Yefim Golyshev

Yefim Golyshev(Ukrainian:Юхим Голишев), variouslytransliteratedasGolyscheff,Golyschev,Golishiff,Golishev,etc., 8 September 1897 – 25 September 1970) was aUkrainian-born painter and composer who was mainly active in Europe.

After a successful career as a child prodigy violinist and theReger PrizefromBerlin'sStern Conservatory,Golyshev became one of the founding members of theDadaistNovember Group,painting "anti-art" works and creating music for kitchen utensils and various new, invented instruments. In 1933 he had to flee from theNazis,first toPortugal,then toBarcelona,where he worked as a chemist until 1938. He spent World War II inFrance,either in prison or hiding. Between 1956 and 1966 Golyshev, lived inSão Paulo,where he influencedBrazil's Música Nova composers. He died inParisin 1970.

Golyshev the composer is notable for his only surviving composition, a string trio. This piece, subtitledZwölftondauer-Komplexe(twelve-tone-duration complexes), was published in 1925 in Berlin, but was possibly written as early as 1914. It makes use of various 12-note and 12-durationcomplexes, making it one of the earliest pieces of music composed using a variant oftwelve-tone technique,and predatingOlivier Messiaen's work. There are five movements, four provided with titles referencing theirdynamics:

1. Mezzo-forte(Largo)
2. Fortissimo(Allegro)
3. Piano(Andante)
4. Pianissimo(Allegretto)
5. Adagio(Adagio)

The dynamics in the last movement are left to the performers to decide on. Copies of the archival score can be ordered directly fromRobert Lienau,the original publishers of the work.

The rest of Golyshev's compositional output, which included twooperas,romances,music forVsevolod Pudovkin's lost filmIgdenbu the Great Hunter,a string quartet and other pieces, is lost.

Golyshev provided illustrations forSensorialité Excentrique,the last book published byRaoul Hausmannin 1970.

References

• Gojowy, Detlef & Kolesnikov, Andrey Yur'evich (2001). "Yefim Golïshev". InSadie, Stanley&Tyrrell, John(eds.).The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians(2nd ed.). London:Macmillan Publishers.ISBN978-1-56159-239-5.‎
• Kholopov, Y. N.1983.Кто изобрёл 12-тоновую технику?(Kto izobrel 12-tonovuyu tekhniku, "Who invented the 12-tone technique?" ), Проблемы истории австро-немецкой музыки. Первая треть XX века. Сб. трудов Института им. Гнесиных М.
• Roberts, Peter Deane. 2002.Yefim Golyschev,inMusic of the Twentieth-century Avant-garde: A Biocritical Sourcebook,edited by Larry Sitsky and Jonathan D. Kramer, pp. 173–176. Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN0-313-29689-8,ISBN978-0-313-29689-5
• Simon (Shaw-)Miller, 'Music and Art and the Crisis in Early Modernism: An introduction to some non-serial dodecaphonic techniques' (PhD, Essex, 1988) - alsohttp://see-this-sound.at/en('performance art')