Stoianov, Veselin

Born Apr. 7, 1902, in Shumen; died June 29, 1969, in Sofia. Bulgarian composer, pianist, and pedagogue. People’s Artist of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria (1962); Hero of Socialist Labor of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria (1969). Member of the Bulgarian Communist Party.

Stoianov graduated from the State Music Academy in Sofia in 1926 and the University of Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna in 1930. In 1937 he began teaching at the State Music Academy (since 1954, the Bulgarian State Conservatory), where he became a professor in 1945; from 1943 to 1945 and from 1956 to 1962 he held the post of rector. He was the director of the Sofia National Opera in 1953 and 1954.

Stoianov composed the first Bulgarian comic opera, The Women’s Realm (1935). Comic and grotesque elements are evident in this work, as well as in the opera Cunning Peter (1952), the symphonic suite Bai Gano (1941), and other of Stoianov’s compositions. Stoianov also composed the historical opera Salammbö (1940), two symphonies, cantatas, including Ballad of a Bride (1968), which is dedicated to the struggle against fascism, concern for orchestra, string quartets, and songs for chorus. He used elements of national folk music in his compositions. Stoianov was awarded the Dimitrov Prize in 1951.