Marin Goleminov

Marin Goleminov graduated from the State Academy of Music in Sofia with violin (with Prof. Todor Torchanov) and theoretical disciplines (with Prof. Dobri Hristov and Prof. Nikola Atanassov). In 1931-34, he attended the Scola Santorum in Paris, where he studied composition with Prof. Vincent D’Endy, Paul Le Flem and Albert Bertelin. He attended lectures on composition with Paul Ducas in Ecole Normale de musique, as well as lectures on music theory, aesthetics and literature in the Sorbonne. Having returned to Bulgaria, he played the second violin in the famous Avramov Quartet (1935-38). He is one of the initiators and of the foundation of the Chamber Orchestra of Radio Sofia and served as its conductor (1936-38). In 1938, Goleminov went to Munich, where he specialized for one year at the Academy of Music Composition (with Prof. Joseph Haas and Prof. H. Kneppe) and conducting under Prof. Carl Ehrenberg. Since 1943, for four decades, he has been professor at the National Academy of Music in instrumentology, orchestration, conducting and composition. Subsequently he became its rector (1954-56), director of the Sofia Opera (1965-67). Awarded the prestigious Gottfried von Herder Award of the University of Vienna (1976). A member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in 1989 he was named academician for his tremendous creative achievements. Goleminov composed operas, such as Ivaylo, The Golden Bird, Zachariy the Zograph, Thracian Idols, the dance drama The Daughter of Kaloyan, four symphonies, eight string quartets, Chamber music for various ensembles, etc. Goleminov is a music publisher and author of theoretical works such as Problems of the Orchestration, Back to the Springs of Bulgarian Tonal Art, Behind the Scenes of the Creative Process.