Trumpeter, teacher, composer, professor of the Kyiv State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
Way of life
He was born on December 19, 1922 in the city of Poltoratsk (now Ashgabat, Turkmen Oblast, Turkestan ASSR, RSFSR. He received his primary musical education as a child in a military brass band. He began his professional musical education at the Moscow Music School, where he studied from 1938 to 1940. The first the professional trumpet teacher of Mykola Berdiyev was the famous trumpeter, teacher, soloist of the symphony orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, Ivan Vasylevsky, who played the part of the first trumpet in the orchestra of the theater for more than 30 years. The sound of his trumpet was characterized by brightness and power, and a voice of great power (which was typical for trumpeters at that time). At the same time, he organically blended into the sound of the entire orchestra. Vasylevsky was quite a virtuoso. He easily and gracefully performed the most difficult orchestral parts in operas. A wonderful teacher who was distinguished by simplicity and exactingness. With his the class produced many excellent soloists and orchestral musicians, among them M. Berdiev, T. Dokshits er, O. Usach, V. Yudin and many other musicians. After moving to Kyiv in 1941, Mykola Berdiev graduated from the Kyiv Music School.
During the Second World War, Berdiev served in various military units, but the military conductor Markus got him transferred to the brass band he led. It was Marcus who helped many talented musicians to avoid direct hostilities.
After the end of the war, M. Berdiyev studied at the Kyiv Conservatory in the class of an outstanding professor, the founder of the Kyiv Trumpet School, V. M. Yablonsky — a man of amazing spiritual culture who enjoyed great authority and respect among colleagues and students.
In 1948, Mykola Volodymyrovych Berdiyev began working as a teacher of the trumpet class at the Kyiv Music School named after R. M. Glyer, and since 1949 he has been an assistant to Professor V. Yablonsky at the Kyiv Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky. Working as a soloist of the symphony orchestra of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theater (1944–1972), a teacher at a music school and conservatory, M. Berdiev devoted a lot of time to solo performance. At the beginning of the 1950s, several important events took place in the creative biography of Mykola Volodymyrovych. This is evidenced by the growth of his performance skills as a talented musician and his intensive artistic development. He proudly represents the Ukrainian performing school of playing the trumpet not only in Ukraine, but also abroad.
At the World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin (1951), M. Berdiev became the Laureate of the II prize. Since then, his name is known all over the world. He is a serious competitor to the outstanding Russian trumpet player T. Dokshitser. The recordings of M. Berdiyev and T. Dokshitser were often broadcast on the radio throughout the territory of the Soviet Union. In the funds of Ukrainian radio, there are recordings of Berdiyev's performance of works by Arenskyi, Peskin, Dremlyuga and other composers. The performance skills of the talented musician drew praise from outstanding musicians and composers of that time. This is what People's Artist of the USSR G. I. Maiboroda wrote about Berdiyev's performance: "You listen to his playing and it seems that there are neither technical difficulties nor limits to musical expressiveness. The extremely rich, beautiful timbre of the sound, which he extracts from the trumpet, makes me remember such wonderful masters as Polyanskyi, Yuryev and others." Berdiyev's life and work in Ukraine are closely connected with Ukrainian music and the work of famous Ukrainian composers. Thanks to him, many works of Ukrainian composers, namely Dremlyug, Homolyak, Kolodub, and others, got their way into life. Thanks to such a close connection with the Ukrainian school of composers, Berdiev became not only a permanent performer of new works, but also a creator of his own works for the trumpet. Mykola Volodymyrovych acquired his composition skills in the class of Georgy Maiboroda. Berdieva has always been inspired by Ukrainian songs and her penetrating sincerity to create her musical works. In his lyric works - "Elegy", "Romance", in numerous concerts for the trumpet, Ukrainian folk musical ornamentation is clearly expressed. Among the most famous large-scale works are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Trumpet Concertos. Works, extremely technically complex, which fully represent the sound, dynamic and technical capabilities of the modern trumpet. The introduction always had a fanfare-celebratory character. His works on the trumpet, such as "Romance", "Elegy", "Poem and Scherzo", romances for voice, children's miniatures, collections of ensembles have surely entered the concert repertoire of modern performers. M. Berdiev's trumpet translations of works by Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Kosenko, and Revutsky are also known to listeners and performers. His collections of etudes are of great importance in the method of teaching trumpet playing not only in Ukraine, but also abroad. Berdiyev's works significantly enriched the concert repertoire of trumpet players not only of Ukraine, but also of other countries. Now they are included in many programsoh competitions of performers on brass instruments.
In parallel with performing and composing activities, Mykola Volodymyrovych intensively and very fruitfully conducts pedagogical work. He has more than 40 years of teaching experience. In his pedagogical activity, Mykola Volodymyrovych paid a lot of attention to performance technique, especially sound culture. In the classroom there was always an atmosphere of kindness, attention, sensitivity, cordiality and high professional demands. When a student had any professional problems, Mykola Volodymyrovych never refused help.
MV Berdiev was in a state of constant search. He was one of the first among the horn players who started work on the most modern schools of playing the trumpet - Schlozberg, Maggio, Stampa. I studied this material, tested it on myself, selected the most interesting for myself and my students. And his saying: "I charge you with knowledge like a cannon. Let's see which one of you will shoot..." his students still remember. Indeed, many of them "shot" over time.
Mykola Berdiyev was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine in 1969 for his many years of fruitful creative activity. He was the first Ukrainian trumpet player to become a member of the International Guild of Trumpeters.
Mykola Volodymyrovych Berdiev died on August 15, 1989. Buried at Baikovo Cemetery in Kyiv.
Mykola's first teacher, Ivan Vasylevskyi, said: "If a teacher succeeds in raising at least one real musician-artist in his entire life, then he is a happy teacher." M. Berdiev raised a whole galaxy of real musicians who keep the memory of their teacher. Among his students: O. Chupryna, K. Nemechek, O. Kobets, Yu. Blinov, H. Fesyuk, A. Pogribny, O. Hutsal, Yu. Kafelnikov and others. His student, soloist of the symphony orchestra of the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Ukraine, associate professor of the Kyiv Music Academy named after P. I. Tchaikovsky of Ukraine Oleksandr Chupryna writes about his teacher: "For the first time in my life I heard M. Berdiyev play in 1969. In the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theater named after T. G. Shevchenko, a performance of P. I. Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swans" was taking place lake". I was fascinated by the sound of the orchestra and impressed by the performance of individual performers. I especially liked the velvet solo of the trumpet. Then I learned that the trumpet part was performed by the Honored Artist of Ukraine M. Berdiev. I will remember the playing of this master for the rest of my life. During all my on the path of a musician, I thank fate for bringing me together with this talented performer and teacher.
Mykola Berdiyev's grave
Together with his teacher, Professor V. Yablonskyi, he raised a generation of trumpeters who continued and enriched the traditions of the Kyiv school of playing the trumpet. Many years of concert and orchestra activity, fruitful teaching work as a professor of the Kyiv State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, composer, soloist of the symphony orchestra of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theater nominated Mykola Volodymyrovych among the most famous and authoritative musicians not only of Ukraine but of the whole world.
He died on August 15, 1989. Buried in Kyiv at Baikovo cemetery.
