Matvey Blanter Composer Date of Birth: 10.02.1903 Country: Russia

1. Biography of Matvei Blanter
2. Early Career
3. Iconic Songs and World Recognition
4. Later Works and Recognitions

Biography of Matvei Blanter

Matvei Blanter was born on February 10, 1903, in the town of Pochech (now in the Bryansk region) in a family of a craftsman. After his family moved to Kursk, he attended a technical school and took private piano lessons. From 1915 to 1917, Blanter studied at the Kursk Music School, from 1917 to 1919 at the Moscow Philharmonic School, and from 1920 to 1921, he took composition lessons from G. E. Konius.

Early Career

Blanter's early works were associated with theater and theatrical studios in various cities. In the 1920s, he served as the head of the music department of the "Mastofor" cabaret studio. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he worked at the Leningrad Satire Theater, the Magnitogorsk Drama Theater, and the Gorky Miniature Theater.

Iconic Songs and World Recognition

In the 1930s, Blanter became one of the leading masters of mass lyrical songs. His songs "Partisan Zheleznyak," "On the Long Road," and "The Whole Country Sings with Us" gained wide popularity. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), Blanter composed remarkable songs such as "Farewell, Towns and Homes," "In the Forest near the Frontline," and "Under the Balkan Stars." The melody of "Katyusha," created shortly before the war in 1939, achieved worldwide fame. During World War II, "Katyusha" became the anthem of Italian partisans and is now widely known and loved in countries like Japan and others.

Later Works and Recognitions

In the post-war years, some of Matvei Blanter's best songs include "There Is No Better Color," "The Sun Hid Behind the Mountain," and "Migratory Birds are Flying." Blanter collaborated with renowned poets such as M. Isakovsky, K. Simonov, M. Svetlov, V. Lebedev-Kumach, and others. In total, he composed about 200 songs, characterized by their lyricism, melodic brightness, simplicity, heartfelt emotions, and the closeness to the intonations of Russian folk songs and urban folklore.

In 1946, Matvei Blanter was awarded the Stalin Prize, and he was honored with the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1975 and the Hero of Socialist Labor in 1983. He was also decorated with the Orders of Lenin and the Order of Honor.

Matvei Isaakovich Blanter passed away on September 24, 1990, and was laid to rest at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.