Iurii Keldysh

(also Georgii Vsevolodovich Keldysh). Born Aug. 16 (29), 1907, in St. Petersburg. Soviet musicologist. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1966); doctor of the arts (1947). Became a member of the CPSU in 1947.

Keldysh, the son of V. M. Keldysh, graduated in 1930 from the department of composition and musicology at Moscow Conservatory. Upon graduation he became an instructor at the conservatory, receiving a professorship there in 1948. From 1950 to 1957, Keldysh was the director of the Scientific Research Institute for the Theater and Music in Leningrad. From 1957 to 1960 he was the editor of the journal Sovetskaia muzyka (Soviet Music). Between 1961 and 1974 he was the director of the department of music at the Institute for the History of Arts in Moscow.

Keldysh wrote many works, including A History of Russian Music (parts 1–3, 1947–54), Russian Music of the 18th Century (1965), and Criticism and Journalism: Selected Articles (1963). He has done research on the work of M. P. Mussorgsky, A. K. Glazunov, and S. V. Rachmaninoff. Keldysh edited the multi-volume History of the Music of the Peoples of the USSR (2nd ed., vols. 1–4, 1970–73), A Musical Encyclopedia, the series Monuments of Russian Music, and other publications. He has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and several medals.