Vladimir Vladimirovich Shcherbachev

Born Jan. 12 (24), 1889, in Warsaw; died Mar. 5, 1952, in Leningrad. Soviet composer and teacher.

Shcherbachev studied in the faculty of history and philology at the University of St. Petersburg from 1906 to 1910. In 1914 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he had studied composition with A. K. Liadov and M. O. Shteinberg. He played an active role in the construction of Soviet musical culture: in the period from 1918 to 1923 he was a lecturer in, and head of, the music department of the People’s Commissariat for Education and was music director of the Touring Theater.

Shcherbachev composed in various genres. He is known primarily for his five symphonies, but the Thunderstorm Suite (1934), based on his music to the motion-picture version of A. N. Ostrovskii’s play, and the musical comedy The Tobacco Captain (1943) also gained popularity. His other compositions include chamber music, piano pieces, and art songs. Shcherbachev was a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1923 to 1931 and from 1944 to 1948 and at the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1931 and 1932. Among his students were V. V. Zhelobinskii, G. N. Popov, and M. I. Chulaki. He served as chairman of the administrative board of the Leningrad Division of the Composers’ Union of the RSFSR from 1935 to 1937 and from 1944 to 1948.

Shcherbachev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and a medal.