The article about Valery Polekh, including the history of the Gliere Concerto op.91.

In the history of performance on the horn their have been numerous outstanding artists. Amongst the most famous of these were the great Dresden musician Anton Hampel (1705-1771) who in 1750 first positioned the bell of the horn so as to utilize stopped notes and provided the instrument with numerous crooks; Salzburg performer Ignatz Leutgeb (1745-1811), for whom Mozart composed four concertos and the concert rondo; and Jan Vaclav Stich or Punto (1746-1803), who first performed of the famous Beethoven Sonata for Horn and Piano.

The invention of a valve mechanism raised performance on the horn to a new level. Amongst the famous artists of the late 19th century was Frenchman Louis Cavara who performed with great success in many countries of Europe. During two famous concerts in Russia (1897 and 1903) he performed concerti by Mozart and Richard Strauss, the Beethoven Sonata, the Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano by Brahms and several other works.

The Russian school of horn playing achieved the form in which we know it at the start of the 20th century as a result of the creative orchestration of classic composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazanov, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and others. Their music determined the artistic style of Russian horn players, distinguished by a rich, lyric tone, phrases with wide dynamic contrast, and beautifully expressive vibrato.

But the greatest achievements in orchestral, chamber, and solo artistry did not occur until Soviet times. Amongst the outstanding hornists can be found Valery Vladimirovich Polekh -- honored artist of the Russian Soviet Republic, soloist of the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, virtuosic concert artist, laureate of All-Soviet and international competitions, performer on numerous recordings, and author of pedagogical methods, especially those for young players.

Valery Vladimirovich had his own characteristic signature: his instrument sang in a vocal manner, without any hint of strain or false sound spoiling the tone, and he played with a lightness and mastery of technical complexity. The author of many magnificent tracts of challenging pieces and exercises for the horn, Polekh earned recognition as the best interpreter of the horn miniature. His collections of virtuosic songs in original settings for the horn became a classic, and his performance of them showed his expressive talent.

Musician of sophisticated culture, artist of high renown, he devoted himself to the service of Soviet art. His life's work is interconnected with the establishment and development of Soviet musical culture, from his supervision of instruction in the wind instruments, to participation in All-Soviet and international concourses, to his leading role in the development of Soviet orchestral and solo wind playing.

Valery Vladimirovich Polekh was born on July 5th, 1918 in Moscow into the family of a civil servant. His father, Vladimir Vasilievich and mother, Vera Alekseevna were well educated, intelligent people. His parents were very familiar with classical and contemporary music and with all their strength worked to insure that it would be an important part of the world of their children.

Very Alekseevna devoted herself to the raising of the children. Of these there were two - the elder son Vladimir, and the younger Valery. She had an incredible memory. If the children asked her a question, they would receive an exhaustive answer. Their mother interested herself in history, particularly in the similarity between the role and sacrifice of women in the legend of Spartacus and amongst the Decembarist1 revolutionaries of her time. In 1905 while still a student, Vera Alekseevna pushed her way through the barricades and entered the gymnasium. On her breast she wore a read bow, the chosen badge of the revolutionaries. In the gymnasium she encountered the director, who asked "What is that bow you have?" "It is a symbol of freedom, equality, and brotherhood," she answered. Vera Alekseevna knew countless sayings and stories, and loved to sing. Every Sunday the children wen to the cinema, the playhouse, or the opera theatre. The first dramatic presentation which Valery saw was "Blue Bird" by Metterlink at the famous Moscow Art Theatre. At the Bolshoi, the 4 year old Valery saw Puna's ballet "The Hunchback".

The children's father, Vladimir Vasilievich, played the balalaika2 and would often sing together with their mother. In their repertoire were songs of the revolution, as well as Russian and Ukrainian folk songs. Valery remembers that his father had a lifelong habit of invited people to thrilling musical parties in his home. The boy learned early to play the balalaika, with his father as his first teacher. A neighbor who was an old soldier played the guitar and could read music. From him, the boy first heard the waltz "On the Water". Valery's desire to play that piece as a duet with the guitar was so great that he managed to convince his mother to secretly help him learn it, and finally invited the neighbor to play it with him. A bit surprised by the invitation, but not wanting to disappoint the young boy, the neighbor agreed. One evening he came to the Polekh's door with his guitar, knocked, and asked "Well, young man, shall we play?" Valery, with restrained excitement answered, "Da". They took out their instruments. The neighbor counted off four beats and the music began. They played with great harmony. Valery was blissfully happy and wished the music would never stop. But the waltz finally came to an end, and Valery waited for approval. The neighbor highly praised his musical skills and advised him to study music. So began their "creative" friendship. When the neighbor would come to visit, they would often sing with the guitar. Other times he would invite Valery to his apartment, and they soon started performing together. The boy often took part in family concerts, for he took pleasure in brining people joy and happiness.

Valery's numerous cousins and other relatives were very musical and artistic people. They often put on household performances of various songs, vaudeville acts, and excerpts from operas. Some of the of the adults staged a scene about Ivan the Terrible in which the leading role was played by an older cousin, Seraphim Petrov. The 6 year old Valery loved the elaborate costume for his role as a young nobleman. One the day of the performance, everyone was highly nervous. One cousin lost his voice, and another couldn't remember his lines. There were many guests in attendance, but the apartment was big enough to permit a stage in addition to seating for the audience. Everyone put on their costumes and prepared to for the show. The apartment was very hot, and Valery had to sit in his heavy costume for more than an hour. It was time to start, but Seraphim was nowhere to be seen. This was very uncharacteristic for the disciplined and reliable young man. The audience began to worry. Suddenly a gunshot rang out in the street and there was an urgent pounding on the door. Seraphim burst into the room with a revolver in his hand. He had been set upon by bandits who tried to steal the Comsomol cash box he was carrying. They had chased him, and exchanged shots. But Seraphim reassured everyone and took his place on stage. The show was a great success and everyone was thrilled - especially Valery. In this way began the childhood love of music and theatre which Polekh carried with him throughout his richly artistic and creative life.

The most musical amongst Valery's relatives was his cousin Vasily. He dragged all his cousins to an organizational meeting for a wind orchestra that was being formed by the factory "Krazny Proletari"4. Vasily and Vladimir played trumpet, Seraphim bass, and Valery alto. The director of the orchestra was a professional trombonist named Yuri Yurievich Gubarev. Knowing the capabilities of his orchestra, he did his own arrangements for it. Young people came to the orchestra not knowing how to play, so it was necessary to begin by teaching the basic elements of music. On the walls of the rehearsal room hung charts of scales and intervals. The participants gave the director little to work with, but when one of them at last achieved approval in playing a passage, he would be given the permission to move onto a more difficult book. Getting to the most difficult book was hard, and only the most dedicated students succeeded. But once the basic theory was mastered, they moved on to its application to the instruments. They started rehearsing in groups - one consisted of the clarinets, trumpets, and baritones, and another for the alto, tenor, and bass horns, until they were ready to play together as a single ensemble. At last Valery reached the long awaited day, when he for the first time played in an orchestra.

In the orchestra Valery fist played on an alto, then an alto horn, and finally a "French" horn in Eb. The orchestra began to take part in various concourses and competitions. At first the results were poor, but eventually they started taking second and even first prize. Gubarev considered Valery a talented student, and gave him a recommendedation as one of the 5 top players from the orchestra for further study at a music schoool.

Valery was not an employee and didn't work in the factory, but enjoyed a great camaraderie with the workers of the musician's collective, and this had a great effect on his life. Playing in the wind orchestra, he knew nothing of nervousness. But at the entrance examinations of the October Revolution Music School he faced a new challenge. It was not only the creative excitement, that would accompany him throughout his whole life, but the expectations of his comrades and the collective who believed in him and were sending him to study. What if he failed? What would he do then? Valery passed with the exam with great success, and in 1933 was accepted into the school. Of course Polekh still played with his first orchestra, attending concerts and rehearsals. But at the same time, the young man set forth on the journey of his professional education.

Then began a time of difficulty for the Valery. The great hornist, soloist of the Bolshoi, and professor Vasily Nickolaevich Solodyev was not inclined to praise his new student's playing ability. "You need to change the placement of the mouthpiece on your lips, or you will never play the horn" he said, "you have the embouchure of a trumpeter. You must not play for a week". "But I'll forget how to play" objected Valery. "Good, that is the intent" responded the teacher. And all began anew, with great difficulty. Valery completed all his teacher's assignments, slowly beginning to play scales, etudes, and short pieces. His high range opened up, and the low range began to appear. Finally he was able to perform simple concertos.

In 1935 Solodyev left the music school, and the search began for his replacement. Valery practiced five hours a day and achieved excellent results. His horn spoke effortlessly, his tone expanded, and a tenderness appeared even in technical passages. Valery made greater and greater demands on himself. And then a disaster occured. The muscles of his lips seemed played out. No matter what he attempted, he simply could not play. Valery was in great danger. For the better part of a year, he did not play the horn. And then on one wonderful day he decided to give it a try, and took out his horn. Fortunately, he found that he had recovered and could play again. Around that time there arrived a new teacher, Bolshoi Theatre soloist, Anton Aleksandrovich Shetnikov, who proved to be a great help to Valery. One again he returned to the routine of lessons and hours of private practice.

Even as a student, Valery greatly loved to play in the symphony orchestra. His greatest love was for the Symphony of the Moscow Conservatory. One of the orchestra's student conductors was B. E. Haiken. They played very interesting programs. And since they did not have enough horn players, they invited Valery to play with the conservatory students. With the recommendation of Haiken, the young horn player was able to play the summer season with a regional orchestra. Morning rehearsals, evening concerts, and regular independent practice combined to promote Valery's development as an orchestral musician.

Valery's first professional engagements began in 1936 in the chamber theatre, where the director was N. N. Gusburg. Ignoring Valery's youth, he hired the hornist to play in the orchestra. This theater was quite famous, and featured many well known actors and actresses in its leading roles. In 1937 a Georgian Theatre company came to Moscow. Their traveling orchestra lacked a first horn, so the invited Polekh to play. The performances took place in the familiar chamber theatre. Although the orchestral parts were quite complicated, the young hornist executed them with great facility.

Twice a year the chamber theatre held special concert events, in which the orchestral musicians were invited to take part. In one of these, Valery performed Glazanov's "Dreams" meeting great success in his premiere public performance as a soloist. Yet ahead of him stood years of study. The young musician dreamed of entering the conservatory. The years of hard work paid off, and in 1937 he was accepted into the conservatory to study with Ferdinand Eckert, despite the fact that he had not finished the preparatory music school.

A Czech by nationality, Eckert had studied at the Paris Conservatory and had been teaching in Moscow since 1905. His teaching methods were very progressive, and he believed in teaching technical aspects of performance in musical context. While his students played etudes, he would improvise an accompaniment on the piano. This helped stress the proper tempo, intervals, and intonation. In this way the etudes became not only technical exercises, but valuable practice in musical expression as well. When a student began to study a new piece, Eckert would first talk about the composer, then play the main themes on the piano. Great attention was paid not only to the production of beautiful tone, but also to the development of a voice that was unique to each student. His students also had to practice transposition, a critical skill for an orchestral musician.

Entering into the studio of such a great musician, Valery was at first somewhat fearful. He found it especially difficult to perform recitals, when they were attended by many of the famous professors and musicians associated with the conservatory. His legs would shake, and he would be short of breath, as he walked out on the stage of the smaller hall of the Moscow Conservatory to perform. Eckert devoted serious attention to this difficulty, and attempted to have his student overcome it by regularly performing a different piece each month. By the end of the year, Polekh would walk confidently onstage, without any apprehension.

It was decided that Valery should combine his studies with practical experience. He was chosen to play first horn in the 32-member salon orchestra of the cinema theatre. In addition, he was sent to perform at factories, military basses, and schools. In 1938 Eckert advised him to audition for the first horn position with the radio orchestra where the director was N. S. Golovanov. Polekh played Eckert's horn concerto, and was chosen as an assistant to soloist A. I. Yusov.

Work in the symphony orchestra was interesting, yet Polekh was drawn to the opera theatre and the artistry of its orchestra, choir, decorations, make-up, and costumes. Golovanov recognized this, and as he was also an operatic director often told Polekh "For many years I worked in the Bolshoi Theatre, your place is in its orchestra, and I have seen that you are prepared for it". At the end of 1938 Valery Vladimirovich succesfully auditioned for the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Playing in the company of such famous hornists as V. N. Solodyev, K. V. Zuckermann, A. A. Shetnikov, and S. I. Aenov was prestigious, but also very difficult. Into this established group came the young hornist, who did not know the repertoire or their traditions and characteristic approach to it. Valery attended every rehearsal and performance. He studied the repertoire and began to understand the ensemble interaction. Great demands were usually made of newcomers to the Bolshoi. There were many opportunities to make embarrassing mistakes. Valery patiently continued to study the playing of the masters. Eventually they started to praise his playing. His persistent effort resulted in his being entrusted with the third horn part. And at the end of the season, he became the primary player in that chair.

In 1939 Valery Vladimirovich began his compulsory service in the Red Army. At that time the Moscow army headquarters had a symphony orchestra. This orchestra was conducted by A. P. Steinberg, who conducted at the Bolshoi. Polekh was a soloist in the orchestra in all of Tchaikovsky's symphonies and many works by Beethoen, Brahms, Richard Strauss, and others. Military service was not easy. Rehearsals, private practice, and military exercises filled his days.

In March of 1941 Moscow hosted the All-Soviet wind instrument concourse. Polekh wished to take part, but his instrument was of poor quality and he did not have sufficient time to prepare. V. N. Solodyev lent Polekh his own horn, and together with Eckert helped him prepare the required program. They worked from 6 to 8 am each morning, and late into the night.

The date of the concourse arrived. Valery was one of the last to play. Who would wait for the young miliatry musician? Yet his performance of Haydn's second concerto was outstanding. Then he played a fantasy by Eckert, a composition for the horn which exhibits all that is characteristic for the instrument. The young musician displayed his beautiful tone, wide range, and artistic expression. The third piece which Polekh played was the Introduction, Theme, and Variations on a theme by C. M. von Weber by G. Gotvalda. This virtuosic piece brought the hornist great success which only increased from one variation to the next until the triumphant close of the last section. And the result — first prize!