Ivan Aleksandrovich Pomazansky (1848 - 1918)

Ivan Aleksandrovich Pomazansky held degrees from the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire in harp performance and composition. For 50 years, he played harp and was the choir master at the Mariinsky Theatre. Pomazansky played a significant role in Russian opera productions: he instructed choirs readying them for premieres of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas and for Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. He performed as pianist and conductor, promoting the music of Russian composers. Following Tchaikovsky’s request, Pomazansky arranged the opera The Oprichnik for piano, and Tchaikovsky wrote, it is said, a large harp part in the opera, personally for Pomazansky. Of Pomazansky’s music only a few songs have survived and a single piano piece, the Polka is dedicated to Anatoly Liadov.

Igor Prokhorov and Anatoly Evgen’evich Pomazansky