LITINSKI, GENRIKH ILYICH (1901–1985), Russian composer and teacher. Born in the Ukraine, Litinski studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory with Glier and graduated in 1928. He taught there from 1928 to 1943, becoming a professor in 1933. In 1947 he joined the faculty of Gnesin Teachers Institute of Music, Moscow, and held a professorship at Kazan Conservatory from 1949 to 1964. Litinski organized musical activities in various Asiatic republics of the Soviet Union, and explored the folklore of the Yakut people in Siberia, which he utilized in his works. His compositions include operas, ballets, symphonies, 12-string quartets, and a string octet. Among his theoretical works are Polifonicheskaya kompozitsia ("Polyphonic Composition," Moscow, 1951), Sovetskoe polifonicheskoe iskusstvo ("Soviet Polyphonic Art"), Parts 1–3 (Moscow, 1952–54), Zadachi po polifonii dlya kompozitorov ("Polyphonic Exercises for the Composers"), Parts 1–3, (Moscow, 1965–67), and Obrazovanie imitatsiy strogogo pis'ma ("Forming of Imitations in Counterpoint," Moscow, 1971).

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

Genrikh Ilyich Litinski