Tamara Aleksandrovna Popatenko

Tamara Aleksandrovna Popatenko (22 April 1912 - 28 Jan 1991)[1][2] was a Russian composer who wrote hundreds of children’s songs[3] as well as operettas[4] and music for ballet, orchestra, radio and theatre.[5] "I love children very much, and that is why the greater part of my creative work is dedicated to them," Popatenko said.[6]

Biography

Popatenko was born in Moscow. When she was eight years old, she began studying piano with her father Alexander. After attending a music school in Novocherkassk and a music college in Rostov, she transferred to Mosow Conservatory, where she graduated in 1938.[7] Her teachers included Reinhold Glière, Genrikh Litinsky and Vissarion Shebalin.[5][6]

Popatenko set texts by many writers to music, including Robert Burns, Boris Dubrovin, Margarita Ivensen, Pyotr Komarov, Agniya Kuznetsova, Mikhail Lermontov, Nina Naidenova, Alexander Ostrovsky, Sergey Vasilievich Pogorelovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Yakov Shvedov, Lyudmila Tatyanicheva, Viktor Viktorov,  and Olga Vysotskaya.[3][5][6][8]

Some of Popatenko’s songs for children were recorded commercially by the Soviet label Melody (D 032389-90).[2]

Works

Her works were published by Sovietski Compozitor[9] and included:

Ballets

  • The Giant Turnip[6]

Chamber music

  • Dreams (horn and piano)[5]
  • Eleven Easy Pieces (violin and piano)[5]
  • Humoresque (viola and piano)[5]
  • two string quartets[3]
  • Variations (cello and piano)[5]

Incidental music

  • Chudo-meinista (cartoon film)[5]
  • Magic Mill (animated film)[3]
  • music for radio productions[3]

Operettas

  • At the Edge of the Forest (for children)[3]
  • Gingerbread Man (for children)[3]
  • Winter Fairytale (for children)[3]

Orchestral music

  • Classic Suite[5]
  • Mountain Wind (cantata; for children’s choir, orchestra and narrator)[6]
  • Suite (for Russian folk instruments)[5]
  • Three Children’s Suites[5]

Piano music

Theatrical music

  • Lisa, Zayats i Petukh (musical)[5]
  • Lisa i Drozd (musical)[5]
  • Lyagushata i Tsaplya (musical)[5]
  • Snow Maiden (play by Ostrovsky[3])
  • Teremok (musical)[5]

Vocal music

  • hundreds of songs for children[5]
  • Maple (for chorus)[10]
  • Sixteen Romances (text by French poets)[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Tamara Aleksandrovna Popatenko (1912-1991)". data.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  2. 1 2 "Тамара Попатенко". Discogs. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "ПОПАТЕНКО в энциклопедии музыки". www.musenc.ru. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  4. ↑ McVicker, Mary Frech (2016). Women opera composers: biographies from the 1500s to the 21st century. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & c. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-7864-9513-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music USA. pp. 556–557. ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "БИОГРАФИЯ ДЕТСКИХ КОМПОЗИТОРОВ - Страница 3 - Форум". muz-rukdou.ru. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  7. ↑ "Тамара Попатенко — биография, интересные факты, фото и видео с композитором". Детские песни (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  8. ↑ "Tamara Aleksandrovna Popatenko Song Texts | LiederNet". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  9. ↑ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women Composers: A Checklist of Works for the Solo Voice. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co. p. 57. ISBN 0816184984.
  10. ↑ Ho, Allan Benedict; Feofanov, Dmitry (1989). Biographical dictionary of Russian/Soviet composers. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 654. ISBN 978-0-313-24485-8.
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