Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov was a Soviet and Russian composer and conductor. He was born on 29 May 1936 in Voronezh in the family of an officer, and died on 4 February 2019 in Moscow. In 1986 he was named People's Artist of the RSFSR.

He graduated from the P. I. Tchaikovsky Music College and in 1962 completed his studies at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with S. S. Bogatyryov. He then entered postgraduate study under T. N. Khrennikov and studied conducting with L. M. Ginzburg. Ovchinnikov became a member of the Union of Soviet Composers in 1964 and of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR in 1967.

As a composer, he wrote the operas "Masquerade" and "At the Dawn of Misty Youth", the ballets "Sulamith", "War and Peace", and "Song of Songs", as well as four symphonies, several oratorios including "The Seasons" and "Sergius of Radonezh", suites, and instrumental pieces. He also created new music for restored versions of Oleksandr Dovzhenko's films "Earth" (1971), "Arsenal" (1972), and "Zvenigora" (1973).

Ovchinnikov was the author of music for more than forty films. His film scores include "The Steamroller and the Violin" (1960), "The Boy and the Dove" (1961), "Ivan's Childhood" (1962), "The First Teacher" (1965), "War and Peace" (1965–1967), "A Long Happy Life" (1966), "A Nest of Gentlefolk" (1969), "They Fought for Their Country" (1975), "On Kulikovo Field" (1980), and "Singing Russia" (1986). He also wrote music for the radio play "Full About Turn" in 1965.

His works were performed by ensembles led by conductors including Aleksandr Gauk, Algis Žiūraitis, and Maxim Shostakovich. According to some accounts, at the premiere of his First Symphony under Gauk, the audience demanded that the work be repeated in full. As a conductor, Ovchinnikov also recorded works by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff in addition to his own compositions.

Among his honors were the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1971), the Lenin Komsomol Prize (1977) for a song-cantata about the builders of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and for the music to the film "They Fought for Their Country", the title People's Artist of the RSFSR (1986), the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class (1996), and the National Prize "Imperial Culture" named after Eduard Volodin (2010). He was buried at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.