Sigismund Blumenfeld

Sigismund Mikhailovich Blumenfeld (1852–1920) was a Russian composer, singer, pianist, accompanist, and music teacher. He was the brother of Felix Blumenfeld.

Born in Odessa, he entered the Moscow Conservatory on the advice of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. At the conservatory he studied vocal with G. Galvani and piano with E. Langer.

He later lived and worked in Saint Petersburg, where he became close to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov and gained recognition particularly as an accompanist. The critic Vladimir Stasov held both Blumenfeld brothers in high regard, remarking that “Sigismund sings almost the way Felix plays.” In 1906, Saint Petersburg marked the 35th anniversary of his musical activity, and admirers led by Stasov presented him with a congratulatory address compiled by Stasov.

From 1918 to 1920 Blumenfeld served as custodian of the Mikhail Glinka Museum at the Petrograd Conservatory. As a composer, his first romances were published in 1871; he wrote more than 60 romances in total. He also published small piano pieces, two pieces for cello, and several arrangements. In 1910 he published the article “The New (Natural) System of Gustav Neuhaus” in the journal RMG (No. 3).

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