Composer Saulsky Yuri Sergeevich: biography, personal life, creativity

"Yes there was a black cat around the corner ..." The song "Black Cat", written on the poems of Mikhail Tanich, is a visiting card of the famous Soviet composer Yuri Saulsky.

About the symbol of the Soviet style

First sounded in 1963 in the morning radio air this incendiary composition brought to its authors a stunning national glory, sounded on all the dance floors of the country and was translated into different languages. In the performance of Tamara Miansarova she became the main hit of all the Soviet style. Yuri Saulsky himself called his own offspring, which unexpectedly became a gold vein because of huge royalties, Beethoven's fourth symphony. However, at the very peak of the glory of the popularly beloved "Black Cat" began to be banned, accusing of vulgarity, debauchery and ambiguity.

About a man in love with jazz

Yuri Saulsky is a well-known Soviet composer, under whose management, such entertainers as Vadim Mulerman, Valentina Tolkunova, Igor Bril began their creative career. His songs were played by Sofia Rotaru, Lev Leshchenko, Alexander Gradsky, Larisa Dolina, Iosif Kobzon, with the composer on one stage Kristalinskaya Maya and Brodskaya Nina. Thanks to the efforts of the musician, the country learned about such illegal groups as "Time Machine" and "Arsenal".

Valentina Tolkunova and Yuri Saulsky - these two people were connected not only by the scene, but also by the family, whose beginning was served by love at first sight. The 18-year-old age difference did not become an obstacle to the marriage of two loving hearts. Even after the break-up, Yuri Saulsky, whose wives remembered him only with warmth, continued to write songs for Wali and invited her to participate in her concerts.

The author of original melodies, the producer, the conductor, the arranger, characterized by an individual style ... Yuri Saulsky - the composer who all life was in love with a jazz - music of freedom and self-expression. In the USSR, this direction, which came from overseas, was considered almost an underground art.

Yuri Saulsky: Biography

Yura - the native Muscovite - was born on October 23, 1928. Ekaterina Yurievna - my mother - performed in the choir of. Sveshnikova, father - Sergey Vasilievich - worked in the legal field, he masterfully played the piano and tried to introduce his son to classical music. Perhaps he would have it if he did not love the young man for jazz.

The young man often visited nearby cinemas, where the music of the famous Alexander Naumovich Tsfasman and the outstanding Alexander Vladimirovich Varlamov sounded. Having absorbed the compositions of these virtuoso jazzmen, the young Saulsky rushed home, trying immediately to reproduce on the piano what he had heard.

The music accompanied Yuri Saulsky all his life and overwhelmed the composer until his last breath. When acquainted with his creative heritage, one simply does not believe how this person managed to leave so much after himself, except that he worked around the clock, without breaks for sleep.

Yuri was the artistic director of "VIO-66" - the first in the Soviet Union vocal and instrumental ensemble.

On the Red Square with the Orchestra

Before the war, Yuri Saulsky began training at the school. The Gnessins. The first military actions pushed music aside; Yuri's family was forced to move to Siberia. Toward the end of the war, a young Saulsky studied at a music school and took part in the Victory Parade, held June 24, 1945 on Red Square.

Free wind of the West

In the post-war period, the Soviet Union filled a huge number of trophy surprises that had not been known to the young generation that had been exhausted by the war: fashionable Western magazines, clothes, shoes. Saulsky Yuri Sergeyevich acquired a radio receiver; The device could be tuned to "Voice of America" and enthusiastically listening to the performance of the beloved jazz that was associated with the Soviet youth with peace, change, freedom.

In the capital, the most fashionable place at that time was the "Cocktail Hall", vividly shown in the movie "Dandies". It was here that the crowds of diplomats, writers, journalists, students, who spent months pouring money on a glass of cocktail, giving the right to visit this popular place, flocked to the dream of an easy life. But the most important thing: jazz played here! Yuri Saulsky, whose songs will be heard and sung by the whole country in a few years, was one of the musicians of this institution.

The creative path of Yuri Saulsky

In 1948, a ban on many musical instruments was imposed. Called "the era of the extension of the saxophones" this period was marked by a struggle with jazz. Even the very word "jazz" was excluded from the vocabulary; At dancing evenings, tango, foxtrot, and boston were banned; The orchestras began to be called variety art.

Saulsky Yuri Sergeyevich did not lose heart in such a difficult time, but tried to realize himself in a new direction. He entered the conservatory, which he graduated with honors. Yuri even predicted a brilliant career as a musicologist. Marriage with a violinist, the birth of a son - new worries and troubles forced the student, comprehending the day in the basics of classical music, to earn in the evenings on jazz music.

Yuri Saulsky, whose biography arouses genuine interest among the modern generation, was a member of the semi-legal jazz orchestra Eddie Rosner. It was this brilliant improvisator, the "second trumpet of the world," that gave Saul creative and life school. Rosner's Orchestra in "Carnival Night" was captured by the outstanding director Eldar Ryazanov. Yuri Saulsky acted as a co-author of the music that sounded in this outstanding comedy.

About the 1957 Festival

July 28, 1957 in Moscow, there was a great event: the opening of the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. Finally, the Soviet Union felt a breath of freedom. Arriving in Russia from 131 countries, guests could freely travel through the territory of the USSR and communicate with Soviet citizens. And I was quite surprised at the jazz contest, which was allowed to hold a competition, in which the orchestra under the control of Saul managed to win the 2nd place.

More The country of the Soviets has never known such an atmosphere of benevolence, youth uplift and openness. The orchestra of Yuri Saulsky was attacked by the propaganda press: he was accused of copying foreign music, free-roaming behavior on the stage and an unacceptable style of clothes, and the composer himself had not had the opportunity for official employment for several years.

On the principledness of Yuri Saulsky

The new negative circumstances, which did not last long, forced Saul to earn his living by private orders connected with the arrangements. In 1960, Yuri S. Saulsky was appointed chief conductor of the Moscow music hall, and two years later the musician was accepted into the Union of Composers of the USSR. Then followed the creation of the jazz orchestra "VIO-66", which consisted of the best jazzmen of the time.

A characteristic feature of Yuri Saulsky, who often took part in the jury and referee commissions of various competitions, was the truthfulness in assessing young talents. Knowing how difficult it is to break through the wall of attacks of censorship and bureaucracy, an outstanding composer has never condemned the performers. Colleagues did not hear from him negative assessments for others and harsh criticism. Even during the clarification of the relationship, the musician behaved delicately and with dignity, without giving any reason to take offense at his behavior.

1980: rock festival in Georgia

In the 1970s, the USSR was covered by another musical wave - rock. If previously censorship somehow managed to cope with jazz, then the rock filtered through the iron curtain persistently and stubbornly. Of foreign trips to the country, records with corresponding records were secretly delivered, radio sets tuned to the wave of the BBC, and the youth in every way imitated the Beatles.

Yuri Saulsky and here was one step ahead, having organized the first in the USSR official rock festival (1980, Tbilisi) and headed the jury. Then the rock performers were admitted to the official stage for the first time, and the legendary "Time Machine" managed to win the first prize.

Yuri Saulsky: personal life

Yuri Saulsky was real both in his work and in his personal life. The amateur composer had several marriages behind his back. Yuri grew up as the feelings faded, but with former wives (Valentina Tolkunova, Valentina Aslanova, Olga Selezneva) always remained on friendly terms. Having a broad, generous nature, his wives abandoned the cooperative apartments he built, leaving them with a small suitcase. "Honorary builder of Moscow" - so this feature was nicknamed friends Yuri Saulsky.

Wives and children, of whom the composer had four, spoke of their native man only with warmth and love. With his last wife - journalist Tatyana - Yuri Sergeyevich lived 25 years, until his last breath.

There was so much to do ...

Ahead was a large number of life plans - the organization of jazz festivals, the release of new discs, teaching activities, but suddenly manifested throat disease crossed out in one fell swoop: a malignant tumor and an error during the operation. August 28, 2003 Yuri Saulsky was gone. Prior to the 75th anniversary of the composer did not live only 2 months.