Peter Hristoskov - Peter Hristoskov - Violinist and Composer, Pt. 2 (2024)

It is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Peter Hristoskov - a brilliant representative of the Bulgarian performing art and composition of the twentieth century. He began playing the violin at a very early age and with the first performances at stage showed that he had amazing qualities. For his development as a violinist a crucial role play his teachers, mainly Professor Sasha Popov, and later on, Professor Gustav Haweman (violin) and Professor Hans Malke (chamber music). He performed actively in Bulgaria and Europe as a soloist with symphony orchestras and as a chamber musician. His repertoire is very diverse - from the baroque to the music of the twentieth century, including works by Bulgarian composers. He performed all emblematic violin pieces, sonatas and concertos at his concerts. Parallel to his concert activity Peter Hristoskov devoted a significant part of his time to teaching. Since 1945 he taught at the Academy of Music in Sofia, and since 1950 he was professor. Many of his students are among the most famous violinists in Bulgaria and world-wide and are laureates of international competitions. Hristoskov himself was a respected member of several international violin competitions in Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, France, China. His work as a composer is greatly significant, too. Hristoskov wrote over 40 opuses in the typical for him virtuoso performance style, based on Bulgarian folklore. Most of them are for violin - pieces, concertos, suites ..., for cello – concertos and pieces, concertos for piano, orchestra, symphony, children's album for violin, etc. His works are part of the repertoire of all prominent Bulgarian musicians and some of them are included in the repertoire of foreign performers. Bulgaria appreciates the overall work of Peter Hristoskov and he was awarded the highest state honours.