Leo Ornstein as a Russian Composer: On the Problem ‘Leo Ornstein and Russia’

Abstract
This article is dedicated to Leo Ornstein (1893[?] – 2002), an American Russian-born composer, and generally concerns the problem of national features in his music. The article describes some important features of American music, and proves the idea of the absence of such features in Ornstein’s music; moreover, some facts let us put forward a thesis of Russian roots (in wide sense) of his creative manner which were the factor that made an especially strong influence upon his work. Besides, the article concerns Ornstein’s relations with other Russian-born American musicians, and deals with the stylistic traits testifying to Russian roots of his music. Ornstein’s oeuvre as a whole is compared with the work of his contemporaries.

Keywords
Leo Ornstein, Russian music, American Music, Music of XX century, history of music