Lyubomir Pipkov

Lyubomir Panaïotov Pipkov () (September 6, 1904 – May 9, 1974) was a Bulgarian composer, pianist, and music educator. He is considered among the founders of Bulgaria’s modern professional musical establishment and one of its most important composers. Life Pipkov was born to a musical family in Lovech, Principality of Bulgaria, on September 6, 1904. His father, Panayot Pipkov, was a composer and bandmaster; his grandfather, Hristo Pipkov, was a clarinetist. As a child, Pipkov demonstrated an interest in painting and poetry before turning to music. In 1919 he enrolled in the Sofia Music School (today the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music), where he studied under Ivan Torchanov, Heinrich Wiesner, and Dobri Hristov. Two years later he composed the fight song for PFC Levski Sofia, an early composition which was subsequently lost. After graduation, Pipkov composed a number of works, among them his first major score, the 22 Variations for piano. The 1940s would see Pipkov establish himself at the head of Bulgaria’s musical establishment. He began by completing his Symphony No. 1, the first of four, in 1940. Pipkov dedicated the score to the fighters of the Republican cause in the S