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Video: The author of Soviet hits and the major general of the police: Two professional fates of Alexei Hekimyan
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
His songs filled the musical space of the 70s, they were heard from everywhere. Warm, sincere, very sincere melodies instantly sank into the soul, and the name of the composer who wrote these beautiful melodies, Alexey Hekimyan, was known to many. But not everyone knew that the author of all these melodies was one of the best detectives in the country, who had worked in the criminal investigation department for 27 years and had risen to the rank of police major general., - these ingenious, unforgettable melodies were heard by the citizens of the entire vast Soviet country, but few knew what the police major general was writing.
Major General and his songs
Despite the huge overloads associated with operational work, when he had to sleep only 4-5 hours, when he came home, he became a romantic, for a while forgetting about the cruel world of murderers and rapists that he had to face every day on duty, and plunged into a completely different world, the world of his pure and light melodies. Sitting in a small kitchenette, quietly, so as not to wake up his wife and children, he played them on the domra - at first there was no other instrument in the house. Later, a piano appeared, on which at first he could play with only one finger, because he did not have a musical education. The fact is that although he began to learn to play the violin in childhood, the war and the difficult post-war life separated him from music for a long time.
In 1969 Alexey Hekimyan wrote his first song “Accident”, but it was first performed only in 1975, when Anna German, who had arrived in Moscow, chose it for her album and performed it. And before that there were six unsuccessful years of hitting the thresholds of musical editions, since basically only works by members of the Composers' Union were allowed on the air.
The 1970s became an unusually fruitful period in the composer's work. Hekimyan's songs at artistic councils began to be presented not by himself, a policeman far from art, but by well-known artists. His increased popularity could only partly be explained by his official position - after all, few could deny a general in police uniform. But, of course, mainly respect and recognition, he sought, thanks to his talent.
This is how Vakhtang Kikabidze recalls his acquaintance with the "strange" general: And after this recording, they became friends for life.
Nani Bregvadze had a similar story with the song "Snowfall". Only later did she appreciate what a wonderful gift the general of the militia gave her - since then, not a single concert of her has been complete without a request to perform "Snowfall". And this song has such a wonderful property - it never bothers the singer and always falls on the soul from the very first notes.
And here is what Joseph Kobzon said about Hekimyan, who at first also did not feel a great desire to perform his songs:
Being a very modest person, Alexey Gurgenovich, few of his colleagues in uniform, shared his success in creativity. And for many of them it came as a real shock. So, at one of the concerts dedicated to the Day of Militia, the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov, interested in wonderful songs, asked - said Shchelokova,
And yet - to catch criminals or write songs?
Alexey Ekimyan never thought to be a policeman, but after the war, on the advice of friends, he graduated first from the police school in Vladimir, and then - in Moscow. And at the end he immediately asked to send him to the most difficult and backward area. And literally a year later, he brought him to the best in all respects, while he himself took an active part in solving crimes.
In the mid-60s, when Hekimyan was already in charge of the threat in the Moscow region, almost all crimes were solved. In 1970, he was awarded the next rank ahead of schedule, and he became the youngest major general of the militia, not counting Churbanov, Brezhnev's son-in-law, and three years later this major general also became a member of the Union of Composers of the USSR. However, as popularity grows, it becomes more difficult to combine service and songwriting, and the discontent of the authorities about his passion for music is growing. The time comes to make a choice, and at the end of 1973, after very long doubts and reflections, at the peak of his police career, Hekimyan makes a very difficult decision for himself and his family and resigns.
And a new life began for him, which turned out to be very difficult. Having lost a permanent and rather decent general's salary, on the advice of Oskar Feltsman, Ekimyan with a small brigade of artists, or even all alone, begins to tour the country, performing in small recreation centers and clubs. Alexey Ekimyan meets and works with such remarkable poets as R. Gamzatov, R. Rozhdestvensky, M. Tanich, V. Kharitonov and others.
And at the end of the 70s, the well-deserved fame finally comes to him - his songs sound in all the programs "Song of the Year" and "Blue Light". In 1980, finally, the big disc "Wish" was released - the result of his joint work with Vakhtang Kikabidze. The disc was a huge success.
But he never had a chance to enjoy his success to the full. The tense rhythm of life could not but affect his health, already at the age of 37, Aleksey Hekimyan suffered his first heart attack, and there were three of them in total. In April 1982, for treatment, he had to go to the hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But even there the restless patient managed to arrange a concert. The applause did not stop, the listeners asked to sing more and more songs for an encore … Unfortunately, this concert turned out to be his farewell, a day later Arsen Gurgenovich was gone. But in a few weeks he was supposed to be only 55 years old.
The maestro left, but his soulful songs remained, which to this day live among the people, everyone knows them, loves and sings …
Fans of popular Soviet music will also be interested in the love story maestro Pauls and his magnificent Lana … An example worthy of emulation.
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