Dmitry Pokrass

Dmitry Yakovlevich Pokrass (Russian: Дми́трий Я́ковлевич Покра́сс; 7 November 1899, Kyiv – 20 December 1978, Moscow) was a Soviet composer, conductor and pianist.

Touring cities, he absorbed the music of the suburbs of old Kyiv, of military bands, Jewish weddings and celebrations, the cinema, synagogue services, and cheerful Ukrainian dances.

Has published a series of romances "Irmochka" ("The Grimaces of Life") with the description: "Intimate cabaret songs in the style of Kremer, Vertinsky, Sabinin, Henkin".

He wrote songs of the "intimate genre" to be performed by Gipsy singer V. Shuysky: "The Bashful Tea Rose", "You Have Smiled at Me", "Warrant Officer Johns", and "Tango Dolores" (lyrics by P.German and O.Osenin).

Pokrass tried to overcome the stale character of the variety genre in romances by using lyrics of "highbrow" poetry by Alexander Blok ("I am at Your Feet"), Igor Severyanin ("I Feel How Flowers Fall"), and others.