Mazel, Lev Abramovich

Mazel’, Lev (Leo) Abramovich 

Born May 13 (26), 1907, in Konigsberg. East Prussia, present-day Kaliningrad, RSFSR. Soviet musicologist. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1966). Doctor of Art Studies (1941).

In 1930, Mazel’ graduated from the mathematics division of the department of physics and mathematics at Moscow University and the scientific research division of the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under A. N. Aleksandrov. He completed his graduate work under the guidance of M. V. Ivanov-Boretskii in 1932. From 1931 to 1967, Mazel’ taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where in 1939 he became a professor and from 1936 to 1941 was chairman of the music theory department.

Mazel’ is the author of studies dealing with musical styles and forms and with melodies. His research method is based on the overall analysis and the historical, stylistic, and aesthetic examination of the structure of a musical composition. Among his chief studies are Chopin’s Fantasia in F Minor (1937), Essays in the History of Music Theory (vols. 1-2, 1934-39; jointly with I. Ia. Ryzhkin), On Melody (1952), The Symphonies of D. D. Shostakovich (1960), The Structure of Musical Works (1960), Analysis of Musical Works (1967, jointly with V. A. Tsukkerman), Chopin Studies (1971), and Problems in Classical Harmony (1972).

I. M. IAMPOL’SKII