Nikolai Korndorf
Nikolai Korndorf (full name Nikolai Sergeyevich Korndorf; 23 January 1947 – 30 May 2001) was a Soviet, Russian and Canadian composer and film composer. He was born in Moscow, the son of S. F. Korndorf, a scientist specializing in electronics.
Korndorf graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1970, studying symphonic conducting and composition. He taught at several Moscow music colleges and at the Moscow Conservatory from 1972 to 1991. He joined the Union of Soviet Composers in 1973 and chaired the Moscow Young Composers' Creative Association from 1978 to 1983. He regarded his First Symphony (1975) as the beginning of his serious work as a composer.
In 1990, Korndorf helped initiate and organize the second Association for Contemporary Music in Moscow. That year he received the Duisburg Music Prize in Germany. He emigrated to Canada on 16 May 1991 and continued composing actively during his final ten years. After 1997, he made several visits to Russia and took part in the Alternative festival.
After 1981, Korndorf moved away from experiments in atonality toward tonal diatonic music, using repetitive techniques, features of minimalism, and elements of the so-called New Simplicity. His works include four symphonies; the opera Marina and Rainer (1989); Confessiones for chamber ensemble (1979); Primitive Music for twelve saxophones (1981); Yes!, a ritual for three singers, chamber ensemble and tape (1982); Continuum for organ and tape (1991); and Music of the Underground, his Fourth Symphony (1996).
He also wrote music for the films Ten Little Indians (1987), Splashes of Champagne (1988), The Sea-Wolf (1990), and Hostage (1990). Korndorf died in Vancouver in 2001 after being accidentally struck on the head by a ball during an amateur football game.