Composer Saulsky Yuri Sergeevich: biography, personal life, creativity

“Once upon a time there was a black cat ...” The song “Black Cat”, written on the verses of Mikhail Tanich, is the hallmark of the famous Soviet composer Yuri Saulsky.

Saulsky Yuri Sergeevich

About the symbol of Soviet dudes

For the first time this incendiary composition, sounded in the morning radio air in 1963, brought its authors stunning national fame, sounded at all dance floors of the country and was translated into different languages. In the performance of Tamara Miansarova, she became the main hit of all Soviet dudes. Saulsky Yuri Sergeyevich called his own brainchild, which suddenly became a gold mine because of huge royalties, Beethoven's fourth symphony. However, at the very peak of the fame of the popularly beloved "Black Cat" they began to ban, accusing them of vulgarity, licentiousness and ambiguity.

About a man in love with jazz

Yuri Saulsky is a well-known Soviet composer, under whose guidance such pop artists as Vadim Mulerman, Valentina Tolkunova, Igor Bril began their career. His songs were performed by Sofia Rotaru, Lev Leshchenko, Alexander Gradsky, Larisa Dolina, Joseph Kobzon, with the composer on the same stage were Kristalinskaya Maya and Brodskaya Nina. Thanks to the efforts of the musician, the country learned about such illegal groups at that time as the Time Machine and Arsenal.

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

Yuri Saulsky and Valentina Tolkunova

Author of original melodies, producer, conductor, arranger, characterized by an individual style ... Yuri Saulsky is a composer who has been in love with jazz all his life - the 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 - a native Muscovite - was born on October 23, 1928. Ekaterina Yurievna - mother - performed in the choir of them. Sveshnikova, father - Sergei Vasilievich - worked in the legal field, perfectly mastered the piano and tried to introduce his son to classical music. Perhaps he would have succeeded if it were not for the young man's love of 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 to immediately reproduce what he heard on the piano.

Music accompanied Yuri Saulsky all his life and overwhelmed the composer until the very last breath. When getting acquainted with his creative heritage, I just can’t believe how this man managed to leave so much after himself, unless he worked around the clock, without sleep breaks.

Yuri Saulsky biography

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

On Red Square with an orchestra

Before the war, Yuri Saulsky began his studies at the school. Gnesins. The first hostilities pushed music to the background; Yuri’s family was forced to move to Siberia. Towards the end of the war, young Saulsky studied at a music school and took part in the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 on Red Square.

Free wind of the West

In that post-war period, the Soviet Union filled a huge number of captured wonders, previously unknown to the war-weary young generation: fashionable Western magazines, clothes, shoes. Saulsky Yuri Sergeyevich got a radio; the device could be tuned to the Voice of America and with enthusiasm listen to the performance of your favorite jazz, which was associated with Soviet youth with peace, change, freedom.

Yuri Saul composer

In the capital, the most fashionable place at that time was considered "Cocktail Hall", clearly shown in the movie "Dandies". It was here that crowds of diplomats, writers, journalists, students flocked for months to spend a glass of cocktail, giving them the right to visit this popular place, for a dream of an easy life. But the main thing: jazz was played here! Yuri Saulsky, whose songs in a few years the whole country will listen and sing, 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 “saxophone extension era," this period was marked by a struggle with jazz. Even the word "jazz" was excluded from vocabulary; at dance evenings tango, foxtrot, boston were forbidden; orchestras began to be called pop.

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. The marriage with a violinist, the birth of a son - new worries and troubles forced the student, who had learned the basics of classical music in the afternoon, to earn in the evenings on jazz music.

Yuri Saulsky, whose biography is of genuine interest to the modern generation, was a member of the Eddie Rosner semi-legal jazz orchestra. It was this brilliant improviser, “the second trumpet of the world,” who gave Saulsky a creative and life-giving school. The Rosner 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

On July 28, 1957, a grandiose event took place in Moscow: the opening of the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. The Soviet Union finally felt a breath of freedom. Arriving in Russia from 131 countries, guests were free to move around the territory of the USSR and communicate with Soviet citizens. And he was absolutely surprised at the jazz competition allowed to hold, in which the orchestra under the direction of Saulsky managed to win the 2nd place.

More Country of the Soviets never knew such an atmosphere of goodwill, youthful enthusiasm and openness. The Yuri Saulsky Orchestra was attacked by the propaganda press: he was accused of copying foreign music, free-cheeky behavior on stage and an unacceptable clothing style, and the composer himself had no official employment opportunities for several years.

On the principle of Yuri Saulsky

The new negative circumstances, which did not last long, forced Saulsky to earn a living by private orders related to arrangements.

yuri saulsky songs
In 1960, Saulsky Yuri Sergeyevich was appointed chief conductor of the capital's music hall, and two years later the musician was accepted into the Union of Composers of the USSR. This was followed by the creation of the VIO-66 jazz orchestra, which consisted of the best jazzmen of the time.

A characteristic feature of Yuri Saulsky, often on the jury and panel of judges of various competitions, was the truthfulness in evaluating young talents. Knowing how difficult it is to break through the wall of attacks of censorship and bureaucracy, the outstanding composer never condemned the performers. Colleagues did not hear from him negative assessments for others and harsh criticism. Even during the clarification of relations, the musician behaved delicately and with dignity, giving no reason to be offended by his behavior.

1980: rock festival in Georgia

In the 1970s, the USSR was covered by another musical wave - rock. If earlier censorship somehow managed to cope with jazz, then rock seeped through the iron curtain aggressively and persistently. From foreign trips to the country, records with corresponding records were secretly imported, the radio receivers tuned in to the BBC wave, and the youth imitated the Beatles in every possible way.

Yuri Saulsky personal life

Here, Yuri Saulsky was one step ahead, having organized the first official rock festival in the USSR (1980, Tbilisi) and headed the jury on it. Then the rock performers were admitted to the official scene 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 creativity and in his personal life. An amorous composer by nature had several marriages behind him. Yuri got divorced as his feelings faded, but he always remained on friendly terms with his ex-wives (Valentina Tolkunova, Valentina Aslanova, Olga Selezneva). Having a broad, generous nature, he left his wives the cooperative apartments he had built, leaving them with a small suitcase. “Honorary Builder of Moscow” - this is how Yuri Saulsky was nicknamed by his friends for this feature.

Wives and children, whom the composer had four, spoke of their native person only with warmth and love.

Yuri Saul Wives
Yuri Sergeyevich lived with his last wife, journalist Tatyana, for 25 years, until the very last breath.

There was so much more to do ...

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


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