In the photo, the author captured Tikhon Khrennikov (right) with a school music teacher — Ivan Zizyukin (1888–1971). The composer considered him to be his first mentor in the world of music and treated the teacher with great respect.
‘When I started at school, I sang in the school choir. We had an amazing teacher. He was very popular in Yelets, he taught my older brothers and sisters, he also gave lessons in the girls' gymnasium, and after the revolution in many secondary schools in Yelets. Ivan Matveyevich was a master of his craft, an excellent choirmaster and directed, as they could say now, the musical education of the entire town. Choirs, which were directed by Zizyukin in different years, performed in town concerts. <…> It was difficult to find a person in Yelets at that time who would not have gone through the Maestro’s choir school and spoke well of the teacher’, Khrennikov recalled in an interview.
Zizyukin was a musician, a talented violinist, an outstanding teacher and choir director. He studied at the Glinka Choir Chapel’s college in St. Petersburg. In Yelets, he led the choir of teachers at the House of Education and founded the Yelets choir school.
According to the testimony of people who personally knew Zizyukin, he was distinguished by amazing philanthropy, pedagogical talent, optimism and faithful devotion to music. It was he who noticed the outstanding abilities of one of the students and began to consistently direct the musical development of the future musician — the teacher enrolled the future composer Khrennikov in the school choir.
For many years of conscientious work, Zizyukin received the Order of Lenin — one of the most honorable awards in the USSR. He had indisputable authority in the musical world of Yelets, and his opinion was decisive in matters of musical education.
The photo was taken in 1965, when Khrennikov was already a famous composer, he held the posts of head of the Union of Composers of the USSR and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He often came to his small homeland and visited people close to his heart. In 1965, he returned to his hometown after a long break and met his first teacher.
‘When I started at school, I sang in the school choir. We had an amazing teacher. He was very popular in Yelets, he taught my older brothers and sisters, he also gave lessons in the girls' gymnasium, and after the revolution in many secondary schools in Yelets. Ivan Matveyevich was a master of his craft, an excellent choirmaster and directed, as they could say now, the musical education of the entire town. Choirs, which were directed by Zizyukin in different years, performed in town concerts. <…> It was difficult to find a person in Yelets at that time who would not have gone through the Maestro’s choir school and spoke well of the teacher’, Khrennikov recalled in an interview.
Zizyukin was a musician, a talented violinist, an outstanding teacher and choir director. He studied at the Glinka Choir Chapel’s college in St. Petersburg. In Yelets, he led the choir of teachers at the House of Education and founded the Yelets choir school.
According to the testimony of people who personally knew Zizyukin, he was distinguished by amazing philanthropy, pedagogical talent, optimism and faithful devotion to music. It was he who noticed the outstanding abilities of one of the students and began to consistently direct the musical development of the future musician — the teacher enrolled the future composer Khrennikov in the school choir.
For many years of conscientious work, Zizyukin received the Order of Lenin — one of the most honorable awards in the USSR. He had indisputable authority in the musical world of Yelets, and his opinion was decisive in matters of musical education.
The photo was taken in 1965, when Khrennikov was already a famous composer, he held the posts of head of the Union of Composers of the USSR and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He often came to his small homeland and visited people close to his heart. In 1965, he returned to his hometown after a long break and met his first teacher.
