Vadim Borisovsky

Vadim Vasilyevich Borisovsky (1900–1972) was a distinguished Soviet violist, viola d'amore player, and professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Widely regarded as the founder of the Soviet viola school, he played a pivotal role in establishing the viola as a legitimate solo instrument in Russia. He was a People's Artist of the RSFSR and a long-standing member of the renowned Beethoven Quartet.

Born into a wealthy merchant family in Moscow, Borisovsky initially studied medicine while secretly pursuing music. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1918 as a violinist but soon switched to the viola class of Vladimir Bakaleinikov. In 1922, he became the first graduate of the conservatory to complete his degree specifically as a violist, graduating with distinction and having his name inscribed on the conservatory's marble roll of honor.

In 1923, Borisovsky joined the newly formed Moscow Conservatory String Quartet, which was renamed the Beethoven Quartet in 1931. He served as the group's violist until 1964, participating in the premieres of almost all of Dmitri Shostakovich's string quartets (except the First and Fifteenth) and his Piano Quintet. Shostakovich, a close friend, dedicated his String Quartet No. 13 to Borisovsky. The quartet was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946 for their artistic achievements.

Borisovsky's pedagogical influence was immense. He took over the viola class at the Moscow Conservatory in 1925 and was appointed professor in 1935. Despite ideological pressures in the early 1930s to dissolve the viola department, he persisted in teaching, eventually heading the viola and harp department from 1959 to 1972. His students included prominent musicians such as Rudolf Barshai and Fyodor Druzhinin.

As a scholar and arranger, Borisovsky significantly expanded the viola repertoire, creating over 300 arrangements of works ranging from the Baroque era to modern compositions. He is credited with discovering and completing Mikhail Glinka's unfinished Viola Sonata and was a pioneer in the revival of the viola d'amore in the Soviet Union. He also collaborated with German musicologist Wilhelm Altmann to publish the first comprehensive catalog of viola literature in 1937. To achieve a robust, soloistic sound, Borisovsky favored large instruments, performing on a viola by Gasparo da Salo.

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