16 Facts About Revol Bunin

Revol Bunin's mother was always very ill, and died when he was 14, leaving his upbringing entirely in the hands of his father.

When Revol Bunin's mother was dying, she asked him to play the piano for her.

Revol Bunin played Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Mussorgsky through the night.

In 1938 Revol Bunin started his composition studies at the Music School of the Moscow Conservatory under Ilya Litinsky.

Revol Bunin was decommissioned on the grounds of ill health in March 1943.

In June 1943 Shostakovich started to teach at the Moscow Conservatory and Revol Bunin was the first student he selected to be his pupil.

Revol Bunin looked very young, nothing like the old eminent scholars of the Conservatory.

Revol Bunin graduated from the Conservatory in 1945 with honors.

In 1947, Revol Bunin moved to Leningrad, where he taught music arrangement at the Leningrad Conservatory and assisted Shostakovich as a co-professor of composition.

Consequently, his assistant, Revol Bunin, lost his position and became, for a while, a persona non grata.

Revol Bunin had to make his living by writing scores for other composers.

Revol Bunin's music won the Stalin Prize on several occasions, but Bunin's name did not appear, nor was it mentioned to the selection committee.

Revol Bunin was mourned by his wife, Larisa, his friends and many students.

Revol Bunin was never awarded State honors, for he refused to join the Communist Party, in contrast to many of his colleagues.

Revol Bunin wrote music scores for 48 motion pictures, cartoons, and documentaries.

Revol Bunin left 45 major compositions, including nine symphonies, numerous sonatas, quartets, trios, an opera, romances, and several concertos for both piano and violin.