by the outsider. What is interesting is that ALL political systems, not just the former Soviet Union, will absorb anything or anyone to support their ideology, even if that thing or individual was, previously, utterly opposed to them. Maybe Knipper had a genuine change of heart; perhaps he was made an offer he couldn't refuse; or he was just, as I suggested before, a clever opportunist.
I’m surprised Stalin didn’t have him murdered.
Bella melodía
The most soviet piece i have ever heard. And, from some weird reason, I really enjoyed it hahaha
Sounds as epic as Shostakovich! Wonderful!