On Albert Leman’s theatrical experience in the Kazan period

Diliya F. Khairutdinova

Abstract


Albert Semenovich Leman (1915–1998) was one of the founders of the Tatarstan school of composition, a professor, and, at various times, head of the composition departments at the Kazan and Moscow Conservatories. For the first time, the article examines the composer’s collaboration with the Galiasgar Kamal Tatar State Academic Theatre. The theatre’s archive contains the composer’s manuscripts for The Legend of Love, a production staged in 1955 after the play of the same name by the Turkish poet and playwright Nâzım Hikmet. The article provides information about the first dramatic production of The Legend of Love at the Moscow Drama Theatre (1953), where the music was composed by the prominent musical figure Vladimir Nikolaevich Kryukov. It also reveals that the Tatar theatre drew on materials from the Moscow production. A study of Leman’s Poem of Love not only reveals new facts about the composer’s work, but also provides new insights into his Kazan period and highlights his particular interest in theatre. In the analysis, the author focuses on the relationship between music and action, the composer’s musical language, and, in particular, his incorporation of the traditions of musical Orientalism.

Keywords: Albert Leman, The Legend of Love, Nâzım Hikmet, Galiasgar Kamal Tatar State Academic Theatre, music for the drama theatre

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by a grant from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan to higher education institutions, research organizations, and other organizations to support human resource development, including the promotion of research and teaching staff in completing and defending doctoral dissertations and conducting research.

For citation: Khairutdinova, D. F. (2026). On Albert Leman’s theatrical experience in the Kazan period. Contemporary Musicology, 10(3), 138–169. https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2026-2-138-169

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2026-3-138-169

Copyright (c) 2026 Diliya F. Khairutdinova

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